New program allows inner-city kids to ride ATVs
The Salvation Army of Minnesota and North Dakota has completed the final stage of an exciting program that will allow inner-city youth and other kids to ride ATVs in the great outdoors.
Last week, eight Salvation Army staff members and volunteers completed a four-day training course that certified them to train youth and adults in the safe operation of ATVs (see photos). The training was held at The Salvation Army Northwoods Camp in Finlayson, Minn., where hundreds of summer campers enjoy fishing, archery, swimming, hiking, and other fun outdoor activities.
Now, ATV riding can be added to that list.
It’s all thanks to Polaris Industries Inc., which donated 19 four-wheel ATVs to the camp. Seventeen of the vehicles are for kids of varying ages, with engine sizes of 50cc, 90cc and 200cc. Polaris also donated helmets, gloves, chest protectors and other safety equipment to accompany each vehicle.
“This program will be really cool because most of the kids who come to camp won’t have had an opportunity like this,” said Dave Scharnhorst, IT manager at Salvation Army headquarters in Roseville and one of the new trainers.
Scharnhorst learned much during the training, despite having ridden an ATV plenty of times before.
“Now I realize I wasn’t always riding correctly,” he said. “Now I’m doing a lot more leaning into the turns, and I’m standing when I’m riding up a hill – I didn’t know it was OK to stand.”
The training was led by Bruce Bennett of the ATV Safety Institute, based in Irvine, Calif. Bennett is a chief instructor for the institute. He lives in Massachusetts and periodically travels to states around the country to “train the trainers.”
“We use a building-block process of training people to ride,” he said. “Somebody can come in and know nothing about ATVs – we teach them how to mount it, riding posture, braking procedure, leaning into turns, and a lot more. Ninety percent of the training is hands-on.”
Also taught: pre-ride inspections of tires, oil, gas levels, and the like.
In order to graduate, each new trainer had to teach one course segment to a batch of new riders young and old (pictured).
Three of the new training graduates will be at camp all summer. The remaining five will travel there from the Twin Cities as needed.
Northwoods Camp opens June 16, with eight summer camps for children of all ages. Not all of the camps will offer ATV riding, as children 11 and under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, and some camps are not long enough for eligible kids to complete the training.
Those kids who are eligible to ride, however, are in for a treat: Bennett said Northwoods Camp offers the “perfect situation” for teaching youngsters to ride.
“It’s a very nice facility, with a nice course, with the right size of machines for the youth, with all the right equipment and gear,” he said. “Polaris was very generous to donate those machines.”
If you’d like to join Polaris in supporting Northwoods Camp, please make a donation to either send a kid to camp or pay for their food at camp.