ATV Riders Praise BMC Relay Team

by Barbara Mastriania

RENOVO — Linda and Bob Nitkowski from Mountaintop in northeastern Pennsylvania were among the nearly two hundredparticipant/drivers of all terrain vehicles Saturday for the fourth annual Bucktail Medical Center Relay for Life ATV ride.

The Nitkowki’s are members of the Valley ATV Club, one of the sponsors of the BMC Relay for Life. This was their third time to do the ride. At the first rest stop their quad would not start. Immediately volunteers were there to try to get the machine working and when it didn’t they loaded it on a truck and took it back to the starting point, Heritage Park where they unloaded it.

The volunteers included Renovo Firefighter Josh Kepler and his daughter Charlene, “Charlie.”

They were the first back, but not because they wanted to be, and the first to eat, a pleasant and delicious chicken dinner made by Tom Tarantella Sr. and Tom Jr. and BMC staff members. “We wanted to ride, we were really looking forward to it,” Bob said. “This is one of our favorite ATV rides.”

They are fond of the trails in this area they said. They come here regularly to ride the Whiskey Springs and Snow Shoe trails. And, they miss the Whiskey Springs ride because the trail is closed for now as the mine reclamation work is under way.

They were really impressed by the way the volunteers quickly and competently were there to aid them when the quad broke down. “The volunteers were super nice,” Linda said. Bob added, the Renovo ride “is one of the best organized rides, I look forward to it every year.”