ROCKY VIEW, AB — Each year in September, truckers gather to make the World’s Largest Truck Convoy a great one. And this year, the man who raised The Great One himself, Walter Gretzky, will be there.

Big trucks, big convoys, a big anniversary and a big cause make the 2014 World’s Largest Truck Convoy For Special Olympics an event you don’t want to miss.

The truck convoy, celebrating its 10^th anniversary in Canada this year, brings together law enforcement officials and truck drivers from around the country to raise funds and awareness for Special Olympics athletes.

Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba will all return as convoy hosts. 

Folks attending the Ontario leg are in for a special treat: Walter and Brent Gretzky, father and brother of NHL legend Wayne, will be there. Brent is returning as the lead truck escort, while Walter will be addressing everyone during lunch.

Our Highway Star, Mike “Motor” Rosenau, the big man with a bigger heart, attends and drives in the Alberta convoy. Put on hiatus in 2011, the Alberta leg returns for 2014.

Rosenau got involved in 2006 when he suggested that instead of having one convoy in Edmonton, they have two convoys—one from Calgary and one from Edmonton.

“They were gonna have a short run from Rexall Centre to Sherway Park,” he recalls. “I said, I got a lot of guys that would participate, why don’t you talk about starting one in Edmonton, one in Calgary, and meet in Red Deer?”

Meet in Red Deer they did, with the first Alberta convoy drawing between 50 and 60 trucks.

“It’s great,” Rosenau said. “It’s all about the community and giving back, and this is how the truck industry gives back.”

What started in Florida in 2000 as a fundraiser has turned into a massive continental event with thousands of trucks setting out on the roads of North America each year.

Since the inaugural convoy, donations have climbed over $300,000.

The Manitoba leg departs from Oak Bluff Community Centre on September 6. 

Saskatchewan’s convoy will drive from Saskatoon’s Credit Union Center to The Turvey Center in Regina on September 13. 

Ontario’s leg of the convoy will also depart on September 13, cruising out of the Paris Fairgrounds in Paris, ON. 

The Alberta and Nova Scotia convoys leave one week later on September 20. Alberta’s will leave from Rocky View, while Nova Scotians can see their convoy dispatched from CFB Shearwater.