The Boston Motorcycle Marathon Ride to help fight cancer is set for Sunday, August 13, along the route of the Boston Marathon—Hopkinton to Boston. Last year, some 3,000 people on 1,528 bikes attended. Ride founder Fred Georgoulis, owner of a 1991 FXRS, honors through the run those killed or injured in the marathon bombing of 2013. He told me by phone that thus far some $80,000 has gone to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund. Fred, whose wife has had breast cancer, said, “We hope this time to reach $100,000.” Staging: PerkinElmer, a biotech company at 5 Parkwood Drive in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. Register from 8:00 a.m. End point: VFW Post 1012, 114 Mystic Avenue in Medford, Massachusetts. Big barbecue! Seeing the ride posted online, I contacted for comment Brendan Monahan, development officer of event fundraising in Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Division of Development and the Jimmy Fund. He said, “We are extremely grateful to Fred and all the folks who volunteer and participate. It is such a fantastic experience.” Info: bostonmotorcyclemarathonride.com… Elsewhere, The Moving Wall, a half-sized but exact replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., was displayed May 4–8 at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) in Durham. An honor guard, including the UNH ROTC, was present to mark the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. The exhibition was reported by Judi Currie of Fosters.com on May 4. Sad fact: There are 58,000 names on The Wall. The Patriot Guard Riders, the Nam Knights, the Combat Warriors, the Nam Era Vets and many others paid their respects. Mark Huddleston, UNH president, said in the report that no memorial has the impact of The Wall. I agree. I think of Army SP4 Joseph Intihar, from Wickliffe, Ohio, who was killed in 1968 at age 20. Joey and I were neighbors. I was 7 years old and he was 8 when my mom caught us kissing under a bush with long, willowy branches. I always did like older men. My friend Joey and others I still love are listed on The Wall… Meanwhile, bikers and honey bees may seem unlikely lovers but lots of beekeepers share a love for both. I had nine hives with my brother, before the bear came. Now, serious news is reported by Caitlin Andrews in the Concord Monitor of Thursday, May 18. Winter losses of 65 percent were revealed in a survey by Heather Achilles, of the New Hampshire Beekeepers Association (nhbeekeepers.org). Data from 261 respondents in 130 towns, mostly in New Hampshire, revealed that of 1,004 hives alive in October, only 350 were alive in March. Why? Pesticides? Starvation? Varroa mites? Bikers Ken and Kathy Kuhn of Candia, New Hampshire, owners of a Harley Dyna Wide Glide, have 17 hives and have been beekeeping for 13 years. Kathy said they had “devastating losses” and had to order more bees. Allen Lindahl, owner of Hillside Apiaries in Merrimack, New Hampshire, rides a 2008 Softail Classic and has been beekeeping for 24 years. He has more than 20 hives and urges intense mite control. Every state has beekeeping associations. Please learn more about what you can do in your state to save our honey bees—and ensure our supply of fruit, vegetables, flowers—and honey! It’s serious. That’s all for now, friends. See you down the road.
