It was a beautiful, sunny August Saturday morning at the Shriners Center in Harmar, minutes away from the start of ShawRide V to benefit the Officer Brian Shaw Memorial Scholarship fund, and New Kensington Police Chief Bob Deringer was nervous. He was about to lead the ride in a marked New Kensington police car just as he had the previous four years. "It’s stressful. Motorcycles are inherently more dangerous and you’ve got to worry about the other people out on the road,” Deringer said. "It’s a real long route and parts of it are winding. Just trying to keep (nearly) a thousand motorcycles in some sort of close order — and with the incident that just happened with the motorcycle ride in Allegheny Township where there were 30 motorcycles that went down and people were injured — that’s in the back of my mind.” Fortunately, the weather couldn’t have been better. There were sunny skies and dry roads and all 749 riders (up from 600 last year) were able to traverse the 65-mile course in roughly two hours. The route took the riders throughout much of the Alle-Kiski Valley. Among the towns were East Deer, Tarentum, Harrison, Freeport, Ford City, Vandergrift, Allegheny Township, Lower Burrell and Springdale Township. The route was to take the riders past New Kensington City Hall, which also houses the police department. It used the Route 28 expressway, which allowed for impressive vantage points from several overpasses, and people also line local streets, such as Leechburg Road through Lower Burrell’s business district. Deringer’s daughter, Emily, followed him in Brian Shaw’s pickup truck followed by an Allegheny County Police car and then members of the Shaw family on motorcycles. Brian’s dad, Stephan and mom, Lisa, followed on one motorcycle and Brian’s brother, Steffan, and his wife, Jackie, on another. Deringer took over as the police chief in New Kensington a month and a half after Brian Shaw was fatally shot following a traffic stop in 2017. Shaw was 25. "It’s a very important day for me,” Deringer said. "It shows, with all of the people here attending, that we don’t forget the sacrifice that Officer Shaw made back on Nov. 17, 2017. He was a great kid, a real go-getter, very personable, would get out and play ball with the kids, would get out and talk to citizens. He was the kind of officer that me, as the chief, would like to have about 20 of.” Many of these motorcycle riders had a personal connection to Shaw. Farther back in the pack was Stacy McKeever, 49, of Lower Burrell, riding a Harley trike with Dan Broniman, 60, of Irwin. McKeever, a grade school teacher, said she was taking part in the ride because she remembered teaching Brian and his brother when they attended Charles A. Houston Middle School. "He was a great kid, sweet kid, nice kid — somebody that you remembered,” McKeever said. "He was somebody that was active in everything — sports, school — so it wasn’t surprising that he went on to become a policeman.” McKeever said she remembered the moment she heard that Shaw had been shot. "It was very shocking,” she said. "When I started teaching, you never thought that you’d be going to funerals for students.” Since then McKeever said the only time she’s missed a Brian Shaw motorcycle ride was when she broke her toe. "It started out as a great way to remember (Brian) and let people know what he did and what he sacrificed,” McKeever said. "Then when you see what they’ve done with the scholarship fund, it just puts it in perspective. This tragic loss has brought so many wonderful things to the community.” The scholarship fund will have raised about $250,000, including this year and the previous four rides, according to spokesman Eric Felack of Lower Burrell. Some of the money pays for tuition for students to attend places like the Allegheny County Police Academy while the rest is dedicated to an endowment guaranteeing the scholarships into the future. "It’s an important day to carry on Brian Shaw’s legacy,” said Frazer Police Chief Terry Kuhns, for whom Shaw previously worked for. "In my department in Frazer Township, I’ve employed two of the Brian Shaw Foundation (scholarship recipients). So it means a lot to me personally, and it means a lot to the Shaw family. "Brian was very proactive in the community, especially with children,” Kuhn said. "I remember he would go to a toy store and get 10 or 12 plastic handcuffs he would hand out to the kids he would encounter at the Pittsburgh Mills mall.” Riders such as Linda Cornmesser, 61, Lower Burrell, said they were happy just to take part in the motorcycle ride knowing it was dedicated to a good cause and a good man. Cornmesser said she and her husband, Charles, had been planning to take part as soon as they purchased their Honda GL last year. "My heart went out to (Shaw’s) family when he died,” said Linda whose nephew, Kurt Jendrejewski, is a police officer in Tarentum. "I support my police 100%.” Liz Strenkowski, 73, Murrysville, sported a fashionably short hairdo as she sat atop her Harley Tri-Glide looking ready to ride behind her husband, John. "I think the police are a critical part of our neighborhoods today and without them we’d be in big trouble,” she said. "That’s why we do everything we can to support the police.” Once the cyclists had returned to the Shriners Center in Harmar, where food, beverages and live music awaited them, they were unanimous in their approval of how the ride came off. "It was fantastic, beautiful weather. Brian wouldn’t let it be any other way. He doesn’t allow it to rain on this,” said Shawn McKown, 54, Lower Burrell, an employee of the Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Office and a member of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the City Kings Motorcycle Club. "The people were out. To see the community support for a fallen officer, for his family, for law enforcement, it’s overwhelming.” Kuhns said Shaw was not a person who sought the limelight but that he would have been very gratified to see Saturday’s event. "Brian would be overwhelmed by the support of the people who came out today and showed their love for him.” Paul Guggenheimer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at pguggenheimer@triblive.com. and help us continue covering the stories that matter to you and your community.