Bikers of all ages received an extra leg up recently when Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral held its second annual motorcycle blessing recently.
Church Pastor Theodore Poteres and the Rev. George Pappas, with special help from Metropolitan Nikitas of the Dardanelles, blessed more than 100 motorcyclists as many took their first ride of the season. A blessing by the Nikitas was also bestowed upon the littlest bikers with training wheels and Big Wheels as well.
The blessing honors the late Larry Papadakis, a member of the church who owned Exhaust Masters auto shop in Lake Station, his son, Manny “Manoli” Papdakis said. Remembered as a humble guy who would give anyone the shirt off his back if they needed it, the motorcycle-riding church members came up with the idea of a memorial ride because it was something the elder Papadakis would’ve enjoyed.
“He was a behind-the-scenes kind of guy, but he did more in his life than many lifetimes,” Manny Papadakis said. “He became a mechanic at a young age in Greece, and he was working for a garage when he told his boss that he wanted to open a second garage over on (one of the islands). His boss trusted him to do it, and people would ferry their cars over to the island for him to work on.
“He was a mentor to many young mechanics here, too, and he was just a great man who took care of his family and made sure his kids went to college. This is bittersweet.”
Poteres asked that all bikers travel with safety and dignity, and in the path of God; he also asked for protection for the police and highway patrol as well as the air units.
Offering the blessing for the bikers put a nice end to a very busy Easter season, according to Poteres.
“With Easter being late this year, we had Holy Week, and then the week after we had the sacraments. Now, we have the bike blessing and Name Day is coming up, so the bike blessing was easy to hand over to the lay people to coordinate,” Poteres said. “We’re very grateful to (organizers Papadakis and Tommy Papadopoulos) for putting this together.”
Pappas added the blessing is a fun thing for the church to do, but the blessing itself is not fun-and-games. The goal is safety for everyone on the road.
Proceeds raised from the blessing were divided between church initiatives and to help defray medical costs for an 8-year-old church member battling cancer, Manny Papadakis said.
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Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.