<\/p>\n
Rain didn\u2019t stop bikers from across the region today \u2014 they still revved up their engines for a good cause.<\/p>\n
Riders pushed through the weather to shine a light on motorcycle safety and to show veterans they are never forgotten. Hundreds of riders rolled out of the Soldiers\u2019 and Sailors\u2019 Home for the annual Jeremy Grant Awareness Ride and Cruise-In, determined to make sure their message didn\u2019t get lost in the weather.<\/p>\n
One biker told me that\u2019s exactly why he shows up every year \u2014 because raising awareness saves lives and making sure support for those who served continues long after the engines shut off.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, it\u2019s just that time of year. We\u2019re out, we\u2019re out. We\u2019re enjoying Mother Nature that\u2019s given to us, and we get a chance. By now, you can tell summer is short, so it\u2019s a way to raise awareness throughout the community,\u201d Allen Erin, a biker, said.<\/p>\n
Before the engines started, the day opened with a prayer service asking for protection on the road and honoring the veterans watching from the front steps.<\/p>\n
Multiple speakers, including Mayor Daria Devlin, all stressed how important motorcycle and veterans awareness is.<\/p>\n
A representative from the Soldiers\u2019 and Sailors\u2019 Home told me this event means more than people realize \u2014 how it shows veterans they are seen and how it gives the community a chance to get to know bikers.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the bikers that have come here every year have been very respectful and want to spend time with the residents, talk with them, and really honor our veterans,\u201d Katy Dilling, a therapeutic recreation supervisor for the Pennsylvania Soldiers\u2019 and Sailors\u2019 Home, explained.<\/p>\n
The group then took off, completing their route at a Harley-Davidson bike shop, saying ending the ride there brings the message full circle.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust everybody pay attention and look out for us, and keep off your cell phones,\u201d Erin said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rain didn\u2019t stop bikers from across the region today \u2014 they still revved up their engines for a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[86549,86550,524,136,138,137,86547,86548],"class_list":["post-194558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-bikers","tag-charity-ride","tag-community","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-motorcycle-safety","tag-veterans-support"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}