Motorcycle Freedom Run Set for June 20

Heavy rains over the past few days have given way to flooding concerns. In the city of Marseilles, flooding risks have altered the plans of the 2015 Illinois Motorcycle Freedom Run.

The lineup for the run is at 6 a.m. Saturday, June 20 at the Grundy County Fairgrounds in Morris. Instead of ending in Marseilles, the run will finish back at the fairgrounds.

The run is in support of the Middle East Conflicts War Memorial. The wall contains the names of 7,863 people who have been killed in action in Middle East conflicts or acts of terrorism.

After the run, a dedication ceremony will be held and the names of 53 recent additions to the wall will be read.

After the ceremony, Gold Star families will be escorted to Marseilles to let them have their time at the wall. Gold stars are issued to the family of a soldier killed in action.

“They just can’t bring everybody there,” said Illinois Motorcycle Freedom Run President Tom Yarber. “The road that the wall is on is the main artery out of town and they’re pretty much on the verge of flooding.”

However, anybody who would like ride can do so. Participants can register at the event, which costs $15.

“They also get a dog tag with the name of one of the soldiers on the wall,” Yarber said.

The ride will last around an hour.

Yarber said he expects anywhere between 3,000 and 10,000 people to show up to the event, depending on the weather.

People from all over the country come to Grundy County for the ride, according to Yarber.

“We have riders coming from Utah, Wyoming, Florida. We get Gold Stars from all over. Texas.”

After the ceremony, festivities will be held at Freaksters Roadhouse in Pontiac. Yarber said that should happen around 6 p.m.

“It’s just a good day for Americans to come out and show support to the Gold Star families that we care about their loved one that was killed,” Yarber said. “It helps them with the healing process knowing that all these people came to the event for their kid or their husband or their wife.”

Yarber is also a member of the Gold Star family. He lost his brother in Vietnam.

“I wish we would have had this when my brother was killed,” Yarber said. “They got treated like crap when they came home. Everybody was a baby killer. No. My brother was a hero. If we would have had support like this, it would have helped a lot of us go through a really bad time.”

Walter Kozielski, otherwise known as Freak, is the emcee of the Illinois Motorcycle Freedom Run

Betsy Kuypers, partial owner of Freaksters Roadhouse, said she thinks the Freedom Run is a very important event and is thrilled to be able to host the party at Freaksters.

“It’s such an important, touching event,” Kuypers said. ”The IMFR are some of the most wonderful people you’ll ever meet in your life. We do a lot of events, and this is by far my favorite one that takes place every single year.”

Kuypers contacted Pontiac Mayor Robert Russell to make sure having that many people and motorcycles at Freaksters wouldn’t be a problem. She received his full support.

“He was more than willing to help out,” Kuypers said.

Starting at 4 p.m., live music will run through the night, including Finger Eleven, which was originally set to play that night at Mojoes in Joliet.

SCHEDULE

• 6 a.m – Line up starts at Grundy County Fairgrounds.
• 6:30 a.m. – Pancake Breakfast opens.
• 10:30 a.m. – Kickstands up for a ride that will end up back at the fairgrounds where the ceremony will be held.
• Noon to 1 p.m. – Ceremony and the reading of the new names (53) that were etched onto the Wall yesterday.