http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1209363913119670.xml&coll=3

Bikers to escort Holocaust survivors

Monday, April 28, 2008
By RONALD LEIR
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Bayonne's annual Holocaust Remembrance Day observance is taking a different twist this year.

Members of the Chai Riders, a Jewish motorcycle club, will escort Holocaust survivors to Bayonne City Hall, where the city is holding the event tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the Dorothy E. Harrington City Council chambers.

Lauren Secular [color="Blue"](LOL), founding member and past president of the club, will speak and survivors will participate in a memorial candle lighting ceremony; Joyce Nestle and Hara Benjamin-Garritano will perform a musical selection; and Interim Mayor Terrence Malloy, honorary chairman, and other city officials will read proclamations.

Laurie Sokol is chairing the event, which is open to the public.

Four years ago, the Chai Riders - whose members live in the Tri-State Area - joined other East Coast Jewish biker clubs from around the United States and Australia to kick off a Jewish Motorcyclists Alliance "Ride to Remember" to commemorate the Nazi persecution of the Jews during World War II, and the liberation of Jews from concentration camps.

The Chai Riders have done benefit rides for groups such as the Rockland Holocaust Center, Ulster County Jewish Federation, Hadassah, various synagogues, and Jewish camps for children with special needs.

Secular is a member of the executive committee of Jewish motorcycle clubs worldwide and, in 25 years as a motorcyclist, she's traveled more than half-a-million miles, covering the East Coast from Nova Scotia to Key West, as well as California and parts of Australia. She's also a District 34 Congress representative of the American Motorcyclist Association.

The UJA Federation of Bayonne, the umbrella organization for Bayonne's Jewish community, and the Bayonne Interfaith Clergy are co-sponsors of the event.

For more information, call (201) 436-6900.