Small town Sundays #3

I’m playing a little loose with the rules again but it’s the long weekend, so what the heck. This week’s #SmallTownSunday is actually another Saturday, but with good reason! If ever there was a perfect day for riding, this may be it. And it was definitely worth the trip to Arthur.Amie Tedesco invited me to Arthur for the annual Get In Touch For Hutch walk and run. It’s a story of triumph from tragedy.

Steven Hutchison was just 18 years old when he took his own life. Nobody saw it coming and his family — along with pretty much all of Arthur — is determined to see that something like it never happens again. The same year they lost their son, Myrna and Stu Hutchison started the #GetInTouchForHutch event to raise awareness of mental health issues. They also raise money, and lots of it. #GetInTouchForHutch has raised an average of $65,000 every year to support various youth mental health organizations, including Wes For Youth Online. And the support is simply incredible.

When we first started our Carstar Walk to Make Cystic Fibrosis History more than ten years ago, we might get about 100 walkers each year. Now we boast a walk with 600-700 participants every year. Well, #GetInTouchForHutch also gets about 600 participants, and it’s only in year number four. It’s like the entire town of Arthur shows up! And it’s heartwarming as heck.

Kudos to Myrna and Stu for spearheading this, and to the entire community of Arthur for supporting it year after year. It was great to meet so many passionate people today, not to mention a few listeners! We love our small towns! And since this is the long weekend, we just might make room for an official #SmallTownSunday tomorrow. ;)

See ya on the road,

Farwell