Motorcycle parade honors veterans at senior home in Las Vegas
Hundreds of motorcyclists rode through the parking lot of a Las Vegas assisted-living home on Monday afternoon in a parade to honor veterans for Memorial Day.
The group gathered at Foothills Baptist Church before heading to Avamere at Cheyenne, an assisted-living home about a block away, around 1:30 p.m.
Andrea Brooks, an organizer of the event, said she’s friends with the assistant director of health services at Avamere and has worked with her in the past to set up a motorcycle parade for veterans on Memorial Day. This year, they decided to modify the parade and allow the residents to stay inside but get a little entertainment.
“They have literally been stuck inside that building since March,” Brooks said. “So Avamere’s request was really just to get a big showing to show them that they’re not forgotten, and that they’re loved and that we remember with them.”
Motorcyclists have gathered outside of Foothils Baptist Church in the west valley. Around 1:20, the group will ride through the parking lot of a nearby nursing home “to let them know that they’re not forgotten...and that we remember with them,” organizer Andrea Brooks said. pic.twitter.com/LbUzJrsSQ0
— Alexis Egeland (@alexis_egeland) May 25, 2020
Michael Carrozza, a motorcyclist and Army veteran, said he was thankful for the opportunity to provide veterans at Avamere with “much-needed entertainment.”
Another veteran, Jamie Werster, said, “Even under normal circumstances, unfortunately, they can get depressed and feel like they’ve been kind of forgotten about. Now it’s even worse because they don’t have any contact now, and there’s a lot of veterans who need to know that the sacrifices they made count for something and we haven’t forgotten about them.”
Fueled By The Fallen, a nonprofit founded by actor Kevyn Major Howard that supports military veterans, participated in the event as well.
Howard and a few other members of the group pulled up to the church in cars that had the names of the victims of the 9/11 attacks.
“We are doing a motorcycle parade throughout the communities of the assisted-living facilities which house quite a few of our veterans who will be in their windows,” Howard said. “They have not had any contact with their families or loved ones, and their spirits are just really diminished at the moment and we want to uplift them, especially on Memorial Day, a day to remember and cherish and honor them for their service.”
Contact Alexis Egeland at aegeland@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexis_egeland on Twitter.
