Non profit prioritizes veterans: Trails and Treads scavenger ride will support businesses

A new nonprofit is looking to raise money for veterans while enjoying the outdoors.

The Upper Peninsula Outdoor Alliance is holding a Fall Color Veteran Scavenger Ride with all proceeds going toward the veterans of Alger County.

“We’re a very small group,” Anthony Autore said. “We started it because we’ve seen a lot of division amongst outdoor recreation people, and when there’s division everyone loses.”

Autore has been enjoying the outdoors for most of his life.

“I grew up in the snowmobile club,” Autore said. “My grandpa was a pretty active member. I donated a lot of time on snowmobile trails when I was young.”

Autore founded the group after seeing a few bad apples spoil the bunch for trail riders, including those on ATVs, full-size vehicles, bikes and horses.

“We lost access to Paradise Point because a few people just trashed it,” Autore said. “That’s a sore spot for locals, but the landowner really didn’t have a choice.”

Autore said his love for the community is not unusual among the riders he knows.

“We don’t want to see that happening in the U.P.,” Autore said. “We want people to come here and enjoy it, but we also want people to respect the land and the people. It’s something we definitely hold dear.”

Autore has already started to do what he can to make the trails more usable.

“We’ve done a few trail cleanups already,” Autore said. “During our most recent cleanup, the three of us pulled around 3,700 pounds of trash off of the trail and hauled it to the dump.”

Because the trails get so much use, Autore came up with the idea of a new group that was open to all.

“If it’s an outside sport, we’re behind it,” Autore said.

The scavenger hunt is open to all manner of vehicles, including side-by-sides, Jeeps and UTVs. Participants will visit 15 businesses and 20 scavenger hunt locations.

It’s an opportunity to see and support local businesses while riding area trails.

“We’ll start and stop at the Kewadin Casino,” Autore said. “They’ve been a big help in everything we’re doing here and are our co-host for the event.”

Cori-Ann Cearley, executive director of the Munising Visitors Bureau, said events like this create opportunities to build on the outdoor recreation and natural attractions that already bring people to Alger County while encouraging visitors to explore more of the community.

“Events like Trails and Treads are exactly the kind of thing I’d love to see more of in Alger County,” Cearley said. “Tourism ties into so many things, whether we think it does or not. You’re getting people out on the trails, you’re getting them into our local businesses and you’re giving them another reason to spend time here.”

Cearley said fall presents a particular opportunity for the area because visitors are already traveling to Alger County for the changing colors.

“We have this incredible fall season here, and there’s an opportunity to do more with it,” Cearley said. “People already want to come here and see the colors. If we can give them something else to do while they’re here — something that takes them around the county and into our businesses — that benefits the entire community.”

There is no registration fee, but there is a suggested donation of $20.

“All proceeds will go to veterans in Alger County,” Autore said. Prizes have been donated by local businesses or purchased by Autore himself.

“We’ve got a really nice Yeti cooler, and we’ll have some other really nice stuff,” Autore said.

This is a self-led event, but there will be a map that is shared the morning of the ride, and organizers will be using onX Maps.

Participants will stop at businesses and get a stamp on their card or some kind of token. As usually happens on trail rides, Autore is prepared for the unknown.

“We’ll have emergency numbers and local tow services if needed,” Autore said. “And, of course, we’ll help in any way we can. We won’t leave anyone out on the trail.”

Cearley said the scavenger hunt format is particularly beneficial from a tourism perspective because it moves visitors throughout the area rather than concentrating them at a single location.

“That’s what I like about something like Trails and Treads,” Cearley said. “It gets people moving around. They’re seeing different parts of Alger County, they’re stopping at businesses and hopefully they’re finding places they didn’t know were here before. That’s good tourism.”

The event is scheduled for Sept. 18 and 19. For more information about the ride and the Upper Peninsula Outdoor Alliance, visit the group’s Facebook page.

The alliance is already working with other local organizations to increase their effectiveness.

“The Munising Bay Car Cruise is happening on that same weekend; 100% of their donations go back to local veterans as well,” he said. “We might be off-road stuff, but we’re all car guys. It’s a great group of people.”

The Munising Bay Cruisers have been putting the show on for the last 13 years. Gary Bovan has been with the show since its inception and expects a record turnout for the 14th annual event.

“Last year we had close to 80 entries,” Bovan said. “Each year it grows by four or five cars.”

Bovan said the people who come to the show travel from as far away as Detroit and Ann Arbor, and many of them pass up other shows that are scheduled at the same time so they can make this one.

For both events, supporting veterans is central to the weekend. The Munising Bay Cruisers’ annual show raises money for veterans organizations, while proceeds from the Fall Color Veteran Scavenger Ride will benefit veterans in Alger County.

Cearley said events that combine recreation, community organizations and local businesses can give visitors another reason to stay longer and see more of the county.

“We don’t necessarily need to reinvent who we are,” Cearley said. “We need to look at what we already have and find ways to build on it. Our trails, our fall colors and our small businesses are already here. An event that brings those things together is the sort of thing we need more of.”

It can be a weekend of outdoor fun for all, whether it be on the trails or cruising the highway in a car from a bygone era.

“This isn’t an event to make money for us,” Autore said. “We just want people to get outside and enjoy the beautiful area we live in.”