The Cowichan Valley will see a blaze of red shirts on the highway Saturday as 100 or so bikers come through on a ride from Comox to Victoria. The event is Boomer’s Legacy, a campaign to raise money for disadvantaged residents in countries where Canadian soldiers are stationed.

Mike Murphy from Mill Bay will join the fifth annual “Boomer Ride”, one of several around the country that continue the mission of a 23-year-old Canadian Forces medical technician killed in the line of duty. Murphy explains that Boomer’s Legacy started with Cpl. Andrew “Boomer” Eykelenboom.

“He wrote home to his Mom and he said ‘the people here, the villagers have less than what the street people have. What can we do to help them?’ So they started knitting tuques and that, so he kind of started it. That’s how it became Boomer’s Legacy.”

Money raised in “Boomer Rides” goes to a trust fund for Canadian military personnel to help villages with health care, education and opportunities for women.

Murphy said the group on Vancouver Island raised $50,000 last year.

Riders start in Comox on Saturday and are expected to stop at the Thrifty Foods grocery store in Duncan at around 11:30 a.m. before continuing on to Mill Bay and then Victoria, where the ride wraps up.

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