“I am one among many” Riding with Purpose: Cruise for a Cure 2021
By Christopher Miller
Saturday is the day! Renovo ATV Cruise for a Cure 2021 by Bucktail Medical Center Relay for Life will be entering its second decade as a well-established fundraising event for the American Cancer Society on June 12.
This year’s guided ride, hosted by the BMC Relay for Life team and Central Mountains ATV Association is capped at tickets for 200 machines. As of the writing of this piece (Monday afternoon), tickets are still available.
The Record spoke with Joann Knauff, Diana Dorn, Chris Campbell, and Barb Bueno the “crafty girl,” just a few of the many event organizers in an interview last week. So far in its 11 year history, Cruise for a Cure has raised a grand total of $84,611.33 for the American Cancer Society. The annual goal of donations that BMC Relay for Life makes to the ACS is $10,000.
Private donations to Bucktail Medical Center and the American Cancer Society are of course always welcome. Ways that the organizers fundraise throughout the year include things such as the golf tournament (being held Sunday, the day after Cruise for a Cure), the annual Fall Mum Sale, Photoshoot for Kids, Spring Flowers for Mother’s Day, and a Paddle Bingo (quarter auction).
During the event there is a basket raffle, 50/50 drawing, and Memory Cards/In Honor Of Cards being sold to also fundraise for the ACS. Other activities happening throughout the day is the chicken dinner, vendors at the Flaming Foliage Festival Lot such as the regional favorite Mr. Sticky’s, breakfast sandwich sale at Citizens Hose Company in South Renovo, an All You Can Eat Breakfast at Renovo Fire Hall, and involvement of the local Boy Scout Troop at Quiet Oaks Campground in Cross Fork selling hot dogs, drinks, and other food to the participants. “All of Renovo gets involved for the event,” Wykoff stated.
As a bit of history trivia with the event, there were only 50 machines in its first year (4 times that now), and the event has brought people to the western Clinton County area from places as far away as Maryland, Ohio, New York, New Jersey and other northeastern states though the majority of the registrants make the trek from Pennsylvania.
Local historian and retired teacher Rich Wykoff is one of the folks instrumental in the organization of this annual event. As he reported to The Record, the largest Cruise for a Cure event saw 265 machines in 2017. When asked about the amount of planning that took place, Rich told The Record that there were many hurdles and hoops to jump through that thankfully elected officials in Harrisburg had a great hand in helping to clear the red tape. “In order to drive over Route 120/Huron Avenue we need to be escorted by police and fire through town,” Wykoff said.
These ATV rides have also welcomed state and local dignitaries such as the Secretary of PA DCNR, the Deputy Secretary for PA DCNR, state and local government officials, and Bucktail Medical Center Executive Tim Reeves.
Most importantly and certainly never overlooked, the ride is in memory and in honor of those fighting the daily battle with cancer. “If we know a survivor or a fighter is on the ride we put a ribbon on their machine, and there are several survivors who come back year after year,”Wykoff explained.
In fact, Wykoff himself is a cancer survivor. “I am one among many,” Rich explained to The Record. “It has been almost 20 years since I was first diagnosed, I was still teaching school at the time.”
“This fundraising adventure of the Cruise for a Cure is simply fantastic,” Wykoff explained. “I had a few close calls through my diagnoses, but I fought it and the treatments gradually improved from my first diagnosis through to my most recent.” “You meet many people on your cancer journey and you also get a lot of respect from those who have experienced cancer; they become your family,” Rich told The Record.
As what was explained to me, “Cruise for a Cure is not just an ATV ride, it provides more opportunities now that opens the door for more of this kind of riding,” Wykoff mentioned. “Many local businesses and organizations have also benefited from it…riding an ATV can be a safe event, and in the 11 years of our holding the event nobody has been hurt.” “Through consistent collaboration and improvement, the event gets better and better each year…if there was no collaboration, it would not work right.”
Special thanks for the planning stages, both initially 11 years ago and annually, are given to former State Representative Mike Hanna’s office, the Clinton County GIS Department, Henry Sorgen with Central Mountains ATV Association, DCNR, and PennDOT.
While Bucktail Medical Center does not have a cancer facility or treatment center on site, people seeking these facilities may reach out to the American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org or by calling 1-800-227-2345. The Clinic at Bucktail Medical Center and Dr. Conley’s office on Huron Avenue are also very good places to reach out to for applicable resources.
People or groups interested in purchasing a last minute “machine ticket” for Cruise for a Cure 2021 are encouraged to visit the eventbrite page at the link below:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/renovo-atv-cruise-for-a-cure-2021-tickets-138428747109
