rachelh@myweeklysentinel.com
CANTON — The Canton Lions Club will host the first ever “Fall Foliage Tour of the Mountains” event on Saturday, Oct. 10, beginning in Canton.
“I’m a motorcycle guy,” said Frank Watson, who is organizing the event. “Back in the day, Canton was a real motorcycle mecca, with shops, race tracks, and more. I thought with the demise of everything else this year, this would be a good “re-generation” for the area to enjoy.”
Due to COVID restrictions, outdoor activities with safe social-distancing practices have been encouraged by the CDC and Pennsylvania Department of Health. Bradford County luckily has those options for travelers to enjoy, with our scenic forests, lakes and more.
“Adventure bike riding has become a very big thing. With our back roads and nice country, it’s a great way to draw people in from a long ways away and truly sell them on our area,” said Watson.
The event is partially made to help raise money for the Canton Fire Department, due to lack of funds from COVID-19 this year.
“We (The Canton Lions Club) do work for the Canton Fire Department and they couldn’t have their fireman’s fair this year. Due to that and other loses, a lot of their fundraising has been compromised. We wanted to help them out in some way. The Lions Club is to ‘serve’ our community. What better way to give than to give the fire department?” said Watson, when asked about where the donation will go to.
The Canton Fire Department is also going to run a ‘poker run’ during the same time, which ties into this event.
“They will also be first responders in case they are needed for the event,” said Watson.
The first ‘leg’ of the ride will start at 10 a.m. in downtown Canton and will be a 50-mile dirt road tour of Barclay Mountain, going into Shunk and ending at Sunfish Pond, just outside of LeRoy.
“We plan to go into Sunfish Pond to set up there for lunch to end that leg,” said Watson. “There will be hot dogs and hamburgers provided by the Lions Club for our riders to enjoy.”
At 1 p.m., a 50-mile tour of Armenia Mountain will begin.
Any street legal motorcycle is encouraged to attend. The cost is $20 to sign up. Route and street maps with GPS downloads will be provided.
“We hope it really takes off and it becomes an annual event. We will re-look at it every year as to whom the recipient is, depending what the ‘need’ in the community is,” said Watson.
For more information on the event or register for the event, go to www.cantonlionsmcshow.com or call 570-250-0174.