The Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock team was greeted with some beautiful weather as they made their way into Port Hardy on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 25).
“We hit the road in Port Alice just before 9 a.m., it was a little foggy coming over, but as soon as we got to Highway 19 it was nothing but sunny skies,” said RCMP Cst. Kyle Dornan, the North Island’s rider this year.
After arriving in Port Alice on Saturday around 5 p.m., Dornan and the rest of the team were treated to a delicious dinner/fundraiser at the Royal Canadian Legion, where Port Alice ended up raising over $12,000 for children with cancer.
“In total, Port Alice has raised over $80,000 and has sent 54 kids to Camp Goodtimes,” said Dornan. “Ashley Boese has been absolutely fantastic, she’s been doing this for 10 years now and is a major key there in raising funds.”
After a hearty breakfast of pancakes, sausage, eggs and hashbrowns, the team left for Port Hardy, where they navigated the twists and turns on Highway 30 as best they could.
“The twists are turns are good,” laughed Dornan when asked about the “Frigon Road” that leads to Highway 19. “It’s a good start to the ride to help get everybody ready for the rest of the tour.”
The team arrived in Port Hardy around 11:30 a.m. outside the Chamber of Commerce building where they were greeted by Mayor Dennis Dugas and a crowd of onlookers who were excited to see more fundraising festivities.
Pediatric cancer survivor Weston Ireton was the junior rider again this year, and he handed Dornan a baggie full of money totalling $1,665.12 that he and his older brother Beckett had raised for Tour de Rock.
Beckett and Weston then took turns shaving only the top part of Dornan’s hair, as he’s saving the rest of it for when he reaches Nanaimo so he can buzz it off with his family members.
Lee Tannahill also had his head shaved, and then Tour de Rock alumni rider Sandra Boyd made the big cheque presentation, announcing that Port Hardy had raised $16,000 this year for Cops for Cancer.
Boyd noted fundraising for Tour de Rock started off a little bit slow, but then things started to pick up and “we were pretty stoked that in the end we raised $16,000 from the Port Hardy area.”
She said this means “eight kids are now going to camp” and she added she wanted to say “a big thank you to everybody that helped out.”
Tour de Rock arrived in Port McNeill on Sunday night for a special dinner at the legion, and then continued its ride on Monday to Woss.
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