Mike on Lake 96.1 Life Matters (Oct 4, 2026)
The full conversation, about 35 minutes.
Last November, we put weight on our backs and walked this trail together for the 22 veterans we lose every day.
No fundraising. No speeches. Just boots on gravel and somebody beside you.
This year, the trail is open to everyone — come how you’re comfortable, on your own terms. You don’t have to carry weight to carry someone.
This year we’re asking Lake Geneva for 35 on the trail.
Straight from the trail
From last year
The first Carry, in the community’s own words — pulled live from the VVR Facebook page.
Swipe for more →
One group. One walk. One leader.
How the day goes
About 6 miles, round trip. Ruck or no ruck — carry what you can. That’s the whole event.
- •
7:00 AM
Check-in at Bonnie & Betty's
Grab your bib, say hey, get your boots set.
- •
8:00 AM
We step off — together
Mike leads. One crew member walks last, so nobody is ever behind him.
- •
~9:30 AM
The turnaround — Pedal & Cup
Halfway. Catch your breath, then the same trail back toward the memorial.
- •
~11:00 AM
Finish at the Lyons Veterans Memorial
We come back to the names. 22 seconds of silence in front of the “Those Who Served” monument, then the group photo — food is hot, the board gets revealed. Done by noon.
That’s the whole event. Nothing else to it.
Know the plan
The details
- When
- Saturday, November 7, 2026 · check-in 7:00 AM at Bonnie & Betty's, step off 8:00 AM
- Where
- Lyons Veterans Memorial / Bonnie & Betty's — 6069 S Railroad St, Lyons, WI 53105 (start, finish & parking). Out to Pedal & Cup and back.
- Cost
- Free. Registration required by Wednesday, Nov 4 at 9 PM.
- Shirts
- Shirt sign-ups closed Friday, Oct 16. You can still register and walk.
- After
- Food at the finish for participants. The mile board reveal. The number.
- Weather
- Rain or shine. Only lightning or ice cancels — decision by 6:00 AM day-of, sent by email and posted on the VVR Facebook page.
The event shirt
Carry the Weight. For the 22.
The first shirt The Carry has ever printed — black tee, olive print, made to be worn long after November.
Shirt sign-ups closed
The shirts went to walkers registered by Friday, Oct 16. You can still register and walk — it's free.
Benefiting Stop Soldier Suicide
Where the money goes
Walking is free, and veterans are never asked for a dime. If you want to give, give $22.
Every dollar goes directly to Stop Soldier Suicide — the only national nonprofit focused solely on military suicide. Their care is 100% free to veterans and service members, any branch, any generation, any discharge status.
Donations run through their official fundraiser page. VVR never touches the money.
Stop Soldier Suicide · 501(c)(3) · EIN 27-3512119
Put your business behind the 22
Sponsor The Carry
This isn't a logo on a flyer. Your brand rides with everything The Carry makes — the website, every email, every social post and recap reel, the event shirts, the mile-marker signs, and the banner on trail day. Local eyes, all season, tied to something that matters.
This website
Every event email
Social posts
Reels & recap video
Event shirts
Mile-marker signs
Start & finish banners
Local press
Mile-marker signs
On the trail, every mile.
Event shirts
Worn all day — and long after.
Social & reels
In every post and recap.
The banner
On the trail day — and it hangs at VVR all year.
Examples for visual reference only — mockups to show where your name would go, not actual sponsors or placements.
Presenting
The whole event carries your name — logo on the shirts, the banner, the site, every email and every recap reel. Top billing, everywhere. One per year.
Stinebrink's Piggly WigglyFeed the Crew
Put the hot food at the finish. Your name on the table, in the thank-you, and on the banner that hangs at VVR all year and flies again next year. Everybody remembers who fed them.
Bonnie & Betty'sMile Marker
Your name on a mile-marker sign staked along the trail, plus a spot on the sponsor wall here and a thank-you post.
American Heating & Air Plus
Knights of Tile
Spiegelhoff Insurance
Next Door PubFriends of the Carry
Any amount helps keep the walk free and puts more boots on the trail. Your name on the site and a shout-out post.
Larry's Towing & Recovery
McClellan Sales & Service
A cause greater than ourselves
Why we do this
Anybody can post a thank-you once a year. The Carry is us showing up in person — boots on gravel — to prove a small town means it.
For the Hayes family, this isn’t abstract. Like too many families in small towns, they’ve felt the loss of a family member, to soldier suicide — and that is exactly why VVR carries. Not to dwell in the grief, but to answer it: to turn it into presence, into people who show up, into veterans who know, for certain, that they are not walking alone.
It brings people together the way a place like Lake Geneva runs on: neighbors and veterans walking the same miles, trading stories, making the connections a community is built on. And it keeps something alive that’s worth keeping — the plain American habit of cherishing the people who gave everything for the rest of us.
It costs you nothing but a Saturday morning. No fee, no minimum — just showing up, so every veteran on that trail knows a town like Lake Geneva hasn’t forgotten them, and never will.
Registration is open.
No separate RSVP needed — registering IS your headcount. Free, under a minute.
Free · takes under a minute
Register for The Carry
FAQ
Straight answers
If you're struggling, you don't have to carry it alone.
Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988, then press 1.
Call, text 838255, or chat online — free, confidential, 24/7.
Veteran Vehicle Repair
7187 Madaus Street, Lake Geneva, WI 53147
#TheCarry #VVRFamily #22TooMany