Pennsylvania Riding Club To Hold Event

"When this happened to Linda, it really hit home ... being parents and realizing the danger our teenagers are in," said Jennifer King. She and her husband, Wayne, both members of the Pennsylvania Riding Club, are working with American Bikers on a Mission to organize the Linda Stoltzfoos Commemorative and Abduction Awareness Ride. Stoltzfoos was kidnapped and murdered in 2020.

Wayne, who was born into the Plain community, is friends with Sam Blank, a spokesman for the Stoltzfoos family. "I wanted to make sure this was done right," said Wayne. "A focus of our club is bridging the gap between the biker community and the (Plain) community." With that goal in mind, Wayne and other members of the club plan to hold the ride on Saturday, Sept. 11. Riders will meet at Ephrata Community Church (ECC), 70 Clay School Road, Ephrata, from 10 to 11:45 a.m. for registration. The ride will leave at noon and follow a route that will take Route 322 east to Farmersville Road to Shirk Road to Route 23 through New Holland to Route 897. The ride will end at Weaverland Anabaptist Faith Community, 210 Weaverland Valley Road, East Earl. A short ceremony including the Pledge of Allegiance, a prayer, announcements, and a safety briefing will be held at ECC.

At Weaverland, Andrea McHenry, a representative of FREE, a Berks County-based anti-human trafficking organization active in Reading, will speak briefly. McHenry said she plans to share statistics about human trafficking. "We do education on how to take action against human trafficking and how to identify and respond to victims," explained McHenry. "We do prevention work with children in an effort to keep them safe." FREE opened The Resting Place, a women's drop-in center meeting basic needs and providing safe housing for those who request it, in Reading in 2019. The organization is in the process of opening a refuge home in the Reading area.

With the ride being held on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Wayne noted that riders from Never Forget 9/11 will leave Manheim and join the ride when it leaves ECC. In addition, the Green Castle American Legion Riders Color Guard will be present. There is no charge to take part, but Jennifer requested that those who plan to participate search for "Linda Stoltzfoos Commemorative and Abduction Awareness Ride" on Facebook and indicate their intent to attend. A similar ride last year attracted more than 700 riders. "There were probably 3,000 people (gathered at ECC before we left)," noted Wayne.

Organizers anticipate having coffee and possibly doughnuts at ECC prior to the ride. They are hoping to provide volunteer traffic control and to have members of the Bird-in-Hand Fire Company that organized early searches for Stoltzfoos present. Opportunities to donate to those organizations will be presented. Following the ride, chicken meals and ice cream will be available for purchase at Weaverland.