By Mike Donahue

Moapa Valley Progress

Motorcycle riders who participated in Saturday’s “A Decade of Remembrance 09/11/2001 – 09/11/2011” event that stopped at the Muddy River Cafe and Bar in Moapa include, from left, Ed Stull, Mike Greco, Dan Rash and Becca Rash, all of Overton. Photo by Mike Donahue.

An estimated 200 motorcycle riders from all over Southern Nevada roared through Moapa Valley throughout the morning on Saturday as part of the nationwide remembrance of the 9/11 terrorist attacks 10 years ago.

The “Overton Run” was one of five different commemorative rides through Southern Nevada and Northern Arizona. The Saturday event ended with a parade from the Plaza Casino Hotel in downtown Las Vegas and that ran south down the Las Vegas Strip that afternoon, according to Ed Stull, an Overton member of the Marine Riders of Las Vegas, one of the groups hosting the event.

“The five Las Vegas rides are the third largest event nationwide in remembrance of 9/11,” Stull said. “We’re estimating as many as 1,200 bikes participated.”

Mike Greco, also of Overton, said the three Harley Davidson Motorcycle shops in and around Las Vegas helped set up the five rides, which took months to arrange.

Motorcycles lined Moapa Valley Blvd. in downtown Overton as far as the eye can see on Saturday morning when about 200 riders came through town as part of a 9/11 Memorial event. Photo by Vernon Robison.

In addition to the Marine riders, the event titled, “A Decade of Remembrance 09/11/2001 – 09/11/2011, was hosted by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Marine Corps League Detachment 186, Greco said. The Saturday ride and additional Sunday activities were integrated with East Coast events in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania.

Riders left Las Vegas early Saturday and were invited to meet up at the Muddy River Café and Bar in Moapa, and the Sportsman and Red Rooster bars in Overton. They ran through the Moapa Valley area sporadically until late morning when most headed back to Las Vegas for the parade.

“This event was set up by veterans and inviting the riders to stop is just a way to honor all vets and remember those who died on 9/11,” said Kent Slight, owner of the Muddy River and Overton bars.

In addition to the rides Saturday, registered riders participated Sunday in the Fallen Heroes Parade in Las Vegas. The parade started at 5:46 a.m. Las Vegas time, the exact moment the first World Trade Center tower was hit on 9/11.