By: Sara Wright Covington
Photos by Mary Carton

My husband and I knew something was wrong.

It was a Friday morning in June of 2015 and we sat alone in a darkened exam room at Huntsville Hospital while our 18-month-old daughter, oblivious to what was going on, slept curled in a ball on the exam table. It had been over an hour since the ultrasound of her abdomen, and the door had opened only once since then when a kind nurse brought in a warm blanket to make our baby more comfortable.

Eventually, a radiologist came in and quietly sat down in front of us. Above the roaring in my ears, I vaguely remember crumbling in my chair, nearly sliding to the floor as the doctor said the dreaded words no parent ever wants to hear: “Your daughter has a tumor on her kidney. We are sending you to St. Jude. Immediately.” The next few days, weeks and months were a blur of surgeries, medications, needle sticks and the antiseptic smell of hospitals.  And though there are many things I don’t remember from that time in our lives, I will never forget the unique bubble of St. Jude. I remember how much I dreaded going to this place for the first time to witness so many sick children and to deliver my own child into the hands of these skilled doctors and nurses. As renowned as I knew it was, just the very thought of it seemed, well, bleak. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. I imagine Danny Davis had this vision in mind when he founded the non-profit in 1960. In the midst of such serious sickness, you will never find a more upbeat, kind and empathetic environment.

I’m happy to report my daughter is nearly nine, healthy and thriving. For the most part, the only thing she remembers about St. Jude is that it’s that place she goes and always “gets a bunch of treats and lots of people she doesn’t remember fussing over how much she has grown.”

Although I confess St. Jude really wasn’t on my radar until 2015, in my hometown of Tuscumbia, Alabama, Dr. Jimmy Gardiner has been a fervent supporter of St. Jude for well over two decades, hosting what is now the largest Saddle Up for St. Jude fundraising event in the country–which includes hundreds of horses and trail rides, music, food, and much more. If you are from the Shoals area, you may have met Gardiner at one of his Singing River Dental practices where he has been practicing dentistry for over 30 years. On Friday nights, locals know him as the voice of the Deshler Tigers in Howard Chappell Stadium. In fact, I spoke with him over the phone recently when he was en route to a Friday evening football game where he was to be honored for being the Tiger’s announcer for 28 years.

On paper and in person, Gardiner is clearly someone passionate about serving his community, so I was eager to get to ask him a few things about how he managed to help raise over $3 million for an organization that is clearly dear to my heart. He recalls going to his first Saddle Up event which was held in Bankhead. “I went on the ride and it was fun, but I just really felt like our family farm would be a perfect setup to host it,” he says. Gardiner recalls going on his first tour of St. Jude in Memphis and how it was that very tour that motivates him to raise more and more each year. “Really just seeing the attitude of the people there, it was just a life-changing experience. I thought when I went on my tour that I was doing all I could do. But it was during that tour that I realized I wasn’t doing enough,” says Gardiner. “I started telling people and being more energetic about it. I definitely took it all more seriously.”  In 2007, Gardiner won Volunteer Coordinator of the Year from St. Jude, which Gardiner attributes to the dedication of a core group of about 100 volunteers who give their all each year.

Now in its 26th year, Saddle Up for St. Jude in North Alabama hosts about 5,000 people on average. With 400-500 horses and 300 acres of riding trails, patrons are able to enjoy the outdoors, great food and fellowship, and live concerts. This year’s event featured Sammy Kershaw, Aaron Tippin, Darryl Worley and Shenandoah and raised over $400,000.

When asked if he has any favorite memories from over the years, I hear him smile through the phone as he tells the story of a local woman and her daughter who recounted to Gardiner how they watched the fireworks show each year from their home on Colbert Heights Mountain. “I remember this lady telling me that she and her three-year-old daughter had watched our fireworks and knew it was from the Saddle Up event,” says Gardiner. “She said, ‘I remember thinking that’s great and all, but I won’t ever need St. Jude.’  A short time later, that little girl was diagnosed with childhood cancer and sent to St. Jude. She said, ‘The very first nurse we saw at St. Jude told us that my little girl looked like a future homecoming queen. Years later, that healthy young lady actually became the homecoming queen.”

As for his future plans for the project, Gardiner just wants to keep telling success stories. “We have the greatest group of volunteers in the country,” he says. “We just want to keep getting bigger and better and supporting this great cause.”