Riders from the Cobras Motorcycle Club and other Leflore County area clubs spent Monday’s holiday paying tribute to three fallen members.
The Cobras’ 10th annual Memorial Day ride honored the memories of deceased Cobras members Cornell Brooks, Kendell Jasper and George McCain and concluded with a barbecue in Whittington Park.
One motorcyclist, Timothy Spivey of the Mississippi Slab Riders Motorcycle Club, was injured in a wreck on his way to join the group.
Spivey was treated at Greenwood Leflore Hospital and released and is expected to make a full recovery. An accident report on the crash was not yet complete this morning.
The club’s barbecue in Whittington Park was interrupted by another crash between two vehicles in the nearby intersection of Sycamore Avenue and U.S. 82 around noon.
Many of the gathered motorcyclists rushed to the scene, assisting the injured motorists and directing traffic while waiting for the police and ambulances to arrive.
During the memorial ride, the Cobras — joined by riders from the Schlater Riders, 49 South Motorcycle Club, the Slab Riders and others — rode to the graves of all three men to say a prayer and pay tribute.
The ride began in 2004 following the death of McCain on Aug. 10, 2003. McCain was hit by a drunken driver on Browning Road while riding back from a motorcycle rodeo.
His widow, Arlean McCain — also a member of the Cobras — said she was riding with him that day and has taken part in the memorial ride ever since.
McCain, a longtime member of the motorcycle club, was an Air Force veteran and was Greenwood’s first black fire chief.
His sister, Lillie McCain, said she has been coming down from her home in Flint, Mich., nearly every year to see the riders pay tribute. For her and her brother, Charles McCain, the annual event has been “a blessing.”
“As we were saying this morning, it’s been more than a decade now,” Lillie McCain said. “I think the fact that they continue to pay tribute to his legacy speaks volumes about the difference that he made in the lives of people and the friends that he had in this community.”
Cornell Brooks, another one of the fallen riders recognized during the ride, was killed in a car accident in 2005.
His cousin, Henry Brooks, said he’s been taking part in the memorial ride for years.
“It’s honoring the riders that aren’t here but did a good deed while they were,” Brooks said.
Kendall Jasper, the final member honored Monday, died in 2011 after being severely burned in an accident at Delta Oil Mill, where he worked.
Cobras President Cleveland “Frog” Woods said the group has added the members to the ride over the years to try to remember those who are no longer around.
• Contact Bryn Stole at 581-7235 or bstole@gwcommonwealth.com.
