Grad gets the ride of a lifetime

What started as a mother’s simple request to give her son something special to mark his high school graduation soon went viral, with the community rallying in thunderous support.

Days earlier, Cecilia Anastasia had put out a social media post, asking if anyone that owns ‘one of those cool big motorcycles’ would help her surprise her son Sean, who had long wanted to ride one, fulfill that wish by giving him a quick ride.

“I thought it would be a few minutes, maybe a quick lap,” she said, not expecting that it would turn into something much bigger. Her post was shared and re-shared over several popular Facebook pages, including 'Palmer Buzz', quickly garnering hundreds of responses.

The motorcycle community quickly responded, with members of the Christian Motorcyclists Association, Bikers Against Child Abuse, and other motorcyclists, one from as far away as Idaho, who was already making the trek to Alaska when her read about the special ride and quickly joined up.

Sean was surprised to find that minutes after graduating from IDEA Homeschool at the Menard Sports Center in Wasilla on Tuesday, dozens of bikers were waiting to ride with him not around the block, but instead from Wasilla to the old Palmer Public Library, with a pit stop at the Denali Harley-Davidson store, escorted by dozens of motorcyclists.

“This is so cool!” said Debbie Bakic, who works with Cecilia and was among the dozens waiting for the riders. “This is just so great!”

“I wanted to surprise him with something. We couldn’t get a trip or anything, and I thought of the things he would have liked, and he is always amazed when he sees the bikes and wanted one day to ride one,” said Cecilia, who shared that she used to ride when she was younger. “He said ‘I would love to ride one someday,’ and so I reached out on Facebook, and then this happened,” she said of the amazing response her post received. She shared that her son struggled in regular school before going to homeschool, and did not have a lot of friends. “I think that’s changed now. This means so much to us.”

Sean, who is autistic, said it was a great ride and thanked everyone for coming out for it.

Riding with Chris Ritala, who had gifted the graduate with a motorcycle jacket of his own before the ride, Sean gave his mother a quick kiss, then led the pack as they made their way to Palmer, and after the ride, gathering with other community members for a post-graduation celebration.

Ritala was the first to respond to the post and as others reached out to him, he says it quickly became a community effort, with some donating time, others donating food, and the motorcyclists sharing a little bit of their passion with the family.

“I think this is awesome,” Ritala said after the ride. “It was definitely a community effort. I think everybody had a good time. It’s just awesome.”

Palmer Mayor Steve Carrington dropped by to gift Sean a challenge coin from the City of Palmer and a Letter of Congratulations.

“Do not think it impossible just because it never happened,” read part of the letter.

“We saw the post, and I reached out to Cecilia on behalf of the shop, told her we could set something up, let him sit on some bikes, let him fire up a bike and pull the big airhorn,” said Brendan Trevors of Denali Harley-Davidson on how they got involved. “The biker community is great and loves to help out.”

Asked what she thought of the response, Cecilia said: “It’s beautiful. It’s overwhelming. They’re like his guardian angels.”