Three western Maine all-terrain vehicle clubs are calling ATV riders to join them in the group’s annual toy run Saturday to benefit children in greater Franklin County this Christmas.

Members are hoping more riders will make this year’s toy run top the previous year’s as they ride from Jay, Farmington, Canton and back, rain or shine, Saturday, Sept. 30.

The Western Maine ATV Club, Canton Trail Riders and the Mount View ATV Club out of Mount Vernon are sponsoring the event, which includes a barbecue, with help from businesses.

Unwrapped toys need to be put in plastic to be protected from dust along the ride, Dalot said.

The toy run started seven years ago with 33 riders and grew to 196 riders last year, said Karen Dalot of Jay, secretary of the Western Maine ATV Club.

In 2005, the group raised about $3,000 worth of toys and cash that are given to Western Maine Community Action to be distributed to children and families in need at Christmas.

The ride has benefited hundreds of families over the years, she said.

“We started this seven years ago to let the community and landowners know that we appreciate the use of the land and want to give something back in return,” Dalot’s husband, Bob Dalot, president of the Western Maine club, said.

It takes the work of several groups to make this work with volunteers and the police working with them to secure the safety of the riders. The Western Maine Community Action Program agency and the Mount Blue High School baseball team does all the cooking at the barbecue, Dalot said.

Riders will meet in the parking lot and dirt lot near McDonald’s Restaurant at 7:30 a.m. or at 9 a.m. in Farmington at the lot behind Jack’s Logging, off Oakes Street near Rite Aid.

That’s where people are to register and get a meal ticket, Karen Dalot said.

Someone will be at the Farmington lot by 7:30 a.m. to start registration, which will run through 9:45 a.m. Registration and the meal are free.

“We just want gifts for the kids,” she said.

However, every rider needs to register and get a meal ticket.

“It helps us get a head count and prepare for the barbecue,” Dalot said.

There are 50/50 tickets, poker hands, and raffle tickets for a number of donated items including gloves, helmets, emergency kits and radios.

This is a great community event with many people involved in the preparation, Dalot said.

The ride will leave Farmington at 10 a.m. to go back to the Jay lot and then riders from there will get a Jay police escort across the Riley Road bridge, and then they’ll take a left onto Crash Road and then a right onto Cornelio Road, where they’ll pick up a trail to Canton.

Riders will stop in Canton to give representatives of the community action agency the toys and then will head back to the Jay lot near McDonald’s for a barbecue and to announce the winners of raffles and poker hand, Dalot said.

For more information call Dalot at 897-2926 or Chris Currier, president of the Mt. View club at 441-5090.