The Easy Riders Motorcycle Club of Saipan held a turnover ceremony on Saturday for a bus shelter that they constructed in San Vicente.
THE Easy Riders Motorcycle Club of Saipan on Saturday held a turnover ceremony for a bus shelter they constructed in San Vicente.
Easy Riders President Alex Tudela said, “Our goal is to put up bus stop shelters. as many as we can. But we certainly welcome any contributions from the public and/or partnership with the government to assist us in constructing more bus shelters for the safety of the children.”
Also present at the turnover event were the club’s other members, as well as Precinct 1 Reps. Roy Ada, Ed Flores, Diego Camacho and Vince Aldan.
The bus shelter was turned over to the Public School System. Representing PSS was its pupil transportation office director, Shawn San Nicolas.
In his remarks, he said: “I was talking earlier with one of the Easy Riders, and I was asking how you guys came about with this project. He said, ‘We just want to do good for the community.’ Thank you for that. Then I asked how did you guys get the funding for the project. He said, through the hard work of fundraising and club members donating their time and skills…to get this bus stop erected in this area…. We have a lot of parents requesting a bus shelter here…and now it has become a reality.”
Speaking on behalf of his colleagues in the House of Representatives, Rep. Roy Ada expressed his appreciation to the Easy Riders, saying, “We look forward to finding ways to support their efforts in providing more shelters for the community and students. Thank you so much for taking the initiative — this is truly a testament to your commitment to the community. We look forward to working with you in other projects.”
For his part, Easy Riders Vice President Greg Sablan said, “On behalf of [the] club, I want to thank everybody for their untiring efforts and their generous contributions as members of a non-profit organization to construct a bus stop and give it back to our community. This is not the first and last bus stop that we’re going to build. With more cooperation with the government, the private sector and other non-profit organizations, and by working together, we can do more great things for our people, our community, and our island.”
Sablan said it took them three days to build the bus shelter, and a year to come up with the funds by holding fundraising activities such as selling lunch, washing cars and seeking donations from businesses.
He said the construction cost amounted to $9,800.
The Easy Riders also thanked the Department of Public Safety for its assistance with their motorcade before the ceremony, as well as the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services for performing a water salute during the turnover ceremony.
Firefighters perform a water salute for the newly constructed bus stop in San Vicente on Saturday.
Video by Bryan Manabat
