The Grand Forks ATV (all-terrain vehicle) Club is hoping to get more seniors involved in its hobby and has successfully applied for a federal grant to make it happen.
It was recently announced that the club had been granted $25,000 through the New Horizons Seniors Program (NHSP), which the club will use for the Get Up, Get Out, Join In, Ride Safe program, which will promote safe and responsible operation of ATVs and responsible environmental stewardship amongst other things.
“This funding will be used to develop an ATV safety course, trail maps and to hold social events to encourage seniors and families to participate in club activities,” explained Okanagan-Coquihalla MP Dan Albas, who was speaking on behalf of the federal government. “By organizing activities to promote interaction between seniors and adolescents, we can reconstitute enriching relationships between our generations.”
Work on the application for the NHSP began last fall, according to Grand Forks ATV Club VP Doug Zorn and the club found out that it was successful this past spring.
“It’s primarily for seniors, or people that are near senior, to introduce them to sport of ATVing and to get them out and enjoying the surrounding area,” Zorn said of the club’s new program. “The more information we have – maps, the difficulties, how big of a machine to ride – for seniors, we feel seniors can be safer and have more knowledge about how to get out there and where to ride,” he said.
Zorn also said that there would be a seniors’ play day coming up to familiarize seniors to ATVing – the event is being planned for Oct. 19 or 20.
“That will introduce people to ATVs and sizing of the ATV and the safety involved in riding,” he said.