Published: August 15, 2008 11:55 pm         

Annual trek raises money

Bikers, police make rounds to crash sites raising money for scholarships

Editor’s note: America’s 9/11 Ride traveled from Shanksville, Pa., through the Narrows into Cumberland with a stop at Allegany College of Maryland on Friday.

SOMERSET, Pa. — The largest motorcycle ride of the year to visit the Flight 93 crash site is on the road again.

The America’s 9/11 Ride Foundation, which honors emergency responders, began its eighth annual trek to the crash sites with a trip to the spot near Shanksville on Thursday night, where crash victims’ family members met with them for a ceremony.

“It’s very emotional,” said Christa Statler of Johnstown, who serves on the foundation’s executive directors’ board.

The ride stops at the Flight 93 site, the Pentagon and the World Trade Center site. Proceeds go to providing scholarships for family members of fire, police and EMS personnel across the country. So far, the group has awarded more than $120,000 in college scholarships.

Volunteer police escorts follow the group, which starts out this year with about 700 riders from across the country. More than 70 officers are joining the event this time around.

“It’s all in remembrance of 9/11,” Statler said. “It’s incredible the outpouring of the towns we travel through.”

In some towns, people line the streets to watch the ride, waving flags and joining in a few moments to remember what happened in 2001.

Statler and her husband, Bill, who is a part-time police officer and volunteer firefighter, have taken part every year so far. The first such ride was conducted just after the terrorist attacks.

“It’s not just firefighters and police,” Statler said. “This is for everyone.”

Kecia Bal is a staff writer for the The Johnstown Tribune-Democrat.