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Mom and Dad Hartzke Ride In Bike
Show and Chili Cook-Off
January 2nd 2010
Like a fine wine, things mellow with age.
This being the Fifth Annual Mom and Dad Hartzke Ride In Bike Show and Chili
Cook-off made things just a little mellow from the previous years. The big
effect being the New Years Day snow storm that came in the day before. I must
admit it didn't dampen the spirits (just the amount of bikes). As far as the
show went, we had only two bikes and mine wasn't one of them! Harley John and
Dewey rode theirs. We agreed to put the two bikes in different classes (they are
just one year apart, both Shovelheads) John got the American Class while Dewey
received the Antique Class. We did the Best of Show by Voice vote and Harley
John Won!
Many ask; why a ride in bike show in January? Simple, It was never meant for the
sunny day rider. In 1996 when Mom and Dad died there were bikes on the road in a
blizzard and than again in sub-zero temperatures. It took a lot of heart to ride
in something like that (Dewey did it in '96). On the First Saturday of the New
Year we remember the lives of Mom and Dad Hartzke, the people who paid them
homage and recently lost brothers and sisters. This year the list included a
variety of people we will surely miss in the future. They include:
Uncle Jay Nash,
Ryan "Hot Rod" Landrum, Mark Garback, Brian Rouch, Stacy Bevins-McWilliams, Janet Desits,
Gregg John Below, Rodney Cowsert, Daniel Hively and Ann Shaver.
As I prepared for this annual event I kept thinking about our lost Brother,
Rodney Cowsert. He died in one of those freak mishaps that has no explanation
and leaves you wondering, Why? I made my mind up to do something in his memory.
I've run a ride for the last several years with ABATE that is no longer being
sanctioned. I've chosen the last Saturday in September to have Rodney's
Run that will benefit the St Joseph County YWCA Woman's Shelter. It is defiantly
a deserving and under funded program. On a much lighter note (depending on how
you look at it) I was given a gift by Mom and Dad's daughter, Lynn - The
pictures from the walls of Ski's Place. My immediate plans are to take them
apart and scan them into my computer for skisplace.com, but, you never know what
I might come up with. I am praying for better weather in 2011. As always, I will
see you in the Wind.
