HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-08-22, Page 20pagos,,*! l yta! ng,1084
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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.