Four-wheel fun helps sick children

By CHARLIE BUTERBAUGH

	TRR photo by Charlie Buterbaugh (Click for larger image)

BETHEL, NY — Six hundred ATV enthusiasts had the rare chance on September 6 to ride 48-miles of open trails and assist two sick children with money raised at the fifth annual charity poker run, organized by the Sullivan County ATV Association.

The trail took riders, in groups of about 30, through the Iroquois Boy Scout camp, over privately owned tracts of land, to Eldred Preserve for lunch and back to the starting point at Hector’s Inn off Route 17B in Bethel.

Ed Houman, an organizer of the ride and one of five directors of the association, said the poker run gives ATV enthusiasts a chance to counteract negative perceptions of the sport and show landowners that they can ride respectfully. All landowners were contacted while the trail was identified, and after Saturday’s events, leaders from each group of riders volunteered to clean up.

“We have promised to leave the place cleaner than it was when we arrived. On Sunday, group leaders will take rakes and shovels and clean up the trail,” Houman said.

On the following Tuesday morning, Houman said the clean-up effort continued. The association raised close to $30,000, and after insurance costs and other bills are paid, Brianna Worden and Kylie Lowe, two sick children from Sullivan County, will each receive at least $6,000.

Every six months, Brianna travels with her parents from Grahamsville, NY to Children’s Hospital Boston to seek treatment for a rare, incurable genetic disorder known as neurofibromatosis (NF), which causes tumor growth along her nerve passages. Tumors have grown along her spine and caused a curvature, and Brianna’s father, Robert Worden explained that doctors want to implant a rod that would grow with the child’s body and hopefully maintain straightness.

“Fortunately, we think Brianna has the less serious, Type I NF, though the tumors cause her a lot of pain. Despite that, she is upbeat and positive and responds to her classmates’ questions openly,” Robert said.

The funds will help the Wordens pay medical bills from six different medical specialists and pay travel expenses to Boston.

Robert Worden is the assistant superintendent of Tri-Valley’s secondary schools, where his wife, Janna, coaches cheerleading.