The Halfway to Hazard Celebrity Trail Ride in Crocketsville raised thousands for charity.

Event organizers say the event was a success that has netted $87,000 thus far for the Buckhorn Children’s Center, which cares for abused and neglected children from birth to 18-years-old by offering a variety of services from treatment foster care and adoption to residential living to transitional services and other programs throughout Kentucky.

Janet Smith, the chairperson of the Perry County Tourism Board, said that they are still collecting money from the event that has far exceeded their expectations.

“It was a great family event and that’s how we wanted it to be. We got a lot of improvements to make, but for the first event it went over really well,” she said.

An event that saw ATV and dirt bike enthusiasts gather on the Abner Farm in Crocketsville before the fog raised on Sunday morning in preparation for the trail ride with thousands more coming out to take part in the evening's events which ranged from hot air balloon rides provided by Kentucky Farm Bureau to listening to live Bluegrass music as well as music from Whiskey Falls, Randy Houser, Danielle Peck, Gabe Garcia, Jeremy Popoff, and Halfway to Hazard. An estimated 7,000 to 8,000 people took part in the event many of whom, including the celebrities, say they are coming back.

“All the celebrities that performed had a ball getting dirty on the trail. Most had never been here and said they wanted to come back next year,” Smith said.

Law enforcement and emergency personnel including Kentucky State Police, Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement, the Perry and Breathitt County Sheriff’s Offices as well as the Perry and Breathitt County Ambulance Services, two Medivac helicopters, and Kentucky Fish and Wildlife were also on hand for the event.

Smith said that those with Kentucky State Police said the event was well organized and “they have never been to event with that many people and the only injury be an ankle sprain on the trail ride and some bee stings. There were also no fights and no one was arrested.”

The only incident came when someone stole David Tolliver of Halfway to Hazard’s guitar, but that was recovered.

As part of the trail ride they were hoping to break the Guinness Book of World Records record for longest ATV parade a feat they didn’t accomplish in large part, Smith believes, due to the fact that they enforced the helmet law.

“We did not break record and I think it was due to the fact that we enforced the helmet law. We may not have won, but we caused a lot people to buy a helmet and maybe they will use it and it will keep them from getting hurt in future,” she said.

She attributes the trail ride and concert’s success to the over 100 volunteers and the Abner family, whose farm was used to host the event.

“Our volunteers busted their butts. Chris Washko, Halfway to Hazard’s manager, asked me how many of those people were paid and I told him none and he was amazed by all the volunteers,” Smith said. “You are only as good as your committee and we had a great committee. The Abners were wonderful to work with as well. Anything we needed they did.”

Those with the Buckhorn Children's Center say they are excited and humbled by the support they received and that the event gave the children they serve a voice.

"Just the fact that we have had such a tremendous amount of community support is huge for us," Robin Gabbard with the Children's Center said.

Over 7,000 children receive out of home care everyday in the state of Kentucky and the Buckhorn Children's Center serves a large population of those, which is why the trail ride and other events were so important because they helped to raise much needed funds the center can use to serve these children better.

"We will be able to serve more children and meet their needs better and we may be able to add programs that we have been lacking because of funding shortages," Gabbard noted. 

Smith says they hope to know how much money was raised by next week as they start looking forward to next year’s event. She said that they are wanting to make it a two day event next year with the concert on Saturday and the ride on Sunday.