Among the Cheerful Givers

The weekend past was full and rewarding, particularly, Saturday. I had music to play, miles to ride and good-looking women accompanying me in these pursuits.
My trio, Rosewood, was engaged to play at the grand opening of the Two Horse Saloon, in Riviera, TX. The sexy granny, accompanied by our guitar picker, Darryl, drove the little truck loaded with our music equipment while I rode the big yella bike with Nurse Jo behind me on the coochie couch (yeah, the big pillion seat has been renamed).

The ride was hot and a little windy (as is the case in this part of the state at this time of year) and traffic, light. We got fuel and cold water at the speed-trap (no kidding) town of Driscoll, rolled south past Kingsville (of King Ranch fame) and finally into the town Riviera (Ri-VEER-ah) and up to the Two Horse Saloon.
The first time I passed through Riviera, years back, there was a truck stop and restaurant. Now, Riviera has a new motel and boasts a Burger King, and I mean “boasts”; the saloon owner’s daughter laughed about the Burger King being kind of a big deal. I don't agree that it's a sign of civilization, though.
We played our music (the owner, his family and his staff were wonderful) and we had a good time with the patrons who helped raise a nice chunk of change to benefit local youth sports organizations by participating in a poker run and purchasing food and 50/50 tickets.

I’ve written before about fundraisers and examined my participation therein. In this case I was hired to provide entertainment for the business. While fund raising activities at the saloon was an attraction for the grand opening, let me point out that the owner rides; motorcycling is not a once-a-year gimmick to attract business or donations and the money raised stayed in his community (typical of bikers, the 50/50 winner donated the prize back to the cause).

It was a good day; only a slight truck malfunction marred the trip home, and even that didn’t slow us down a whole lot.


Fourteen hours earlier:

I had given my friend, “Harleychik”, a heads-up about the party at the saloon; she replied that she had committed to a fund-raiser that was to occur at a pub right in my back yard, here, in Flour Bluff. She reported that a friend had been involved in a motorcycling mishap and there was a poker run and barbecue sale to benefit said friend.
The sexy granny and I didn’t have to be in Riviera till late afternoon, so we moseyed on over to the appointed place to get lunch and support the cause.

Even though it was a couple hours past “first bike out” there was a goodly number of motorcycles in the parking lot and a few more straggling in as we did.
When we walked inside we discovered that the bikes’ riders were mostly people affiliated with the Boozefighters MC, whose web site tells us:
The BFMC is one of the oldest active motorcycle clubs in existence.

A friend introduced me to the beneficiary, a nice guy who thanked us for coming by. It was good to be able to lend support to a fellow motorcyclist especially when it involved an excellent lunch.
Then, it was time to get home, packup the pickup and head south.


So, there you have it. Once again I was smiled upon, able to do the things that give life meaning with people I love. Along the way, we saw folks who share our passion for motorcycling having a high time helping out their fellow humans.

How cool is that?