Motorcycle Rider News, Reviews & Events

The Royal Canadian Legion is an integral part of many communities here, small and large. Their function is similar to that of their American counterparts. Branch 559 in Lisle put on their 2nd annual Show & Shine in this hamlet north of Toronto as a fundraiser, and we attended to have a look-see. Considering the size of the community, their effort was surprising, both in the quality of the event and for the level of bikes and trikes it attracted. Conceived by a member, and with lots of hard prep work, the one-day event went off like the small-town good time it was meant to be.



Local area merchants kicked for the prizes, and there were categories such as "American Stock', 'American Custom', 'Foreign Stock', etc. The 1st place Vintage prize was taken by a well-detailed, accurate, military 1943 BMW sidecar rig, complete with mounted (deactivated) machine gun. A war-time Harley that clattered in too late to enter grabbed one of the People's Choice awards since everybody just plain liked it. There was an amazing diversity of hardware competing, from rat bikes to cruisers to customs, right down to a 70's-era Hercules moped with a whiskey bottle clamped onto the luggage rack for added courage, I suppose.

 

Other show offerings included vendor stands ranging from leather and bike accessories to custom machining work (don't know if they offered while-U-wait service). Live music was provided by 'Shovelhead', and honest, I am NOT making that up. After grabbing a few pix, I sent my photographer daughter off to do her thing, while I dug into a few burgers, and liquid

refreshment. I got a chance to speak with one of the event's organizers, and she indicated that next year's show was already planned for July 4th, 2009, and there'd be TV coverage. I thought the old word of mouth thing was working pretty well; the long-distance competitor award was taken by a contestant from Ajax, Ontario. I'd peg that as 80-100 miles on the ground depending on route.

The genuine small-town flavor was evident throughout, from the awarding of the competition, 50-50 draw and door prizes (didn't think they'd ever get all of those awarded) to the group shot of everybody around the stage expressing support for the troops. I've already got the date for next year's event down in my PDA. I definitely want to see what this event grows up to be.

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