WarChild Riding Group
Sandy's Toddle Inn - Chaffee MO
Bikers Who Care – We Support:
Finding Cures – Saving Children
Free Spirit
Patriot Guard Riders Mission Statement
Notice - The PGR store is open since the first of the new year.
Thank you for your patience.
The Patriot Guard Riders is a diverse amalgamation of riders from across the nation. We have one thing in common besides motorcycles. We have an unwavering respect for those who risk their very lives for America’s freedom and security. If you share this respect, please join us.
We don’t care what you ride, what your political views are, or whether you’re a "hawk" or a "dove". It is not a requirement that you be a veteran. It doesn't matter where you’re from or what your income is. You don’t even have to ride. The only prerequisite is Respect.
Our main mission is to attend the funeral services of fallen American heroes as invited guests of the family. Each mission we undertake has two basic objectives.
1. Show our sincere respect for our fallen heroes, their families, and their communities.
2. Shield the mourning family and friends from interruptions created by any protestor or group of protestors.
We accomplish the latter through strictly legal and non-violent means.
Folks, this is not just important…
It’s what we do!
Join Us!
RD - SE Missouri Ride Captain
Stars & Stripes Museum
 This Dayin History |
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Over the last 139 years, millions of copies of The Stars and Stripes have been distributed throughout the world. And, it all began during the Civil War in the town of Bloomfield, located in southeast Missouri. It was here on November 9, 1861 that ten Illinois Union soldiers, using the vacated press of The Bloomfield Herald, published the first "Stars and Stripes" which they named after the American flag. One of the original copies of that 1861 paper is now owned by the Stoddard County Historical Society and to be put on loan with the museum. The Stars and Stripes flourished during each of the five major wars this country has fought. |
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During World War II, General George C. Marshall referred to The Stars and Stripes "as a symbol of the things we are fighting to preserve...free thought and free expression of a free people". Many famous people have been connected with The Stars and Stripes: Cartoonist Bill Mauldin; Andy Rooney and Steve Kroft of "Sixty Minutes" were former Striper's as was Harold K. Ross, founder of the New Yorker magazine. Grantland Rice, Ernie Pyle and other war correspondents have also contributed to the newspaper. Several former S & S staff members and various war veterans have donated personal letters, unpublished behind-the-scenes reports, back issues of The Stars and Stripes and other interesting war-related items to be displayed or filed as reference material. |
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All this history will be preserved. A Stars and Stripes Museum/Library with climate-controlled storage, handicapped accessibility, display and meeting rooms will be invaluable for research. The facility serves historians, students and writers, as well as the general public. |
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21st Annual GTWA Gold Rush Rally
She may also be its oldest.
At 98, Johnson hasn't been a member long - she joined the group last year - and does not own a motorcycle. She also doesn't drive them anymore herself. However, that did not keep her from taking part in last night's Light Parade, the kick-off event for the 21st Annual GTWA Gold Rush Rally. The rally is the GTWA's yearly gathering.
"I think it's safe to say I don't think there's anyone else here in their late 90s," Johnson's son Duane Dunham said.
Sitting atop the back seat of her daughter-in-law's red Honda Gold Wing tricycle, driven by Dunham, Johnson circled the parade route north on 32nd Street West, up Zimmerman Trail to Highway 3 and then back down with as many as 1,500 other bikers.
However, the Gold Rush isn't Johnson's first time on a motorcycle. She purchased her first bike more than 25 years ago in 1972 and used to ride a small-engine model around town, her son Dale Dunham said.
In the past, Johnson said she wasn't a big fan of motorcycles.
"I never had much faith in motorcycles before," she said.
Over the years, she has had plenty of experience with other modes of transportation. Born in 1910, Johnson came to the United States from Norway as a young girl. She moved to a farm in Montana, about 20 miles north of Circle in 1929 when her father packed up the family and a few others, seven or eight people total, into a modified flatbed truck and drove them over from Nebraska.
She described it as the first motor home because he put a top on the bed and made a small living quarters, including a stove and room for personal possessions, for everyone on board.
Last year, Duane Dunham signed his family up for the GTWA as a way to get them all together for this year's Gold Rush. Johnson said she had been on rides around neighborhoods before, and liked the group because it rides in parades and raises money for charities.
Before the parade began, Johnson said there was one thing for which she was especially excited.
"Just to be able to stay on a bike at this age," she said with a smile.
During the parade, onlookers lined 32nd Street West to take in the bikes' flashing, fluorescent lights and wave and cheer at the riders. Some of them lined up almost two hours before the parade.
"We've been here since 8 o'clock," Clayton Olson said while sitting next to his wife, Cleone. They came early to watch the sun set together.
The Olsons have attended every Gold Wing event in Billings over the past 10 years. Cleone Olson said they like the bright lights of the parades, but, more importantly, the people are the main attraction.
"The people are just so polite," Cleone Olson said.
A few blocks north on 32nd Street West, Tasha Lenox waited for the parade to start with her children Jack, 4, and Madysen, 5. As they waited, Jack put on a light show of his own for a few parade-goers, leaping over a pair of water bottles on the sidewalk and showing off a pair of sneakers embedded with flashing red lights.
"It's just awesome," Lenox said of the parade. "People come from all over to do this. This is the kids' first one, so I hope it's good."
As the bikes rolled by, some strung up with rope lights, others with neon ground effects and others still blaring classic rock from onboard radios, the kids seemed to watch transfixed. They didn't talk much and just stood in awe of the hundreds of bikes parading by.
Contact Zach Benoit at zbenoit@billingsgazette.com or 657-1357.