While many people from around the world are planning to visit OKC April 30 for the Memorial Marathon known as the Run to Remember, others closer to home are ready to ride. More than 1,000 motorbike enthusiasts are expected to attend the Memorial Motorcycle Run on Saturday to honor the victims and survivors of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
Many of those riders taking part in the Ride to Remember are active or retired Oklahoma City Firefighters, and were first responders following the April 19 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The ride has contributed much-needed funds to the National Memorial & Museum, which stands where the Murrah building once stood.
David Dunn, owner of nightclub and bar Margarita Island in Oklahoma City, and Willie Butler, a member of the Heartland Heat Chapter of the Wind and Fire Motorcycle Club, organized the first Ride to Remember in 2007. Last year nearly 1,500 riders took part, and organizers are expecting more this year.
Dunn says: “The memorial relies completely on private donations. I believe it's important for the generation born since the federal building was bombed to understand the consequences of terrorism and the price of hatred. This memorial is a tribute to the 168 men women and children who died here in Oklahoma and the Oklahoma standard. We shall never forget.”
The Ride to Remember, which follows the 22nd Anniversary Remembrance Ceremony at the museum on Wednesday, starts with a registration on Saturday at Papa’s Leather and Harley Davidson World with first bikes out at noon and a wreath laying ceremony at 1 p.m., and continues throughout the rest of the day.
To register, click here
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