Frank Aulino, the founder of this event, was an active member and officer of the Longmont Moose Lodge.  He pulled his friends and local community businesses together to raise money for children who suffer from life-threatening diseases.  

 A father and grandfather, he was a man who cared for the welfare of children and went out of his way to do whatever he could to help.  In 1986 he originated a poker run as a benefit for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  

Participants in the event started the morning off with a breakfast at the Moose Lodge, and then they traveled along a specified course, stopping at certain points to draw a playing card.  At the end of the ride, the players turned in their 5-card hand with the hope it would be the prize- winning highest poker hand.  

A large amount of money was raised on the initial run and Frankie began making plans for the next year, which turned out to be an even bigger event, with increasing revenues and participants.  He was just coming off the high of that run and planning the next year's run when he died suddenly from a heart attack in July 1987.  

Frankie's Moose brothers who were left picked up the torch and organized a run that was later renamed in his honor. The Frank Aulino Ride for Children became an annual event, raising funds for Muscular Dystrophy, Denver Children's Hospital and the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Colorado.