At 18 years old Paul Schelling got my CDL. He bought my first pickup and trailer and started trucking. He operated with the hot shot setup because he could usually get by running interstate commerce without being over that 21 year old threshold. Trucking went great and he loved every second of it. Soon, he and wife Stephanie expanded to 2 rigs and hired their first employee. That was 2012. Schelling said, “Things went well but I was really needing to get in a big rig so I sold out and went to work for Moret Trucking out of Sioux Center. It seemed to be the best route as we were newlyweds with our first daughter on the way.”
About 9 months after Schelling started driving for Ryan (Moret) he explains what turned out to be his first symptoms. He started experiencing drowsiness throughout the day and difficulty swallowing. “Well I’m 21 man, you don’t go to the doctor, simply because you’re bullet proof right?” he rationalized to himself. Explaining the turning point, Paul said, “This led on for a few weeks until I passed out behind the wheel. I came to doing 70 mph with the cruise set and on the wrong side of Highway 60 just a few miles from Sibley. That’s when my wife put her foot down and dragged me to the hospital.”
Orange City doctors confirmed without a doubt after a CAT scan that I had cat scratch disease and sent me home with antibiotics. The following week, a second opinion at Korver Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic started with Dr. Korver looking over the scan and promptly scheduling a biopsy for the following day. After the biopsy he consulted my wife and explained to her that I had a mass surrounding my jugular the size of an orange. It was Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. This mass had doubled in size since the cat scan a week prior. Schelling said, “The events that took place after this are still a blur. The Specialist said if we didn’t get to it ASAP I would have 6 months to a year to live. This is where we turned to the June E. Nylen Cancer Center in Sioux City. They put me in for 12 months of intense chemo therapy and testing.”
During treatment the immune system gets broken down. In order to continue working, Schelling explained, “I convinced Ryan to let me run flatbed to the oil fields in North Dakota so that I could continue working. There are a handful of diseases in hogs that can transfer to humans so I couldn’t continue trucking pigs. Those long nights in the truck cruising down I94 are when the idea of the poker run started to spawn.”
Schelling said that the care given at June E. Nylen had for their patients was second to none and, “I felt that I needed to somehow give back to them in exchange for my life!” He started calling a few other trucking buddies and threw plans together for the first poker run. “It wasn’t much,” he said. “26 trucks showed up to go on a 180-mile run and eat a meal served out of a crock pot. We debated calling it quits after finding out how much work it was and how much expense was involved. But man! are we glad we stuck to it! The event has grown tremendously over the past 5 years. We are working very hard at growing to our full potential.” They’ve set a goal. The 6-member board, of which Paul is the president, solicits sponsors for each event. The board’s mission is to act as good stewards of the sponsorship money by at least doubling the investment.
“Commercial Chaos for a Cure” was named that because of its roots. The brainchild of the event, Paul Schelling, and his supporters drive commercially for a living. Schelling described the first event was complete chaos, but the entire effort is to work toward curing the disease from each person it attacks. Schelling has been cancer free for 9 years.
In 2020 funds raised went to the June E. Nylen Center for Cancer to help purchase 2 new radiation machines. $80,000 purchased those machines. The 2021 target is for new PET scan machine for the June E. Nylen Center.
“Commercial Chaos for a Cure” is being hosted in Sanborn at Vander Haag’s Museum. Schelling gives much credit to Denny Postma and Joe McIntire for working with them. Part of “Railroad Days” events include a truck show and “Jake Brake” contest at the Industrial Park on the east side of Sanborn. Friday night activities include a light show (truck and trailer lights) and fireworks. Registration for the poker run begins at 8:00am Saturday morning. At noon the travel begins heading to Sioux Center, Hull, Sheldon, Sibley and Sanborn, ending around 6:00pm. Entry to the run is $45.00 and includes a t-shirt.
“This year we are hosting our event in conjunction with the Sioux County Fair in an effort to expose our cause even more. Continuing to do this it will open up opportunities for vendors and booth spots and a little bit longer event.”
The event at Sanborn is free and open to the public.