Despite some freezing temperatures on the trail, the Cutter Rally for Cancer saw strong support in its 22nd year in Lloydminster.
“It started 22 years ago with the East West Chapter of the Alberta Carriage Association,” said Tammy Hampel, event co-organizer. “We had lost a member to cancer ourselves.”
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The event took place at the Lloydminster Exhibition, Feb. 28, with riders hitting the Ron C MacDonald trail.
For organizers, the event is a chance for everyone to come together in support of a good cause.
“We wanted to pull together the driving world,” said Hampel. “We know there’s a lot of people that didn’t compete like we do at the driving club, but there’s still drivers out there.
“The idea was to get us all together and support the cancer cause.”
Co-organizer Mike Sidoryk said he’s proud of the work they’ve been putting in hosting the event.
“We’re pretty proud of the fact we’ve probably given a minimum of $240,000 to cancer care,” he said. “We’re very proud of the fact we’ve supported the Lloydminster Region Health Foundation and provided equipment for the cancer care ward.
Christian Apostolovski – Meridian Source
Sidoryk says they’ve provided equipment like chairs, vein finders and blanket warmers, among other items.
A portion of the funds are also given to the Haying in the 30s organization.
“Their goal is to give individual people the funds to get to the facility we are supporting,” said Hampel, noting a portion of the funds raised support a bursary and a scholarship.
When it comes to bringing the Cutter Rally for Cancer to life, Sidoryk says they partner with organizations such as the East West Chapter of the Alberta Carriage Driving Association and the Lloydminster Exhibition.
“We have formed our committee to work on behalf of both associations. We have the Baptist Church, who’s a partner as well, and they help us provide a lot of the volunteers,” he said.
During the event, participants go to different checkpoints and roll a dice with a chance at winning a cutter, a harness package, or $2,500.
“People go out on the trail on their horse and wagon, horse and buggy, horseback, some are even out there walking the whole trail, maybe not today with it being so cold,” said Sidoryk. “It’s a great opportunity for people to get out and mix and mingle and do what they enjoy with the horses and cutters.”
This year also included an event to honour a past committee member.
“We have one (event) called Pop One for Leo. We recognize one of our most recent past committee members, Leo Oestreicher,” he said. “We have 125 balloons that we sell. The winner of that pop wins a beautiful fire pit.”
Presales for the event looked good, with the day historically drawing 300 people.
“We probably had our largest, one of our largest, presales for tickets,” said Sidoryk. “We generally have about 300 people come to the banquet.”
He says without the support of the community and volunteers, the event wouldn’t be possible.
“We just want to thank our many participants, our many corporate donors and our many volunteers,” he said. “We have an amazing team, committee that put this whole event together and all the contribution needs to go to the committee members.”
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