You might find Catharine Rambeau sleeping in a motel or singing "Amazing Grace" while riding a motorcycle along a mountain road.

Rambeau rides her motorcycle across the country to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

St. Jude is special to her.

"It is a merciful place for children and their families,'' she said Thursday at a modest motel in Florence.

"It is bright and beautiful and family-friendly."

Rambeau pulled up in Florence on another ride for St. Jude. This one is called the 20 Cities/20 Weeks tour. She said she plans to visit 20 cities in 20 weeks. She started in Nashville and will end up in Memphis.

As she prepared to take off on her Honda 250 Nighthawk, she wore cowboy boots, pants and a T-shirt with the numbers 16,599 on it.

"That is the number of miles I have ridden since I started riding for St. Jude last year,'' said the 69-year-old former journalist.

"I ride to bring awareness to St. Jude and to raise money for research.''

In between rides, she writes a column, titled Warriors' Newsletter.

"I write it for the children at St. Jude because they are warriors,'' she said.

She is not alone on the road. Across the windshield of her motorcycle are pictures of Danielle, 7; Jakob, and Kayla, both 2, and Hayley, 12, who are patients at St. Jude.

"They remind me why I am riding,'' Rambeau said.

She describes Lantana, Texas, as the place where she has a house. But home to her is a motorcycle blazing down the back roads of America with cancer and kids on her mind.

To help, send donations to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Attn: Motorcycle, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.

Furman grad enters program

Emily Naish Leverone of Kenwood graduated magna cum laude from Furman University, Greenville, S.C., while maintaining a 3.7 grade-point average and being inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honorary society.

She has accepted a position in the executive management program with Target Corp. and will be in the Charleston and Hilton Head area in South Carolina..

She is a 2000 graduate of Ursuline Academy. Her degree is in business administration and Spanish.

Emily is the daughter of Steven and Mimi Leverone, Kenwood.

Float symbolizes unity

Diverse churches all over Greater Cincinnati recently participated in their third year of a program called KidsGames. And today, members of one community will see the results of their collaboration in a special parade float in Mt. Washington.

Children from Faith Presbyterian Church, 6434 Corbly Road, Mount Washington, and Mount Washington Baptist Church built the float together as part of the weeklong event. They will use tissue paper roses created by residents at the Sutton Grove, Corbly Trace and Arden Courts of Anderson senior living homes.

The float will roll in the 2 p.m. parade, co-sponsored by Faith Presbyterian and the American Legion. After the parade the legion will host a picnic and from 3:30 to 5 p.m., the church will host an ice cream social.

"The kids had a ball, and they're working on building relationships together, not only church to church, but person to person," said Jaren Erb, a volunteer at Faith Presbyterian who served on the KidsGames organizing committee.

More than 600 children at four locations have already participated in the event. The games involve churches in Over-the-Rhine, College Hill and Bond Hill, connecting suburban and urban churches across racial lines. Madisonville will host its KidsGames program the last week of July.

Programs included basketball, tennis, gymnastics, journalism and music.

"We believe nothing is like the laboratory of life, having kids of diverse backgrounds do things together," said Barry Baker, director of Cincinnati's KidsGames.

"There's two ways to change the culture of Cincinnati, one heart at a time and starting with tomorrow's leaders," Baker said. "If one child got a different perspective or a new way to look at another person, we've succeeded."

Next year, KidsGames will run July 23-30. For more information, call Baker at 314-0945.