Bikers Ride for Coble Family Memorial Fund
by Jim Schmitt, Editor and Publisher
You gotta hand it to the bikers, they never pass up an opportunity to go on a bike ride . . . and they never turn down a chance to raise money for a good cause.
Saturday, June 9, was no exception as hundreds of bikers, a few cars and, believe it or not, even an antique fire truck,
assembled at Huntington Beach Honda for a ride to the BeachFire Grill in Ladera Ranch to raise money for the Coble Family Memorial Fund.And raise money they did. There were 500 registrations and more pulling into the lot even as the bike ride was getting underway and, at $25 per bike or car . . . well, you do the math.
The event was organized by Ladera Ranch's Jeff Trice (right), who lives with his wife Tina and two children -- son Garret, 3, and daughter Renee, 6 months -- just around the corner from Chris and Lori Coble, who lost their three children -- Kyle, 5, Emma, 4, and Katie, 2, -- in a tragic car accident on May 4.
Jeff had participated in the various memorial services and candlelight vigils that took place in Ladera Ranch in the wake of the accident to pray for the children and show support and strength for the Coble family. But, like so many in the community, Jeff felt a need to do more.
So he emailed a few of his biking friends about the idea of a charity bike ride and it snowballed from there.
The bikers, a few of whom are shown on this page, came from all over to join in the ride.They began to assemble at the Honda dealership at the break of dawn and at 10:30 am took off en masse for the BeachFire where they arrived an hour later.
The Beachfire cordoned off an area where the bikers enjoyed hamburgers, hot dogs, and music by Rod and the Pistons, and where various donated items were raffled off for the memorial fund.
In the photo at the top of this page,
the bikers assembled before the start of the ride for a blessing by Reverend Roger Rustad (left), who has been a source of comfort and assistance to Chris and Lori Coble from almost the moment the tragedy began to unfold.While the photos on this page help to capture the spirit of the ride, they are just a sampling of the hundreds of bikers who participated in the charity ride, and they don't begin to convey the love and goodwill that emanated from the bikers that warm Southern California Saturday.
Chris and Lori Coble, who attended the event at the BeachFire to personally thank the bikers for their kind hearts and generosity, said they were deeply touched by the gathering.
In addition to organizer Jeff Trice, others from Ladera Ranch who rode in the bike ride include Mark Stout, Ron Cushing, Jeff Stevens, Bill Rivera and Dairen Shelton, the latter two of which joined Jeff after the event in a memorial "loop through" past the Coble's home where they had a chance to meet with Chris and Lori and personally express their condolences on behalf of the "biker nation."
As was announced in an earlier story, Dairen Shelton and his wife Angela, who own Juice It Up! in the Terrace Shops, raised close to $20,000 for the Coble Family Memorial Fund in a one-day event at their store in which the Shelton's donated 100% of their profit for the day, coupled with a three-times matching donation from Juice It Up!'s corporate offices.
And the story goes on. In other news related to this story:
n Donations to the Coble Family Memorial Fund can be made at any Washington Mutual branch, or a check can be mailed to Washington Mutual, 25692 Crown Valley Parkway, Suite J2, Ladera Ranch 92694. Checks should be made out to "James Maestri FBO Coble Family Account 3951107470."
n An online memorial with family photos, a video, and a guestbook is at www.lifetomotion.com.
For more on this story, click on "Ladera Ranch Mourns the Loss of Kyle, Emma, and Katie Coble."
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