9/11 tribute bicycle ride to stop in Rock Hill
In his off time, Kenny Martin is an Elk. Not the big deer with the trophy rack, but the Exalted Ruler, the president, of the fraternal Rock Hill Elks Lodge.
He probably has a funny-looking hat with antlers somewhere that he has to wear in secret meetings for that civic organization on Rock Hill's East Main Street.
But there is nothing funny about Kenny Martin's real job. Every third day of his life, Kenny Martin wears a firefighter's helmet. On 24-hour shifts he is Capt. Kenny Martin, Rock Hill Fire Department.
He runs a ladder truck and is responsible for a bunch of men and women on that rig. It is the kind of truck from which Martin and those who work for him rush into a burning building to save somebody.
Just like the ladder trucks that arrived at the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001.
That was the day some of those firefighters who responded to the plane crashes into the towers never went home after the collapse of the buildings in the worst terrorist attack in American history.
That horrible day 411 emergency responders died - 343 FDNY firefighters, 60 police officers from the city of New York and the port authority, plus eight EMTs. Other paramedic responders and just plain heroic people who tried to help also died that day.
"I think about it every day - all those firefighters and other people who gave their lives to save somebody else," Martin said. "In the fire service, you always think about it."
So when 40 firefighters and other emergency responders from around the country decided to ride bicycles, of all things, from Florida to New York City to raise money for the families of the fallen, Martin the Elks member and firefighter wanted to show that Rock Hill stands tall.
Tuesday, Martin and other Elks will host that bicycling group - the Brotherhood Ride - when it stops overnight in Rock Hill. The riders will sleep at the Main Street Elks Club, where volunteers will feed them and give a donation.
The ride started Saturday in Naples, Fla., and is currently in south Georgia.
The riders will cover about 1,600 miles total and are expected to arrive at ground zero in New York City on Sept. 10.
"We just wanted to do what we could, as so many Elks lodges have done in cities along the way, to show our support for the riders and their cause," said Sheila Fields, another officer with the Elks in Rock Hill.
"We want the riders to know that we here in Rock Hill have the greatest respect and admiration for those emergency workers who gave all to help others."
The ride - similar to a 2008 trek from Florida to Charleston that raised money after nine firefighters died in Charleston in 2007 - is to honor those brave people in cop cars and ambulances and fire trucks who have died in the line of duty.
Riders have raised more than $70,000 in the past few years for fallen firefighters' families.
On Tuesday, riders will leave Sumter in the morning and arrive in Rock Hill around 4 p.m. Riders will enter York County from Chester County on U.S. 21 heading north, then after entering Rock Hill they will cycle west on Main Street to the lodge.
Volunteer fire departments from Lesslie and Fort Mill will act as escorts in and out of the city Tuesday and Wednesday morning, while Rock Hill firefighters will escort the riders inside the city limits.
The riders leave Rock Hill around 8 a.m. Wednesday morning for Salisbury, N.C.
In earlier stops in Florida this week, crowds have lined streets to welcome the riders. Martin, the Rock Hill fire captain, is urging York County residents to do the same.
"As a firefighter, it's an honor to be a part of this," Martin said. "But it's an honor as an American, too.
"This is what being American is all about."
Want to go?
What: The Brotherhood Ride, bicyclists raising money for fallen emergency responders in trip from Florida to New York City
When: Scheduled to arrive in Rock Hill at 4 p.m. Tuesday
Where: U.S. 21 north from Chester County into Rock Hill, then west on Main Street to the Elks Lodge, 340 E. Main St.
Who: The public is invited to line the route into the city and meet the riders at the lodge.
To donate or get more information: Kenny Martin, 803-493-1780 or kmartin06@comporium.net, or Sheila Fields, 803-417-5786 or fieldsfamily@comporium.net
Online: brotherhoodride.com
This story was originally published August 26, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "9/11 tribute bicycle ride to stop in Rock Hill."