Kids tackle tractors, help Guyana hospital
Visitors to the Touch-A-Tractor event also got to pet exotic animals. Quetin Reid, 10, holds Poncho, a double yellow headed Amazon parrot, and Annabell, an umbrella cockatoo.
Three-year-old Braiden Huehn, perched atop a front loader, couldn't stop honking the horn as his little brother, Logan, clambered over the seat behind him.
Father Craig said the boys just loved being part of Sunday's Touch-A-Tractor charity event, a fundraiser that benefits Guyana Help The Kids.
The Canadian charity aims to decrease the neonatal and infant mortality rate in developing countries.
Former Tiger-Cat Ryan Hinds, the local ambassador to the charity, put the event together with the help of some dedicated people.
"I would say it was a resounding success. I'm hoping the books show that later on," he said at Sunday's event, where he posed for photos with some of the visitors.
Last year the $10,000 raised went to a hospital in Guyana, to help finish building a pediatric ward. Hinds hopes to raise $15,000 this year, to help provide new equipment for the ward.
Hinds, who was born in Guyana, lived there until age nine. The hospital holds a special place in his heart, and when he went back last year with the charity, the visit sparked a fire inside him.
"When I went down there and met all of those kids, I kind of made a promise to them â and I have to see it through as best I can," said Hinds.
The Robar Centre, on Nebo Road, hosted this year's event and loaned out some of its heavy machinery so kids could do just about anything â except drive the trucks. There were wheel loaders, dozers, backhoes, excavators, a stretch limousine and a fire truck. Little Ray's Reptile Zoo stopped by to put on a show and food trucks, ice cream and animal balloons were also on hand to keep the kids entertained.
It gave eight-year-old Connor Beattie his first up-close time with big industrial vehicles. He liked climbing the ladders on the sides while his brother Chris, six, had a great time testing out the horns.
Rebecca Rivard, was, was a having a great time, even though she said girls usually prefer unicorns to trucks. But she found the excavators particularly impressive with their range of shapes and sizes â and because their buckets can go really high.
Hinds aims to continue with the event and plans to build it bigger every year.
"Until I can actually go down there (to Guyana) and see the whole wing (completed), I will continue to raise money for this cause."
Bonding with dad
John Rennison,The Hamilton Spectator
Autograph time
John Rennison,The Hamilton Spectator
Former Ticat Ryan Hinds held his Touch-A-Tractor event Sunday at the Robar Centre, a heavy equipment operator training facility. The money raised was going to furnish a pediatric ward in Guyana. The event raised $10,000 last year. This year's goal was $15,000.