Groundspeed

ATV riders show support for Stirling couple
Posted By Megan Huff
http://www.communitypress.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1604976

Stirling – ATV operators turned out by the dozens Saturday morning to show their support for a Stirling couple.
Friends of Jill and Brett Haggerty of Stirling have been planning the event since February.
“We just wanted to do something nice for them,” said organizer Richard Anderson. “Brett has multiple sclerosis so it’s going to the family for personal use.”
As many as 105 people on all-terrain vehicles turned out for the 40-kilometre run from Stirling to Anson, then to Springbrook, and over to Crookston Road near Tweed, and back to Stirling. The cost of registration was $10.

Lunch was donated by McKeown Motor sales in Springbrook and 40 local businesses donated prizes and items for a silent auction held later in the evening. Items up for auction included jerseys donated by NHL players Matt Cooke, Rob Ray, Mark Dobson and Josh Bailey.

Later in the evening about 250 residents and friends of the family attended a benefit dance with band, Groundspeed, who also donated its services.

“We’d done some research about the MS Society and government funding, and unless you’re fully disabled, there isn’t much funding,” Anderson said. “We don’t want people to feel sorry for them, we want them to think this is a good thing.”

Anderson wouldn’t disclose how much money was raised by the benefit but said the Haggertys were appreciative of the community’s support.