'So many screaming kids': Tour de Rock's fourth day marked by Campbell River school visit, haircuts
Excitement was riding high for the Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock team as they went of a ride with students in Sayward, B.C., to begin the next leg of a 14-day trek across Vancouver Island to raise money for children and families touched by cancer.
The team of 20 riders set out Tuesday for Campbell River, B.C., after a community dinner in Sayward on Monday night. The riders were treated to a banquet of dishes prepared by members of the small North Island community who were thrilled to see the return of the team.
"It's great seeing everybody," said Sayward community dinner volunteer Joyce Ellis. "They’re doing it for the kids [and] they know how important it is to get the money to let the kids go to Camp Goodtimes."
As the Tour de Rock team arrived in Campbell River, they were greeted by a commotion of sirens and enthusiastic supporters. According to CTV News rider Anna McMillian, the stop was the busiest so far for the 25th-anniversary pediatric cancer fundraising tour.
"People are so excited to see us and this is the first stop where we’ve had a ton of traffic wizzing past us," said McMillan. "The amount of people who are honking and cheering for us is really heartwarming."
On Tuesday the Tour de Rock team continued to pedal down Vancouver Island on a two-week journey to raise money for children and families touched by cancer. The riders stopped by a number of schools, including Campbell River's Pinecrest Elementary, where they were met by cheering students.
"So many screaming kids, I was blown away by that," said McMillan. "I was like, 'there’s a bunch of sweaty adults rolling in to you school and you’re so excited' and that got us really amped up."
The stop in Campbell River is especially meaningful for Tour de Rock rider and Campbell River Fire Department dispatcher Bonnie Logan. She is not only pedalling with the team, but she chose the visit to her hometown to sacrifice her long locks of hair to raise money for the cause.
"I put a big number out there," said Logan. “If I raise 50-grand and if the community came together and helped me raise that, I’d shave my head and the community came together so here we are."
To make the heartfelt fundraising effort extra special, Logan’s mother also had her head shaved. Together the mother and daughter made the commitment to sacrifice their hair to raise money to fund pediatric cancer research and send children facing cancer to Camp Goodtimes.
"My mom has leukemia currently, so all the more special that way as well – a perfect day," said Logan. "I couldn’t have asked for a better day in Campbell River."
The Tour de Rock riders spent the night in Campbell River and will head south to the Comox Valley Wednesday. The 14-day, 1,200 kilometre fundraising ride down Vancouver Island wraps up Oct. 7 in Victoria.
To donate to the cause, visit the Canadian Cancer Society’s Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING | Budget 2023 prioritizes pocketbook help and clean economy, deficit projected at $40.1B
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.

BREAKING | Budget 2023 proposes across-the-board 3 per cent spending cut for government departments
The federal budget proposes an across-the-board three per cent spending cut for all departments and agencies, a belt-tightening move after years of massive growth in the federal public service.
Federal government capping excise tax on alcohol after outcry
The increase in excise duties on all alcoholic products is being temporarily capped at two per cent starting next month instead of a planned six per cent increase.
Projected cost of federal dental program set to more than double: Budget 2023
The federal budget shows the government's proposed dental-care insurance program will cost more than double what the Liberals originally thought, driving it up by another $7.3 billion over five years.
Could Canada soon standardize USB chargers? Feds looking into it, budget says
Tucked into the 2023 federal budget unveiled on Tuesday in Ottawa, the Liberals have announced plans to explore implementing a standard charging port across Canada, in an effort to save Canadians some money and reduce waste.
Ottawa commits consultation money for Indigenous resource sharing in Budget 2023
The federal Liberal government is committing $8.7 million to hold more consultations on Indigenous resource sharing, in a budget that offers relatively little new spending on its reconciliation agenda.
opinion | Amid escalating gun violence in America, the debate over gun control has been silenced
In the wake of another deadly mass shooting in America, that saw children as young as nine years old shot and killed, the gun control debate is going nowhere, writes CTV News political analyst Eric Ham.
Young children, the head of their school and its custodian. These are the victims of the Nashville school shooting
Another American community is reeling after a shooter killed three 9-year-olds and three adults at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville. These are the three children and three adults whose lives were taken by the shooter.
Nashville police release chilling security camera footage of suspected school shooter
Nashville police have released security camera footage of a suspected shooter entering the private Christian elementary school. The shooting claimed the lives of three children, all aged nine, and three adults.