"Ride for Our Heroes" in New England

Steven Tyler, Aerosmith and
David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox on Dirico Bike

“A True Motorcycle Enthusiast Event” 

Now this looks like my kind of fun: A motorcycle ride in the New England fall to honor and support our veterans ending with a family style barbecue with entertainment from the James Montgomery Band! Better yet, the purpose of the ride is to raise public awareness for our veterans, in particular those dealing with post traumatic stress or traumatic brain injury, and their families! Supported by the Boston Red Sox Foundation and the Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program the event will raise funds for veteran support programs.

Screen Capture of Ride Start Locations!
Click on image to go to website.

According to Tracy West, director of signature programs for the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base program, this inaugural "Ride for Our Heroes" has six starting locations with patriotic kick offs and recognition followed by a rendezvous in Manchester, New Hampshire for the barbecue! The Red Sox will provide their two recent World Series trophies for the barbecue for fan pictures, etc too! Plus a baseball themed Dirico Motorcycle is being raffled off to benefit the Home Base Program. The bike features a patriotic and baseball paint scheme and combines the talents and efforts of Steven Tyler of Aerosmith fame and master inventor Mark Dirico. An authentic autograph by Tyler will be featured on the bike!

The registration is open for the Ride and the barbecue is only $20 (12 and under are free) for family that wish to join the bikers in Manchester. Boston Bruin enforcer and biker Lyndon Byers will be the emcee for the Rider Appreciation Party. There will be family activities and the public is invited! The dual role of raising awareness of veteran issues and funding for the Home Base program makes this an easy sell! Tracy said providing awareness that Active duty, Guard, Reserve, Retired military and veterans that have served are New England’s neighbors and friends is a component of their outreach. With a public that has little contact with military personnel the Ride provides a focus on the military community.  You can also provide a gift for the foundations if you want to contribute to this effort to support our New England veterans.

Dirico Bike to be raffled!

So have I convinced you to mount up on your bike or family vehicle and head to Manchester on September 24th? Celebrate our heroes service and support efforts to aid those with traumatic brain injury or combat induced stress. Is your bike ready to hit the streets and roadways of New England starting in six locations and ending in one? To register or find out more information please go to Ride for Our Heroes. The page also offers opportunities to volunteer for the Ride, Donate, Support a Rider and enter the raffle.  Home Base is also on Facebook and twitter!

Tracy and I also talked about the Home Base Program but I want to provide a focus on their efforts to help our veterans and their families in the near future so I will do a separate blog for this fantastic, free for veterans and veterans’ families program! Yes, it is completely free!