OAKFIELD, Maine — The Mike and Heidi Community Fund’s Board of Directors announced the annual motorcycle ride scheduled for Saturday, July 25 has been cancelled due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns.
“We considered moving forward, perhaps having just the ride, but, given the uniqueness of this event — with strong community support from non-riders as well as riders — we would be excluding a lot of people,” said board President Ken Bustard. “We are not comfortable asking businesses for auction items, given the struggle so many are having. Maintaining social distancing during food and the auction would be impractical. Finally, the last thing we want is an infection increase being traced back to this event.”
The Mike and Heidi Community Fund was established five years ago to honor Mike Kitchen and Heidi Pratt, an Oakfield couple who were murdered in their home in 2013.
While missing the annual ride and fundraiser for 2020, the board has nonetheless been active this year, according to Bustard.
“Last year was actually a very good year financially,” he said. “While we cancelled the ride portion because of the weather, financially the event was better than the previous year. We received several private donations as well as corporate donations from S.W. Collins, Machias Savings and Kohl’s Department Store.”
The board was able to add another $5,000 to the scholarship fund at Northern Maine Community College, which now makes it a fully endowed scholarship. The group gave $250 to the Ark Animal Sanctuary in Houlton.
In 2019, the board awarded two $250 traditional scholarships to Madison Cummings of Southern Aroostook and Hannah Lee of Lee Christian Academy. Zach Batchelder of Oakfield received a $500 non-traditional scholarship.
Recently, two $250 traditional scholarships were awarded for the Class of 2020 — Morgan Barrows of Houlton and Makaelyn Porter of Southern Aroostook. The board also plans to award a $250 (renewable) non-traditional scholarship in the near future.
The deadline to apply is June 30 and applications can be found at Mike and Heidi Community Fund Non-Traditional Facebook page. Interested persons can also reach out through the Mike and Heidi Memorial Ride Facebook page.
“Cancelling this event was a difficult decision,” said Bustard. “We moved the event up to July hoping for better weather than we’ve had in September during past years. So, we had high hopes. But, we still have funds in our account, and over the next three years, we hope to increase the scholarship endowment with a great ride in 2021, 2022 and a grand finale on the 10th anniversary in 2023.”
