ROCKINGHAM — Richmond County first responders’ annual salute to those lost who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001 is going mobile.
The Rockingham Fire Department announced Thursday that the event, which is usually a three-mile march, will be a memorial ride this year.
“With the recent spike in COVID cases we have decided in the best interest of our first responders to suspend the walk and conduct a memorial ride with emergency apparatus only,” the post reads.
The route this year will start at Walmart, with the convoy turning onto nearby Clemmer Road and taking a right onto County Home Road then a left onto Wiregrass and a left on U.S. 1, bringing first responders to downtown Rockingham, where they will turn onto U.S. 74 business and go back to Walmart.
Fire Chief Harold Isler said in a comment that the ride will leave around 8:45 a.m.
Spectators and supporters are asked to park off the roadways.
The march began in 2013, when four young men — Adrian Robson, Nathaniel Murphy, Josh Smith and Dalton Millen — decided to walk down U.S. 74 Business in the blazing heat dressed in turnout gear, carrying a U.S. flag.
The event grew the next year and the Rockingham Fire Department took over planning in 2015.
Last year’s event, like many others, was canceled because of COVID.
Each year, first responders — including fire and rescue and law enforcement personnel, both paid and volunteers — from across the county make the three-mile trek from the old courthouse in downtown Rockingham to Walmart.
Moments of silence are usually held at 8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m. — the times with the towers of the World Trade Center were struck.
Â
