So the weather is supposed to be incredibly gorgeous for mid-November and 2000 of your closest friends are coming to town. What’s a guy to do….? Well, you could have a 2 wheeled cycle rally. Yep, that’s what’ll happen! Except this 2 wheeled weekend of a different sort has been in the planning stages for 11 months and 29 days.
My BIcycling time took a definite hit this past weekend but my MOTORcycling time got a big boost. Well, actually MY motorcycling time didn’t increase because I was rushing back and forth carting tables, toys, and other goodies during our 18th Annual Haywood County Motorcycle Parade and Toy Run. As two of the event coordinators for all 18 of the parade’s years, my wife, Kathy, and I got to spend Friday and Saturday with 2000 of our “closest” friends enjoying another successful fund raiser for the children of Haywood and Buncombe Counties.
18th Annual Haywood County Motorcycle Parade and Toy Run
The weather truly could not have been better. It was a phenomenal day in the mountains of Western North Carolina in November. Heck, this was a phenomenal weather day if it had been September! We had gorgeous blue skies and temperatures in the mid-70’s. It actually got quite warm and riders started shedding layers of leather and cordura. (It was a family event so not TOO many layers of clothing got shed.)
In all 1016 bikes and 2000 folks enjoyed the law enforcement escorted parade through all 4 towns of Haywood County before ending up at the Wheels Through Time Museum in Maggie Valley. The Museum is an incredible gathering of two wheeled machines that draws thousands of visitors to the small mountain town of Maggie Valley each year. Curator, Dale Walksler, spent lots of time giving rides on his 1918 Harley Davidson and side car to kids and probably a few adults as well.
We served up 450 lbs of barbecue and over 40 cases of cold drinks. Participants got to enjoy the music of the Rafe Hollister Band as they performed pro bono for the charity event. When final totals are in, we expect to have raised another $14,000.00 in cash and another full Salvation Army Truck load of toys bringing the 18 year old event over the $100,000.00 mark for distribution to local charities serving children.
Lest I forget this is a BIcycling blog, I’ll be happy to point out the presence of a bicycle at the event. They say a picture is worth a thousand words…
Now, I get to return my attention to the self-powered 2 wheel vehicle of my dreams… Here’s hoping for one more day of good weather before the rains return!
Until later,
- Zeke
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4 comments:
Hi Zeke,
Congratulations on another successful event. Glad to read about it and see your pictures. I even did a bit in my blog. Thanks for sharing. --jim
Thanks Jim!
I know it was a little off topic but it was for a good cause and the day was so darned pretty! :) Did you recognize the make of the bicycle? It almost looked like a beach cruiser to me.
Zeke
Me too. I do not know what type. I know little about bikes. I do not think your article is off topic. Your blog is about you and what you do--with cycling being a major component. Variety is good.
My interest is technology [then I see if I can integrate it with cycling]. I think readers want to know who we are and that we have a "human" side.
I like what you did so much that an article about it is up on my blog.
Actually, I have another Zeke Article yet to come.
Jim
I read the article on your blog and passed it along to the Boy Scouts' Troop Leader so he can share it. The young man in the picture with Kathy took hs job very seriously! He couldn't understand why every biker didn't follow along exactly like they were supposed to in parking. The concept of "herding cats" is still below his life experience levels! :)
I've been trying to increase the degree of community support in the event through the years. Our MC, err Enthusiasts club, (wouldn't want to irriate any Hell's Angels or Outlaws out there), used to number about 125 members but has really diminished in size as we've aged and found other pursuits like BIcycling! So, to provide the support necessary to make the parade work, we've been trying to add community groups. This year it was the Boy Scouts to help with parking. Most reports have been that they had a great time!
- Zeke
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