Rallying to support veterans from behind motorcycle handle bars, Arkansas Honor Ride will bring motorcyclists from across Arkansas to the Spa City for a ceremony at the Garland County Veterans Memorial on Saturday.
The ride is open to motorcycles and all other vehicles and will depart from Rodney's Cycle House, 9110 Interstate 30 in Little Rock, to Hot Springs. A police escort will join the route at Gulpha Gorge Road, leading motorcycles down Park and Central avenues to the Garland County Veterans Memorial and Military Park, 118 Orange St.
As part of Purple Heart Day, a ceremony and unveiling of the relocated Purple Heart monument will end the day's parade route at the memorial.
"The monument currently sits at the corner of the Hot Springs Visitor Center next to the Walk of Fame. The city has agreed to let us and other organizations move that monument from its current location over to the veterans memorial. We are going to unveil that on Oct. 1 during the ceremony," said Wendell Roberts, Arkansas Honor Ride president.
Motorcyclists can preregister online at http://www.arkansashonorride.org for $10. On-site registration will be $15. Whether on motorcycles or in a vehicle, the cost of registration is per person, not per vehicle. Funds will be donated to assist wounded veterans with medical expenses.
"Our organization is a nonprofit organization, a 501(c)3. The donations and money we raise go to benefit the wounded soldiers who are recovering at the Brooke Army Medical Center (in San Antonio, Texas)," Roberts said.
In its third year, Arkansas Honor Ride officials hope the event will draw around 400 participants. Preregistration numbers are about 80, but Roberts said that a lot of participants wait to register on site. Last year, the ride hosted 200 motorcyclists. The ride has already attracted out-of-state participants from Texas and Oklahoma.
"A lot of them (motorcyclists) are veterans. The motorcycle community just loves to help out. A lot of them like to just be generous and donate to worthy causes," Roberts said.
Once in Hot Springs, the parade is open to spectators and the organization welcomes the community to attend the ceremony at the memorial. For several years, the organization has petitioned the governor's office to name the first Saturday of October as Purple Heart Day in Arkansas. The petition was granted and they anticipate working on legislation to make it a permanent holiday.
"Eventually, we would like to push legislation to do that every year without us having to submit a petition. We are going to work with the Military Order of the Purple Heart to try to get that done. But for now, we are doing that year to year," Roberts said.
Guest speakers are set to be president of the Military Order of the Purple Heart and Purple Heart recipient Mark Biggs and retired Maj. Gen. Tom Arwood.
Local on 09/25/2016