"I'm still waiting for someone to tell me this is a bad joke," tweeted Casey Bowman last Sunday. Bowman, a close friend to BMX pro Randy Taylor, who passed away last weekend in Forth Worth, Texas, has plans to honor Taylor's memory.
The director of BMX activities the Action Park Alliance in Grand Prairie, Texas, Bowman has planned a memorial to be held in Taylor's honor at their local park, Alliance. The memorial begins this Saturday, August 25, from 1-3 p.m., followed by a Game of B.I.K.E. contest. "We are just going to put it all together and dedicate it to Randy," said Bowman.
Bowman also addressed the issue of Taylor's cremation. "We are helping his family pay for cremation. There is no funeral -- Randy is Native American and it's against their traditions to have open caskets, so his mom decided to do cremation for those purposes."
"We are also trying to help his mom move because she doesn't want to go home to the apartment," he added.
According to Bowman, they are accepting Paypal donations to help Taylor's mother pay for the cremation and apartment move, in addition to creating a physical memorial which people can visit and pay their respects to. "Randy didn't want to be just another person who gets talked about one week and forgotten the next, so that's why we want something for people to see and touch and leave flowers and such at," said Bowman.
Meanwhile, the BMX community continues to struggle with the loss of Taylor. Close friend Gaz Sanders of Mutiny Bikes commented on the outpouring of emotion. "It's amazing to see all the respect for Randy in the BMX community. Yesterday I rode BMX to help deal with everything, it's the only thing that made any sense," said Sanders.
A Facebook page has been created for Saturday's memorial event.
"I would like to thank all of you so much for your support, it really means a lot for us," finished Bowman.
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