WELLINGTON COUNTY — The Canadian Motorcycle Cruisers (CMC) 089 Guelph Chapter will be holding its inaugural Ride for Dementia on Sept. 23.
Riders will be showing support to those with dementia, their families and long-term care facilities with a parade of motorcycles.
The parade will be travelling to several long-term care and assisted living facilities in Wellington County.
“I was looking specifically for something to support Alzheimer’s, because my mom had passed from complications from dementia,” said event coordinator, Steve Adshade.
“The first officer of the Guelph chapter of the Canadian Motorcycle Cruisers, who I belong to, I met his wife when I first joined the chapter. She actually rode her own motorcycle, and now she’s in a long-term care home,” he said.
Adshade explained each CMC chapter has an executive they refer to as “officers.” Tom Williams is his first officer for the CMC 089 Guelph Chapter.
“Both Tom and myself, I guess at the same time, were looking separately for an event to support,” said Adshade.
Throughout this past summer, avid motorcyclists from CMC fundraised through a variety of events leading to World Alzheimer’s Day on Sept. 21.
“We’re doing this without a budget. Everything that we’re doing is volunteered time, money and there is no cost to the riders to participate,” he added.
Adshade told the Advertiser that since this is the first year for the event, the event is exclusive to the Canadian Motorcycle Cruisers to avoid issues with liability. They plan on opening it up to a bigger event in the coming years.
“All we’re doing is we’re requesting that any member that’s going to ride and participate in any of the prizes… that they have made a donation to Alzheimer Society of Ontario,” Adshade said.
The event will begin at Two Wheel Motorsport outside of Guelph at 8:30am with a departure at 9:45am.
The riders will then travel to St. Joseph’s Healthcare, LaPointe Fisher LTC, Eden House Care Facility, Wellington Terrace LTC, Caressant Care in Arthur, Strathcona LTC, Birmingham Retirement and finish off in Holstein.
To learn more or make a donation, visit cmcnational.ca or on.alz.to/CMC_Ride.
