At Sunday’s Ride to Remember in Habersham, individuals expressed their memories of the events of September 11, 2001:
Wesley Kelly, manager of Ingles in Cornelia (left), joined the motorcyclists in Habersham County – at the Ingles parking lot – to continue to the ride’s end, in Blairsville. He said that he remembers, in 2001, eating breakfast after getting off from work, and then hearing about the 9/11 attack.
“I was shocked more than anything,” he said. And of the motorycle ride in 2015, he said, “it’s good to remember the events – to take a little bit of a stand.
The Ride to Remember served a positive purpose, he continued, saying, “it pulls people together…in fellowship. It’s good for morale,” he continued, “for everybody who sees it.”
READ A Ride to Remember Roars Through Habersham
Motorcycle rider Chris Jenkins, a physical therapist in Athens, said he actually knew someone who died in the 9/11 disaster. “I have a family friend who died in the Pentagon – a great guy with a close family.
” I was close to his sister,” he continued, “and yes, it’s still fresh,” he said of the family’s memory of 9/11.
“It was very real to them,” – the family of Lt. Michael Scott Lamana.
“This,” he said, gesturing toward the many participants in the Ride to Remember, “makes it a smaller world.”
Terah Dyer works in Beall’s Outlet store in Cornelia, one of the sponsors of the Ride to Remember break time in Habersham – that provided free water and crackers to motorcycle riders. Because of her youth, Terah’s memory of 9/11 is distant, she said – but she has a present-day reason for considering the Ride to Remember important.
“My father is a firefighter,” she said, “with the City of Cornelia.”
That is why she says “it’s important to show support for people like the ones who lost their lives in the towers.”
