News & Events from Kitchener-Waterloo Movers

Day 7

Ste Anne de Bellevue to the Montreal Garrison
Stop at the Old port for lunch and visited the HMCS Montreal ship
Closing ceremony at the Montreal Garrison, welcomed by a gun salute and pipers.

48km for the day

Day 6

Cornwall, ON to Ste Anne de Bellevue, Qc

97Km for the day

Day 5

Brockville to Cornwall
Hosted by the Stormont, Dundas, Glengarry Highlanders Regiment (Cornwall Armoury) for dinner and tour.

107km for the day

Day 4
From Kingston to Brockville.

Dinner: Brockville Rifles Regiment officers Mess

Evening event: Tour of the Armouries and Regimental Museum and training exercise with the Brockville Rifles Regiment (at the Brockville Armoury)

82km for the day

Day 3

Rednersville to Kingston (Norm, a 91 year old WW2 veteran rode with us for 10km out of Rednersville)

Dinner at the MHSC Cataraqui Naval Officers Mess

RHIB (Rigid-hull inflatable boat) rides after dinner

110km for the day

Day 1.

Started off at the Air Canada Centre in downtown Toronto.
Rode 30 km with a Toronto Police escort through downtown Toronto.
Finished off at Port of Newcastle.

89km for the day.

Dinner at the Col RS McLaughlin Armoury in Oshawa – The Ontario Regiment Officers’ Mess

Day 2.

Visit with the Sky Hawks
Floor hockey game (Tour de Force riders & several Belleville Bulls players)
Ended at CFB Trenton.

98 – 130km – depending on the group

This year’s Tour de Force started on September 12th from the Air Canada Centre.

Westmount Moving’s Joe Gagnon, Jennifer McNaughton Laura Johnson and J.P. Richard are all set to start the weeklong bike ride from Toronto to Montreal.

Money raised during the Tour de Force are donated to families of fallen Canadian forces personnel to assist with educational costs as well as summer camps.

Best of luck to our riders – we are very proud of you!

Joe Gagnon will be a guest on the Jeff Allan show this Friday June 17th at 11:40 am. Joe will be speaking about the Tour de Force bike ride from Toronto to Montreal to raise funds for the children of fallen Canadian soldiers.

Joe Gagnon, who will be riding the in the event, will explain the cause and provide details about this important Canadian event. Westmount Moving will have five riders in the Tour de Force. A golf tournament to be held in Montreal by Westmount Moving will be raising funds for the cause. North American Van Lines is also an important sponsor of the event.

Good luck Joe – we’ll be listening!

Hello Friends,

Day 1 of the "tour de force" 2010

I hope this finds you all well. As many of you remember I participated in a cycle from Toronto to Montreal last fall. It was an experience I will never forget. So much more than I bargained for. The ride itself was a challenge but the biggest surprise was the reception we received from the different military bases. I also really enjoyed learning more about our military and some of the work we are doing overseas. I grew a greater appreciation for the men and women as I listened to their stories. We have all watched “The National” on CBC or “Coaches Corner” on Hockey Night in Canada where we all too often would see the pictures of young men and women who have lost their lives in the War in Afghanistan. Whether we agree with the mission or not, we can all agree that it is horrible to see these young lives cut so short. Many of these soldiers are in the 20s and 30s and leave behind very young children of which many of them are under the age of 10.

Last year, due to your generosity I raised over $7000.00 of which all was donated to the Tour de Force. These funds were used to establish scholarship funds for children of our fallen Canadian soldiers. I understand that there are so many great causes out there and it is difficult to decide which ones you wish to support. Tour De force is a unique cause that doesn’t get much attention and I am thrilled to be a part of it once again this year. Our goal this year is to have 50 riders and raise $250,000.

Like last year we will be embarking on a 7 day journey starting in Toronto and finishing in Montreal. We will do this by biking an average of 100 km per day. Every day will end in a community party and will feature great food and local entertainment. The tour kicks off in lovely downtown Toronto on September 12th 2011 and will conclude on the 18th in downtown Montreal. This year Westmount Moving will take it up a notch and will feature 5 riders. I am pleased to have Jennifer McNaughton, JP Richard, Florence Schaap and Laura Johnson all come along for the ride. As we require to each contribute to get on the tour we have decided to team up together and organize a golf tournament in order to raise money for the cause. Please visit our site www.westmountmovinggolfclassic.com for more information. The site has all the info you need to register for our golf day or donate should you not be able to play in the tournament. We have a Pay Pal account which allows you to safely pay with credit card or through your own financial institution right on the site. Should you wish to ride on the tour, there is a link which will take you to the Tour de Force site where you can register as a rider.

The tournament will feature all kinds of great door prizes and many other surprises. We will also have a DJ to top off the night. We are also looking for sponsors for the tournament. Please visit the sponsor page. Should you wish to sponsor the event you can contact me directly. We are all very excited about the tournament and the ride and hope that I receive all the support that I received last year.

Thanks very much for your time and consideration.

Joseph D. Gagnon
President
Westmount Moving & Warehousing

Hello Friends.

It has already been over 1 month since we peddled into Montreal finalizing our Tour De Force. Without sounding too dramatic, I must tell you it was one of the best weeks of my life. Between the athletic challenge, all of the wonderful people I met along the way topped off with the behind the scenes look at some of our military operations, it truly made it a week I will never forget.

I am very pleased to announce that because of your generosity I managed to raise over $6500.00 for the cause! As you know I required $3500.00 to participate, so needless to say I was extremely happy with the results. Although we were only a dozen riders for the first edition, we raised over $75,000.00 for Canada Company! There are plans to make this an annual event and I urge all of you to consider participating or volunteering for next year’s event. Stay tuned!!!

Once again, a huge thank you to all that donated.

Sincerely,
Joe Gagnon