Thousands of motorcycles rumbled out of downtown Shelton Sunday morning at the start of the Green Ribbon Ride, a benefit event to remember the 20 first-grade children and six educators murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on Dec. 14.
Organizers estimated that more than 3,000 motorcycles were entered for a fee of $20 each, the proceeds benefiting 10 funds created in the wake of the tragedy to aid the families of the victims and the emergency personnel who responded to the crime scene.
Parked motorcycles lining up for the ride filled the staging areas along Howe Avenue and Canal Street. The ride started precisely at 11 a.m., led by about 100 police motorcycles, and it took almost 25 minutes for all of the motorcycles to leave downtown Shelton.
The route took them across the Derby-Shelton Bridge and north on Route 34 to Sandy Hook, then south through Newtown, Monroe and Trumbull to the finishing area at the Westfield Trumbull Mall.
Here is video of the bikers leaving Shelton along Howe Avenue:
To make sure the event went off without a hitch, Fred Gerrity, a Trumbull resident who runs an annual mass motorcycle ride to remember the 9/11 terrorist attacks, was appointed chairman.
Gerrity also served as master of ceremonies for a number of public officials who addressed the throng of bikers before the start of the ride.
Bikers came from far and wide to participate. Jack and Daune Pizzicara of Carmel, N.Y., heard about it from Gerrity’s Facebook page.
“The motorcycle community is the most generous there is for a good cause,” Jack Pizzicara said. “We want to show our support.”
Bob Wojna of Fairfield, a contributor to the Connecticut Cruise News newsletter, rode in the event alongside his friend, Rob Maccloy of Monroe. They met at one of the 9/11 rides.
“I heard the money goes to 10 causes,” said Maccloy.
“I couldn’t miss this,” said Joe Lambo III, who said he had ridden in “hundreds” of mass rides since 1998 and this was the biggest he had seen.
“I look out on this crowd today and I see the spirit of American,” said Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, who welcomed the riders and led them in the Pledge of Allegiance.
“There’s one word that characterizes us as Americans and that’s resilience,” said Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst.
“Our hearts were broken on Dec. 14,” said U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, who represents Newtown. She said the participation in this event showed her those broken hearts would heal. “Thank you for what you do. We couldn’t heal without you,” she said.
“There cannot be any family in Connecticut that was not affected by what happened,” Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman said. She asked the ride participants not to forget the teachers and students at Sandy Hook School who survived, because they were affected as well.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said in Newtown on the day of the shooting he witnessed “unspeakable evil.”
“But there was also unimaginable good,” Blumenthal said, drawing attention to the contributions of the first responders who charged into the school and prevented the shooter, Adam Lanza, from killing more children and school employees.
About 100 police motorcycles that led the ride came from numerous police departments, including Newtown and the state police, the departments that responded to the school on Dec. 14. Others were from all over Connecticut and some from Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey.
Coming a few weeks after the Boston Marathon bombings, extra security precautions were taken before the massive event Sunday.
Shelton Director of Public Safety and Emergency Services Michael Maglione said early Sunday morning, state troopers went through the staging area for the ride with bomb-sniffing dogs.
Maglione said Shelton police, fire and EMS personnel spent weeks meeting with the event’s organizers to plan for Sunday morning.
“Every emergency service in Shelton is represented here,” he said.
