*** RIDE REPORT ***

On Saturday, 9/27, Warriors’ Watch Riders helped to launch the 1st Annual Military Appreciation Day at the Roslyn Valley Car Show and Fall Festival. A misty rain and gray skies kept this event from reaching its full potential, but everyone involved considered it a success. Many of the custom car buffs will not bring their cars out in the rain, so the displays and attendance were down considerably from past years. The up side was that the street in front of the VFW was empty, and we were asked to bring our flagged bikes in and park by our table. We strung our banner between two trees and we were in business.


We attracted a good bit of attention from people going in and out of the show. All told, we distributed a couple hundred brochures, and spoke to many about our mission. At least a handful of those seemed sincerely interested in joining us, or knew someone that might like us to ride for them. The only other organization that braved the weather to set up a table was Semper Fi Families. It never actually rained hard enough to send us scurrying for shelter.

The Ceremony at Dusk was delayed briefly in order to be in sync with the end of the Car Show awards presentation. WWR provided 12 flag bearers to form a flag line behind the podium at the front of Roslyn VFW. The ceremony included speeches and award presentations by several local politicians; introductions of local veterans and active-duty military (including Susan’s son Michael, who came up from Virginia just for this event); and a candle-light vigil and reading of 11 names of Montgomery County residents who lost their lives in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Just as the ceremony ended, as if on cue, the fireworks marking the end of the day’s festivities commenced in the background.

Thanks to all of you who turned out to support this event. Our turnout was kind of proportionate to the show attendance, so everything worked out fine. Also, thanks to the membership of the Roslyn VFW for feeding us and allowing us to use their facilities. And thanks especially to Susan Hunt of Semper Fi Families for all her hard work in organizing the event, and allowing us to be a part of it.

Jim M.