A recent Wednesday night Bible study and fellowship at First Baptist Church of Tellico Village held special significance for about 25 motorcycle enthusiasts and their spouses.
The Rev. Charlie Barnard offered a prayer and asked God to protect the motorcyclists, give them a keen sense of awareness of their surroundings and keep them safe during the coming biking season.
A few months ago, members of the Tellico Riders approached Barnard and asked him to perform a ceremony for them.
As an avid motorcycle rider, Barnard agreed, and church officials plan to make the Blessing of the Bikes service an annual event.
This summer, Barnard and his wife, Teresa, along with their friends, Sherry and Jack Green, will ride their motorcycles more than 6,500 miles to Nova Scotia and back, raising money for each mile to fund the third Habitat house sponsored by First Baptist Church.
The three-week trip will start with a kickoff dinner Aug. 3 provided at the church by Chick-fil-A of Lenoir City.
The two couples will leave that evening for Bristol and then travel to Washington, D.C., New York, Boston and Nova Scotia. The trip will continue with stops in other parts of Canada and Niagara Falls.
On their way back, riders will travel to Pittsburgh and then to Hurricane, W.Va., before coming home to a victory dinner Aug. 24 at FBC.
For more information about sponsoring the trip, call the church office at 865-408-0110 or the Habitat office at 865-458-0704.
