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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-08-22, Page 20pagos,,*! l yta! ng,1084 • Contli tted,fr9ml?age'I depicts Jesus as the Good shepherd. On the other side it is a picture of .Jesus looking heavenward into a shaft of light. But the bike also carries pictues of an eagle, wings outstretched, on the front bumper and on top of the flat -mounted saddle bag at the back. A number of tiny statues of eagles adorn the customized bumpers. "That's 24 -carat gold plating. It's over three years old now and is beginning to show a bit of wear." David Crosby says there's a story behind everything on the bike. Pointing to a couple of matching eagles mounted on the front lights, he says, "See these? These were on the light fixtures at a store owned by a friend of my sister. I asked her how much she wanted for them. She said I could have them, as long as I replaced them with something. So I put a couple of screws in the lights. Everything on the bike is like that." The bike has 140 lights on it and even thie. motorhead is intricately engraved. "A jeweler friend of mine did the engraving for me," David Crosby grins, "When he got done he said he never wanted to see another bike as long as he lives." Later that day David Crosby's bike wins the dresser award. It's no surprise to anyone. This Is It Vaughn Blackmore is a young in- dustrial mechanic from Appin, south of London. He's at this rally with his wife, Terry, and daughter, Ronni who is three and a half years old. Ronni used to ride up on the tank in front of her father. "But she got too bigfor that, so we decided to get this sidecar," said Terry. The sidecar with a white cross prominently featured on its black hood is attached to Terry's bike. Was it difficult to get used to? "It was at first, but I don't notice it now," Terry says, pointing, out the side- car also carries a considerable amount of luggage: "Right now Ronni's legs aren't too long, so we can put a lot of stuff in the front of the sidecar." Vaughn Blackmore is an enthusiastic member of the .Christian Bikers. Get him going on his conversion and it's hard to get him stopped. A few weeks ago, he says, he, Terry and Ronni at- tended a rally of the association in North Bay. -He also participated in the "Bible Run" in Toronto in which over $6,000 Were raised to purchase Bibles' for countries behind the Icon Curtain. "But the big one (rally) this summer is the Son Rally in Ottawa on the long weekend in August. On Sunday morning the- service will be held on Parliament Hill." Was he planning to attend? "Oh you bet." Vaughn Blackmore says. before his conversion to Christianity he was a member of an `outlaw gang". "I joined the association early in 1979. I fouhd the Lord really works. I became a Christian in 1978. Before that I was the member of an outlaw club. "That was a really bad trip, man. Just trying to get high all the time — drugs, alcohol. But it never lasted. This is good for a longtime, man. This is it. This is forever." Later when the family agrees to have a picture taken and the remark is made that little Ronni app's to be having fun, Vaughn Blackmore quickly replies. "Ronni always has fun, don't you honey? `Cause Ronat hall a speQ Q!. friend. Who is your special friend, honey?" • Overeeme with shyness, a Ronni giggles and squirms in her sidecar seat. "Jesus is your special friend, isn't he, honey?" Vaughn Blackmore says. Ronni giggles again as she nods her head in agreement. Later that evening Terry Blackmore, a soft-spoken, watchful kind of woman, geti'M laugh when.she receives a prize for having the dirtiest windshield, "because she's got two of them." The prize is a small roll of toilet paper. Started Club ,Ed Brouwer, the founder of the first Christian Mororcycle Club in Canada (1972), and the International Christian Bikers Association (ICBA) in 1979 comes across as a no-nonsense type. A man in his early thirties, he looks older. When first approached, with clip- board in hand he was judging bikes for the prizes which would be awarded daring the evening service. "If you could just give me about 15 minutes, I'll be glad to talk to you." During the conversation with David Crosby, he walks by. "Anytime you're ready," he says. On the way to a picnic table he grabs a can of pop. Larry Bott is on the loudspeaker announcing that some , members want to go on a "ride". "We love to ride and we love to ride for Jesus," says Bott. Minutes later over 80- bikes are streaming down the highway, headed for the towns of Wingham, Listowel, then down High- way 23 north, turning at Gowanstown, through Fordwich, back to the Bott farm. One of the Brouwer children runs up to ask about going on the ride. "No, honey," Ed Brouwer says, "we're not going this -time." There's no fussing or complaining as the youngster runs off to play. Ed Brouwer gets down to business. "1 became a Christian in 1972. Before that I was with an outlaw style group. I'd been with them fora couple of years before I found Jesus Christ; my Lord and Saviour." In fact Ed Brouwer joined the outlaw club as a teenager, as soon as he could get enough money together to buy a bike. Hegot the money from stealing from his parents and from others and from pushing dope. He left home and for the next couple of years lived the life of a motorcycle gang member. He spent his 18th bir- thday in jail after being caught with stolen goods. So what made him change his life? "Well, I've always had this thing about freedom, but this wasn't freedom.. It was getting worse and worse. The gang broke up and with no money and nowhere to go, Brouwer decided to go home. To his parents it seemed as though their prayers had been answered. They had been going to what Brouwer. calls "a Bible -believing church", had become "born again" and had been praying for their son. "I went home with nothing, just my dirty old jeans and a T-shirt, but those people were real decent to me." "Those people" included not only Brouwer's parents but their friends. It wasn't long after that he too became "born again". Almost immediately he started the Christian Motorcycle Association. The head office for the International 40 Pi,AT;Et?-Tho dSteir ed wer* and ecafatiJBs ► the Crosby 44/10 are .24 car- • at gold-plated, There are:,a total of 140 lights 011 ::thefneshlne which has won 28 of the 30 shows In which it has been entered. - SLOGAN ON W . EEL—There isn't any part of the Cros.• . • at isn't customized. The other sid of the front wheel reads, "Davi and Jean Crosby". BIKE APPRAISED AT $26,000 -David' Crosby of Newmarket stands' beside his customized 1980 Harley Davidson Dresser. He has ridden the bike coast to coast in Canada and has shown it in five American states. The FOLLOW THE EAGLE—The front fender of the Crosby bike has a smaller version of the outstretched eagle which tops the flat -mounted luggage at the back of the machine. Christian Bikers Association is in Niagara -on -the -Lake where Brouwer, his wife Judi, and their three children, Aaron 7, Casey 6, and Rebbeca Lynn 3, live. • What does he do when he isn't run- ning the association? "I do this full-time," he replies with a direct look. How does he live on it? Membership dues can't be that much. "I live on free-will donations... We have a saying, 'What God orders He'll pay for. What you order yourself, you're stuck with.' I trust in God for everything." Ed Brouwer is kept busy attending rallies during the riding season. The association now has 33 chapters,across Canada and four chapters in California. "Often I just don't have time to ride. I have to fly. We just got back from Kamloops and Saskatchewan — we just opened a new chapter in Regina. And we just got finished opening a new chapter in Hamilton. There are 19 members from Hamilton to this rally." Brouwer who is finishing 'off a divinity degree by correspondence says the association is "v ry family oriented." "Our members are age from 16 to 76." When they're not attending rallies, ICBA members visit churches, schools and prisons. Besides -Bible Runs", they also have "Toy Runs" to aid less fortunate children: Like "born again" Christians everywhere, the Christian biker's "Statement of Faith" is a fundamental one. They believe the Bible to be the inspired word of God and it is their standard for faith and practice. According to the' ICBA's Statement of Faith; "The scriptural evidence that one has repented and put his faith in Jesus Christ includes public confession, baptism in water, and coming under pastoral instruction of the Church to walk in the ways of God." "We further believe the Holy Spirit imparts gifts or abilities greater than our , own to accomplish God's will. These gifts include miraculous healings,'revelations and utterances . . They also believe in a final judgment, eternal blessings for the righteous and eternal punishment for the wicked. Asked if he ever runs across any of his old buddies, Brouwer replies that he does. Before he was old enough to ride a bike, he says, one day he fell into a river and would have drowned had not a young man dived in and saved him. That young man was a member of the outlaw biker gang that Brouwer joined later. Six years after Brouwer became a Christian, that same biker also became a Christian: "He now heads our North Bay chapter. His name is Brian Andrew." Asked how many miles he would log a year in attending rallies, etc., Brouwer replies that he's never kept track. "But if you added up all the miles our members ride — to rallies, on special runs and visiting schools and prisons, you could probably circle the globe twice." Aita z machine was the centre of attention at the Christian bikers' rally at the Larry Bott farm near Gorrie -- as it is everywhere it goes. Crosby said he decided to customize his bike after seeing "outlaw" bikes winning show prizes. MIXED CROWD—Bikers and membe in -Christ Church, Fordwich, enjoy an gospel music at the International Association .rally held at the Bott Anyone wanting to contact the organization for engagements at schools and churches, he said, can get in touch with the head office at P.O. Box 591, Niagara -on -the -Lake, postal code LOS 00. Evening Service Following a pork barbecue, the members of the association enjoy what Brouwer calls "a . service of rs of the Brethern- There were 140 evening service of registered for the Christian Bikers' barbecue. farm near Gorrie. fellowship". Judi Brouwer has a fine singing voice and assists her husband with the services. However at this get- together a number of bikers have brought there own guitars and there are some good players and singers among them. This rally at the Bott farm is an ob- vious success and Larry Bott can't stop grinning. He and his wife Shirley first motorcycles and over 200 people weekend event which featured a pork FAMILY AFFAIR Vaughn Blackmore of Appin is an ardent supporter of the Christian bikers and along with his wife Terry and daughter Ronni 31/2, at- tends a number of rallies during the summer. Up until this year Ronni rode on her father's bike. Now she's got her own sidecar attached to her mother's machine. . thought about hosting the event back in the winter, he said, but had really gotten down to the planning of it about two weeks ago. They're good planners. The Botts who roasted 140 pounds of pork for the barbecue ended up "with just about enough for our Sunday dinner — about two pounds," says Larry. "You know what really makes me happy?" he says. "There are a bunch of my customers here tonight, as well as my friends. I buy a lot of weaners and those people over there are some of my customers from down around Moorefield and Drayton. They heard about the rally and wondered if they could come over." The people seated just in front of us, lkith the women wearing the prayer coverings are also friends of the Botts. They are members of the Brethern-in- Christ Church, Fordwich. They find their religious beliefs aren't all that different from the bikers. And they sing the same old hymns. Besides the action "Hallelujah", there are others such as "Give Me Oil in My Lamp", and "Let that Little Light Shine". There's a good sense of humor here too. Later in the evening a bunch of bikers line all the Harleys up in front of the Bott's hog barn. It gets a good laugh. Asked what he makes of the gathering, a man from the Brethern-in- Christ 'Church looks around hint. The offering is being collected in two helmets and the people are following instructions. "We want a nice, quiet Christian collection here — no clanking coins." The bills pretty well fill the helmets. The man replies thoughtfully. "I think it's wonderful — especially when you consider what most of these fellows must have been doing a few�years ago.