MARIETTA - On the lawn in front of the Influent in Reno, several dozen employees stood in a group holding balloons Saturday afternoon. On cue, they let go and the balloons flew into the sky.
Several shouts of "I love you Amber" rose as the balloons flew away.
It was the last of the activities Saturday at Influent, to benefit the families of Amber Wesley, who was strangled at her home in Warren Township on July 22, and Susan Lawson, who was stabbed in Marietta on July 21, but survived.
Both women worked at Influent.
The day's activities started with a poker run in the morning.
Motorcyclists from all over Washington County, and two from as far away as Nevada, came together to ride a 50-mile course with stops at several places important in Wesley's life.
Amber Wesley's mother, Carol Alsept, and stepfather, Wayne Alsept, both rode in the poker run. Wayne Alsept came from his home in Cincinnati to participate.
"It was about a four-hour ride," he said. "But it was well worth it. It's great to see all these riders coming out to support a good cause."
"Amber was raised around motorcycles," Carol Alsept said. "She's been around them her entire life and she would have just loved this."
Cristie Johnson, 47, and her husband, Terry Johnson, 49, came to Marietta from their home in Las Vegas. Cristie Johnson used to live in Marietta and the couple came back for the weekend to go camping, were told about the poker run and decided to participate.
"It's beautiful out here," Cristie Johnson said. "The river, the water, the trees, everything is so green (in Ohio). Everything (in Nevada) is brown right now."
Carol Alsept said the event was a great way for bikers to spend their Saturday.
"There's no bars and no boozing," she said. "We just riding. It's a beautiful day and it was so nice of the (Influent) employees to put this on.
"There are weekly drive-ins at the Honda shop (in Marietta)," she said. "On the Thursday night ride, everybody was talking about this."
Most of the bikers said the trip took around 90 minutes.
"We were just cruising," said Pat Schoeppner, an Influent employee who helped organize the day's activities.
There were stops at Waterford High School, where Wesley went to school, Buell Park in Lowell where she sometimes took her children, and Lane Farm Market, near her home.
Each rider was given a sheet of paper and rolled a set of dice which determined their poker hand. The top three hands at the end of the night were given a prize and there was a 50/50 raffle drawing.
