When Wicker Memorial Park Superintendent David Medina said the park needed to ready for the Victory 4 Veterans Memorial ride Sunday, he held his breath.
After the August 11 derecho felled more than 300 trees all over the park and golf course, it looked for a moment that the 27th annual ride wouldn’t be possible. Piles upon piles of logs lined the north side of the park as late as Saturday, with giant piles of ash from portable incinerators blocking the roads, Medina said.
But with the Town of Munster and Little Calumet River Basin Commission stepping in with the heavy lifting, the park was ready for the 1,350 bikers who descended for the ride that circles Lake County on the last Sunday of September. As a result, the park will once again open to the public starting Monday.
“If it weren’t for the Town and (Little Calumet Executive Director) Dan Repay, I don’t know what we would’ve done,” a tired Medina said.
The park has been North Township Trustee Adrian Santos’s life for the last three weeks, he said as the bikes started their sojourn onto Ridge Road. He was thrilled that the big reveal coincided with the ride.
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“We wanted life to get back to normal, and here it is, on the day that we celebrate everyone, regardless of political affiliation, coming together,” Santos said.
Indiana Democratic Secretary of State candidate Beau Bayh came up from Indianapolis to send off the riders. As a former Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, he thanked the riders for their service.
“In my time in the Marines, we were taught that there is no greater love than giving your life for your friends,” Bayh said. “Today, there’s no room for the division and anger we have, and it’s important to recognize that we have more in common with each other than we have differences. People are here from every walk of life.”
Bobby Paco, one of 25 Guardian Riders who came in for the ride, said he’ll never forget the first time he heard the roar of the bikes at this first ride last year. It’s part of what brought him out again.
“Anything I can do for veterans, I’m there, and I’m having fun doing it,” Paco, of Michigan City, said. “Every year, we memorialize the Indiana Fallen Soldiers.”
All proceeds from the ride, which are administered through the Wicker Park Memorial Fund, will go toward helping any veterans who suffered weatherhead damage during the storm get them reattached, said North Township Special Events Director and Memorial Fund President Kelly Bridges. A $10,000 Legacy Fund grant will assist those efforts.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.