RUMFORD – Bikes, boards and inline skates, and the people who ride them will bring an extreme sports performance to the Mountain Valley High School gymnasium Saturday to help pay for a lung transplant for a former Rumford woman.

Maximum Velocity, owned and operated by Geoff Carlton of Durham, N.H., who grew up in nearby Farmington, will be a show geared toward the family, Carlton said Tuesday afternoon.

“This is a good way to have a good, clean time with the family,” he said.

Stephanie Tutlis Briggs, a 1994 graduate of Mountain Valley High School and now a resident of Limerick, has cystic fibrosis, a disease that was diagnosed when she was 12. She is expected to be put on the active list later this year to receive a double lung transplant and will need about $300,000 on top of medical insurance to pay associated costs.

Carlton is Briggs’ brother-in-law, married to her sister, Tonya. He established Maximum Velocity about 14 years ago and has brought experts in extreme riding of in-line skates, skateboards, and BMX bicycles to dozens of venues around the country and the world.

Maximum Velocity finished its 10th year performing at Boston’s First Night celebration on New Year’s Eve. On Saturday, five young men will perform flips, tail whips, wall rides, back flips and other daredevil tricks. The flat ground skateboarder just came off a stint performing in New York City with the Circus de Soleil.

Carlton said safety is important, and he and the performers will emphasize the necessary protective equipment required to put on a show or to ride any of the equipment. He said along with the performers and their boards, bikes or skates will come ramps, walls and other items needed for the performance.

Baked goods prepared by Tonya and others will be sold to help raise funds.

The benefit performance is presented under the nonprofit umbrella of the National Transplant Assistance Fund, an organization based in Pennsylvania with the goal of helping people who face serious medical challenges.

Other benefits for Briggs include a dance, auction and supper at the Rumford Eagles Club Jan. 17, and a dance at St. Joseph’s College where Briggs works, on Jan. 24.

Tickets for the Maximum Velocity performance may be purchased at Mountain Valley High School or at Carlisle’s on Congress Street.


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