Farmington, Avon Scouts Riding for a Cure

Scouts from Troop 170, sponsored by the First Church of Christ Unionville, are doing multiple bike rides per week on the Famington Valley Greenway.

The rides serve two purposes; first, to train for the 30-mile MS New York City Traffic Free Bike Tour scheduled for October 5th; and, second, to earn the Cycling merit badge.

Troop 170 has been conducting a summer riding program for many years.  Scouts are often accompanied by parents and parent supervised siblings; a great family program.  On Tuesday, the scouts were joined by a black bear they named “Bubba” in the vicinity of the beaver pond in Avon.  On Sunday, the scouts saw a bald eagle fly over the Farmington River bridge with a trout wriggling in its talons, on its way to its nest just upstream.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body.  The cause of MS is still unknown – scientists believe the disease is triggered by as-yet-unidentified environmental factor(s) in a person who is genetically predisposed to respond.  MS is a disease that can afflict young adults like the boys in Troop 170.

On Sunday, October 5, the Troop 170 Lifesavers Team, along with 5,000 other people, will mount our bicycles for the most amazing ride of our lives at Bike MS New York City 2014. This annual outdoor cycling event, organized by the New York City – Southern New York Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, offers a chance to enjoy a traffic-free 30 mile route circling Manhattan.  We ride because the work that is being done by this organization raises awareness and funds toward finding a cure for multiple sclerosis, a progressive disease that has no known cure. This year’s goal is to raise $3 million to fund critical research and provide hundreds of comprehensive programs and services for the 12,000 people living with MS in New York City and Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam and Sullivan counties.

Troop 170 invites you to help make this year’s Bike MS NYC the biggest and the best ever.  Help us find a cure for this disease. Our commitment to the fight against MS will not end until a cure is found.  Each scout must raise $200 in donations in order to make this ride.  Please consider making a tax deductible contribution to make this ride possible for the scouts; and, to help find a cure!  Donations can be sent to Scoutmaster Bill Benson, 104 Boulanger Avenue, West Hartford CT  06110.  Checks should be made payable to Bike MS NYC.

Troop 170 has been offering an active, year round, program for the young men aged  11 to 17 for over 50 years.  To learn more about the progam, contact the scoutmaster at t558b@aol.com