ONTONAGON — Seniors in the Upper Peninsula were able to see peak fall colors first-hand thanks to a group focused on outdoor recreation enthusiasts.

The Michigan Trails and Recreation Alliance of Land and the Environment, held its 14th Annual Senior Fall Color Tour on Sept, 28. MI – TRALE called the event “a compete success” in a recent press release.

“It would not have been so without all the generous donations from individual volunteers and local businesses,” the press release said.

Organizers said the Ontonagon County Fairgrounds allowed attendee and bus parking on the site. Buses and driver services were supplied by the Ewen-Trout Creek School. The Forestry Division of the Michigan DNR provided three members of its staff to tell attendees how and why the leaves turn thebeautiful colors that they do.

Twin Lakes State Park was very gracious in providing the accommodations of ORV and bus parking as well as its pavilion for all volunteers and attendees to have lunch on the park grounds and Twin Lakes staff who volunteered to serve the pasty lunch. More than 60 seniors participated in the 22-mile morning and afternoon MI-TRALE tours, using more than 20 side-by-side ORVs which were donated for the day by Land O’Lakes Recreation in Wisconsin; Headwaters Polaris; Hamilton’s North Coast Adventures; The Adventure Motel; Pat’s Motor Sports along with numerous private owners.

Between the two tours, a pasty lunch, donated by Krupp’s Mini Mart, was provided. The tours traveled on the BN –Bill Nicholls, Trail — and included stops for photo opportunities at the east and west branches of the Firesteel River’s triple-trestle bridges.

Husband and wife Aaron and Jenny Balcom attended the morning tour.

They said “Even though there was less sunshine than last year’s tour, the Fall colors this year were beyond spectacular. We had a wonderful ride and the pasty lunch was very tasty!”

This is not the first time that MI-TRALE officer Dave Bishop has been the organizer of the tour.

“It is our pleasure to provide senior citizens, that don’t often have the opportunity to get out into the fresh air of the woods, to really see all the natural wonders the U.P. has to offer,” Bishop said. “We had seniors, not only from the U.P., but also from lower Michigan, Wisconsin and a few other states that were able to participate in the year’s tour.”

Don Helsel, President of MI-TRALE, said, “Dave Bishop is to be commended for his superior job in coordinating all of the volunteer efforts that made this tour such a rousing success. We were able to provide about 20 more seniors, over last year’s total, the opportunity to experience the glory of autumn color(s) in the UP. We hope to raise that number even higher for next year’s tour.” Helsel said.

He emphasized the fact that the tour is always a team effort.

“A huge ‘Thank You’ goes out to every individual volunteer, who donated their time and machines, as well as to the many businesses and their contributions, all without whom MI-TRALE would not be able to make this free event possible.”