The 8th Annual Visit the Villages Tractor Trek
Visit the Villages Tractor Trek is now in its 8th year as a signature fun-raising event for Eden Foundation. The ride this year is schedule for Saturday July 11th. This year, we've produced a special Tractor Trekker's Manual which will provide you all the information you'll need to help you have a successful ride and successful fund-raising experience. You can download that manual HERE. Visit the Villages Tractor Trek is a fund-raising event to support mental health recovery programs for individuals living our Southern Health Region.
If you're ready to register now, call us at 204-325-5355 and we'll send out a packet by mail which you can fill out and return to us. You can also register directly on-line. Click HERE to register on-line.
Two long-time members of our Tractor Trek will not be with us again. Martin Wiebe who brought his 77 Oliver to the Trek left us in February of this year and Bob Letkeman who faithfully drove the follow-up pick-up at the back of line, eating your dust every trip left us in October this last year. He couldn't make the trek in 2014 due to ill health and he was very sorry he couldn't be part of an event he'd been a vital part of in bringing to life. We'll miss these two people, so we'll ride in memory of Martin and Bob.
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| Martin P. Wiebe April 27, 1932 February 4, 2015 |
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| Bob Letkeman June 23, 1953 October 5, 2014 |
Like we've done in previous years, you'll arrive in Reinland and unload your tractor and there'll be a sign that matches the tractor number you were assigned after you registered. Then you're invited to come to visit the Check-in Table to the south of the Reinland Community Centre, drop off your collected donations and pick up the packet of information that will include this years Tractor Trek shirt and it will also include your meal tickets for both breakfast and lunch.
From there, make your way into the Reinland Community Centre for breakfast where you'll turn in your breakfast ticket. Breakfast is served as part of the Community Centre's fund-raising efforts and you're invited to bring guests with you and have them leave a generous donation for their community efforts.
We'll have a few preliminary opening comments and then Armin Ens, the chair of the Foundation will lead us on our way out of Reinland. Download the Manual and you'll see a detailed route for this years Trek.
Our destination this year is Eden Mental Health Centre where we'll have lunch together and staff will give us an overview of how the building is laid out, what services are provided and then we'll also hear about some of the dreams of administration and staff for the hospital.
When we're back on the road the return route to Reinland will go through Chortitz and a stop at Valley Christian Academy with an opportunity to step across the road to visit the Village Toy Shop. If you're planning on buying something there, tie a label with your name or tractor number on it and our follow-up pick-up truck will take it back to Reinland for you.
Once we're back in Reinland, you'll have some time to load your tractor and then supper will be at 6 pm and you'll need your supper tickets for that. You received two tickets in the package at check-in time earlier in the day and if you're planning in bringing an additional guest, you'll need to buy them when you register for the Trek. The community centre has limited seating and we'll need to be sure to remain within the seating capacity of the building. We're planning on forty tractors and each tractor will be assigned two tickets for a total reservation of 80 people. There will be room for another 40 at most. We'd love to fill the hall but at the same time we do not want to disappoint anyone either.
Besides the fun of making the awards, we'll have a silent auction again this year. Last year during the 2014 Tractor Trek we had a great time with the auction and the prizes up for auction were of significant value. Bring along a couple extra $20's to take part in the auction.
