I write in response to yesterdays letter from Mr Hugh Gill and his search for relevance and justification with regards to the presence of bikers at the memorial service in St Helier, Mr Gill begins with the statement in which he poses the question that maybe he is missing something this is probably the understatement of the year, so I will attempt to fill in the missing gaps as to why there was a large motorcycle contingent in the parade. With regard to relevance, a sizeable number of those motorcyclists are ex servicemen and women whom are part of the very reason that the service is held for in the first place, these people are the very people who risked their lives to make sure that the likes of Mr Gill gets to sleep safely in his bed at night, furthermore, no one raced past the cenotaph, we paraded past slowly and with respect and largely to the delight of the crowd. It is also worthy of note that there werent any Hells Angels present, in fact there isnt even any hells angels in Jersey, just several motorcycle clubs and individuals who are essentially groups of friends who like to ride together at weekends, just as other groups of friends like to play golf or fish! Every single person in that motorcycle parade paid £5 per head to be there, and the president of bikers motor cycle club (Jac le Geledron) handed over a bag of money which came to over £700 to a deeply moved master of ceremonies Mr Colin Egre, who remarked youve done it again, I dont think the people of Jersey realise what you do for us every year and not just us, all of the charities that you support And he was right, the various motorcycle clubs organise several charity events during the year and the beneficiaries include ABC after breast cancer, Channel Islands air search and Holidays for heroes, the latter not only receives donations as the supporting club organises several evenings a year where the local biking community collects servicemen and their families and takes them on motorcycle rides around the island ending in a visit to a local pub where the servicemen and their families are not allowed to spend their own money as the bikers pay for their refreshments as a thank you for all that they have sacrificed on our behalf. So with regard to Mr Gills original question which stated that maybe he had missed something I would respectfully respond with No sir, I think that you have missed a great deal. Mark Baker 9 Clos L,Ancienne Forge La Rue Des Buttes St Mary JE33DS
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 20:44:01 +0000
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