Gold Star 500 Travels Through Effingham

(EFFINGHAM MAYOR JEFF BLOEMKER PRESENTED A KEY TO THE CITY TO GOLD STAR MOTHER NITA CROSS)

The 2018 Gold Star 500 passed through Effingham Thursday, making a stop at the Illinois National Guard Armory on Temple Avenue.

The Gold Star 500 is an endurance cycling event that honors the service and sacrifice of 260+ service members from Illinois who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

36 veterans Tuesday began a 500-mile journey through Southern Illinois starting and ending in Springfield. The four-day event takes the cyclists through many of the communities where those being honored served and wraps up with Gold Star Mothers and Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs representatives.

The ride will raise funds through donations providing scholarship opportunities to assist Gold Star family members and others in need.

Effingham Mayor Jeff Bloemker was on hand to welcome the cyclists, families and friends supporting the cause. The Mayor presented a key to the city to Gold Star Mother Nita Cross who strives to keep alive the memory of her son Staff Sgt Kyle Wehrly who died in Iraq in 2005.

One Gold Star Mother said, "Dying for freedom isn't the worst thing that can happen; being forgotten is."