The 16th annual St. Jean ATV Derby was held this past weekend, and although the weather wasn't ideal, there was still a great turnout.

Mike Gilmore is a member of the quad derby committee.  He said numbers were down for sure this year, however, there were still about 900 machines and about 1,200 people. Compared to last year, that's down about 300 to 400 machines and about 400 people.

Mike Gilmore

Gilmore said for the die-hard riders, the rain was perfect, because they like riding in the mud and it also brought the dust down. "We had the races on Friday night, and I'm going to guess we had about 500 people watching the races in the rain.  The whole weekend has been really good."

Taking place in a community of only about 500 people, and an event that takes about 200 volunteers to put on each year, Gilmore feels pride among the people in the community is likely behind the on-going success the annual derby.  "Not that it's official, but just by doing some homework, we're probably one of the biggest derbies in Canada," said Gilmore.  "Everybody wants to be a part of something like that."  

Gilmore said it's not just a Saturday derby anymore.  He said people begin arriving in the community already by Wednesday, and it's something people plan their holidays around.  "We've got people here from B.C., Alberta, Ontario, it's crazy where people are coming from.  It's like welcoming them into to our community, so people want to jump on board and help with that."

Although this year's total hasn't been tallied yet, Gilmore said the average amount raised over the past 5 or so years has been between $50,000 to $70,000.