It’s bitterly cold outside and there is a fresh layer of light snow on the ground. What is there to do for the motorcycle rider that needs to get a quick fix? Find a swap meet in a small town in Northern Iowa, drive 3 hours in a van without a heater that is packed so full of old parts that you cannot put your seat all the way back and a cooler with some ham, mayo, cheese slices and mustard.
Jan 15th, 2011 in Kensett, Iowa, Population about 200, not exactly the place I ever expected to be in the freezing cold to sell some bike parts. This little town has some residents with really big hearts and the drive to push on despite the hurdles. I met Lisa Lestrud, her husband Scott, who originally started the event and their 7 year old son Ryder who put on the event under their company flag of Wandering Wheels, for the Biker Who can roll with it. Lisa said the event started out of their love of motorcycles and a fundraiser for the local volunteer fire department that her husband served on. Over the years, the event has grown so much that they were completely full on vendors this year and may need to look for a bigger space in the future. She doesn’t really want to take it out of their local community but she said in order to keep up with the growth, it may need to go to Mason City, the largest community nearby that has a facility to accommodate the 300 plus visitors and ever growing number of vendors and attractions. Last year they rose over $1,500.00 for charities and this year, they were raising $1,600 for the Outdoor Adventure Foundation, an organization for kids & young adults with cancer and life threatening diseases and disabled veterans who are wheelchair bound or have lost a limb and take them on hunting and fishing adventures. Locks of Love, the organization that takes Human hair to make wigs for Cancer patients, has been a recipient of the events hospitality also by visitors getting their hair cut off in the name of charity and giving to others. About the most profound one to donate was the web guy for the North Iowa Motorcycle Awareness Group, that had his 13 inches or so of hair cut off to be donated. This was quite the sacrifice to do and everyone raised a whooping holler and round of applause as he got it cut off up on stage for everyone to see. Additionally the Missing in America Project receives support through this event. This is a project with the American Legion Riders that locates the unclaimed cremated remains of veterans in funeral homes and hospitals to make sure they receive a proper military burials that they deserve.
Some of the really cool silent auction items included all 6 of Sonny Barger’s books signed from Sonny himself, a signed print from the artist of the Ducks Unlimited Stamp, S&S donated T-Shirts, and every vendor made a donation as well. One of the biggest items to be given away in the raffle was a $500.00 tattoo from River City Tattoo Company, a great local tattoo artist that had several tattoo customers showing in the Tattoo contest.There was a custom bike show that brought out some local builders that had some cool customs to show off, the winner of course is the one that I voted for, had a custom build chopper with a KZ1000 P model motor, rigid frame, flat black with a cool peanut tank on it. There were 2 Triumph choppers, one that was so rusted 2 weeks ago that he said it looked like hell, now after several days of scrubbing down with Strong Arm brand products; this black beauty was showing off its original luster of classic British engineering. In all, I there were 7 bikes in the show and it was nice to see some wheels out and about since it seems like it’s been the longest winter in history.
Topping off the event, in my opinion, had to be the caliber of people that attended the event. I met some fantastic individuals, from the North Iowa Motorcycle Awareness Group guys to the vendors, and the people from the community that came out to help out. I had a nice conversation with the Outdoor Adventure Foundation group that has just recent started a chapter in Iowa and of them all, I would have to say that I truly made some new friends. This is an event that I will definitely be attending again next year and one that I think everyone will be seeing a lot more if in the future.
If you would like more information about the Blazin’ the Winter Blues Away event, you can find them on FACEBOOK @ Wandering Wheels for the biker who can roll with it, LIKE them and keep up to date when the next event comes up. Until next time, keep the shiny side up and we’ll see you on the road, as soon as the ice and snow are gone.
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