Hundreds of men and women who love their motorcycles, each other and their country gathered Sunday in Oxford for the fourth time to raise money for the families of victims who died Sept. 11, 2001. More than 500 riders paid $25 each to ride 106 miles from Oxford to Capac to Yale to Capac to Oxford.
On Tuesday, some of them will come together again for the Fourth Annual 9/11 Memorial Run, which begins in tiny Oxford Village. They will bring the money raised in Sunday's Poker Run -- more than $12,500 -- to New York to help families of those who died in the terrorist attacks.
The villages of Oxford and Capac figure prominently in the effort because of stepbrothers Bob Howell, 49, of Oxford, also known as Tattoo Bob, and Harry Pressel, 60, of Capac. They never saw New York before Sept. 11, but after watching the the terrorist attacks on television, the two felt compelled to go. That first year, in 2001, they hopped in a black Ford Taurus, and upon seeing Ground Zero, pledged to take their friends, their motorcycles and their money the next year.
"There were tears, and there was anger," Howell said. "We felt like we had to do something. This is a respect issue, respect for the people that gave their lives that day."
Accompanying the brothers is Charlie Blackshear, 44, of Waterford who orders patches from Florida each year that commemorate the ride. Pat Piserchio, 47, a firefighter from Orange, N.J., rode his bike 580 miles to Oxford, to join the group only to ride back east to raise money for the 9/11 Memorial Run. In his wallet, he carries a print of Mark Whitford, a firefighter who died Sept. 11 amid the rubble of the World Trade Center.
"In Bob and Harry, I saw a heart and an American pride that just doesn't quit. It's invigorating to see that," Piserchio said.
Starting Tuesday with about 30 riders, mostly men with their wives and girlfriends, the 9/11 Memorial Run will gain hundreds of riders along the way. Last year, by the time they reached New Jersey, the group grew to about 1,200.
The bikers will rev up in Oxford and pick up more riders in Youngstown, Ohio. They will continue to Shanksville, Pa., where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed, and then on to the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., where American Airlines Flight 77 tore a hole in the building the same day. The riders will continue to Hope, N.J., on the morning of Sept. 11, where the group is expected to swell from a few hundred to more than 1,000.
The group will cross the Hudson and East rivers later on Sept. 11, after congregating after at a Harley-Davidson dealership in Brooklyn, N.Y. There, they will present their donations to the New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund and a fund honoring Billy Lake, a Brooklyn firefighter -- and Harley-Davidson biker -- who died during the rescue effort Sept. 11. Then, the bikers will cross the East River toward Ground Zero -- where they will join in a wreath-laying ceremony -- with U.S. flags on the back of their bikes waving in the wind.
