ROCKINGHAM — With the weather warming up, Richmond County’s motorcycle community is gearing up for a number of charity rides.
Kickstands will go up around 1 p.m. this Saturday, March 25 at Double Vision for the inaugural Chris Schoonover Memorial Ride hosted by Steve’s Wings.
The ride’s namesake was the stepson of Steve’s Wings founder Melissa Schoonover, who died Dec. 14 of an apparent overdose. Saturday would have been his 29th birthday.
The ride will serve as a fundraiser to help families pay for cremation services of loved ones who pass away unexpectedly, not limited to overdose deaths, Melissa Schoonver said.
“Chris loved helping people,” she added. “If someone he cared about was in need, he always tried to be there.”
The family is in the process of establishing the Chris Schoonover Foundation to cover the aforementioned funeral expenses and plans to make the ride an annual event on the last Saturday of March.
The cost to ride is $20, but isn’t limited to motorcycles.
The short route will take the convoy east on U.S. 74 Business to U.S. 1 S, then a quick turn onto Mill Road to N.C. 177 S and looping down Airport Road and back to Double Vision.
Hot dog plates — including chips, baked beans and a drink — will be sold at $7 each and 50/50 raffle tickets are $3 each.
Steve’s Wings has started a support group for families who have lost children to drug issues and will host its third annual Overdose Rally in downtown Rockingham in August. The deadline to have names of loved on a banner that will be displayed at the rally is July 14.
For more information, contact Melissa Schoonover at 910-417-8740.
The Project Taylor Ride has been moved up from late September to April 1 at the Hide-A-Way Tavern.
Project Taylor, founded by Lorrie Stewart, is named in honor of her late daughter, Taylor Stewart, and provides toys to childhood cancer patients.
Taylor was diagnosed in August 2010 — shortly after her 12th birthday — with acute myeloid leukemia, which is more common in adults. The following year, doctors discovered that the cancer had spread to Taylor’s bones and she passed away Sept. 7, 2012 at the age of 14.
Stewart usually takes bags of toys — mostly purchased from The Little Toy Shop in Southern Pines, Taylor’s favorite store — to the North Carolina Children’s Hospital during the spring and summer months, since the kids are “inundated” with gifts during the winter.
The ride was started by Chris Sachs, the late owner of the Hide-A-Way, in 2019. Last year’s event raised $5,500.
Another Hide-A-Way signature ride, benefiting Richmond County Special Olympics, is scheduled for May 6.
The ride was started in 2009 by late bar owner Buddy Roebuck and Sachs, who bought the property following Roebuck’s death, carried on the tradition “because the Special Olympics meant a lot to him.”
Nearly $30,000 combined was raised through rides in 2019, 2021 and 2022. The ride was canceled in 2020 due to state regulations in response to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Both the Project Taylor and Special Olympics rides will be in honor of Sachs, who passed away in late January after a yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer.
NOTE: This story was updated and a slight correction made. 8:34 p.m. 3-22-23
