HOT SPRINGS — A weekend
of parades, contests, shows and
camaraderie will honor those who
served in the U.S. armed forces
and will also aid in the care of
wounded veterans.
Mid-America Bike Week will
begin May 31 in Hot Springs.
“I’ve sent out 600,000 invita
tions by email,” said Jack Elder,
founder and president of the Mid-
America Bike Week, the volunteer
organization holding the event. “I
don’t know how many will attend,
but we have people signed up to
come from all over the country.” He said motorcycle groups and
individual riders have said they
would be riding into Hot Springs
for the event from as far away as
Seattle.
“We have people signed up
from Missouri, Kansas, Michigan
and New York,” Elder said. “We
have a lot of people coming from
Texas.”
The three-day event features motorcycle-themed events, as well as games, which are all fundraisers for wounded veterans. Elder said the names of disabled veterans in need of financial assistance have been given to the Mid-America group by the Eugene J. Towbin Healthcare Center in North Little Rock. The organization has also asked Arkansas residents to provide names of disabled veterans who could be helped by the group.
Elder said the idea for the event came to him when he watched a documentary about a wounded soldier two years ago.
“She had lost her arm in an explosion, and she was having troubles when she got home,” he said. “I knew then that I wanted to do something for these people.”
Elder, who is a motorcycle enthusiast himself, had been active in motorcycle groups and veteran organizations.
The largest of the events will be the Patriot Parade,scheduled for 3 p.m. June 2.
“Our parade will contain many elements, including Frances Goodenough of Little Rock. She is a 94-year-old veteran of World War II who will be leading the parade, along with riders from the Patriot Guard,” Elder said.
“She said she doesn’t want a fuss made over her; she just wants to ride to honor the other vets.”
The grand marshal of the parade will be Maj. Gen. William Wofford, the adjutant general of the Arkansas Army and Air National Guard.
“Gen. Wofford will be driven by 84-year-old William Furr of Hot Springs, who drove for Gen. Jimmy Doolittle during World War II and later for Gen. Hoyt Vandenberg, the Air Force’s second chief of staff,” Elder said. “[Furr] was also friends with General of the Army Douglas MacArthur.”
Motorcycle groups or individual riders who want to take part in the parade will pay a $10 donation, which will go to the veterans fund.
“There will also be a color guard and a military band,”Elder said. “It could be a long parade.”
Another event that will draw a crowd will be the Motorcycle Olympics. It is a series of six contests that will be held at 100 Broadway Terrace, starting at 9 a.m.
Among the events is the slow ride, where riders will go as slowly as possible on their motorcycles without touching the ground with their feet. The rider who makes the trip in the longest time wins.
Another contest is called Bumps. Competitors will ride over two-by-fours while holding a spoon in their mouth that contains a pingpong ball. The rider who makes it over the most boards without dropping the ball will be the winner.
There are also competitions that take place off the motorcycles, such as the Push Back, during which competitors will push their motorcycles backward between two points. The fastest pusher is the winner.
There is also a 50-foot dash, with the runners trying to cross the course as fast as possible - backward.
The contestant who winsthe most points in all six events will win $500.
Elder said other events will include an 8-ball competition and a bowling tournament.
Each morning at 8, the event participants can attend a ride-in, drive-in, walk-in religious service called Spoke and Word rallies.
Elder said he has been spending 10 to 15 hours a day on organizing the event for the past 20 months.
“It has been a lot more work than I thought it would be,” he said, “but it has also been more rewarding than I would have believed. And no one’s making a dime out of this. It’s all for the vets.” For more information about the Mid-America Bike Week and its events, call (501) 463-8841 or visit www.midamericabikeweek.org.
Staff writer Wayne Bryan can be reached at (501) 244-4460 or wbryan@arkansasonline.
com.
Tri-Lakes, Pages 55 on 05/24/2012