LINDBERGH - Alberta’s Iron Horse Trail was bathed in warm sunshine as the 14th Annual 2nd Chance Trail Ride headed out of the Lindbergh staging area, heading south and east down the scenic route to Heinsburg for the first time since 2016, after eight years with Elk Point as their destination.
Less than four hours later, the entire Heinsburg staging area was filled to the brim with horse, horse trailers and wagons, with the scent of barbecued burgers beginning to drift on the air, bringing trail ride participants and visitors up the hill to the Heinsburg Community Hall, where the stage was loaded with a wide array of merchandise for the poker rally, raffle and door prize winners, and the buffet loaded with a seemingly endless supply of burgers and all the trimmings awaited the hungry crowd.
It is an event that involves “a lot of work and a lot of volunteers,” 2nd Chance Trail Ride Society president Ed Cadieux told the crowd, thanking both the many prize donors and the tireless cooks from B&R Eckels, a company that in the westbound years, also served up burgers at a stopping point along the trail to Elk Point.
After providing a brief rundown on the assistance provided to organ and tissue recipients with the funds raised at 2nd Chance trail rides and golf tournaments, he called up 2nd Chance founder Morris Irvine and a lineup of other organ and tissue recipients, who were all invited to share their stories with the crowd. Also on hand this year were both a live donor who had provided an organ to one of the recipients and a mother whose late son’s donated organs had saved another’s life.
Cadieux noted that Irvine is also a mentor who is “willing to sit down with recipients” to help support the process.
Irvine took over the microphone to not only thank those in attendance and the many supporters of the cause, but also provide the history of the first organ transplants in Alberta, dating back to 1997. Lyle Hines received a double lung transplant on October 11 of that year, with limited success. He received a heart and lung transplant on Feb. 10, 1998 and another heart and lung transplant again on Feb. 28, but passed away on March 27, 1988, going down in history as the first Alberta recipient to ever receive a heart and double lung transplant. Another early recipient, Myrna Centazzo, received a double lung transplant in 2000, extending her life until April 2012, as the transplant process improved with time.
“We are so lucky to have the doctors and nurses we have here in Alberta,” Irvine stated. “I can’t say enough about the work they do.”
Irvine concluded with a personal tragedy. “I lost my best friend, she’s the one who made things work.” His wife of 58 years, Fae Irvine passed away last August 28 after a vehicle crash, a massive loss to both the Irvine family but the 2nd Chance Trail Ride Society.
“We’ve had a really hard week,” daughter Cathy Ockerman told the crowd. “All the things she did, we didn’t even know how much she did. We really miss her. She was a tissue donor, and we hope the recipients of her tissues are thankful.”
“We are truly grateful for everything she did,” Cadieux said. “Thank you for listening to our stories.”
These remarks brought everyone to their feet for a round of applause in memory of the woman who did far more for the society and its events than everyone had realized.
The event wrapped up with draws for all the raffle and door prize draws, and announcement of the poker rally prizes, with $1,000 cash going to Chuck Jackson, a tailgate prize pack to Melinda McDowell, a flight for two to Yellowknife to Lori Nelson, an air conditioner and Lammles gift certificates to Lindon Nelson, the beer fridge to Yvonne Addey and cash 50/50 prizes to Michelle Wright, Shane Davis and Armand Boucher.
