By

Alex Lambert


July 30, 2024

196

Share

Image

Killaloe – Over 150 cyclists and walkers took to the roads and streets of Killaloe and area last Sunday for the inaugural Tour de BeaverTails to raise funds for the Ottawa Valley Vision Project.

The original home of Canada’s favourite pastries celebrated its famous legacy of nearly half a century with four cycling routes and a stroll around the village, topped off with some sweet confections.

The Killaloe and Area Lions Club and the Ottawa Valley Cycling and Active Transportation Alliance (OVCATA) partnered to host event to raise funds with a goal of $40,000 for a new portable autorefractor for the Lions Club. The funding will also cover training for club members who plan to use trained volunteers to work extending this service across Renfrew County to schools, senior centers, and other potentially vulnerable sectors.

The entry fee was $75 for adult riders and $35 for youth and all walkers. The tour included a complimentary BBQ lunch at Station Park and the participants’ choice of a BeaverTail.

Ottawa Valley Vision Project spokesperson Jeremy Steenberg, the event’s so-called ‘poster child,’ didn’t hesitate when asked to make a cross-country trip from Vancouver Island to participate in the fundraiser.

He was one of the most eager riders Sunday and highlighted the value of encouraging the visually impaired to get active and have fun in their local community. He went on to lead by example, taking a tandem bike ride with his guide, Paul Jorgensen.

“It’s great to get out of the house, especially on a beautiful day like today and for this cause,” he said. “It’s just great to be athletic and outdoors.”

“Forty per cent of visually impaired people do not leave their house. So I want to encourage sight-impaired people to get out and enjoy the world.”

Mr. Steenberg also took to a tandem kayak to join the Killaloe Big Community Paddle in July, but he does much more than just cycling and kayaking in his spare time. He’s also involved with Ski for Light Canada, a week-long cross-country ski event for sight-impaired in Alberta, and has many more athletic hobbies.

“I’m on a blind curling team. I also do swimming, bowling, and dragon boating. A lot of the time I meet the same people because they’re the only ones who go out. I hardly ever meet new people since it’s such a small community,” he said.

Lions Club vice-president and event coordinator, Rachelle Clayton, said she’s incredibly proud to be a Lion.

“It’s a big-wig piece of equipment that checks people’s eyes to see if they have vision problems, she said. “It will also fund volunteer training so Lions can use the equipment in the county.

For folks who can’t afford glasses and have no coverage, there is a program through the OneSight Foundation where members can apply and get glasses.

“It’s really important for school-age kids. A lot of the kids have learning disabilities that affect them later on in life and a lot of the time it was vision, and it was never detected,” she said. “They go 12 years thinking they couldn’t read when it was the fact they couldn’t see it clearly.

“Doing the eye test is quick and easy. We don’t use eye drops or anything like that. We know immediately if there’s a problem and then they get you an appointment with an optometrist,” she said.

As a result of Sunday’s tour, she said the Lions are really close to raising the amount they thought they would raise.

“We thank everyone who participated in one way or another,” she noted.

Ms. Clayton also thanked the sponsors, Mike’s Tire Service, Castle Building Centres, Gerry’s Septic Pumping, Summer Bros. Ford, McCarthy Fuels, BeaverTails, the Killaloe and Area Lions Club and OVCATA.

OVCATA Director Ish Theilheimer, who co-organized the event with the Lions Club, said he was impressed by the level of community support.

“Everything went well,” he said. “We have a great committee that worked on it. The partnership between the OVCATA and the Lions Club, everything was great.

“It’s a great bunch of people working together,” he said. “I love these roads. I love the community of Killaloe, and I wanted to bring people to share its beauty.”

The ‘Around-the-Town’ classic took families for a short but enjoyable 5 km walking tour through the streets of Killaloe, beginning and ending at Station Park. The 11 km family ride followed the same route but checked out Old Killaloe before returning to Station Park.

The ‘Rail Trail Gravel-Arama’ 50 km trail took cyclists with wider tires for a mix of gravel and paved roads, along the old Canadian National Railway right-of-way and past the birthplace of BeaverTails at the 1978 Killaloe Craft and Community Fairgrounds.

‘BeaverTail Beauty’ was a 63 km trail through the gently rolling hills and rural landscape between Killaloe, Foymount, Cormac and Pikwakanagan.

The ever-challenging and remarkably scenic 97 km ‘Killaloe Sunrise Spectacular’ brought riders through the scenic Wilno and Opeongo Hills, past parks and beaches and a monument to the heroes of the Warsaw Uprising during WWII.