EUGENE / SPRINGFIELD, Ore. (KMTR) -- Continuing to honor the legacy of fallen Eugene Police Officer Chris Kilcullen, the second annual Officer Chris Kilcullen Memorial Motorcycle Ride will hit the road on Sunday, July 29, 2012.
Springfield Police Officer Brian Antone initiated the event to honor Chris' selfless spirit and willingness to help. Last year more than 300 riders helped raise about $10,000 for the Kilcullen Memorial Scholarship Fund and the Kilcullen Project. Organizers are hoping to make 2012's event even more successful.
So far, the Kilcullen Memorial Scholarship Fund helped send two local students to college. Meanwhile, the Kilcullen Project plans to jump-start local causes in need of financial assistance.
Antone says this is one way people can honor Officer Kilcullen's spirit, even though they may not live in the Eugene-Springfield area. “It's one of those things where there's a lot of people that want to be able to support us and to help out or to do something but they just never had the opportunity and maybe this provides them that specific avenue to do it,” says Brian Antone, founder and organizer of the the annual event.
Tom Radekin met Kilcullen as a customer of AutoShop Express. Radekin owns the business and is now a sponsor of the Memorial Motorcycle Ride. "I don't want Chris' memory to be lost on one or two years of rides. I like to see it continue on and as long as it continues on, I'll support it,” Radekin stated.
The route is will take motorcyclists a total of 248 miles, the same number as Kilcullen's badge. Riders will leave from the BMW Motorcycles of Western Oregon shop on West 11th Avenue in Eugene Sunday morning at 10 AM. The route will wind from Eugene to Corvallis to Newport, down the coast to Florence and then back to Eugene. Riders will make several stops along the way, including at the Newport Police Department and Three Rivers Casino & Hotel in Florence.
For those who can't ride, organizers have also chartered a bus this year.
Sign-up for the ride and bus is still available. For more information, click on the Get It link on kmtr.com or visit the ride's website at http://www.chriskilcullenmemorialride.com/
