About 60 American Legion Riders rolled into the American Legion Chief Pontiac Post 377, in Independence Township at about 10 a.m. on Friday, June 24.
The riders were taking part in the Michigan Legacy Ride where they left from Garden City to Independence, to Oscoda to stay over night, then from Oscoda to Lewiston, to Mackinaw City and then on up to Sault St. Marie.
“This the second year we’ve done it,” said Jerry “Mouse” Lindquist. “I ran it last year, ran it this year, somebody else is going to do it next year.”
The two-day ride is a fund raiser for the Legacy Fund, Lindquist explained.
“The money collected here will go to the National Legacy Scholarship Fund,” he said. “What that does is allow us to send children of fallen veterans that are active duty members to college or trade school free of charge, wherever they want to go to.”
Lindquist noted that they’ve nearly doubled the amount of bikes they had last year.
“It’s fun, it’s good and a lot of people went into making this happen, it wasn’t just me.” he said. “Thank God we got good weather for the ride. Anybody who’s not from the UP coming back is probably going to be hitting rain, but rain or shine we go, it doesn’t matter.”
Legion Rider Craig Pulver described it as a “great comradery between everyone.”
“We’re all veterans and to share stories and to get to know one another is just great. Some of these guys, I know the next time I’ll see them I’ll greet them with a hug,” he said. “It’s just great, I love it.”
Chief Pontiac Post Commander Mike Fitzgerald said he’s always happy to see a “group of Legion Riders on a Legacy Run.”
“You can never forget those who have served and those who are still serving,” Fitzgerald added. “We do this to honor them.”