A memorial ride for Jesse Summers is slated Sunday at O’Reilly’s Auto Parts Shopping Center on Highway 59 north, with arrival time at 2 p.m. and departure time an hour later.

All bikers and motorcycle clubs are invited for the yearly event, according to his mother, Patsy Summers.

On Oct. 7, 2001, Jesse Summers rode to Stapleton to gas up his motorcycle for his last racing appearance in Atmore.

The 18-year-old Whitehouse Fork native left the service station, lost control of his racing motorcycle and crashed into utility poles across from the Stapleton Post Office.

He was buried at Whitehouse Fork three days later. A simple memorial was erected at the site of the accident.

Each October, bikers join Jesse’s mother and other family members for a memorial ride and graveside services for the fallen biker.

Groups include the BMB Rockets of Bay Minette, the Red Coastliners and 45 BOZ from Mobile County and other clubs from Pensacola.

“We have a memorial each October,” Patsy Summers said. “Once you become a biker, you are a family member. It gives me comfort and helps keep Jesse’s memory alive.

“I want kids riding to be very careful. I hope to let them know they need to be ready for Jesus if something happens to them.

“No one can understand unless you have lost a child. We want to comfort them with shared experience and blessings.”

Bikers meet in Bay Minette, travel down U.S. 31 to the wreck site, then head for the burial site in Whitehouse Fork. Along the way, the procession is joined by other bikers. At the site, they surround the grave, hold hands and pray for Jesse and other fallen bikers, she said.

“Lots of visitors talk to Jesse at the cemetery,” Summers said. “It comforts them when they have problems. I see them sometimes at midnight at the grave and I ask them why they are there.

“They say they have problems and only Jesse will listen.”

The family has established an Internet memorial at jesse-summers.memory-of.com.