Faro throwing its support behind Children’s Hospital

LACONIA — Chris Heney has played in the “Battle of the Badges” charity baseball game for the past four years, and this will be his second year as a team captain. He participates not only because he’s a police officer who can play shortstop – he does it to make sure that young people can have access to the same level of care that helped restore him after a serious accident he suffered during high school.

Heney’s police officer team will play against a team of firefighters from across the state on Aug. 10 at Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester, the same field where the New Hampshire Fisher Cats play their home games. Heney is personally responsible for raising $1,250 for the game, which collects money to help families of patients at Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth.

Last year, Heney got help from Faro Italian Grille in Laconia, which signed up as a presenting sponsor of the game. Faro, which is managed by Heney’s wife, Bri, is again helping the cause – but is leveraging its connection to Laconia Motorcycle Week to make an even greater impact.

Faro is located across the street from the iconic Weirs Beach sign and, since the property was host to the Weirs Beach Lobster Pound, Faro’s predecessor, the restaurant’s expansive parking lot has been converted into an unofficial Motorcycle Week headquarters, filled with vendors and a large beer tent that hosts live entertainment throughout the week.

One of Faro’s vendor partners for Motorcycle Week is Indian Motorcycle, which agreed to offer a new motorcycle at a discounted rate for the restaurant to raffle. The bike, a 2018 Indian Chieftain Darkhorse, wears matte black paint and is valued at $25,000. But it can be won for just $20, since that’s the cost of one raffle ticket. The winner will be drawn at 6 p.m. on June 16 at the Laconia Roadhouse Beer Tent, located on the Faro grounds.

Raffle tickets can be purchased at Faro, or by calling Bri at 603-409-4201. The winner need not be present for the drawing.

Two days prior to the drawing, on June 14, the Roadhouse Beer Tent will host “CHaD Appreciation Day.” The day of support will start with the CHaD Charity Ride, which will be led by Buckcherry drummer Xavier Muriel. The ride sets out from the Roadhouse Beer Tent at 11 a.m. and returns at 1 p.m. The fee of $20 per person will include a traditional New England-style clambake.

For the rest of the day on June 14, all cover charges collected at the tent will be donated to the “Battle of the Badges” game, as will the proceeds from a silent auction taking place that day featuring signed sports memorabilia and a Jack Daniels guitar.

Last year, the baseball game raised $102,000, and organizers hope to beat that this year.

Heney, who works for the Meredith Police Department, said the money raised will directly benefit patients at the hospital.

“It’s not money for the hospital, it’s for children that can’t afford their procedures,” he said.

It’s a cause that hits close to home for Heney, who found himself in need of the life-saving staff and equipment at the hospital.

“I was a CHaD patient. Junior year of high school, I got into a snowmobiling accident,” he said. Heney, who was born and raised in Laconia, lost control of his machine on a trail in Belmont and hit a tree head-on. Amazingly, he didn’t break any bones or lose consciousness. The force of the impact, though, left him with extensive internal damage, several organs that were either ruptured or lacerated. Once that was discovered, he was med-flighted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock.

It took nine surgeries, the last of which finally wrapped up during his senior year, before he was able to move on with his life.

“They did so much for me,” Heney said, that as soon as he learned about the game, he knew he would be a part of it. “I wanted to be involved in a program that helps kids.”