Memorial Ride Honoring Fallen Towns County Officers Set for Sept. 12

HIAWASSEE, Ga. — The Hiawassee Police Department and Towns County Sheriff’s Office will join the Blue Knights for a Law Enforcement Memorial Ride on Saturday, Sept. 12, honoring two Towns County officers killed in the line of duty and raising money for Shop with a Cop programs.

The ride will honor Sheriff Jay Vernon Chastain Sr., who was shot and killed during a traffic stop in Hiawassee on Dec. 8, 1974, and Deputy Sheriff James E. Taylor, who was struck and killed by a vehicle while on duty on Sept. 11, 1981.

All proceeds will support Shop with a Cop programs run by the Towns County Sheriff’s Office and Hiawassee Police Department. In the program, officers take underprivileged children shopping for Christmas.

Participants will meet at Towns County High School. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. The entry fee is $20 per vehicle. All street-legal vehicles are welcome, including motorcycles, Jeeps and classic cars.

The Towns County Sheriff’s Office and Hiawassee Police Department will escort the ride. The rain date is Sept. 19.

The event is organized by Blue Knights Chapter XXII of Blairsville, a law enforcement motorcycle club.

“Ride to remember. Honor to never forget,” organizers said.