It is once again that time of year, time to come together in community spirit with the Wetaskiwin and District Heritage Museum for the fifth annual Al Lund Memorial Motorbike Ride.
The yearly event will be held Sept. 10 and is one of the museum’s major fundraisers.
Five years ago Al Lund passed away. “He was an avid motorcycle rider and also very involved in the community and the heritage museum,” said Karen Aberle, Wetaskiwin and District Heritage Museum executive director and chief curator.
Over the last four rides the memorial event has worked to bring motorcycle enthusiasts out to ride, raise funds and remember one of their own.
“That is the drive behind the ride itself,” said Aberle.
Aberle says in the last few years, and continuing on this year, the museum is cultivating the event in two directions to also make it more appealing for those not interested in the motorcycle component. “We, the last five years, have developed it into an opportunity to come together, as he was community minded.”
The day of the event opens with a pancake breakfast and everything wraps up later in the afternoon with a delicious barbecue.
The Al Lund Memorial encompasses both the Al Lund Memorial Motorbike Ride and the Al Lund Memorial Community Eats.
The pancake breakfast and registration kicks off at the West Fire Hall between 9 and 10:30 a.m. Single riders can register for $30, doubles for $50. Rregistration may also be done ahead of time at the Heritage Museum. Those who raise $100 in pledges ride and eat for free.
Non-riders can partake in the breakfast for $5, and eat at the barbecue for $10; which will take place downtown at the Wetaskiwin and District Heritage Museum from 2 to 4 p.m.
Aberle says last year’s ride posed a new set of challenges for the museum.
Due to weather the event saw only 18 riders register, a fall from the usual 50 to 75 riders. This meant, as a major fundraiser for the museum, it did not see the same results as previous rides had.
However, looking back, Aberle says she cannot see the day as a disappointments, because even without the usual number of riders community members still rallied together to give their support to the event the best they could.
amelia.naismith@pipestoneflyer.ca