An annual golf tournament and busary fund are two ways Perry and Cindy Adey have kept their son's memory alive, but their greatest wish is to enact mandatory training laws for motorcycle riders in British Columbia.
Dillon Adey was killed June 1, 2009 when his Suzuki 750 motorcycle ran into the back of an SUV on Tabor Boulevard, near Otway Road in Prince George. Cindy said her son had bought insurance on the bike for "one last ride" and planned to sell it the next day. The collision occurred within two blocks of the house the 21-year-old owned.
"The whole world is missing out on someone really great," said Cindy Adey.
Saturday the family held the fourth annual Dillon Adey Memorial Cup, a shotgun start golf tournament at the Aberdeen Glen Golf Course, which is followed by a dinner, dance and silent auction at the Treasure Cove Casino. In the first three years the golf tournament was held more than $87,000 was raised. There were 144 golfers out Saturday afternoon with more than 200 people registered for the dinner.
The interest on the money raised has been used to provide busaries for 20 College of New Caledonia business students, and to purchase equipment for the college. The Adeys don't want to touch the principle amount.
"We knew right away that we wanted to open up a business bursary because that's what he was taking at the college and the money started rolling in," said Perry Adey. "It was a lot of money."
The Abeys' later created a second bursary fund, each student recipient receives between $500 and $1,500, for medical students who plan to stay in northern B.C.
"When we saw the amount of money we could raise we decided to help out more kids while we're alive so we get to meet all the kids and, hopefully keep the memory going," said Perry. "[Dillon]had lots of aspirations and I'm sure he would've followed through. He had some big goals in mind. He was a go-getter."
When Denise Lodge heard about Dillon's death in Kitimat she made contact with the family. Lodge's son Corey was killed in a motorcycle accident March 3, 2005 when he was driving his Suzuki GSX-R1000 on the Malahat Highway near Victoria - one day after receiving his licence.
Corey Lodge was 21 years old when he was killed, the same age Vancouver Canucks first-round draft pick (10th overall) Luc Bourdon was when he died in a motorcycle collision, riding the same style bike as Lodge, on May 29, 2008 in New Brunswick. RCMP in New Brunswick said Bourdon's inexperience with motorcycles may have been a factor in his death. Bourdon had just bought the motorcycle.
Since her son's death, Lodge said she's been fighting on behalf of many other grieving families to have the laws changed to enforce power restrictions, mandatory training and graduated licencing for new motorcycle drivers in B.C., through the Coalition Of Riders Educating Youth (The Corey). The Adeys joined Lodge's fight four years ago.
On June 1, 2012 a new law came into effect in B.C. that made "beanie" or "skullcap" helmets illegal and made it mandatory that all motorcycle passengers be able to reach the footrests.
Now that the BC Liberals have received a fourth mandate from voters, Lodge and the Adeys are hoping their other goals for new motorcyclists are reached as they prepare to deal with new MLAs in the justice (Hon. Suzanne Anton) and transportation (Hon. Todd Stone) ministries.
"It's very hard to do what we do because you have to relive it every time you give a presentation," said Lodge. "You can't stop. We want our roads, towns, families, children and children's children to have a safe ride.
"There's always going to be motorcycles, but you've got to give the riders the tools for a safe ride," she added. "We're going to see it to the end."
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