Motorcycles are synonymous with the open
road and adventure. Few of us can put the thrill,
excitement and feelings stirred by a two-wheeled road trip
into words, but when our readers do Clutch and Chrome
opens it's pages to them.
We call it 'Stories from the road'.
As I opened my eyes that
Sunday morning I knew it was going to be an awesome day for
a bike ride. And Yes, finally spring has sprung and so has
the itch to get back on the road on two wheels and check out
what has in store for this coming year.
It’s always great to start
the New Year with a Poker Run benefit for the children. But
in this case it was for a child named PJ Gallagher. The
event had a starting point at Jesstirs Pub and Restaurant in
Chicopee. I believe they anticipated having 60-80 bikes for
this benefit and boy were they wrong, there were close to
almost 300 bikers that Sunday.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
This event was called
Jerry’s Cycle First Annual Poker Run in honoring Jerry
Robare of Jerry’s Cycle Repair. I heard that Jerry spent his
life helping those in need so this benefit was for local
children in this area. Jerry was a person that gave the
shirt off his back to help kids in need. Jerry was the
Owner/Operator of Jerry's Cycle and Pop's Custom Cycles in
Chicopee.
All the proceeds went to a
local child in this area. And this child’s name was PJ
Gallagher Jr. PJ a 9 year old was Diagnosed with Cancer back
in September and has gone though a few surgery's already as
well went through Radiation therapy for about 6 weeks. He is
scheduled to another surgery soon then begin Chemotherapy.
There was food, Raffles and live entertainment by a band
called Hooked playing hard Rock at the event.
The ride was around 60 miles
round trip; after we left Jesstirs we headed towards
Wilbraham to Houligan’s Tavern in Wilbraham, Mass., to
Mickey Finn’s Café in Somers Ct., onto Michael Anthony’s Bar
& Grill in West Springfield, Mass. and then Back to Jesstirs
for the after party. For those who have never ridden in a
poker run a Poker Run its quite simple. At various stops
along the ride participants pick a card from a deck,
collecting a total of five cards.
The person with the highest
hand wins the top prize.
Back at Jesstirs they had the
grills going full blast anticipating the flow of bikers that
were heading back there. Joe Ventura who is the lead
singer in the band is also the proud owner and operator of
Joe Deans All Custom located in Chicopee, MA. and can he
paint. He painted my friends Al’s bike as well as the New
England Patriots Mustang car.
So to the end of a great bike ride and
comradity amongst friends. To the two and three wheelers of the world: Freedom surrounds you wherever you go. Lay a path of new tracks for the future riders to follow their dreams.
One final note, I would like to dedicate this article to
Thomas Fleury who had a tragic accident on his
motorcycle a few days prior to this event. His favorite
pastime was riding his Harley. He was a Harley enthusiast
and owned several Harleys along with a custom built bike.
Below is a poem that was in his guest book put there by his
beloved sister Coco
There's a special angel in Heaven,
That is a part of us.
It is not where we wanted Him,
But where God wanted him to be.
He was here for just a moment,
Like a night time shooting star.
And though he is in Heaven
He isn't very far.
He touched the hearts of many,
Like only an angel can do.
We would've held him every minute,
If the end we only knew.
So we send this special message,
To Heaven up above.
Please take care of our angel
And send him all our love.
Corine Filinowich
(Chicopee)
Thanks to Nick for sharing his experience so
entertainingly with us
and our readers!
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