A group of modern-day “Pony Express” riders left Columbus on Friday for a 9,300-mile motorcycle ride through 16 states, raising awareness and money for Columbus State University’s College of Education & Health Professions.

Scott Ressmeyer and the Miracle Riders gathered in front of CSU’s Frank D. Brown Hall in downtown Columbus for a departure ceremony, then rolled off, led by a motorcycle escort from law enforcement officers.

Those 14 riders will deliver postcards with personal greetings to people along their journey. Another eight riders will do the same during regional rides in Georgia, Florida and Alabama. This year’s ride is the second to harken back to the iconic Pony Express riders, who delivered mail on horseback in 1860-1861.

Forming New Connections for Columbus Students

Among the scheduled stops is the Pony Express Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri, where they will deliver a letter from students in Lara Allan Lasseter’s second-grade class at Clubview Elementary School in Muscogee County

It was a spur-of-the moment idea from Miracle Rider Brian Brock, whose granddaughter Piper Evans, 8, is one of 18 students in the class, While visiting Lasseter’s class Wednesday morning to speak with the Ledger-Enquirer about the trip, Brock turned to speak with the class.

“It just hit me while you were talking,” Brock said, “I want them to write a letter that I can deliver to the Pony Express Museum.”

“Would y’all like to do that?” Lasseter asked her students, who said yes.

“That is awesome,” Lasseter said.

Brock said the students’ connection with this year’s Miracle Ride began when he read “Bessie the Motorcycle Queen” to them as part of Clubview’s mystery reader program.

“I came and read it to the kids, and then Mrs. Lasseter tells me, ‘Oh, well, we’re going to be learning about the Pony Express.’” he said, “I went, ‘Whoa!’ So we have put together opportunities for me to share with this classroom the actual museum, the Pony Express Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri.”

“We’re about to dive into our communication unit where we learn about ways people connect and communicate and how that has changed over time,” Lasseter said, “and so this is the perfect opportunity to bring that in — you know the real world into the classroom.”

The Road to Joplin

After their May 15 visit to the Pony Express Museum, the Miracle Riders will travel south to Joplin, Missouri.

Ressmeyer, founder of the Miracle Ride, told the Ledger-Enquirer Joplin will always have a special meaning for him and many of the riders.

During the 2011 ride, Ressmeyer said, they had stopped just outside of Joplin for gas when rookie rider Brad Hansen approached him about taking a side trip.

“He wanted to go to Joplin,” Ressmeyer said. “There was something special in Joplin that he wanted to see. And so we, by all means yeah, we’ll be glad to do that. I had no idea what we were getting ready to get into, and nobody had any idea.”

Ressmeyer said Hansen came to the front, leading the group to a winding, nearly empty parking lot on the campus of Missouri Southern State University.

“Brad wanted us to all put on our dusters and our hats and walk out to the field,” Ressmeyer said, “and I remember walking through the field that was kind of squishy because they obviously had a bunch of rain at that point. And, you know, at this point, none of us still had any real idea of what we were going out there for.”

Ressmeyer said he noticed a big round sign on the soccer field, hanging on the fence near where a goal would be. The sign had the initials “JH” on it.

“Brad got us all together in a circle, and we were all kind of wondering,” Ressmeyer said, “and then Brad started to tell the story about his son Jonathan, and that was for me extremely emotional.”

Hansen shared the story of his son, Jonathan Hansen, a soccer player at Missouri Southern who died in February 2009 after collapsing on the court during an intramural basketball game on campus. Then 22, Jonathan was a senior goalkeeper on the men’s soccer team.

“We just sobbed like a bunch of, you know, I’m not going to say babies.,” Hansen told the Ledger-Enquirer, “but we sobbed pretty good, and that was the brotherhood.”

“The bond is unbelievable, Ressmeyer said, “We share in laughter, and we share in sadness, but none of us are afraid to let tears go when we need to let tears go.”

Ressmeyer said when Hansen shared his son’s story, “something magical” happened in his mind.

“I think everybody that was there, that we became a brotherhood,” Ressmeyer said, “and I always looked at Joplin, Missouri, as the place that the Miracle Riders became brothers.”

That was Mother’s Day. Two weeks after the Miracle Riders departed Joplin, a devastating EF5 tornado struck Joplin, onMay 22, 2011, causing catastrophic damage.

Hansen said a female soccer player at Missouri Southern unexpectedly died years later. Now, she and his son Jonathan are commemorated on a scoreboard at the field. Hansen said he has the original sign in his garage workshop.

Joplin has since become a touchstone for Ressmeyer and others.

“One of the things I did for my dad was to spread his ashes all across the lower 48 in every state,” Ressmeyer said, “so where that goal line is, on that soccer field, my dad’s ashes, some of his ashes, are right there.”

Hansen said he has “retired” from the long rides.

“It’s a hard ride,” Hansen said. “The last one I went to was when we visited all the Columbuses, and I thought, ‘I’m OK. I’m going to go this year and give it a chance.’ And it hurt.”

Returning Home

The Miracle Riders announced in March they have reached their initial fund-raising goal of $1 million for CSU’s School of Nursing, a goal set in 2021.

That’s made possible the creation of three clinical simulation labs to train nursing students, practicing nurses, first responders and others who provide direct medical care to infants, children and expectant mothers.

The Miracle Riders are scheduled to return May 22, to a homecoming celebration and concert, beginning at 7 p.m. on Broadway in Columbus.

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