Motorcycles and Custom Cars Ride to “Chrome City” For the Tenth Year, Raising $102,000 for Benedictine

500 thundering motorcycles and 50 chrome-polished custom and classic cars cruised the Eastern Shore’s highways for the Tenth Annual Chrome City Ride on Sunday, July 31st. For the children and adults with disabilities at the Benedictine School in Ridgely, it was an exciting highlight of the year.  These riders roared into campus with all that awesome chrome and helped raise more than $102,000 to enrich the lives of people with special needs.

“This is the tenth year for the Chrome City Ride, and every year it gets better,” said Benedictine’s Director, Sister Jeannette Murray, O.S.B.  “The riders from past years keep coming back and bringing more and more friends with them.”  The friends are as important to Sister Jeannette as the funds.  “Every dollar coming into our program is a blessing, but to our kids, knowing they are valued by our community is a greater treasure.  This is all about them.” Seeing the riders with the children during the day, it is evident these kids have found a place in the hearts of these bike and car enthusiasts.

The tenth Ride was special for Sister Jeannette for another reason as well. In addition to tuition support for special needs children, a portion of the funds raised will help build retirement homes for older people with disabilities - Sister’s long-time dream. “I used to tell our individuals who said they wanted to retire to take their pillow and find a tree to sleep under,” Sister Jeannette joked. “But in September, we will break ground for two specially designed residences for our senior men and women. There is a great need for this, and now it is coming to life.”

Most of the credit for the event’s success goes to the volunteers of the Chrome City Ride Committee, many of whom are from Maryland’s law enforcement community, and to the generosity of many business and individual sponsors.  The Committee presented Sister Jeannette with her own black leather jacket in commemoration of ten great years of Chrome City Rides.

Owners of impressive cars and bikes from all over Maryland and Delaware gathered at four designated locations, and then cruised in police-escorted convoys to the Benedictine School.  For a $25 contribution, each person got a T-shirt, lunch courtesy of Expressions Catering, entertainment, a chance for prizes and trophies, and a day of fun showing off their “chrome” to an appreciative crowd.  “Elvis” (in the person of impersonator Jim Godbold) was a big hit with the crowd as always.  It is a day of fun, but what makes Chrome City’s atmosphere unique is a caring community coming to spend the day with kids who are so happy to have them. It is an event of the heart.