Merker/Belnap Memorial Walk/Run-2018

July 4th, 2018 will mark two years since the tragic passing of John Belnap, his son Max and friend Ryan Merker.

The absence of these three men continues to be felt by many in our community and especially by their families and close friends.

The Merker/Belnap Memorial Walk/Run was established last year to honor John, Max and Ryan and to raise funds for an annual college scholarship to be awarded in their name. The inaugural walk/run was a huge success and was supported by over 670 participants and over 60 local businesses. Scholarships in the amount of $500 each were awarded to four recipients who demonstrated attributes similar to those of Ryan and Max.

Our goal for this year is two-fold; to increase the amount of the scholarship and to contribute a portion of the proceeds to the contributing sheriff’s departments and search and rescue teams. These people performed the difficult task of locating the airplane and recovering our loved ones.