Cyclist to set off on fundraising ride July 2

Mason Thill, who is planning a 103-mile bike ride from his Town of Fredonia home to Door County to raise money for the Port Washington Fire Department, said has received a good response from the public.

Thill hopes to raise $5,400 to purchase a cordless smoke ejector, a large battery-operated fan that firefighters would use to ventilate houses after fires.

And he hopes to make this an annual event benefitting fire departments throughout the area.

He’s patterning his ride after one taken by the late Nick Grosenick, who last year rode 115 miles from Sheboygan Falls to Peninsula State Park in Door County and raised $6,500 to buy four automatic external defibrillators for the Port fire department.

Thill plans to leave his home at 5 a.m. July 2, and should make it to his grandparents’ house in Door County about 3:30 p.m. He will start off on the Ozaukee Interurban Trail and take bike trails and back roads throughout the ride.

Thill, the son of Jennifer and Paul Thill,  a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, is working in maintenance at Hawthorne Hills this summer.

Anyone who wants to make a pledge may contact Thill at (414) 324-5436 or email him at masonthill11@gmail.com.