Boozefighters Motorcycle Club

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THE ORIGINAL "WILDONES"

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1946

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Gene, tell us about the highlights in your life and about this last toy run you did two weeks ago.

First, the toy/cash run was a quick deal. A lady came to me because I put on the Fort Worth side of “The Tarrant Dallas County Toy Run”. She wanted a little help and so with less that a week, I called Big John and we hatched a plan to have a ride for the kids of Katrina. On Sunday, September 11, about 50 bikes led by the Boozefighters took toys and cash on a ride to Dallas to the Salvation Army distribution center. With “Nonsense and Joe Edwards” in front followed by Big John and Renegade, we went about 25 miles to downtown Dallas without a problem. For old times sake, Big John asked me to be the motorcycle escort and I had a blast as well as giving some money and toys to the kids of the hurricane Katrina. We rode into the distribution center and let them know what “

Boozefighting” is all about. Got a little teary eyed on that one.

Here’s my story, I’ll skip a lot but use what you can.

Well, I was born in Fort Worth at Harris Hospital. My mother’s family was from Palestine. Both of my mother’s brothers were bikers. They did the Gypsy Tour in the 1930’s. So, as soon as I could walk, I began to ride in the front of my Uncle AB’s old Harley. He would put in the foot clutch and let me move the hand shift to the next gear. I began to race in 1955, mostly dirt, they called it Scrambles at the time. I did make a couple of highway races on hot Triumphs and did pretty good but my uncle’s crew had to hold me up at the starting line. I was big, but I was only 11 years old at the time. When I would go riding with my uncle, he would put me on the back and use me for a mud flap. When we would come home, my shirt, neck, and the back of my head would all be covered with mud and grease from the chain. My uncle’s regular bike was green, chopped rear fender, no front fender, and it had funny handle bars. Funny to me at the time but they were different and hard to control. In 1958 I bought my first street legal bike, a new Simplex from Montgomery Ward on 7th Street. I paid $369 for that bike. I liked the look and the ride but I wanted gears so I traded it in for a new Lambretta that was much faster. I think it cost $429. I had a paper route and I drove delivery for Norman’s Drug. I did not have a car license but he had me drive an old Dodge and deliver to the homes. In 1959 I became an Eagle Scout and was inducted into the “Order of the Arrow.” I took my first trip that summer of 1959 when all alone, on the highway, I went to San Angelo, south to Houston, back up to Palestine, and then home. I think I only took $20 with me. I started high school on a scooter.

You asked about highlights, I went into the service and received the Soldier’s Medal for valor. That was certainly a highlight. While in Viet Nam, I lost my wife and kid’s to a guy who was a concientous objector who couldn’t go to war for religeous reasons but could screw the wife of a guy who did. I came home to nothing. Slept under a bridge for a while. Started all over. Got a bike, started racing for a little money. Road with and hung out with a nasty bunch. That is another story we will pass for now. I keep thinking of working at the old Cellar at 501 1/2 Main St. They had a group that played there called the American Blues. Good guys but they all dyed their hair blue. Weird. They grew up, stop dying the hair and changed their name to ZZ Top. They are all from around here. Frank’s sister still works for State Farm in Dallas last I heard. I started racing moto cross and cross country in 1971. Yamaha, Penton, Ossa, Maico, Bultaco, Sachs DKW, and a few others. Carried the number one plate one year in the cross country from the big finish at the Stephenville Grand Prix. Wild race that started on the highway, went down a dirt road, through a fence and then off to a cross country track that we kept going around for about 10 laps of about 7 miles each. It was wild as the new program started called MX. I took a Yamaha along with Barry, my buddy and with those two stock bikes we rode to the hill climb then made the highest mark for 125cc dirt bikes, then rode back home with the trophies. We raced all over Texas. Did some 24 hour roadracing and cross countries.

Back to the main deals. Helped security for President Ford. I have a picture with George Bush (the older). I don’t show it much because I had no beard and I took a pen and drew a beard on my face. I flew in the helicopter with Dick Segal and did lots of jokes on WBAP radio in the morning and in the afternoon. That was great. I was involved in setting some world records in ultralight aircraft. I actually went to Turkey and Cyprus and was awarded a medal by the Turks for my contributions to their aircraft program. 20 years ago, I started just as a rider in the big toy run. Then I started handling the traffic. One day I became the master of ceremonies. Long story but I was asked to take over the Fort Worth side and now that I am adding Grapevine, it is getting bigger each year.

I think it was 91 or 92 that I was driving south on loop 820 and saw a bike broke down on the northbound side. I got off on Hwy 10, came around and stopped. He had a set of Boozefighters’ colors on and due to my time in California and my age, I knew some about the group. He introduced himself as Gary Rye. He turned around and introduced his young blond girlfriend and I got a glimpse of “President” on the back. I asked him where his group was and he said they did not know he broke down and they were headed to Grapevine. He said he was riding at the back. I smiled.

Obviously they weren’t to organized as a club considering that their “PREZ” was ridding in the back and got run off and left by the pack! So what happened then? We checked his bike and the battery was gone. I loaned him my bike and he went to Walmart and got a new one. He offered to buy my dinner and since I was headed to JJ’s for seafood, we took off. During dinner he asked if I knew any of the guys in the pictures on JJ’s wall. It was a trick question. I said I knew who John Rogers was. He said he was now a Boozefighter. The Skull Muncher, I asked? I decided to keep my mouth shut and listen to what Gary had to say after that bit of information.

Over the next few weeks, I met Doug Baron (Duke), Big John, and B J Marney. Now B J and I had known each other since the 60’s so again this looked like a real deal for a motorcycle club. Gary asked my opinion of how he could get the club up and running. I told him two ways. One, hook up with the toy run, BFMC taking money, telling you where to park, helping, directing traffic, and very high visibility.

The next thing was to recruit a friend of mine, Dick Siegel, the flying DJ to be a member and talk about it on the radio. He agreed to both and I set up the meeting with Dick who then became a Boozefighter.

That next fall, I took on a set of colors finally and went off to Sturgis. Big John, Dick, and I had a great time and that’s another story. Gary asked me to help with the meetings and after a while I became VP of the club. We did lots of things and had fun. More wild stories here especially about drinking, partying, and trying to keep up with Big John and BJ.

Gary & Duke then found a clubhouse (an abandoned old night-club and separate building that sat on five lots) and I got it financed. A few members put in seed money and we got it started. We financed it and then I put on the “show” part of the first national. We had a time. Racing Wino and JD in the airport in wheel chairs and Wino loosing the tire. Almost broke his neck. We pushed too fast. Got them in the limo and then with a police escort and bikers in front and rear we went through the collection booths at 60 mph headed to the hotel. Last bike stopped and paid for everybody of course.

Later that evening, Big John and about 12 of us got into the elevator and were going to ride up to the 7th floor. John playfully pushed me, then someone else, then we all started pushing in the elevator. It was overloaded and it stopped on the 4th floor, then it started falling back down. I yelled for everyone to bend their knees so when we hit the bottom…well anyway we mostly fell in a pile on each other. No one was hurt.

I took out a pen and used it to open the emergency lock. We were about 4-5 feet below the basement floor and we had to crawl out. No small feat for Big John.(He will box me for that one) We walked backed up to the lobby and people were talking about the elevator falling and breaking. We acted like we knew nothing and took the freight elevator up to Wino and Jd’s room where we all proceeded to get drunk and laugh about our exciting experience.

The next couple of days were special in that we opened the club (no lights, except for my motorcycle head-light) and had a great party out at a dude ranch in Grapevine that I had set up for the program. That was the start. At one point, Gary gave me a patch that said, “National Vice President Public Relations” and I have had that ever since. Proud to be it and proud to wear it.

These days I am working on getting my own chapter. Is this going to be a smoke free chapter? I know how cigarette smoke tares up your lungs. Yes that will be one of the rules for enclosed meetings and such. I may have to drop the (Natl VP of PR) patch and hang it up for a while but I like to remember what it was like that 14 years ago when “The Second Coming of The Boozefighters” started and I was honored to play a part.

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It has been my pleasure and passion to keep the history alive.  And you SIR have been a verry verry important part of it.  When I first got invited to attend meetings in 1994 I wasn't verry empressed in the mottly crew of long-haired tatooed biker trash I encountered, except for a couple.  You were the only one that seemed to have a clear head on the lether clad shoulders.  Of course I begain to wonder about you too when you rode your motorcycle thru the front door of our new clubhouse building (to shine some light in the abandoned building with no electricity) and then you proceded to do a couple of "BURN-OUTS" on the tile floors.  "THE WHOLE DAMN GROUP ARE NUTS!" I concluded.  And maybe it was that breaking away from the main stream society that actually ended up attracting me to the BFMC the most. 

JQ (History)