“Give us a wave as we go by one last time,” Darrell Bowling.
This is the last year of the Cpl. Jonathan W. Bowling Memorial Scholarship Motorcycle Ride, according to Darrell Bowling
This year’s event will be held Saturday, April 27. Registration and other events begin at 10 a.m. at the Patrick County High School, 215 Cougar Lane, Stuart. The event will include live music, food, and door prizes.
Registration is $15 per vehicle, and those who enter have a chance to win prizes. Trophies are awarded for the bike traveling the farthest to participate in the ride.
Kickstands go up, and the ride gets underway at noon.
The ride began as a way to honor the life and service of Marine Cpl. Jonathan “Jon” W. Bowling, and to allow his legacy of giving back to continue by raising funds to provide scholarships that are administered by Patrick & Henry Community College (P&HCC).
Jon Bowling died on Jan. 26, 2005, while serving his country in Iraq.
“We set out 20 years ago to do something in Jon’s memory that would allow him to continue to do something for the county,” Bowling’s father, Darrell Bowling, recalled.
“We did not know how the event would go,” he said, adding “we have been fortunate the county and the community have continued to support it.”
Due in large part to that support, “we have met our goal of having the scholarship become perpetual,” said the senior Bowling, a retired Master Trooper with the Virginia State Police.
To date, the ride has collected a total of $89,000.
Jon Bowling was a Martinsville Police Officer, a volunteer firefighter, an elder at his church, and an avid motorcycle rider. The Chapter 11 Red Knights Motorcycle Club instituted an annual bike ride to honor his memory.
Each year, “we’ve got riders coming from as far away as Canada to participate in the ride,” Darrell Bowling said. “And they will continue to come,” to honor Jon Bowling and also due to the local support.
“Every person that comes to the ride” notices and comments about the support, both in Patrick and Henry counties and in the City of Martinsville, Darrell Bowling said of the many people who line the road at various places of the route from Patrick County High School down U.S. 58 to Martinsville, Bassett and back to Jon Bowling’s grave in Woolwine.
“That’s the thing that keeps them coming,” Darrell Bowling said of many participants. “They are amazed at how the communities support the ride.”
Since this event marks the final year, “we’d like to ask, as the people are standing along the road, to give us a wave as we go by one last time,” Darrell Bowling said.
All proceeds will go to the scholarship, which provides a Patrick County student with funding to attend Patrick & Henry Community College (P&HCC).
