Drive-by birthday celebration
By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
A massive fleet of bikers, car club members, first responders and other motorists gave an overwhelming surprise to a “gentle, kind-hearted” Washington Township teen Saturday in celebration of his birthday.
George Cole-Hough, known by many as “Georgie,” “is a really great kid,” according to his mother Christine Cole.
He officially turns 16 today, but on Saturday, through the efforts of Bikers Helping Others, the (American) Legion Riders, K-Dogs Kidz Mission, the Purple Heart Riders and others, George and Christine celebrated his special day from the front yard of their Rehoboth road home. More than 50 motorcycles, including one carrying Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster and another carrying Elmo, paraded past his house for an event dubbed “Georgie’s Sweet 16 Ride-by.”
“He knew there was something going on, but he couldn’t tell what,” Christine said. “We wouldn’t let him outside because we were decorating and putting up balloons on parts of the yard behind the house where he couldn’t see. Right before the parade started we let him come outside and I explained to him that he was about to get a special surprise that was just for him.
“The fire truck came over the hill and he could see the lights and hear the sirens with all the bikes revving in the background and he got tears in his eyes. He was so over the top happy, and of course seeing him cry made me cry.”
Christine said George has been looking forward to celebrating his 16th birthday party “for a long time,” and felt crushed when physical distancing guidelines and stay-at-home orders that came as a result of coronavirus mitigation dictated that he wouldn’t be able to have a traditional birthday party this weekend.
George is on the autism spectrum, and his mother said he is schooled remotely because he was bullied in public school when he moved back to the Mon Valley from Florida.
“He doesn’t have an ounce of mean in his soul,” Christine said, adding that George tries his best to not let bullies bother him. She said his “kind heart” has helped George to make a lot of friends of all ages, with whom he was hoping to celebrate his milestone birthday.
When Christine realized the party wouldn’t be able to happen, she started brainstorming and came up with the idea to use social media to ask all her friends, neighbors and family members to mail George a birthday card.
“I asked everyone to send him as many cards as possible so he would at least be able to go out to the mailbox and find cards that were just for him,” Christine said. “The reaction we got was overwhelming and kind of exploded from there.”
She said George got more than 70 birthday cards in the mail late last week and received another 23 in his mailbox this weekend.
When Dave Sethman, a member of BHO, Ed Hartley, a local motorcycle enthusiast, and Christine’s father in-law Leonard Cole heard about George being upset that his special birthday wouldn’t include a proper celebration, they decided to mobilize.
BHO members, according to Christine, were adamant about giving George a special day because, in the past, George has helped the group with special acts of kindness.
At Christmastime, George heard about a family that BHO was giving gifts to. He learned the kids in the family really wanted an Xbox and gave them an extra one he owned, free of charge. George also once worked with BHO to give a Cinderella dress to a local little girl who wanted to show the world that she is as special as a Disney princess.
“Dave (Sethman) said he knows that George is a selfless kid. He doesn’t ask for much,” Christine said.
After rallying a group of their fellow motorcycle riders, Sethman, Hartley and Leonard Cole appealed to local first responders, state Rep. Bud Cook and his staff as well as friends and neighbors to join them in driving past George’s house carrying signs, waving and tooting their horns.
Christine said her “friends, family and the community gave us an overwhelming reaction.”
“It was more than I ever dreamed or wished for,” she said. “It was very touching. When they came over the hill all you could see was bikes and bikes and bikes, and then you could see cars and cars and cars. It stretched all the way down the road.”
Christine said that as they passed by the house, some of the bikers stopped and from a distance sang “Happy Birthday” to George and gave him cards and gifts. She said Rep. Cook gave George a handmade card and a sporty jacket and Belle Vernon Mayor Gerald Jackson called George on the phone to wish him a happy birthday.
“That made him feel really special and was just over the top,” Christine said.
George said he is beyond grateful for the birthday love.
“The day was 200%. It was the best birthday I ever had,” George said, adding that he was very excited that his best friend, Noah Harold, drove by during the parade hanging out of the side of a van holding a sign that said “Happy 16th Birthday George” in block letters.
George was also touched that his brother Michael Cole, who is preparing to graduate from Northern Michigan University, and his grandmother Patti Hough-Leone and grandfather John Leone traveled from Florida to participate in the birthday parade.
“The efforts of our friends, family and community touched me from the bottom of my heart,” Christine said. “I thought he was going to have no birthday party and this is the amazing thing that our community pulled together. In the midst of all the negativity and sadness that is going on, it was really wonderful to see so many people take joy in celebrating his birthday.”