The red line shows the route of today’s motorcade.
About 3 this afternoon, a motorcade will set out from the armory on Dabney Drive to tour the city, and we expect the drive to be an eye-opening experience for many.
The Motorcade for Nonviolence will not solve any problems in Henderson, nor will it scare drug dealers out of the city or magically rejuvenate neighborhoods, as many people have noted elsewhere on this site. But instant transformation isn’t the point.
Today’s motorcade is about awareness — awareness of what life is like in all parts of the city and awareness that some people have hope that things can get better.
The route of the motorcade follows a Clean Up Henderson Committee trick of visiting the country club area first, then driving through run-down areas to bring the contrast home to people who are used to seeing only one side of Henderson.
From the armory, the motorcade will turn right onto Dabney Drive, then right onto Oxford Road, right onto Country Club Drive, right onto Woodland Road and right again onto Brookrun Road. A left onto Bellewood Drive, a left onto Summit Road and a right onto Parker Lane will take the motorcade across Dabney Drive to Parham Street.
The route moves into the Old West End with a right onto Granite Street and a left onto Chestnut Street, then a left onto Belle Street and a right onto Hargrove Street. A left onto Young Avenue, right onto Parham Street and left onto Spring Street will bring the parade of cars into the West End, where the route winds along Horner, Parham, Ransom, Pettigrew and Sims streets to Breckenridge Street by the county jail. Breckenridge will take the motorcade back to Chestnut Street, where the drivers will turn left, then take a quick right onto Montgomery Street and pass the police station on their way to Zene Street, where they will turn right. They’ll go right onto Turner Avenue, left onto William Street, left onto Winder Street, right onto Zene and left onto Arch Street to head into Flint Hill.
The route will follow Hillside Place to Hillside Avenue to Flint Street to Arch Street to Marshall Street to Booth Street to Gay Street to Hillard Street, then will take a right onto Southerland Street, hit Standish Street and follow Maple Street to a left turn onto Lehman Street and another left onto Old Epsom Road, which will take the motorcade out of the city on the way to U.S. 1 Bypass. The highway will bring the group back north to East Andrews Avenue, where the motorcade will turn left.
The drivers will turn right onto Water Street and left onto Bridgers Street, which will bring them to Hughes Street. Left turns on Roberson and Water streets will take the route to a right turn onto David Street, where the city will use $653,000 in Community Development Block Grant money to revitalize two blocks. The route then will turn left onto Main Street, left onto Lamb Street, right onto Lowery Street, left onto William Street, right onto Crozier Street and left onto Garnett Street.
The route will take a right onto Rockspring Street, a left onto John Street, a left onto Hamilton Street, a right onto Roosevelt Street, a left onto Oakhill Street to get back to Hamilton, then a right onto Chestnut for a long straight stretch to Zollicoffer Avenue. A right onto Zollicoffer will bring the cars to Garnett Street for a right turn to Dabney Drive. Another right turn will return everyone to the armory.
Event organizer Cathy Ringley expects the whole parade of cars and motorcycles to take no more than 90 minutes.
Police Chief Glen Allen emphasized to the group sponsoring the motorcade, the Vance County Coalition Against Violence, that the event will not have police protection to get through the hundreds of intersections safely. Aside from a couple of major intersections where officers will have patrol cars stopped with flashing lights to guide the motorcade through, participants will have to take care and obey stoplights and stop signs.
The key, Allen said, is for the drivers to watch out for one another. The group should be driving slowly anyway, allowing people time to catch up after missing a traffic light, and the chief suggested that drivers talk to the people in line ahead of and behind them so everyone will be aware of the need to slow down further to let the rest of the motorcade make up lost ground at times.
Ringley said gaps might develop in the motorcade if enough people participate, but that’s OK. The vehicles will have Coalition Against Violence signs on them for identification, and every third car or so will have a map of the route. So everyone should be able to make it.
Vehicles from the Police Department and Sheriff’s Office will participate, and at least a dozen coalition members raised their hands Thursday night to indicate they will be there today. One of those people said his motorcycle association wants to ride along, and Ringley invited the group to lead the pack.
People can sign up between 2 and 2:30 at the armory parking lot this afternoon. Ringley and co-organizer Evelyn Mitchell intend to start lining cars up at 2:30 and to roll at 3. Participants are welcome to include signage on their vehicles that promotes a business or organization in addition to the Coalition Against Violence.
The question raised by some commentators on this site is whether any good will come out of the motorcade, or whether this is little more than an effort for the participants to make themselves feel good.
We can’t know the future. It’s possible many of the people who are willing to take a slow drive through town on a hot summer afternoon will never think or act on what they see today. But based on the sincerity of the coalition members in their desire to effect lasting change, we think the motorcade will do some good.
People who are surprisingly unaware of the living conditions on Orange Street and Lamb Street, for instance, will be shocked into action to support redeveloping such neighborhoods. And people who live in Flint Hill and in other areas where fear reigns will see that there’s more to the Coalition Against Violence than a bunch of signs: People who care are determined to restore hope to all parts of the city.
We hope that the sight of dozens of vehicles parading through all parts of the city will be a milestone in the work of the coalition, which is still less 9 months old. We hope that this event inspires people to further action, such as organizing a rotation of coalition members to sit in District Court regularly to keep the pressure on judges and prosecutors to stop revolving-door justice. We hope that next July we can see the second annual motorcade and that over the years the motorcade will shift from an awareness effort to a triumphant procession for a vibrant, safe city.
Dramatic changes won’t come overnight, but they have to start somewhere. The armory at 3 p.m. today is as good a starting point as any.