A Co Down bar owner currently undergoing cancer treatment plans to donate the proceeds of an annual charity tractor run this weekend to a cause very close to his heart.
The Gall Bog Bar Run is due to take place this Saturday and up to 100 tractors are expected to take part in the impressive procession.
The Gall Bog Bar, outside Banbridge, has been staging the event each year for around a decade.
And each time the tractors take to the road in what is a well-supported outing, a different charity is chosen to benefit from the proceeds.
This year, it will be the Friends of the Cancer Centre – based within Belfast City Hospital – which has been selected.
For Brian McCusker, owner of the Gall Bog Bar, is due to go into hospital next week for surgery after his own cancer diagnosis.
The 80-year-old, whose family have owned the bar for over a century, is hoping to raise as much money as possible from Saturday’s event as a way of saying ‘thank-you’ for everything which has been done for him.
Brian has already undergone chemotherapy after being diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus.
“We try to keep it as local as we can,” Brian told Armagh I. “This year it’s for Friends of the Cancer Centre in the City Hospital. I have been in the City Hospital. I have cancer and that’s why I’m donating it to them because they’ve helped me out. I’m due to go for an operation next Thursday.
“It is just in the one spot, thank God, but I want to get rid of it.
“The Friends of the Cancer Centre in the City Hospital have been excellent. You couldn’t beat them and I just want to help them out as much as I can.”
The annual Gall Bog Bar Tractor Run is now a firmly fixed date in the local calendar and Brian hopes to see as many possible lining up to take part.
“Sometimes you get over 100, sometimes you get 60 or 70,” he said. “It just varies, because if there’s something else on it takes some of the tractors away.
“But there’s been good support and everyone is welcome to come along.”
After registration from noon, the tractor run itself is due to get underway at around 2pm this Saturday, and the six-mile route will see participants make their way down to the Gall Bog, before heading out towards Dromore and circling back.
It always is a popular occasion and, as well as the run itself, there will be refreshments and the opportunity to bag some great prizes too.
“We have burgers and all for the tractor men and to sell as well as a raffle on the day,” added Brian. “I’m getting prizes off different ones. If anyone gives me anything it all goes up for raffle and I put up some stuff too.”
For Brian, he is looking forward to the big day and is sure his locals will continue to show their support as they always have.
The Gall Bog Bar is a popular watering hole and has been part of the very fabric of the local community for many, many years.
“It’s been about 103 years in the same name,” said Brian proudly. “My grandparents bought it away back in 1923. I was reared there. I’m 80 years of age and I live in Banbridge now but that’s my homeplace.”
For more details on registering to take part in the tractor run, to contribute items for the raffle or make a donation towards the fundraising for the Friends of the Cancer Centre, you can get in touch and access further information on the Gall Bog Bar page on Facebook here.
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