Bikers donate $11,000 for needy veterans in
Hernando County
By Beth N. Gray, Times Correspondent
In print: Friday, May 23, 2008SPRING HILL — Military veterans and
their families in Hernando County will
receive some much-needed help thanks to a group of motorcycle riders who
place patriotism ahead of growling
engines and burning rubber.The riders represent the DD-214 Foundation,
named after the document military
members receive as they leave active or reserve duty. On Thursday,
they presented a check for $11,000 to
officers of the Marine Corps League Detachment 708 to be disbursed to
veterans who are disabled or otherwise
in distress.The money was raised at a rodeo earlier this month at
Bull-It Ranch in Spring Lake, which is owned
by J.O. Batten, a Marine veteran of Vietnam service. The next rodeo
fundraiser is scheduled for the weekend
of Oct. 31.The take included admissions by some 2,200 patrons, fees from
vendors and vendor donations including
$1,000 from Tim Reid, a T-shirt vendor, and $150 each from Jaybair
Planchard and Jamie Frazier, who operated
food stands at the event.Last fall, the foundation donated
$10,069. The detachment's chairman of the veterans'
fund, Dick Moore, added $1 out of his pocket because he said he
likes to deal in round numbers.Along with
Batten, the foundation was launched by Don "DonV'' Varrieur, who
locally publishes a motorcycle magazine,
Scootergoods, and Jim "Chickenman"
Morrison."They say bad things about bikers, but these guys
are
fabulous,'' Moore said. "Without those guys, we wouldn't be able to
do this."Last year's foundation contribution,
said detachment paymaster Chuck Sarges, paid for such things as gasoline
and airline tickets for veteran family
visits, food and utility bills.Recipients are screened by the James A.
Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa and the
Hernando office of the Veterans Administration. "When we get
a name from them, we're assured they are in
need," said Marines detachment commandant Sal Barone.Whatever
county a needy veteran lives in, whatever
the branch of service, doesn't matter, said detachment officers.
The Marine Corps League's Spring Hill
detachment is at 8405 Sunshine Grove Road.After making the
donation, Batten, who launched the foundation,
rode off on a motorcycle with the U.S. flag, Marine flag and
POW-MIA banner.
 Samantha
Morgan, fearless Wall of Death Rider
died suddenly in West Palm Beach May 2nd 2008
Her oldest, and close friend, Thomas “Criminal” Cavanaugh is
handling all of the arrangements for
Celebration to be held on Saturday, May 24, at the VFW Hall
2:00pm-6:00pm, 1126
Clare Ave. West Palm
Beach, Florida 33401.Food donations for this memorial are greatly
appreciated. Criminal can be reached at on
his cell #561-236-6235If
anyone would like to send flowers, cards or letters, please address them
to:
The Fraternal Order of Eagles
2500
North Military Trail Suite 105
West Palm Beach, Florida 33409
Attention: Thomas Cavanaugh, Secretary.
Samantha Morgan Storm is one of the pioneers of modern motorcycling women.
She loved the excitement,
the travel, the people and the worlds her famous Indian motorcycles
carried her to, all within that “Thrill Arena.”
She will be deeply missed by so many.
Iconic
daredevil Evel Knievel dies at 69
CLEARWATER,
Fla. - Evel
Knievel's hard life killed him — it just took longer than he
or anyone else might have expected.
The hard-living motorcycle daredevil, whose bone-breaking,
rocket-powered jumps and stunts made him an international icon in the
1970s, died Friday. He was 69. He had been in failing health for
years, suffering from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable
condition that scarred his lungs. He had undergone a liver transplant
in 1999 after nearly dying of hepatitis C, likely contracted through a
blood transfusion after one of his many spills. He also suffered two
strokes in recent years.Longtime friend and promoter Billy Rundle said
Knievel had trouble breathing at his Clearwater condominium and died
before an ambulance could get him to a hospital."It's been coming
for years, but you just don't expect it. Superman just doesn't die,
right?" said Rundle, organizer of the annual "Evel
Knievel Days" festival in the daredevil's Butte, Mont.,
hometown.Knievel's son Kelly, 47, said he had visited his father in Clearwater
for Thanksgiving."I
think he lived 20 years longer than most people would have" after
so many injuries, Kelly Knievel said. "I think he willed himself
into an extra five or six years."Immortalized in the Washington's
Smithsonian
Institution as "America's Legendary Daredevil,"
Knievel was best known for a failed attempt to jump an Idaho canyon on
a rocket-powered cycle and a spectacular crash at Caesar's
Palace in Las
Vegas. He suffered nearly 40 broken bones before he retired in
1980.For the tall, thin daredevil, the limelight was always
comfortable, the gab glib. There always were mountains to climb, feats
to conquer."No king or prince has lived a better life," he
told The Associated Presss in May 2006. "You're looking at a guy
who's really done it all. And there are things I wish I had done
better, not only for me but for the ones I loved."He garbed
himself in red, white and blue and had a knack for outrageous yarns:
"Made $60 million, spent 61. ...Lost $250,000 at blackjack once.
... Had $3 million in the bank, though."His death came just two
days after it was announced that he and rapper Kanye
West had settled a federal lawsuit over the use of Knievel's
trademarked image in a popular West music video.Although he dropped
off the pop culture radar in the '80s, Knievel enjoyed a resurgence in
popularity in recent years. He made a good living selling autographs
and endorsing products. Thousands came to Butte every year as his
legend was celebrated during "Evel
Knievel Days.""They started out watching me bust my
ass, and I became part of their lives," Knievel said.
"People wanted to associate with a winner, not a loser. They
wanted to associate with someone who kept trying to be a
winner."He began his daredevil career in 1965 when he formed a
troupe called Evel
Knievel's Motorcycle Daredevils, a touring show in which he
performed stunts such as riding through fire walls, jumping over live
rattlesnakes and mountain lions and being towed at 200 mph behind
dragster race cars.In 1966 he began touring alone, barnstorming the
West and doing everything from driving the trucks, erecting the ramps
and promoting the shows. In the beginning he charged $500 for a jump
over two cars parked between ramps.He steadily increased the length of
the jumps until, on New
Year's Day 1968, he was nearly killed when he jumped 151 feet
across the fountains in front of Caesar's
Palace. He cleared the fountains but the crash landing put him
in a coma for a month.His son Robbie Knievel followed in his father's
daredevil footsteps and successfully completed the same jump in April
1989.In the years after the crash, the fee for the elder Knievel's
performances increased to $1 million for his jump over 13 buses at
Wembley Stadium in London
— the crash landing broke his pelvis — to more than $6 million for
the Sept. 8, 1974, attempt to clear the Snake River Canyon in Idaho
in a rocket-powered "Skycycle."
The money came from ticket sales, paid sponsors and ABC's "Wide
World of Sports."The parachute malfunctioned and deployed after
takeoff. Strong winds blew the cycle into the canyon, landing him
close to the swirling river below.On Oct. 25, 1975, he jumped 14
Greyhound buses at Kings
Island in Ohio.Knievel
decided to retire after a jump in the winter of 1976 in which he was
again seriously injured. He suffered a concussion and broke both arms
in an attempt to jump a tank full of live sharks in the Chicago
Amphitheater. He continued to do smaller exhibitions around the
country with his son, Robbie.Many of his records have been broken by
daredevil motorcyclist Bubba Blackwell.Knievel also dabbled in movies
and TV, starring as himself in "Viva Knievel" and with
Lindsey Wagner in an episode of the 1980s TV series "Bionic
Woman." George
Hamilton and Sam
Elliott each played Knievel in movies about his life.Evel
Knievel toys accounted for more than $300 million in sales for
Ideal and other companies in the 1970s and '80s.Born Robert Craig
Knievel in the copper mining town of Butte on Oct. 17, 1938, Knievel
was raised by his grandparents. He traced his career choice back to
the time he saw Joey Chitwood's Auto Daredevil
Show at age 8.Outstanding in track and field, ski jumping and ice
hockey at Butte
High School, he went on to win the Northern Rocky Mountain Ski
Association Class A Men's ski jumping championship in 1957 and played
with the Charlotte Clippers of the Eastern Hockey League in 1959.He
also formed the Butte Bombers semiprofessional hockey team, acting as
owner, manager, coach and player.Knievel also worked in the Montana
copper mines, served in the Army, ran his own hunting guide service,
sold insurance and ran Honda motorcycle dealerships. At various times
and in different interviews, Knievel claimed to have been a swindler,
a card thief, a safe cracker, a holdup man.Evel
Knievel married his hometown girlfriend, Linda Joan Bork, in
1959. They separated in the early 1990s. They had four children,
Kelly, Robbie, Tracey and Alicia.Robbie Knievel followed in his
father's footsteps as a daredevil, jumping a moving locomotive in a
200-foot, ramp-to-ramp motorcycle stunt on live television in 2000. He
also jumped a 200-foot-wide chasm of the Grand
Canyon.Knievel lived with his longtime partner, Krystal
Kennedy-Knievel, splitting his time between their Clearwater condo and
Butte. They married in 1999 and divorced a few years later but
remained together. Knievel had 10 grandchildren and a
great-grandchild.
The Brooksville Old School Biker Rodeo
"
PARTY IN THE PASTURE "
Raised $10,068.00 to benefit disabled
Veterans. The money was presented by the founders of the Rodeo to MCL
708
in Brooksville Nov. 14th 2007, 3 days after the event.
With the holiday season coming up on us, let's
not forget about our wounded soldiers. PLEASE
add this address
to your Christmas Card mailing list. A Recovering American
Soldierc/o Walter Reed
Army
Medical Center6900
Georgia Ave NWWashington, DC 20307-5001 Let these men and women
know that the Scooterheads still care.
Miss Behavin
Party
in the Pasture
It's
the best party on the planet as far as I can tell and I've been to a few! A
truly adult party can't be beat.
One sure fire way to tell a good time is
that the action, fun, love & peace seems to happen all too fast. And
then...."Sunday morning coming down." The list of
adult games were so hot that we only got through a
few of them before I had to
excuse myself to go "throw a knuckle baby" in the woods followed
eventually
by a "groin oyster" then back to the games. The
biggest hit was the "Vibrating Pony" built for two. Well,
the
chicks were so hot, four girls got on and broke the pony's back!
There was smoke pouring out of
every hole due to a short in the motor. I'm
sure it was cause the saddle was so cum slopping wet from
all the smiles!
Good thing the girls shaved, could've been a "bush" fire! With
enough "hoses" on hand
there were no casualties. By the time the
adult games were over, my dick had the dry heaves. I could
not stop eating
and drinking from friends and vendors who were all great and gave healthy
portions.
The bands were killer to the "CORE" ("I taught
Greg to play guitar"). *** My over all take on the party
is
that it's the freeest, most loving, best kept secret I found in Florida.
Fuck "World Famous", it's all about fun,
and you can't have it without
"FU"n in it. It seems to be taking on the good feeling of the
Reading Motorcycle
Club party in Oley, Pa.
That happens the last weekend in July for the past 93 years now.
Let's keep
"Party in the Pasture" alive and growing.
It's a great time and a great cause!!! Special thanks to our
hosts J.O.
Batten, Don V. Editor of Scootergoods Magazine, Chickenman, Captain
Scottie,Pirate,
Mangina, Sister Sackula and the Clamp Band and "BLOW
JIM".
So, if you're going to sin.....Sinseriously!
Love,
Jimmy
ICE CREAM MAN
FROM HELL
The USMV &
SCOOTERGOODS
are proud to support our fighting men and women in the
war on terror!
R.I.P. Danny
Hoyt
2/5/1950 - 9/3/2007 A memorial ride for Danny will
be held September 30th.
We are meeting at the Ramble Inn at
noon and leaving at 12:30 then returning
to celebrate Danny's Life.
"RIDE THE CLOUDS FOREVER BROTHER"
July 17, 2007
PINELLAS PARK — A woman died from injuries today after the motorcycle
she was operating hit a car that
turned in front of her.The accident happened about 8:40 a.m. At 49th
Street N and 62nd Avenue N,
according to Pinellas Park police.The motorcycle, driven by Sherri Lee
Linkous, 39, was traveling north
49th when a southbound Toyota Corolla turned left in front of her.
The motorcycle hit the automobile as
it made the turn. Linkous, ...was taken to Bayfront Medical Center, where she
died from her injuries.
The driver of the Corolla, Margaret Ann Phillips, 75, of 9845 Lily St.
In Pinellas Park was uninjured.
An investigation continues...
R.I.P.
Harley Charlie
He Passed June 6, 2007
Sunday March 25th 2007
Chicken Man, The Shark and Myself all had a blast at the The 8 Ball
Reunion Party at the Hideaway
Bar in New Port Richey Owners Russ & Kathy put out some great food and there
was plenty to go
around.
 
John
Couey was found guilty on all four charges against him. Mark
Lunsford, father of 9-year-old Jessica, has continually
pushed for the death penalty.
The same jury that convicted John Couey of the kidnapping, rape and
murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford must decide
what punishment he deserves.The sentencing phase of the trial has started
in the Miami courtroom where Couey was found
guilty last week.Jessica's father, Mark Lunsford, has pushed for the death
penalty since before the trail began and his stance
has not changed."If you want to be excited about it, that's
okay.That's good,'' Lunsford said after the verdict. "If it gives you
closure then that's good, but not yet ... not for us."
The defense team's job is to convince the jury to give Couey a life
sentence. Couey could even ask for mercy and express
remorse for his crimes - an unlikely scenario, however, because the
admission of guilt could hurt any chances of an appeal
Florida Bullshit from the Man!
In Florida, you'd better hope that a cop doesn't have dyslexia, because they can confiscate your motorcycle simply
by accusing you of running from them, as long as they sorta remember your license plate number. That trial thing
is just an annoyance they can skip in this case.Last year, the force grabbed the rides of 344 motorcyclists, usually
claiming that their owners had run from the police -- a felony -- based on a memory of a license plate number.
You see Florida policehave a policy restricting high-speed chases.The most common state police tactic is to
accuse a motorcyclist of a felony,initiate the seizure proceeding, then drop the charges. This meens police get
to keep your bike without the effort of a court battle or the danger of a not guilty verdict. Don't you feel safe now?
 
April 28th 2006
"The
Indian Larry Memorial Field Tribute"
Rather than sensationalizing Larry's wild life,
it focuses on his legacy. Artist Roger Baker took on the task by making
one of his elaborate
portraits that range in size from 500,000 to 1 million square feet. In the
world of custom motorcycle building, "Indian" Larry was a
creative,
innovator. Born locally in Cornwall, Larry first got a taste for
two-wheeled speed in and around Orange County. That passion led him
to
California and then back to New York City, where he founded the Gasoline
Alley in 1991. He's credited
with inventing "the hard-core
motorcycle style - a blend between classic choppers and hot rod race
bikes. It was it was a shock to the Motorcycle nation when the news
of his death was announced on Aug. 30, 2004, in North Carolina. Now as
always I will always remember Larry as
The King of Old School .
Sunday April 28th 2006 at
the Shadow land Theatre, 157 Canal St., Ellenville NY a screening, of the
documentary which followed Artist
Roger Baker through the process of creating the huge memorial was shown
to the public. It took place 20 months to the day of
"Indian"
Larry's death, and also was his Birthday. Just 40 miles from his hometown
and about a mile from the original location of the field, local bike, car
and truck enthusiasts are encouraged to show off their gear by parking up
and down Canal Street. Everyone else, watch out for the traffic jam.
And
don't bother looking for the field: It's long since grown over.I am not
publishing the picture on the internet due to the fact unscrupulous
people with no conscience seek to make money using images of Larry
to put on stupid shit like coffee mugs, and tee shirts.
|
In an unprecedented move that has put the motorcycle industry
on alert, the Department
of Transportation has passed a bill that intends to outlaw
"chrome finishes that cover any engine, frame, or headlight
assembly on new motorcycles."*"Chrome is the silent
killer," asserts DOT spokesman Melvin P. Meyers, "and if
we can rid motorcycles-- especially cruisers-- of the shiny chrome
that distracts motorists and causes accidents, our roads will be a
safer place."Last year, Meyers earned the respect and
bafflement of sportbike enthusiasts when he tried to pass an
amendment that would have legalized wheelies, and the move to
eliminate chrome has led one motorcycle advocacy
group to proclaim that, "[Meyers] is not only trying
to undermine the cruiser business, he's also a closet crotch
rocket junky who harbors a deep desire to see only sportbikes on public
roads."
