THUNDER BAY - For Pam Pinese, heading out on the trail in an all-terrain vehicle is just some clean, hearty fun. Well, not necessarily clean, but that is what makes it so great, and what makes it even better is knowing that all her fellow riders are helping people right in their own backyard.
“I enjoy the mud, I enjoy all the people that you meet, it’s just clean muddy, fun,” Pinese said. “And it’s for Our Kids Count. I think it’s a great program and it’s an awesome ride. It’s a really good time.”
Pinese was one of more than 200 riders on Saturday participating in the Five Aces ATV Fall Classic Poker Run hosted by Halfway Motors and Equipment World Rentals.
The Poker Run serves as a fundraiser for Our Kids Count and it raised more than $15,000 in its first year for local programming. Patrick Trevisanutto, managing partner at Halfway Motors, said he expects the event’s second year to be even better, with the goal of raising more than $20,000.
“When you look at the people coming in, everybody loves to give and support our local charities that support people in town directly,” he said. “Because the main funds from this go to Our Kids Count and is helping people in our neighbourhoods and in our backyards, I think people see the benefits of coming to support this.”
The ride took participants from Mount Baldy down a 100 kilometre trek to East Loon Lake and back. The trail offered everything an ATV rider would want, from rough terrain, smooth open roads, to river crossings.
“It’s a great event, it gets everyone out and is one last hoorah for the summer and get the machines on the trail and go out,” Trevisanutto said. “It’s a good ride for everybody to come around and enjoy the time with company and enjoy all the amazing machines that everyone has.”
Trevisanutto added the sport is growing in the region, with more people participating in ATV events and just enjoying the great outdoors.
“It’s getting out and getting to places you can’t normally get to by any other means of transportation,” he said. “You can get 100 kilometres into the bush where probably no one else has been and see some spectacular scenery that we have in northern Ontario.”
And that is why Pinese got into the sport nine years ago and she said she was so pleased when the Five Aces ATV Poker Run came to the region in support of such a great cause.
Last year she came in third place, picking up the $250 prize, but this year she is hoping for the first place finish and the $1,000 prize.
“It is the best ride out there of all the fundraisers that are put on,” she said. “For as far as you can see there are nothing but machines. It will get bigger every year, I can guarantee it.”
