Save Bigg Rigg's Farm and Home
Don protégé
Background
Calvin Riggleman is an 8th generation farmer and US Marine combat veteran. His family has been farming in West Virginia since before the American Revolution. In late 2017, he came down with diverticulitis, an infection of the intestines, and had 2 feet of intestines removed to treat it. He was unable to work on his farm while he recovered for the next six months.
A month or so after he returned to farming in early 2018, record rainfall ruined his crop and left him with very little produce to sell. With limited income for over a year, he was unable to pay his mortgages for the farm and house (which he built with his own hands) and even lost his line of credit from Farm Credit, which he had normally used to buy supplies/seeds for the next crop.
His farm and his house will be foreclosed upon later this month (June 21st) unless he is able to pay off $10,000 for each ($20,000 total). Even if he is able to pay off the amounts due, he would not have enough capital to be able to start on the following harvest, which would cost another $20,000.
If we can raise $40,000, he could get up to date on his payments and have enough to get his farm, commercial kitchen and distillery back up and running again.
About Riggleman
Now that the details are out the way, let us tell you a little bit about Rigg. We reconnected for this cause with the guys from our unit, Bravo Company, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, for some stories. We’ve taken liberties to quote and paraphrase, but given the speed and level of detail of the responses, it’s clear that he is a very well respected and beloved member of Bravo. The dude is a Marine’s Marine.
He was our guy to keep spirits up. Every morning, when everyone else was miserable at 4:30 am reveille, he could be heard belting out “It’s a beautiful morning…YEA!!” Sundays were special in that every Sunday was “Sucker Free Sunday.” This meant that every Sunday morning started with Riggleman bellowing out from his rack, “Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!” in a loud professional wrestler promoter voice. Starting the day with some positive energy is always the way to go, and he never let us down.
With Riggleman, it's how he says things, he's dead honest to a fault and the hardest working guy you’ll ever meet. He’s gorilla strong salt of the earth. He went from a roadside fruit stand to seeing his products in Whole Foods. He went from not having an e-mail address to having his own eCommerce website (if only he had products to sell) . He can work all day on the farm and do his taxidermy projects all night, while building a house. But his work ethic doesn’t end with work.
In what surely ranks as the single greatest athletic accomplishment since Pheidippides ran overnight from Athens to Sparta, Calvin Riggleman completed the JFK 50-mile running race in mountainous western Maryland in 2005, despite absolutely no race training because of his work schedule on the farm. In fact, he didn’t even own running shoes until 2 weeks before the race. He finished the 50.2 mile race comfortably under 12 hours despite weighing at least 230 lbs at the time. To top it off, in every official race photo from the course, he can be seen posing a “gun-show” flex for the camera with a smile on his face, while all other competitors appear successively more exhausted and hollow-eyed.
That was just the first half of his day that day. After finishing the ultramarathon at approximately 5pm, he drove an hour, changed into Dress Blues, and attended the Marine Corps Ball the same evening. The NEXT DAY, he hosted the day-long extravaganza known as “Squirrel Fest” at his West Virginia home . He was heard saying, “I don’t know why people train for those things” while hammered at the Ball.
It’s not just those of us who served with him who love the guy. Over the years, his face has popped up in multiple articles, news segments and even a PBS documentary featuring Bigg Rigg. It’s no surprise because his personality is infectious. Former First Lady, Michelle Obama, included him in her cookbook (he received nothing for it).
Don't like Michelle Obama? That's ok, because President Trump shared his face on Facebook (1:40) as well (he didn’t receive anything for this one either).
Don't like Trump? Well, Chef Lidia Bastianich included him in her documentary, 'Homegrown Heroes.' (starting at 31:37)
Have no idea who Lidia Bastianich is? It's all good, neither do we. But she clearly has great taste in Hardworking Patriotic American Veterans/Farmers. She probably loves him because he is the reigning Maple Syrup Chugging Champion of Iraq 2003. EDIT: It has been confirmed that he is NOT the Maple Syrup Chugging Champion. He merely got Honorable Mention for not throwing up.
But that’s not to say Rigg doesn’t have the stomach of a goat. While out on libo one night, Big Rigg and a waitress argued the finer points of the American Culinary Classic, the hamburger.
“How would you like your hamburger cooked?”
“Raw”
“Sir, we can’t do raw”
“Well that’s how I want it”
“Let me see what I can do”
A few minutes later, the waitress appeared with a hamburger and said “we had to let each side at least touch the grill”
“Great thanks” as Rigg eats the entire raw hamburger.
Not only would he risk his life with raw foods, but Rigg would do the same for his fellow Marines, including using his own body to shield others from fire. While running riverine ops on the Euphrates in 2006, he and his platoon were caught in an 8 hour firefight. One of the Marines on his boat was hit pretty badly and lost a thumb. Riggleman, who is returning fire, looks down to check on the wounded Marine and pays homage to Gilligan’s Island by saying, “you’ll be ok little buddy” and giving a thumbs up before continuing to lay down the heat. He can lift your spirits when you need it the most.
The guy’s record is spotless, errr, except for that time he was charged with attempted murder in Iraq. But that doesn’t really count because he was found innocent and the charge was shaky at best.
What happened was that he was asked to watch Pinchy, a friend’s pet scorpion, while the friend was away on patrol. However, Pinchy, being the sneaky little scoundrel, found a way to escape Riggleman’s careful watch. Later that night, a scorpion was found in a Marine’s sleeping bag. After a small racket and more than a few high pitched screams, Riggleman was charged with attempted murder. Rigg was acquitted of all charges by a jury of his peers in what will go down as the most theatrical and ridiculous trial of the century.
Location: Somewhere in Ad-Diwaniyah, Iraq
To be clear, Rigg is not looking for a handout. That’s not the kind of guy he is. He was originally against a GoFundMe, but only agreed to it if he gets to send out a thank you package with some goodies from his farm, kitchen and distillery once he's back on his feet to everyone who contributed at least $50. Here's a list of products below to give you an idea of what he's produced in the past.
Farm
Lettuce, Spinach, Squash, Zucchini, Bell Peppers, Hot Peppers, Tomatoes, Eggplant, Winter Squash, Pumpkins, Corn, Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, Onions, Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Bok Choy, Swiss Chard, Kale, Green Beans, Peas, Peaches, Apples, Cherries and Plums.
Kitchen
Sweet and Sassy Barbecue Sauce, Awesome Sauce, Bold and Spicy Barbecue Sauce, Hot Pepper Jelly, Pecan Pie Jelly, Peach Jam, Blackberry Raspberry Jam, Apple Butter, No Sugar Added Apple Butter, Ramp Mustard, Ramp Barbecue Sauce, Pasta Sauce, Bloody Mary Mix, Carolina Barbecue Sauce, Peach Barbecue Sauce, Fiery Horseradish Mustard and Spicy Beer Mustard.
Distillery
Apple Pie Moonshine, Peach Moonshine, Clear Corn Whiskey, Naughty Oak, Raspberry and Black Walnut.
Anything you can do to help is very much appreciated. A dollar or even a share on Facebook or other social media would be greatly appreciated as well.
Thank you for taking the time to listen. Riggleman’s a legend, but like everyone else, is human and goes through rough stretches every once in a while. Let's help the man get back on his feet.
Semper Fi,
His Brothers from Bravo Company, 4th LAR Battalion, USMC
Calvin Riggleman is an 8th generation farmer and US Marine combat veteran. His family has been farming in West Virginia since before the American Revolution. In late 2017, he came down with diverticulitis, an infection of the intestines, and had 2 feet of intestines removed to treat it. He was unable to work on his farm while he recovered for the next six months.
A month or so after he returned to farming in early 2018, record rainfall ruined his crop and left him with very little produce to sell. With limited income for over a year, he was unable to pay his mortgages for the farm and house (which he built with his own hands) and even lost his line of credit from Farm Credit, which he had normally used to buy supplies/seeds for the next crop.
His farm and his house will be foreclosed upon later this month (June 21st) unless he is able to pay off $10,000 for each ($20,000 total). Even if he is able to pay off the amounts due, he would not have enough capital to be able to start on the following harvest, which would cost another $20,000.
If we can raise $40,000, he could get up to date on his payments and have enough to get his farm, commercial kitchen and distillery back up and running again.
About Riggleman
Now that the details are out the way, let us tell you a little bit about Rigg. We reconnected for this cause with the guys from our unit, Bravo Company, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, for some stories. We’ve taken liberties to quote and paraphrase, but given the speed and level of detail of the responses, it’s clear that he is a very well respected and beloved member of Bravo. The dude is a Marine’s Marine.
He was our guy to keep spirits up. Every morning, when everyone else was miserable at 4:30 am reveille, he could be heard belting out “It’s a beautiful morning…YEA!!” Sundays were special in that every Sunday was “Sucker Free Sunday.” This meant that every Sunday morning started with Riggleman bellowing out from his rack, “Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!” in a loud professional wrestler promoter voice. Starting the day with some positive energy is always the way to go, and he never let us down.
With Riggleman, it's how he says things, he's dead honest to a fault and the hardest working guy you’ll ever meet. He’s gorilla strong salt of the earth. He went from a roadside fruit stand to seeing his products in Whole Foods. He went from not having an e-mail address to having his own eCommerce website (if only he had products to sell) . He can work all day on the farm and do his taxidermy projects all night, while building a house. But his work ethic doesn’t end with work.
In what surely ranks as the single greatest athletic accomplishment since Pheidippides ran overnight from Athens to Sparta, Calvin Riggleman completed the JFK 50-mile running race in mountainous western Maryland in 2005, despite absolutely no race training because of his work schedule on the farm. In fact, he didn’t even own running shoes until 2 weeks before the race. He finished the 50.2 mile race comfortably under 12 hours despite weighing at least 230 lbs at the time. To top it off, in every official race photo from the course, he can be seen posing a “gun-show” flex for the camera with a smile on his face, while all other competitors appear successively more exhausted and hollow-eyed.
That was just the first half of his day that day. After finishing the ultramarathon at approximately 5pm, he drove an hour, changed into Dress Blues, and attended the Marine Corps Ball the same evening. The NEXT DAY, he hosted the day-long extravaganza known as “Squirrel Fest” at his West Virginia home . He was heard saying, “I don’t know why people train for those things” while hammered at the Ball.
It’s not just those of us who served with him who love the guy. Over the years, his face has popped up in multiple articles, news segments and even a PBS documentary featuring Bigg Rigg. It’s no surprise because his personality is infectious. Former First Lady, Michelle Obama, included him in her cookbook (he received nothing for it).
Don't like Michelle Obama? That's ok, because President Trump shared his face on Facebook (1:40) as well (he didn’t receive anything for this one either).
Don't like Trump? Well, Chef Lidia Bastianich included him in her documentary, 'Homegrown Heroes.' (starting at 31:37)
Have no idea who Lidia Bastianich is? It's all good, neither do we. But she clearly has great taste in Hardworking Patriotic American Veterans/Farmers. She probably loves him because he is the reigning Maple Syrup Chugging Champion of Iraq 2003. EDIT: It has been confirmed that he is NOT the Maple Syrup Chugging Champion. He merely got Honorable Mention for not throwing up.
But that’s not to say Rigg doesn’t have the stomach of a goat. While out on libo one night, Big Rigg and a waitress argued the finer points of the American Culinary Classic, the hamburger.
“How would you like your hamburger cooked?”
“Raw”
“Sir, we can’t do raw”
“Well that’s how I want it”
“Let me see what I can do”
A few minutes later, the waitress appeared with a hamburger and said “we had to let each side at least touch the grill”
“Great thanks” as Rigg eats the entire raw hamburger.
Not only would he risk his life with raw foods, but Rigg would do the same for his fellow Marines, including using his own body to shield others from fire. While running riverine ops on the Euphrates in 2006, he and his platoon were caught in an 8 hour firefight. One of the Marines on his boat was hit pretty badly and lost a thumb. Riggleman, who is returning fire, looks down to check on the wounded Marine and pays homage to Gilligan’s Island by saying, “you’ll be ok little buddy” and giving a thumbs up before continuing to lay down the heat. He can lift your spirits when you need it the most.
The guy’s record is spotless, errr, except for that time he was charged with attempted murder in Iraq. But that doesn’t really count because he was found innocent and the charge was shaky at best.
What happened was that he was asked to watch Pinchy, a friend’s pet scorpion, while the friend was away on patrol. However, Pinchy, being the sneaky little scoundrel, found a way to escape Riggleman’s careful watch. Later that night, a scorpion was found in a Marine’s sleeping bag. After a small racket and more than a few high pitched screams, Riggleman was charged with attempted murder. Rigg was acquitted of all charges by a jury of his peers in what will go down as the most theatrical and ridiculous trial of the century.
Location: Somewhere in Ad-Diwaniyah, Iraq
To be clear, Rigg is not looking for a handout. That’s not the kind of guy he is. He was originally against a GoFundMe, but only agreed to it if he gets to send out a thank you package with some goodies from his farm, kitchen and distillery once he's back on his feet to everyone who contributed at least $50. Here's a list of products below to give you an idea of what he's produced in the past.
Farm
Lettuce, Spinach, Squash, Zucchini, Bell Peppers, Hot Peppers, Tomatoes, Eggplant, Winter Squash, Pumpkins, Corn, Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, Onions, Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Bok Choy, Swiss Chard, Kale, Green Beans, Peas, Peaches, Apples, Cherries and Plums.
Kitchen
Sweet and Sassy Barbecue Sauce, Awesome Sauce, Bold and Spicy Barbecue Sauce, Hot Pepper Jelly, Pecan Pie Jelly, Peach Jam, Blackberry Raspberry Jam, Apple Butter, No Sugar Added Apple Butter, Ramp Mustard, Ramp Barbecue Sauce, Pasta Sauce, Bloody Mary Mix, Carolina Barbecue Sauce, Peach Barbecue Sauce, Fiery Horseradish Mustard and Spicy Beer Mustard.
Distillery
Apple Pie Moonshine, Peach Moonshine, Clear Corn Whiskey, Naughty Oak, Raspberry and Black Walnut.
Anything you can do to help is very much appreciated. A dollar or even a share on Facebook or other social media would be greatly appreciated as well.
Thank you for taking the time to listen. Riggleman’s a legend, but like everyone else, is human and goes through rough stretches every once in a while. Let's help the man get back on his feet.
Semper Fi,
His Brothers from Bravo Company, 4th LAR Battalion, USMC
Organisateur et bénéficiaire
Robert Seo
Organisateur
Augusta, WV
Calvin Riggleman
Bénéficiaire
