By Gregory Arnold, Contributing Writer
Westborough – Approximately 135 motorcyclists gathered Sept. 20 for an event to honor the late Michelle “Shelly” Barnes Hendrix.
Hendrix, a Westborough native, was killed along with her longtime partner Kirk Arsenault of North Reading, when the motorcycle trike they were riding on was hit from behind by a tractor trailer while the two were traveling in Indiana in May 2014.
Hendrix, who was the daughter of Roger and Virginia Barnes, grew up in Westborough and graduated from Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School. She was the owner of the businesses Useful Things and Enchanted Forest Herbals, and was also employed at Bertucci’s in Westborough.
The Sept. 20 event was organized by the Bikers Helping Bikers Massachusetts Motorcyclists Survivors Fund. Prior to the event, Paul W. Cote, the group’s president, noted that both Hendrix and Arsenault had participated in many area charity rides over the past 10 years aimed at assisting various veterans and local families of riders killed or seriously injured in accidents.
“This is a time we honor one of our own, who gave so much to others,” he said. “Shelly and Kirk’s deaths shocked us all in May. Now we get to honor her life ? and show her family how much she meant to us.”
The morning of the event, bikers first gathered at the Westborough VFW Post 9013 and then traveled to the Pine Grove Cemetery. A ceremony was then held at the cemetery to unveil a headstone, which was generously donated by the Bikers Helping Bikers and was designed in part by her sister, Jennifer Melo.
The bikers then returned to the VFW for a collation to further honor Hendrix’s life.
Photos/Gregory Arnold