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Touring elk country

PHOTO PROVIDED Over 400 riders came out to look for elk.

From staff reports

LOCK HAVEN — Central Mountains All Terrain Vehicle Association held its 7th Annual Tour for Elk and Toy Drive on Nov. 10 and 11 in Benezette, with the members-only ride having an amazing combined turnout of 405 riders and 224 machines!

Registration took place first thing at the Elk Visitor’s Center ECCO building and then the group broke down into groups to enjoy a wonderful catered lunch by the Benezette Hotel and a visit to the Benezette Winery Store. The wine shop seemed to be a big hit.

The event kicked off at 11:30 a.m. and everyone returned to the visitors center by 4 p.m. They rode on the township roads which are open to ATV’s in Benezette Township and some private land that CMATVA has permission to ride on.

Of course, every group is not going to have the same experience but in total CMATVA members saw 60 elk on Saturday and 255 on Sunday. Everyone had a good time visiting the Elk Visitor’s Center and they even had an opportunity to watch a movie on how elk were brought into Pennsylvania.

PHOTO PROVIDED The group saw 300-plus elk over the two days of riding.

CMATVA collected close to 450 toys for its Toy Drive portion of the ride which was up from last year. The group will be presenting the toys to the 24th annual Mark the Shark Toy Drive on Dec. 9, at 10:30 a.m. at Walmart in Mill Hall. This event is sponsored by the radio station WSQV 92.1 FM in Lock Haven and the toys are distributed through local charities with the help of students from Central Mountain Middle School and the Lock Haven Area Jaycees.

A special thank you goes out to everyone who made this year’s 7th Annual Tour for Elk and Toy Drive such a success. There’s a remarkable group of dedicated members who helped in many ways from parking to registration and keeping the group rides organized and everything moving throughout the day.

Parking for all the trucks and trailers was made possible by Benezette Township and Andy Tuttle who allowed the group to use his fields, thank you all for this. And lastly, thank you to the Elk Visitor’s Center, Benezette Hotel and Winery and the community for their accommodations and hospitality.

You can see the pictures from our 7th Annual Tour for Elk and Toy Drive on our web site. www.cmatva.org and our Face Book page.

Once again, the folks from Brapp / Outdoorz Mag had an opportunity to tag along with the group and we had a blast… a cold blast, but a blast none the less, as temps were in the low 20’s on Saturday and windy keeping most of the elk herd under cover of the deep woods. The weather however didn’t discourage the crew from the CMATVA both riders and volunteers alike, let alone all the local folk who braved the cold to help support this event. Thanks to Yamaha Motors USA for providing us with a great ride and the town of Benezette for recognizing that off-road riders can be responsible and a great source of revenue for local economies.

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