by Geoff Fox
The founder and host of the East Coast Sturgis motorcycle rally in Little Orleans was killed in a motorcycle accident in west of Hancock on Monday evening, May 19.
According to Maryland State Police, just before 8 p.m., troopers from the Cumberland Barrack responded to the area of Orleans Road at High Germany Road for a motor vehicle accident.
During their investigation, police said a pickup truck operated by a 50-year-old man was heading south on Orleans Road near High Germany Road when it collided with a motorcyclist who was traveling north on the same road.
Police said the driver of the pickup was taken UPMC Western Maryland for treatment.
The motorcyclist, identified as 65-year-old Kenneth Appel of Little Orleans, was pronounced deceased at the scene by paramedics.
Appel was the founder and host of East Coast Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Little Orleans. This year’s event, running August 6 through August 10, will be the 22nd annual rally.
