PARK TWP., MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Apr. 29, 2024) – There was no Blessing of the Bikes at the Ottawa County Fairgrounds on Sunday, and a reason may have surfaced on social media.
On Friday evening, organizers posted on their Facebook the following:
“It is with great regret, and the safety and well-being of all attendees, that the planning committee informs you that the 2024 Lakeshore Blessing of the Bikes has been canceled. Over the last 21 years, you have donated over $202,000 to some great charities. Our nonprofit organizations – the Children’s Advocacy Center-Holland and Lakeshore Life Works – were looking forward to meeting with you, and we are looking at other ways that we can support them. Our vendors were packed and ready to come, and we look forward to working with each of them in the future. God willing, we will see you soon.”
On Sunday morning, after the event was supposed to take place, organizers posted the following statement, again on their Facebook page.
“It has been almost 48 hours since the Lakeshore Blessing of the Bikes received a call from (the) Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office. The FBI reported that they are confident (of) a creditable risk of violence at the 2024 Lakeshore Blessing of the Bikes. The threat remains real, and it was with this information that we canceled the 2024 Blessing. This was not a difficult decision, but it was a very disappointing call to make. Over the years we have weathered rain, sleet, snow, (and) COVID 19, but gun violence towards any of our gests is not acceptable. The safety of our brothers and sisters is still most important to us.”
On Monday, Detective Captain Jake Sparks of the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department, in response to an email from WHTC News, said, “We received information that there could possibly be violence committed at the Lakeshore Blessing of the Bikes. We then made arrangements to have heightened presence at the event and contacted the event organizers. Apparently some of the groups attending are having some on-going issues with each other. The event organizers elected to cancel the event based on the information we provided.”
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