The Citizen, 2015-05-07, Page 32A dozen local cyclists, comprised
of both rookies and veterans, will
soon be putting rubber to the road
for a good cause as part of the Ride
to Conquer Cancer on June 13-14.
Jeff Josling, a firefighter with the
Fire Department of North Huron
(FDNH), is the team’s captain and
was the driving force behind the
team’s creation late last year.
Josling specializes in maintenance
at Bruce Power, while also
volunteering his time as a firefighter.
As a man who has spent his life
fixing things and making bad
situations better, it was when he
experienced a truly helpless feeling,
unable to improve the situation
himself, that he first conceived a
Blyth-centred Ride to Conquer
Cancer team.
Josling’s father Paul began his
second bout with cancer last year
and Jeff felt there was nothing he
could do to make the situation better.
“When my dad got sick, I had this
awful helpless feeling,” Josling said
in an interview with The Citizen.
“My whole life I’ve worked in
maintenance, I’ve been a firefighter,
so I’m used to making things better,
so there was this terrible
helplessness and I looked for
something I could do.”
Josling quickly came upon the
Ontario Ride to Conquer Cancer, an
annual event that benefits the
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.
The event is Canada’s largest
cycling fundraiser. This year’s ride
will be the eighth annual and over
the past seven years, participating
cyclists have raised over $119
million for the Cancer Centre.
While there are a number of
different route options, Josling has
opted to ride “the Classic” which is
an epic, two-day ride from Toronto
to Niagara Falls in one weekend
with a Saturday night stop-over in
Hamilton.
By his own admission, Josling is
no cyclist and training has been
tough, but he said it is worth the
work for such a worthy cause. He
said that training and enduring the
physical grind of a 200-kilometre
bike ride is a drop in the bucket
compared to what those with cancer
have to endure – and he has a choice
in the matter.
“My dad didn’t have a choice as to
whether or not he wanted to endure
cancer and what I’ll have to endure
is pretty insignificant compared to
what those with cancer have to go
through, whether it’s chemotherapy
or radiation – and they don’t get a
choice,” Josling said. “So if I have to
ride 200 kilometres and have a sore
butt, that’s nothing. I have a choice
that they didn’t get.”
While Josling said the decision
was easy for him to make, he was
overwhelmed with the support he
received for the crusade. As soon as
he began telling people what he was
doing, people began volunteering to
join him and before he knew it, he
was the captain of a team called the
Fire Riders.
“At first I had the whole ‘poor me’
attitude, wondering why this would
happen to me, why this would
happen to my family, but as I talked
to people, I realized it’s not me – it’s
everyone,” Josling said.
Josling says he wasn’t the only
one that was overwhelmed by the
community support. His mother
Dianne and father Paul have been
similarly humbled by the love and
support shown by the Huron County
community and beyond.
“[Dianne] was bawling when I
told her about it and my dad, you
would never know what’s happening
with him by looking at his face, but
you could tell they were happy,”
Josling said.
The Fire Riders consist of 12 local
cyclists who have each pledged to
raise $2,500 for the Centre, for a
total team goal of $30,000.
Members of the Fire Riders are:
Team Captain and North Huron
firefighter Jeff Josling, Shannan
Josling, North Huron firefighter Paul
Kerr, Cindy Kerr, North Huron
firefighter Jeff Elliott, North Huron
firefighter Greg Jeffray, Central
Huron Councillor Marg Anderson,
Blyth BIA Chair Rick Elliott,
Citizen Editor Shawn Loughlin,
Jessica Carter, Heather Elliott and
Donna Walsh.
Josling says that while the team’s
total goal is $30,000, his real goal is
to exceed that number and raise as
much as the members of the team
can.
While a number of fundraising
efforts are already underway, the
team is currently selling draw tickets
for $10 each with a grand prize of
“Beer for a Year” in the form of a
$1,000 gift card to The Beer Store.
Tickets are available from any team
member.
The Beer for a Year draw will take
place at the Fire Riders’ fundraising
barbecue on Saturday, June 6 in
front of Scrimgeour’s Food Market
in Blyth from noon until the time of
the draw at 2 p.m.
In addition, the Blyth Lions Club
has named the local team as one of
the beneficiaries of profits from the
club’s annual Seed Sowers barbecue,
which will take place the evening of
June 6.
Online fundraising is ongoing, and
for those who wish to donate, visit
www.conquercancer.ca and find the
Fire Riders team.
Members of the team will then
travel to Toronto the morning of
Saturday, June 13 and begin their
journey to Hamilton by Saturday
evening and then to the finish line
just feet from Niagara Falls on
Sunday evening.
PAGE 32. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015.
Fire Riders poised to hit the road, conquer cancer
Full house
Jeff Josling, a member of the Fire Department of North Huron, is at the head of a local cycling
team that will be taking on the Ride to Conquer Cancer next month. The ride runs from Toronto
to Niagara Falls and Josling’s team, the Fire Riders, features a number of local faces. (Shawn
Loughlin photo)
The name of Corporal Matthew
Dinning was one of three added to
the Ontario Police Memorial
Foundation’s Wall of Honour on
Sunday.
Dinning, of Wingham, was 23
when he was killed by a roadside
bomb in Afghanistan in 2006 while
serving in the Canadian Military
Police Branch.
Premier Kathleen Wynne spoke
highly of Dinning during the
Queen’s Park ceremony in Toronto,
which his parents and brother all
attended.
“Matthew’s father said he knew he
wanted to serve abroad, and he also
knew the risks that came with it,”
Wynne said. “But he felt a strong
desire to represent his country and
provide a helping hand where he
was needed most. That’s just what
he had the opportunity to do in
Afghanistan.”
Between 2000 and 2009, the
Foundation’s website says that 17
officers were lost, including Auburn
native Robert Plunkett and Blyth’s
Dave Mounsey. Dinning, at 23, was
the youngest lost during that time
period.
For more information on the
Foundation or the Wall of Honour,
visit www.opmf.ca.
Dinning added to
Wall of Honour
• Hanging Baskets • Annuals
• Perennials • Trees • Shrubs & More
RR#1 39843 LONDESBORO RD.,
LONDESBOROUGH
PHONE/FAX 519-523-9781
Monday - Friday 8 am - 6 pm;
Saturday 8 am - 5 pm;
Sunday 9 am - 4 pm
LOCATED 500 YARDS WEST OF
LONDESBOROUGH ON CTY. RD. 15
The Perfect Gift...
LOADABLE
GIFT CARDS
Celebrating 25 Years
In Business
Come on out Saturday or Sunday
on Mother’s Day Weekend!
Plant a special pot for your Mom
for only $6.50!
Hey
Kids!
Bring mom and create a Miniature Fairy Garden!
Saturday, May 9 at 10:00 am
$55.00 (one child & one adult)
Includes all supplies
Pre-register by calling 519-523-9781.
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
See histories and
historic photographs
on the Huron History
section of our website
www.northhuron.on.ca