Witches and warlocks gathered in costume at The Catch on Oct. 19, for the sixth annual Witches’ Ride fundraiser. Participants rode bikes together to the Caribbean Club where a partied ensued, including raffles, witches dance performance, costume and bike contests and more. The ride has grown from about 40 participants in its first year to almost 270 this year. The inaugural Witches’ Ride, spearheaded by Key Largo School’s Pam Caputo and Coral Shores High School’s Michele Thiery, was held in 2014 in honor of Jared McPeak, a CSHS graduate who passed away from a brain tumor. That year, money raised went to cancer research, and in the years following has gone to Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Florida Keys Hospice, Florida Keys Women’s Shelter, and the Joey Patterson Foundation. This year, all money raised was distributed among three deserving local families who have encountered hard times: the family of Stacey Lopez, single mother of three who tragically lost her life in a car accident; Ben Cosme, who has been waiting years for a kidney transplant; and Baby Noah, who has the very rare Niemann-Pick type C Disease.
