FAIRMONT – The First Congregational United Church of Christ and Lee C. Prentice American Legion Post 36 are sponsoring the second annual Blessing of the Bikes at 9 a.m. on May 30 at 319 Downtown Plaza.

While this event was done last year, it was done early in the year and in poor weather conditions, meaning only three riders showed up. This year, the event has been pushed back and is looking to be held in warm conditions.

Reverend Cory Germain said that when it came to a Blessing of the Bikes, he got inspiration from other churches.

“I’d seen it offered at some other churches, not in our area, but just seen it as an option,” Germain said. “I thought, ‘Wow, what a great way to combine my faith and my position as the pastor at First Congregational UCC, but then also my role as the Chaplain with the American Legion’. We’re so much closer now that the Legion has bought the building across the street from our church. I thought, ‘What an opportunity to put something like that together, where I can represent both my church and the legion.”

As for now being the right time, Germain said it took some adjusting due to the aforementioned weather issues.

“The weather in the next few days is going to be great,” he said. “That should be really enticing to a lot of motorcyclists to come out. I think most folks have gotten their motorcycles out of the garage now and started riding a little bit.”

In doing this event, Germain said they want to offer a blessing for a safe season of riding.

“Have a little fellowship,” he said. “Some donuts and coffee just to let people show up, look at each other’s bikes. What we’ll have is a very short prayer over the riders themselves, a prayer over the bikes. I have a little bit of oil if they want to have a little anointing on the bike, or I have some water from the River Jordan, and we’ll maybe just sprinkle a little of that on their bike. Depends how picky they are about their bike, but we’ll put a little mark on their bike to just signify that we’re blessing it.”

While this event is done in collaboration with the Legion, Germain said this is open to anyone who wants to come. The event will end with an optional 50-mile group ride through southern Martin County.

“It’s just one that I’ve done a few times that I think plenty of folks in the immediate Fairmont area have done,” he said. “There’s some nice roads down in the very southern part of Martin County, just to get past some of our beautiful lakes and explore the countryside a little bit, stay off the big main highway. There are freeways and things, but explore the back roads of rural Martin County.”

Through this event, Germain said offering blessings of safety and raising awareness of being safe while riding is the biggest goal of having this event. By continuing to offer this event annually, Germain said he wants to encourage people’s awareness of motorcycles and of Martin County as a whole.

“Martin County has got some great places to be outdoors,” he said. “Whether that’s our lakes, our communities you can stop and visit all along the way. I think it’s encouraging in a sense, tourism, but also specifically motorcycle riding in the area.”

The coffee and donuts will start at 8 a.m., the blessing of the bikes at 9, and the optional 50-mile group ride at 9:30.