THUNDER BAY - Pulling with all your might along with a team and finally seeing a 26,000 pound Wasaya Airways Dash 8-300 aircraft start to role down the runway can only be described in one way.
“Ah the adrenaline rush was awesome,” said Joyce Spence. “When you hear the crowd and the music and it’s the team right.”
Spence, along with her team from Newmont Goldcorp Musselwhite Mine, were among the 15 teams pulling for the United Way during the 4th Annual Wasaya United Way Plane Pull on Saturday at the Thunder Bay International Airport.
“It’s a huge event for us. It has done a lot of good for the community,” said United Way Thunder Bay fundraising campaign co-chair, Andrew Richert.
Teams of six to eight people were required to raise $500 to compete in the pull and a total goal this year of $20,000.
“We have big goals,” Richert said. “We have raised $58,000 so far since its inception and now we are focusing on poverty. Everything that comes in this year we are putting right back into Thunder Bay and right back into tackling poverty.”
The money raised will go toward United Way programs that address issues leading to poverty, such as mental health and social isolation. It is also in support of the Aboriginal Youth Achievement and Recognition Awards.
And while all the pulling is going towards helping lift people up, the uniqueness of the event, and the challenge of it, is what keeps getting people coming out every year.
For wrestler, Bradley Grenier of Team LU, it was all about challenging himself to something he never thought he would get an opportunity to do.
“I wanted to pull a plane. It sounded like fun. It was fun,” he said. “I didn’t really know what to expect since I’ve never pulled a plane before, but it wasn’t that bad.”
But aside from retaking the championship, Spence said it is about pulling for other people who are in need in the community.
“We keep on supporting it because it’s going to a good cause, the United Way and Aboriginal youth in Thunder Bay. It’s a worthwhile event and plus team play and the community of Thunder Bay.”
