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Dirt Bike Buddies: Busti youth receives surprise dirt bike from town supervisor

 BUSTI -- At the beginning of September, the Busti Fire Department brought back the Busti Gala Days event, which used to be held annually. Raffles were included as part of this event, and one such raffle brought one young man from the town a surprise.

Town Supervisor Jesse Robbins said the Gala Days went wonderfully, adding that it was a lot like the old days in the town, even though it rained for part of the event. Everything went great with the carnival part of the event, he said, and that everything was very clean, even if it was a soggy weekend. Robbins also praised the fire department for putting everything together, saying he was very proud overall of them and everyone that helped with the event.

As a part of the raffles included with the event, Robbins said people were given tickets to sell. At the time of the raffles, he had not sold any of the 15 tickets he had, so he ended up using them himself. Another part of the raffles for Robbins was his job of checking IDs.

"As I was checking IDs this young man walks up, and he took money out of his own pocket to buy tickets for this little dirt bike," Robbins said. "I thought that was really great. This young man, his parents, they race go carts and his parents pay for that, and they said, if you want a motorcycle you've got to earn it. He worked all summer, doing scrap metal and lawns and all kinds of things, and he's a nice kid."

After that, Robbins said he did not think much more about it until that Saturday at half time when the tickets for the dirt bike were pulled, and it was the ticket belonging to Robbins.

"So here I am standing with a motorcycle that I'm too big to ride," Robbins said. "I went and got it in Westfield from Dave Warren, and took it to the young man that had bought tickets and gave it to him."

Robbins said he was very impressed that a kid these days would be willing to put in that kind of work and dedication for something he wanted, adding that he believes it says a lot about him that he was willing to try for it with money out of his own pocket that he had earned.

"They're a very nice family, very polite kids," Robbins said. "It was just a nice deal, and it worked out good for us. I mean, I'm not going to be able to ride it."

Robbins said he loaded it up in his truck and he and his wife brought it to Weston Miles. There were two bikes up for auction, so it also happened to be the one he wanted.

"My wife says to him, 'We've got a motorcycle here for you,'" Robbins said. "'My husband won it and he wants to give it to you.' And the kid was just overwhelmed. It was really a neat deal, and well worth it."