In Memoriam

It’s with deep sadness that we endure the passing of our dear friend John Blackmore. For those of you who never had the opportunity to meet John, he was a local firefighter, family man and KATVA volunteer. John and his wife Sandy managed the Victoria Rail Trail North, and Somerville Forest trails for many, many years. They were out there every week checking the trails and making sure they were clear and safe for our members and visitors. John and Sandy also led our annual New Member & Spouse’s ride every year, taking the time to give each of the riders a little history lesson on the area. No one has ever worked harder on the trails than John did, and for this we thank him. More importantly, he was our friend and we will miss his hearty laughter every day.

While family and friends always came first, Jim’s passion for ATVing and KATVA were obvious. Jim was a member of KATVA for more than 10 years and a hard working volunteer for most of those years. He became the heart of our club and our team. Anyone who has ever come by our booth at the shows will remember his outgoing personality, welcoming nature and passion for the sport. To honour Jim and his memory we as a team promise to carry on his legacy and continue to grow our club, our trails and the sport in Ontario.

I personally will miss his guidance and support for my role as president but most of all I will miss his love and friendship. He was my sounding board when I needed advice or needed to run ideas by someone. His experience and wisdom was invaluable to me and to the rest of the team. We will all miss his devilish sense of humour and amazing smile and there will always be a void in our hearts.

Sadly we announce the passing of a key member of the KATVA family. This afternoon we lost board member and trail patrol team member Dwayne Kish. He passed peacefully with his family by his side.

Dwayne has been a hard working member of our team for many years now. If you’ve been to our booth at the shows you probably had the pleasure of meeting him. We spent many long days together in the KATVA booth at shows. He also led many of the KATVA rides over the years.

Dwayne had a mischievous side to him which we all enjoyed and he had a kind and compassionate soul. His loss will be felt for a very long time to come.

Our thoughts are with his wife Marge of 57 years, daughter Melinda, and his son Bob and his wife Sharon who are also KATVA volunteers.

Goodbye our friend