Sick Kids ride will go on with a special salute

By Cecilia Nasmith

The Ride for Sick Kids in support of cardiac services at the Hospital For Sick Children was cancelled for 2020, but many of its keen supporters will carry on in a modified manner to see to it that important funds are raised – and a special little girl is acknowledged.

That would be seven-year-old Arianna Yarema, the daughter of Doug and Kristin Yarema of Elizabethville.

Each year a young Ambassador is chosen as a sort of poster child for the ride. Kristin explained. Arianna will now be the 2021 Ambassador.

But that doesn't mean she won't get to play that role in some form for 2020, nor that the Ride For Sick Kids is a total no-go. Support for the cause is still strong, and an unofficial informal social-distance version of the ride will proceed.

Kristin's mother Sylvia Carriere is a strong supporter and regular participant. Kristin rode for the first time last year, so she is familiar with how groups form and meet and join forces into huge flocks of motorcycles in support of a great cause. Last year, with maybe 500 bikes on the road, they raised more than $1-million.

With fewer bikes at a proper distance this year, Arianna will get a ride-by and salute.

Participating groups will rendezvous at the Garden Hill Public School and proceed to Elizabethville for a grand entrance. The contingent will include not only Carriere, but Nella Figliano, one of the originators of the ride.

A teacher of children with learning disabilities, Figliano was inspired by the experiences of some of her students at Sick Kids. Though she is holding down the numbers of participants for social-distancing considerations, she hopes people will continue to show their support by making a donation at rideforsickkids.com.

Motorcycle contingents on a ride (charity or otherwise) typically make a lunch stop anyway. Since their Toronto start puts them in the Elizabethville vicinity at lunch-time, the Yarema family decided to make a splash of it to say thank-you and raise even more for the cause.

This would be a feat of planning anyway, but Kristin is determined to go the extra mile to ensure the event is done responsibly.

Carriere is helping with the logistics. She will also be in charge of setting up a lemonade stand and doing a dry run of the route in advance to help nail down the arrival time.

Kristin's father Guy is enlisting the help of some friends to prepare the burgers and dogs. The giant corn roast container they haul out each year will see duty as a big ice chest for salads and drinks.

Getting enough hands on deck is important, as Kristin sees it – one person in charge of handling the money, for example, maybe one or two in charge of dispensing condiments in a way that takes contact out of the process. Fortunately, it's a close-knit community, and many of her neighbours are either family members or families of kids she once taught tae kwon do to, so she may be able to find one or two willing helpers.

Many of them may also venture over Aug. 9 to see what all the excitement is about, and she is planning to have enough food for them as well as the 100 bikers she estimates may show up.

A giant tent will be erected to provide shade, and one hard-and-fast rule applies.

“They all know masks are mandatory,” she stated.“You won't be getting any food or drink if you're not wearing one.”

Literally the next day, Arianna will be returning to the Hospital for Sick Children for an 11th cardiac catheterization – one that was postponed from May 19 by the pandemic.

Diagnosed with a heart murmur before her first birthday, she had an echocardiogram at Sick Kids that resulted in a call to take her to Sick Kids for a catheterization and the devastating diagnosis of Tetralogy of Fallot.

The years would bring procedures, hospitalizations and four open-heart surgeries, but over the last couple of years, she has grown and thrived. Described as a strong-willed, smart and loving young lady, she enjoys swimming, dancing and singing and learning to do her own hair and lipstick.

And inspired by the staff at Sick Kids, she hopes to work there as a doctor some day.