Editor, the News-Herald,

My wife, daughter and I attended the first Rumble for the Great Dismal Swamp last Saturday and I want to commend all those involved for a fantastic time. My wife and I rode together and our daughter rode with a friend of ours. The weather was perfect, the ride was exceptional and the pace was perfect. I’m not sure what the final number of bikes was but it must have been close to 500. The stop at the rest area provided an awesome view for the first riders in, to watch and listen to the remaining rumble of bikes arriving.

My family and I walked down to the boardwalk for the waterway at the rest stop and talked with a few sailboat owners who were impressed with the crowd and the bikes. We were surprised to meet a local from our home area here in Lexington Park, Md. and another from England.

The entire town welcomed us and the police escort was an extra touch that went above and beyond. I had the pleasure to talk with one of the Police Escort Officer’s after the ride. I think he was very pleased with the crowd and I believe I even caught a smile on his face as he was leading all the bikes back into town at the end of the ride.

We stayed for the weekend and rode around the Suffolk and adjoining areas taking in the sites. Even our 17-year-old daughter wants to come back next year. so you’ve made an impression when a 17-year-old is looking forward to return trip with her parents ! We’re looking forward to the 2nd Annual Rumble for the Swamp and we’ll be bringing friends.

See you next year.

Chuck & Karen Maxcy

Lexington Park, Md.

P.S.

I was surfing the Web looking for any coverage of the event and came across Suffolk News-Harold Web site. I did a search and was reading the articles and was glad to see the Great Dismal Swamp Coalition raised over $3,000 for the charity event.

I did come across another article titled, &uot;The Plot Thickens&uot; by Mr. Robert Pocklington and was a little disappointed. It would appear Mr. Pocklington doesn’t like motorcycles or the people who ride them. That’s unfortunate for Mr. Pocklington. Had he accepted the offer, joined in and participated he would have met some lawyers, doctors, military and other wonderful people.

He may have actually enjoyed one day in his life rather than spend the day writing and complaining about it and the Coalition would have raised over $3,010 for a local charity.