How did the Boolarra ride come about?
February 2009 saw devastating bushfires raise Boolarra, 170km from the Melbourne Central Business District. This was the week before Black Saturday. We watched in horror as the news covered every painstaking minute of what was happening to our beloved bushland. We have a holiday farm about 10 minutes from Boolarra, up in the mountains. It is our place to get away from everything - we just love it up there. Boolarra lost countless acres of land and approximately 100 structures – both family homes & shedding.
The next week Black Saturday came. It seemed Australia forgot about Boolarra and the devastation that had hit the tiny rural township. There fire brigade had again been thrown into action as close by areas were hit by Black Saturday.
After weeks of collecting clothes to send up there, kids toys, books – really anything & everything I couldn’t think of anything else to do to help.
We knew that the music festival was going ahead in the local park – so as a show of support we made the treck and spent the day – just chatting with locals – feeling sick as we sat in a lush green park – around us was only black, trees were now sticks, houses just rubble. The kids commented that they even saw some of their old clothing that had been donated on the local kids. They felt proud that they had done something.
As the music festival kicked off, the local CFA members were wandering around. They had a Captain Koala with a cap in his had handing out ‘free hugs’. After speaking to the CFA we came to realize that they were fundraising. They needed to raise over $160,000 to build a new station. There old shed was just too small for the size of fires they had just been through. They also didn’t have any turn out gear (the protective jackets & pants) most of the volunteers were fighting the fires in their work overalls. Also general firefighting equipment – nozzles, hoses & pumps.
I watched for a long time as they tried to fundraise – without any success at all. If they were going to raise $160,000 it was going to be a miracle by all accounts.
Strangely enough it was actually my older sister who told the Boolarra Brigade what I was capable of. Without letting me know, she offered my services to them, telling them “if you need to raise funds, Mel is the person you need to speak to”.
My sister handed me the phone number of the brigade captain and said ‘call him, they need help’.
After a weekend of brainstorming with Adam, looking and the pros & cons, a lot of self doubt then an overwhelming desire to help I made the call. The captain was interested in anything, he was quick to point out that they had no idea of what to do – just that it needed doing!
The Red Light Ride was born.
Having a husband & young son that loved a squirt around the paddocks & local trails – I knew that this was a winner.
The concept quickly grew. Get a lot of riders to Boolarra, put on a rally ride like they had never experienced before, and make them want to come back every year. Easy……… hmmm. I gained support from the local business, motorcycling industry – calling on every favor that I was ever owed. Industry was excited to see a quality ride happening – they just wanted to make sure that I knew what I was doing – after all – I am a woman
After 7 months of living Red Light Ride the day actually came. September 5th 2009.
We had one of the best tracks around – in motorcycle talk it is against the law to ride on single trail – we had approved single trail – about 1 hours worth. It was super cool to be able to ride the single trail legally.
Set up day it absolutely poured with rain. Adam and I were drenched through to the bone freezing. We set up 25 acres of land with pit tents, car parking, trade stand area the lot. It was ready, wet but ready, but would anyone come?
Saturday morning came and it was exceptional. Sunny – no wind – very peaceful, a majestic morning. Evidence of the raging fires were everywhere – the drive up to the staging area showed everywhere the fire ravaged bushland. 7am our gates opened and people came. They actually came. I nearly cried. After all this time – from that little idea.
I stood at the registration area and greeted every rider that came for the day. Lots of them expected Mel to be Malcolm. Confused?? They were.
Industry peers came too. They wanted to see how the day was pulled off. From the opening with Christine Nixon speaking about how important it is that we all look to the future, to DSE & Parks Victoria speaking about the importance of the environment and preserving it for our future. Journalists came to write (I’m still not sure if they thought it was going to be a huge mess) but they came. Red Light Ride featured in one of the Industry leading magazines Trailrider Magazine. It was voted the Best Rally for 2009, and received a 3 page feature on what an exceptional experience it was.
Riders came, they were all provided with feedback forms for the day. Most of them took the time to fill them in and let us know what they liked, and what they didn’t like.
Most importantly. We raised nearly $25,000 for the local Fire Brigade. And more importantly – they now are building that new station.
We are running the ride again this year. June 5th 2010. This year Red Light Ride is donating back to the community essential items. We are currently taking local submissions for review.
As far as our little concept of ride in Boolarra is going. Our web site has had over 11,900 visitors since June 09. We also run social networking page on Facebook, it has over 300 members. The anticipation is building for this year – which we hope will again be a fantastic year for Red Light Ride.
February 2009 saw devastating bushfires raise Boolarra, 170km from the Melbourne Central Business District. This was the week before Black Saturday. We watched in horror as the news covered every painstaking minute of what was happening to our beloved bushland. We have a holiday farm about 10 minutes from Boolarra, up in the mountains. It is our place to get away from everything - we just love it up there. Boolarra lost countless acres of land and approximately 100 structures – both family homes & shedding.
The next week Black Saturday came. It seemed Australia forgot about Boolarra and the devastation that had hit the tiny rural township. There fire brigade had again been thrown into action as close by areas were hit by Black Saturday.
After weeks of collecting clothes to send up there, kids toys, books – really anything & everything I couldn’t think of anything else to do to help.
We knew that the music festival was going ahead in the local park – so as a show of support we made the treck and spent the day – just chatting with locals – feeling sick as we sat in a lush green park – around us was only black, trees were now sticks, houses just rubble. The kids commented that they even saw some of their old clothing that had been donated on the local kids. They felt proud that they had done something.
As the music festival kicked off, the local CFA members were wandering around. They had a Captain Koala with a cap in his had handing out ‘free hugs’. After speaking to the CFA we came to realize that they were fundraising. They needed to raise over $160,000 to build a new station. There old shed was just too small for the size of fires they had just been through. They also didn’t have any turn out gear (the protective jackets & pants) most of the volunteers were fighting the fires in their work overalls. Also general firefighting equipment – nozzles, hoses & pumps.
I watched for a long time as they tried to fundraise – without any success at all. If they were going to raise $160,000 it was going to be a miracle by all accounts.
Strangely enough it was actually my older sister who told the Boolarra Brigade what I was capable of. Without letting me know, she offered my services to them, telling them “if you need to raise funds, Mel is the person you need to speak to”.
My sister handed me the phone number of the brigade captain and said ‘call him, they need help’.
After a weekend of brainstorming with Adam, looking and the pros & cons, a lot of self doubt then an overwhelming desire to help I made the call. The captain was interested in anything, he was quick to point out that they had no idea of what to do – just that it needed doing!
The Red Light Ride was born.
Having a husband & young son that loved a squirt around the paddocks & local trails – I knew that this was a winner.
The concept quickly grew. Get a lot of riders to Boolarra, put on a rally ride like they had never experienced before, and make them want to come back every year. Easy……… hmmm. I gained support from the local business, motorcycling industry – calling on every favor that I was ever owed. Industry was excited to see a quality ride happening – they just wanted to make sure that I knew what I was doing – after all – I am a woman
After 7 months of living Red Light Ride the day actually came. September 5th 2009.
We had one of the best tracks around – in motorcycle talk it is against the law to ride on single trail – we had approved single trail – about 1 hours worth. It was super cool to be able to ride the single trail legally.
Set up day it absolutely poured with rain. Adam and I were drenched through to the bone freezing. We set up 25 acres of land with pit tents, car parking, trade stand area the lot. It was ready, wet but ready, but would anyone come?
Saturday morning came and it was exceptional. Sunny – no wind – very peaceful, a majestic morning. Evidence of the raging fires were everywhere – the drive up to the staging area showed everywhere the fire ravaged bushland. 7am our gates opened and people came. They actually came. I nearly cried. After all this time – from that little idea.
I stood at the registration area and greeted every rider that came for the day. Lots of them expected Mel to be Malcolm. Confused?? They were.
Industry peers came too. They wanted to see how the day was pulled off. From the opening with Christine Nixon speaking about how important it is that we all look to the future, to DSE & Parks Victoria speaking about the importance of the environment and preserving it for our future. Journalists came to write (I’m still not sure if they thought it was going to be a huge mess) but they came. Red Light Ride featured in one of the Industry leading magazines Trailrider Magazine. It was voted the Best Rally for 2009, and received a 3 page feature on what an exceptional experience it was.
Riders came, they were all provided with feedback forms for the day. Most of them took the time to fill them in and let us know what they liked, and what they didn’t like.
Most importantly. We raised nearly $25,000 for the local Fire Brigade. And more importantly – they now are building that new station.
We are running the ride again this year. June 5th 2010. This year Red Light Ride is donating back to the community essential items. We are currently taking local submissions for review.
As far as our little concept of ride in Boolarra is going. Our web site has had over 11,900 visitors since June 09. We also run social networking page on Facebook, it has over 300 members. The anticipation is building for this year – which we hope will again be a fantastic year for Red Light Ride.