Accusations fly as fundraiser ride for ARCH splits in two

The organizers of a long-running fundraiser for ARCH are voicing their frustrations publicly after they believe the event in their names was plagiarized and wrongfully scheduled without their consent by last year’s venue.

Marcy and Alex Dettorre have helped oversee Ride for ARCH since its early beginnings, building an event that has brought motorcyclists together at the former Reggie’s West for refreshments, live music and a group ride out to the highway since 2015.

After Reggie’s West owners and fundraiser co-founders Reggie and Christine Daigle stepped away from their business in 2022, and ultimately the ride, the bar was sold to Jay Scott, and he renamed it to Jay’s Piston Broke Pub.

Last year, in keeping with tradition, it was agreed that the ride would be held at the same location under a new name: Dragonfly Run.

While the event at Jay’s was a success from a fundraising perspective — it raised $15,000 for the local hospice — committee members sensed there were significant safety concerns that had been mounting at the bar for years, which ultimately reached a tipping point in 2023.

“The first year it started small, and it slowly got bigger every year,” Marcy Dettorre explained. “We had just under 120 bikes last year, and our ride actually got split up into three; people got divided.”

“It was almost impossible to get the bikes through the city and get onto the highway safely,” Alex Dettorre added. “We also didn’t have city police assistance with traffic control. It was starting to be in the talks amongst us that it was becoming too big for the venue.”

Alongside fellow committee members and Toystock founders Greg Simpson and his partner Kerry, the four decided to move the Dragonfly Run to Grand Gardens this year on August 25. That news was announced publicly last February.

Meanwhile, Jay Scott claimed he had full intentions of hosting the ride again at his business this year, calling it "The ARCH Run," and affirming he and his staff had already planned to oversee the event on August 24 — one day prior to the committee’s revamped fundraiser.

“We set that date last October,” Scott said. “They were well aware because I asked Greg Simpson, who's part of the band Bone Yard, if he was playing for our ride again or not. That was long before they announced their date.”

The committee believes Scott did not have a ride planned before they announced their move to Grand Gardens, suggesting plans to host his own ride were a deliberate attempt to undermine Dragonfly’s ongoing efforts.

“We were set back, and it caught us very off guard,” Alex Dettorre said. “Why would you do that? Why would you cut the throat of another charity when you can pick a different month and raise a substantial amount of money? That’s what this is about.”

But Scott says it wasn’t the committee’s event to move to begin with.

“This was Reggie’s event, it belongs at this location,” he said. “If you look at any of the permits, licensing — it was all in my name last year. My bar staff is the same bar staff Reggie’s West had. They’re the ones who did all the letters for the city and for the AGCO.”

According to the Dettorres, most to all of the forms involved in making their fundraiser possible — like legal waivers, pledge forms, and reference letters — were initially written and constructed by their committee.

They alleged the documentation was plagiarized by Scott, who used it to organize his event.

“That arguably bothered us the most,” Marcy Dettorre said. “We wouldn’t have had a problem handing over our paperwork to help him, so it was upsetting to see my name erased and his name inserted when they were all my words. Everything was copied.”

Scott claimed that sentiment was hypocritical.

“It’s the same thing they did last year when they were converting the documents from Reggie’s Ride for ARCH to Dragonfly,” he said. “I’m not going to go pay a lawyer another $1,500 to rewrite the form and have the same wording come out anyway.”

According to both sides, not one message had been exchanged between the Dettorres and Scott before decisions on venues and dates were made official. In fact, no messages had gone one way or the other since last year’s fundraiser.

It was roughly two weeks ago when the committee members learned Scott was hosting the same ride after they began receiving messages from the public, many of whom were confused about where the event was being held.

That prompted the Dettorres to write a post on the Dragonfly Run Facebook page last Friday, explaining in their words what they believed had happened.

That post has since reached more than 30,000 people, according to Facebook’s performance stats, generating hundreds of reactions and dozens of comments — the vast majority of which overwhelmingly support the committee and their move to Grand Gardens.

But Scott believes the decision made by the Dragonfly Run organizers to move the event, place it on the same weekend as his, and announce the date “way too early” was done out of spite.

He claims that animosity originated from an unsuccessful attempt by Simpson to seek out a pay increase for Bone Yard’s regular bookings throughout the year at Jay’s, allegedly leaving the band spokesperson frustrated.

“It all stems from me not agreeing to pay the band more for regular bookings, they’re amalgamating one issue and trying to penalize me by trying to take away this event,” Scott said. “The Ride for ARCH has always been at this establishment.”

“I set a price, I know my worth,” Simpson rebutted. “If you don’t want to pay, that’s okay. I move on.”

The Dettorres have made it clear that whatever discussion occurred between Bone Yard and Scott regarding band payments had zero impact on their decision to change venues this year, and that it solely came down to safety concerns at Jay’s Piston Broke Pub.

“With the Grand Gardens located on Fourth Line and ARCH being nearby, it was a no-brainer,” Marcy Dettorre said. “It’s a bigger venue with a huge parking lot where everybody is safe, and it’s near the highway. Plus, you have a full ballroom, we can bring vendors in, and go bigger.”

Simpson added that changing venues for an event that grows over time is completely reasonable, as he experienced it himself years ago with Toystock.

“I used to be at The Canadian, now we’re at Grand Gardens — you’re allowed to change venues,” he said. “At Jay’s, there were cars hitting barricades and just too many bikes for that little space. It was getting ridiculous.”

“If he was still the best venue, we would have gone there,” Kerry added. “The venue has nothing to do with the charity.”

Scott insists his ride will unequivocally be safe this year.

“I reached out to a motorcycle club that does these rides regularly,” he said. “We have all the safety precautions in place to block the intersections when all the motorcycles are going through, and we’ll make sure everyone gets through the intersections safely.”

Over the last 72 hours, comments have been coming in online that have accused Scott of stealing and claiming the event as his own, while others have suggested he’s only in it for the profit from liquor sales.

Some have even called for a complete boycott of Jay’s Piston Broke Pub.

While he couldn’t disclose what his profit margins were from hosting the ride last year, the new owner of the bar wants to put the accusations on social media to rest.

“I’m not out here to steal charities, and this wasn’t about putting money in our pocket,” Scott said. “This was about the community event. Raising the money and keeping up with the tradition that was started here — that’s what it’s all about.”

“When you add up all the extra man hours and staff I have to put in, my profit margin isn’t really that much more,” he added. “My sales are higher, but my expenses are way higher too.”

While the Dragonfly Run committee initially announced they would be cancelling their Grand Gardens ride altogether, the Dettorres were inundated with hundreds of messages calling on them to continue.

So, on Aug. 25, their ride is planned to go as scheduled.

“The messages were so overwhelming, we couldn’t believe what we were reading,” Marcy Dettorre said. “It was so heartwarming; how do you say no to the people who support us? How do you say no to ARCH?”

Similarly, it’s all systems go for Jay’s Piston Broke Pub on Aug. 24.

“ARCH is a worthy facility, and we just want to do our part and continue what was started,” Scott said. “I’m the most hated guy in Sault Ste. Marie right now — and for what? Even if I decided to cancel, I’m still the bad guy. Hopefully, we can beat last year’s target.”

Although there are few things both sides can agree on, the committee members and Scott have vocalized their well wishes for the opposing event as everyone involved wants ARCH to benefit.

When reached by SooToday on Monday, officials with ARCH declined to comment on the situation.

Since its inception in 2015, the Ride for ARCH and Dragonfly Run fundraisers have raised nearly $100,000 for the hospice.