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Thank You to the Phoenix Motorcycle Riders Group!
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We recently had the opportunity to spend a night with a wonderful group of motorcycle riders as they ate dinner with us and raised funds for us! The article below was written by one of those riders, one of our new friends. To see more pictures from the evening, click here. A big thank you to all our new friends at PMRG!!!
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Spending the evening with the Arc of Tempe
by John Fox, PMRG Organizer
Almost 20 PMRG members took a couple of hours out of a Friday night and spent it with some folks who are a little different. Those differences seemed to take a back door tonight as PMRG members opened their bike world up, and invited these folks inside for a bit.
We only did what bikers seem to love to do .. share our scoots and our stories. No riding, with today's liability and litigious society it's just not possible. But that didn't stop our members from sharing vests and doo-rags and seats, even if the engines were all off. The cameras came out, and smiles were shared. Smiles from members watching people who don't get to enjoy something that we do all the time. And smiles from people who don't get much of a chance to meet bikers.
A few minutes before we arrived, the participants were told we would be visiting. The sight and sound of 15 bikes roaring onto a basketball court can be a little unnerving, so we weren't as totally unexpected as I thought. And I parked 'wrong' for some reason. But that 'wrong' parking turned out right as it put the bikes in a great place for pictures. Bob has already posted some, and there are plenty more coming.
It was kind of funny at first. As we showed up, faces peered over at us from the picnic tables, not sure what to expect. As bikers got off their bikes, their faces peered back, also not sure what to expect. It's difficult to plan out things like this, and Samantha, or 'Sam', the Arc's Recreation Director, doesn't like not planning. But PMRG isn't really too keen on a plan, so both groups just kind of looked at each other.
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Brenda suggested to the participants that the bikers might think they aren't welcome if participants didn't come over and say hi. So, very nervously, they got up from their picnic tables and started walking over. But still ... what to do next. Brenda said they should introduce themselves, and I agreed. 'Rick ... meet Bob' was all it took. The hands starting going out, names started to be exchanged, and the floodgates opened up.
Suddenly, not knowing what to expect wasn't important anymore. Expectations and pre-conceived notions just seem to get in the way sometimes.
PMRG members all love talking about our bikes, and the Arc participants, like everyone else, are curious about things they don't know about. It was the perfect combination. Questions started being asked about bikes. 'Do they all have radios?'. 'How come some are bigger than other ones?' 'Why are they so loud, it scares me?' 'Do you ride all the time?' 'How many states have you ridden in? California? New Mexico? Washington?' 'Why doesn't your bike have a radio?' 'Why is that bike so dirty??' (Ok .. no one asked that one. I just felt it was necessary to explain it.)
Then someone handed a participant a vest and invited them to sit on their bike. Photo-op time. Then another. And another. The participants are a little shy, many won't come up and ask. So we went to them. 'Would you like to sit on mine too??' Soon, a few bikes were festooned with 'biker for a moment' poses that seemed very natural. Maybe sitting on a bike really is something we are all born to do.
Our taking the time out of our lives and donating the food they had for tonight's meal made an impression on the participants. Participants went out of their way to come over and say thanks and let us know how much they enjoyed having us over, something this world needs a lot more of.
I enjoyed the time at the Arc very much tonight. And promise that just like the Christmas toy run to Mayer, we will do this again. It's good to have traditions, and I think this one, just like Mayer, is just a little bit off the traditional biker traditions.
And I like that .. I don't want PMRG to be like everyone else.
Not because it make us better.
It just makes us PMRG. I hope we keep finding non-traditional traditions that help make the lives of those around us just a little bit better. Even if only for a couple of hours.
Thank you very much to all the PMRG members who took the time to visit the Arc today. And thanks to all of those that couldn't make it and donated a few dollars.
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