By Bill Lilley
CANAL FULTON: Give John Grogan a reason to ride and a few friends to ride with, and the second-term mayor of Canal Fulton is ready to hop on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle at a moment’s notice.
Grogan became especially eager to ride when he discovered that the Ohio Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park Committee was organizing a ”Run to the Wall” for Sunday’s dedication ceremonies in Clinton.
Grogan, a U.S. Army veteran, won’t have just a few friends along. Thousands of veterans on motorcycles are expected to invade the historic downtown district of Canal Fulton to participate in the ride to the memorial park in Clinton Cemetery on Cleveland-Massillon Road.
The Run to the Wall, which is being coordinated by Vietnam veteran and half-century rider Luke Patrino of Cuyahoga Falls, will begin staging at 10 a.m. at St. Helena Heritage Park on Canal Street.
Riders will travel four miles — mostly on Erie Avenue — to the Ohio Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park in about 10 minutes.
Park dedication ceremonies are scheduled to start at 2 p.m.
”It’s such a beautiful thing. The only thing I regret is that we didn’t get the park here in Canal Fulton,” said Grogan, who also works in the corrections division of the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.
”But we’ve bought a monument for the city at the park and we’ll still be a big part of Sunday’s dedication with the Run to the Wall, which will be the kickoff for the event.”
Grogan said he is ”really connected to this ride” after spending six years in the Army in the 1980s and having ridden motorcycles for more than 30 years.
The dedication ”is going to be a great event, and the Run to the Wall is really going to be something special,” he said.
Grogan’s enthusiasm for the event has not been lost on organizer Chell Rossi.
”He is beside himself with joy about riding in the Run to the Wall,” Rossi said. ”And we’re thrilled that we’re going to have the mayor in such an active role in the event.”
Grogan, 46, said his fascination with motorcycles began while he was a teenager growing up in the Goodyear Heights area of East Akron.
”The first thing on my driver’s license was a motorcycle endorsement,” said Grogan, who graduated from Ellet in 1982.
His involvement with motorcycles became more serious while he was in the Army.
”I got my first Harley while I was stationed in Blackstone, Va.,” said Grogan, who was an E4 specialist who worked with nuclear weapons.
”I really love the older Harley Fatboys. I really like the style of the bike and the feel. Heck, the other ones are just too narrow for my butt, so I really like the Fatboys.”
Grogan said he currently doesn’t own a Harley, so he is borrowing one from the folks at Worden’s Custom Cycle on South Canal Street in Canal Fulton.
Patrino believes the Run to the Wall will be a perfect start for the big day. He said Ohio ranks fourth for number of Vietnam veterans as residents.
”And when you figure the average age of a new Harley owner is 52, and that about 30 percent of Harley-Davidson riders are military veterans, it’s a natural,” said Patrino, who served a seven-month stint in Vietnam that ended in late September 1968 — during the Viet Cong-led Tet offensive.
”These guys have raised their families and they are ready to ride,” he said.
Patrino expects at least 7,000 riders in the Run to the Wall.
”The word of the memorial has spread throughout Ohio, and people, especially the veterans like myself, realize how very special this is going to be,” said Patrino, who graduated from Cuyahoga Falls High School in 1965. ”This makes anything in Washington, D.C., pale in comparison. They want to be a part of it.”
Canal Fulton City Manager Mark Cozy said the city is eagerly anticipating the huge crowd and is preparing for an influx of people that will temporarily triple the city’s normal population of 5,000.
”We’re thrilled to be able to roll out the red carpet for the veterans,” Cozy said. ”We have a lot of experience with big crowds because we handle about 30,000 for Canal Days every year, even though that’s over three days.”
Cozy said that safety for the ride will be handled by the Canal Fulton Police Department, led by Chief David Frisone, a colonel in the military reserve, along with the Lawrence Township and New Franklin police departments.
Rossi said the Run to the Wall has become a big event within a bigger event.
”It’s really taken on a life of its own,” Rossi said. ”And that’s great because the veterans deserve all the appreciation they can get.
”The ride and the entire dedication ceremony is becoming greater every day as we get closer to Sunday. I can’t begin to tell you what a true Kodak moment this is going to be.”
Bill Lilley can be reached at 330-996-3811 or blilley@thebeaconjournal.com.
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