Published: October 11, 2008 09:32 pm      

Teddy bears for newborns

Newborns benefit by effort of Damascus Road Riders

PETERSBURG — Grant Memorial Hospital’s Family Maternity Unit recently received an assortment of teddy bears and other stuffed animals from the Damascus Road Riders, a chapter of the Christian Motorcycle Association.

Once a year the Damascus Road Riders sponsor a Biker’s Sunday at the Dorcas Baptist Church in Petersburg. This year, on July 15, more than 181 people participated in the Biker’s Sunday. The admission fee to participate in the day’s events was a teddy bear or other stuffed animal.

“When we started this group and our Biker’s Sunday event we decided that we needed to give back to the community in some way,” said Bobby Jean Wolf, the group’s vice president. “That is when we came up with the idea that our admission fee to participate in our Biker’s Sunday would be a teddy bear for the babies born at Grant Memorial.”

The Biker’s Sunday event includes the Sunday church service, cook-out with ice cream being made and ends with an afternoon bike ride.

Gary Wolfe, club president, said this is their fifth year and more than 200 teddy bears have been donated. “We ride a different route every year and plan our rides to last about 1 1/2 hours. Every year we have more and more members from other chapters of the Christian Motorcycle Association to attend our Biker’s Sunday. This year we had bikers from the Martinsburg, Chapter to attend.”

Amber Johnson of Moorefield received teddy bears from the Damascus Road riders on behalf of her new born twins Zophia Makala and Joseph Franklin Hose Jr.

The Damascus Road Riders meet at 7:30 p.m. every third Tuesday at the Golden Lanes Bowling Alley in Petersburg.