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Justin Garrison Memorial Ride to be Aug. 24
FAIRFIELD – The family of Justin Garrison is honoring his memory by putting on a memorial ride that will go through Jefferson, Van Buren and Henry counties.
The Third Annual Justin Garrison Memorial Ride will be an all-day event on Saturday, Aug. 24. The ride will begin at the Garrison home located at 2552 Glasgow Road south of Fairfield, with registration beginning at 9 a.m. and then “kick stands up” at 10 a.m. The ride is approximately 100 miles, and will make stops at Peck’s in Libertyville, Tillies Tap in Keosauqua, The Legion in Farmington, Underground in Salem, Rome Hot Spot in Rome and finish back at the Garrisons’ home.
The evening will conclude with a free-will potluck dinner at the Garrisons’, with live music courtesy of the local band Friday@5. The band consists of Tugg Hill (vocals), Riley Brown (guitar), Chase Copeland (drums) and Carter Spalla (bass).
Christina Garrison, Justin’s mother, said this ride is a fitting tribute to her son, since he loved to ride motorcycles.
“He’s been riding something since he was 3 years old, dirt bikes, four-wheelers, anything he could get on,” Christina said. “As soon as he turned 16, he got his motorcycle license.”
Christina added that the specific route of the memorial ride was chosen because they wanted something that was about 100 miles, plus these stops are also places that Justin frequented.
“He was a very outgoing person, and made friends wherever he went,” his mother said. “He was always up for a new adventure.”
Christina said that one of her last memories of Justin was on Christmas Day 2021. It was an unusually nice day for late December, so she and her husband decided to go on a ride.
“I went back inside, and Justin said, ‘You’re trying to go on a ride without me?’” Christina recalled, adding that Justin got ready in a flash. “He was always looking for an opportunity to ride.”
Justin Garrison was killed in an accident in March 2022 at the age of 24. He graduated from Fairfield High School in 2016, and went on to become a welder at John Deere in Ottumwa. Money raised through the Justin Garrison Memorial Ride is going toward an annual welding scholarship through Indian Hills Community College for $1,000 per scholarship.
The first memorial ride was held in 2022 about six months after Justin’s passing. That attracted about 60 motorcyclists and raised a few thousand dollars. The following year’s ride included an auction, and although not as many bikes came, a large crowd showed up for the auction.
Honoring Justin is important to members of the band that will perform that evening, Friday@5. The band’s lead guitarist Riley Brown and its marketing manager Leya Brown graduated with Justin in 2016. Chase Copeland was in that same graduating class, though he went to Pekin. The band formed in 2023, and its members have “carefully sculpted a variety of songs from grunge to southern rock to perfect their set lists,” Leya Brown said.
Registration for the ride is $10. For dinner, the Garrisons are preparing the main dish, chicken in a box, and they’re asking riders to bring sides and desserts to share, and to donate toward the cost of the food. The riders will eat lunch in Libertyville at 11 a.m., and Christina said she expects they’ll all be hungry by suppertime.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
