Hundreds of motorcyclists honor the fallen through Highground’s Memorial Day ride
On Monday, May 29, 274 motorcyclists and 85 passengers from across Wisconsin and beyond began their day en route to Neillsville and The Highground as part of the 13th annual Honor Ride.
For many, Memorial Day means camping, boating and enjoying sales events on the federal holiday. For Honor Ride riders, it’s a day of remembering family, friends, brothers and sisters in arms who lost their lives in service to their country.
The Highground’s Honor Ride hosted two new routes this year, Wausau and Onalaska, and five new route leaders for a picturesque day of riding. The Highground raised just over $14,300 with help from the route leaders, riders, volunteers and sponsors.
All eight routes converged at the Neillsville American Legion Post 173 to support The Highground’s efforts to enrich their veterans’ programs for veterans and their families. After that, riders joined together for a loop around Neillsville before heading out to The Highground for the Memorial Day ceremony.
Chris Pettis, Highground executive director, gave a Memorial Day address. Reflecting on the relevance of the day, he highlighted the service and sacrifice of Army Cpl. Mitchell Red Cloud Jr. from Hatfield and Staff Sgt. Todd D. Olson from Loyal whose remarkable stories are just a few of many. The Northwest Region Wisconsin Army National Guard Military Funeral Honor Guard, led by Specialist Chris Walton, with members from the Neillsville Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, provided the ceremonial honor guard. Volunteer guests read 100 selected killedin- action names from the Korean War to the present day, while the honor guard folded a funeral flag and placed it at the base of the “Fragments” tribute.
The Highground extended its appreciation to the volunteer ride organizers and leaders: Bill Flemal and VFW Riders District 7 leading the Appleton/Waupaca/ Wisconsin Rapids route, Chad Garcia with Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association leading the Reedsburg route, Wade Hartung and David Louden leading the Eau Claire route, Mark Konichek leading the Richland Center/ Tomah route, John Napierala with Bull Falls HOG Chapter 4667 leading the Wausau route, Dennis Fick leading the Neillsville route, Eric Johnson with American Legion Riders District 7 leading the Onalaska route and Kennith Lanier leading the Minocqua route. The Neillsville Volunteer Fire Department provided escort for the VFW Riders District 7 as they led the riders through Neillsville and out to The Highground.
On behalf of all the riders, The Highground extends its gratitude to the Clark County Sheriff's Office for providing safe traffic control during the parade through Neillsville.
The 14th annual Memorial Day Honor Ride will be on Monday, May 27, 2024. Supporters are encouraged to visit the Honor Ride website at thehighgroundhonorride. com and follow The Highground on Facebook at Facebook.com/TheHighgroundVeteransMemorial for updates.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
