ATV Big Air Tour thrills fairgoers

By George Leroy Hunter
AUGUSTA — The ATV Big Air Tour, which featured incredible students by a team of stuntmen riding all terrain vehicles and dirt bikes, made an appearance at the Sussex County Fairgrounds on Tuesday, Aug. 8.
The ATV Big Air Tour was founded by Derek Guetter, a native of Wabasso, Minn. His brother, Jon, also performs.
Prizes were given away during the thrilling show.
The “Go Big or Go Home” Big Air team performed an afternoon and evening show at the fair.
The team has a rotating roster of professional stuntmen who perform around the world.
Derek Guetter, Derek Burlew, Adam Thene and J.R. Hinds signed autographs and posed for photographs with fans after the show finished.
Derek Guetter has been performing professionally for 13 years. He has performed in more than 30 countries.
As a child, Guetter and his two older brothers started doing stunts on BMX bikes, then things progressed from there.
Along the way, Guetter has suffered numerous accidents performing, resulting in seven surgeries. Guetter says his body is held together by screws and pins. He said legendary daredevil Evel Knievel was an influence during his childhood.
Guetter said, "I've seriously broken almost everything in my body. Yeah, it's been a rough journey, but I stuck with it. I was accepted to a college and intended to study accounting. But a few days before graduating from high school, I decided I wanted to try something else. I flew to California and never looked back."
He added: "I spent the first couple of years sleeping on people's couches and floors. I did whatever I could to stand out and always kept a clean image. Just from riding and having a level head and business sense, I was able to make this work. Not getting hurt all the time helps. Injuries are the biggest thing in this sport, and if you can avoid them you can have a pretty good career."