Memorial motorcycle ride raises nearly $10,000 for fallen Spring Hill firefighter

By 10 a.m. on Sunday, more than 230 motorcyclists were gathered at Port Royal Park in Spring Hill, all sharing one common goal: to honor Mitchell Earwood, a Spring Hill firefighter who tragically lost his life in early May during a storm.

The memorial motorcycle ride was organized by Dave and Ashley Hager, the owners of the cycle shop Crusty Grunt Cycles. Given Mr. Hager’s military background, the cycle shop has close ties to veterans and first responders in the Spring Hill community, and after hearing of Earwood’s passing, Mrs. Hager said they felt compelled to help his family anyway they could.

“We're big with the community; we have firefighters that come into the shop, we have police that come into the shop,” Mrs. Hager said. “When we heard about this, the wheels just started turning: what can we do to help this family? In the motorcycle community, you have rides, and so it just grew from there.”

At $20 per rider and $10 per passenger, the memorial ride had managed to raise approximately $9,700 for Earwood’s family before it had even started. Participants kicked off the memorial ride at 10:03 a.m., leaving Port Royal Park and heading south down Port Royal Road.

“Being a veteran, going overseas and protecting our country - that's what our first responders do here in our community,” Mr. Hager said. 

“When I heard what happened, it just tore up my heart strings. I have several friends as well as customers who are firefighters, and I know what that brotherhood is like, and I know that that loss was going to be felt greatly for them. I knew that the family was going to need help, so I really wanted to reach out to them and try to help the best way I could.”

Hager would go on to say that he would like the memorial ride to become an annual Spring Hill tradition, with future events supporting other local first responders.

At around 11:20 a.m., riders began to pull up to the final destination of the route: the Music City Auto Auction on Royal Park Boulevard, across from the Battle of Spring Hill site.

Food trucks, hundreds of motorcycles and live music from the Nashville band Mercury Blonde were plentiful in the parking lot of the Music City Auto Auction, with Earwood’s family present at the gathering.

The wife of Spring Hill Fire Department Battalion Chief Brian Garza, Selena Garza, called the turnout to the event “amazing,” and said it was a testament to the Spring Hill community.

“Our community has come together not only through this, but through everything we've been going through in the last few months,” Mrs. Garza said. “We're from Spring Hill, we've been here a very long time, and anything like this brings the community together. I have literally shed a tear a million times today over things I saw... it's pretty amazing.”