When the Run for the Soul Motorcycle Run rumbled out on June 20, 2000, it was an opportunity for Greg Garringer to see his vision beginning to come true.

Two years earlier, Garringer, a chaplain at Ellsworth Correctional Facility, and prison warden Ray Roberts wanted to build a Spiritual Life Center smack in the middle of the grounds. But there were obstacles standing in their way. The biggest of those was the estimated $1.2 million price tag to build the facility.

While individuals like former chaplain Herbie Harris hustled, drumming up donations, Garringer considered other ways to raise money. It wasn’t long after a conversation with LeeRoy Charvat, a member of a local Christian Motorcyclists Association chapter, that plans for a poker run started coming together.

That was 20 years ago.

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