Rain poured down on the eighth annual toy run hosted by the Bordertown Harley Owners Group in Lloydminster.
“This is the first year out of eight that we’ve had bad weather. I had no idea who was going to show or who wasn’t going to show up. I was pretty comfortable that we would have some bikes come out,” says Chairperson for the toy run Guy Dudding.
Saturday morning saw 40 or 50 riders registered and ready to ride, which Dudding says is well under their normal turnout.
The event collects toys and cash donations each year and this year the donations will go to KidSport Lloydminster, the Community Youth Centre and Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Mayor Gerald Aalbers says the toy run is another example of the community supporting people in need.
“There are so many opportunities where different organizations get to step up and help support somebody’s that’s less fortunate. In this case, we’re going to see toys and money raised. It just helps out all those people in the community that need a helping hand, but at the same time brings people together.”
The event also saw the city accepting a sign for “Canada’s most rider friendly community 2017” to close out the evening. The sign is a result of a competition held in May that measures how local businesses interact with motorcyclists. Lloydminster beat out Drumheller in the final round of the contest.
“So when that process was going on and it was down to the end between us and Drumheller some of the comments I was hearing was that we don’t have the roads, we don’t have this and we don’t have that. It’s not about that. It’s about the support of the Lloydminster riding community, which came through in the end,” says Dudding.
Last year’s toy run raised $68,000. Dudding says he will be surprised if they beat that number this time around, but is hoping to raise over $60,000.