OFF THE WIRE
ARARAT, Va. — The hollows of this southwestern Patrick County community are expected to echo the sounds of motorcycles Saturday when members of various groups ride in support of a wounded local Marine.
The event to benefit Cpl. Joshua B. Kerns of Ararat will be held as part of the second-annual Ararat Heritage and Music Jamboree. It will feature a 10 a.m. parade through Ararat and a daylong slate of music and other activities at Dan River Park.
Roger Hayden, a member of the Patrick County Board of Supervisors representing that community and an avid motorcyclist, has organized the benefit ride.
Hayden already had received permission from the heritage festival’s planning committee to hold such an event. And after Kerns was severely injured by an improvised explosive device in early April, a decision was made to call it the J. B. Kerns Honor Ride.
It will begin at 12:30 p.m. Saturday from the gym parking lot of Blue Ridge Elementary School. Sign-ups start at 11:30 a.m.
“I have the commitment from The
The Patriot Guard, Virginia State Police and Christian
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Mount Airy News - Bikers gearing up to aid wounded Marine Motorcycle groups to have representatives to ride,” Hayden reported earlier this week. “I have been working for the last couple of weeks getting things lined up.”
The cost for anyone wanting to ride is $10 per bike, with all proceeds to go to the Joshua B. Kerns Fund.
Kerns, a 2008 graduate of Patrick County High School, was injured by the IED on April 7 during his third deployment to Afghanistan. He has lost both legs below the knees and his right arm below the elbow. The Marine is now hospitalized in Bethesda, Md.
His parents have faced travel, lost work and other expenses as a result of the situation, and once Kerns returns home alterations will be needed to make the family’s house handicapped- accessible. At last report, more than $40,000 had been generated, with additional fund-raising activities to come.
Jamboree Attractions
Saturday’ s 10 a.m. parade kicking off the Ararat Heritage and Music Jamboree will feature floats, horses, farm equipment, antique cars, fire and rescue trucks and other units. Patrick County Sheriff Dan Smith will lead the procession.
With the heritage festival coinciding with the annual observance of Armed Forces Day, all veterans groups are invited to march in the parade. It will start at the Ararat Ruritan Building at 4711 Ararat Highway and end at Dan River Park at 419 Raven Rock Road.
In addition to appearing in the parade, antique and classic cars and farm equipment will be on display at the park, where a special section will be set aside for them.
The park also will be the scene of musical entertainment including bluegrass, country, old-time, rock and gospel, with an area to be provided for dancing. The Willis Gap Jammers, a group of musicians who play regularly at the community center there, will be included.
Food, produce and crafts will be sold by various vendors. Plants from local greenhouses also will be available along with other entries highlighting farms in the area. Drawings for gifts are to be conducted in between the musical performances, and games for children are planned.
A fireworks display is scheduled at dusk.
Those attending may bring lawn chairs.
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