Home | Articles | Extracts | Links | Obituaries | Researchers

Articles extracted from newspapers throughout the USA

But instead of astronauts or conquering heroes, Harley-Davidson bikers were welcomed Saturday with open arms and cheers.

Thousands woke at the crack of dawn to stake out spots on highway overpasses and sidewalks to watch the great parade of motorcycles vrooming and gleaming under sunny skies.

Thousands more awoke even earlier to flip their kickstands, throttle their engines and roar through the streets of Milwaukee to get in line at the parade staging area near County Stadium.

"It was unbelievable. We couldn't believe all of the people cheering for us," said Debbie Mikich, of Franklin, who drove her purple Softail Harley in the parade. "It was overwhelming especially when you got down into downtown and everyone was like, 'Oh, please acknowledge me.' "

People stood in the street high-fiving riders and held signs, "This is Hog Heaven," "Thanks for the Memories," "Isn't this great?" and "Come Back in 2003. We'll be Here." American flags, ranging from tiny to flagpole sized, waved in the breeze. Bikers, who wore their own patriotic fervor on their heads and sleeves, waved back. The parade stretched as far as eyes could see until it seemed every Harley ever manufactured was rumbling through Milwaukee's streets.

The Sheriff's Department estimated the number of riders at 50,000, less than the estimated 60,000 that rode in the last Harley celebration five years ago. The parade, which was about 10 miles long, was supposed to be cut off at 25,000 riders, but sheriff's officials decided to allow everyone to ride because things were going smoothly.

There was no official crowd estimate. Despite the large numbers of people, who stood up to 10-deep in some locations, police and sheriff's officials reported no problems or arrests along the parade route.

Grandparents and toddlers, bikers and school teachers stood together under the sunshine on Michigan St. as thousands of Harley riders passed on their way to Maier Festival Park.

For 3 hours and 40 minutes, spectators matched the cycles' 90-decibel rumbling with their own sustained roar of approval.

Evelyn Boucher, a 77-year-old Wauwatosa woman, vowed she would never miss a Harley-Davidson anniversary, and hoped her dedication would be included in her obituary.

"There's just something about the roar of the motors that gets all the vibes going," a smiling Boucher said as she watched the bikes.

On N. Milwaukee St., where the crowds stretched up a freeway ramp, a woman breast-fed her baby next to another woman who repeatedly screamed "Happy Harley Day" at the passing riders.

At Michigan and N. Milwaukee streets, where the cycles turned south toward the Summerfest grounds, spectators filled two parking ramps, each level packed with people leaning over the walls to wave and cheer as bikers reciprocated by waving and giving a thumbs up.

"It was really emotional," Gale Pagles said shortly after finishing the parade.

"It was just a great feeling to see all of the support. Harleys used to have a bad reputation but not anymore," said Pagles, of Monroe Center, Ill., who rode a 1988 maroon Classic Harley with her husband, Harold.

Sheriff's Sgt. Kipp Leopold said spectators followed orders and stayed off the freeway, a welcome change from five years ago at the 90th anniversary.

Before the sun rose Saturday, Harley riders in twos and threes sped along highways and side streets. They were joined by others, and the caravans became larger, all headed toward the County Stadium area.

As they drew closer to County Stadium, miles-long lines of Harleys, their headlights glowing and engines rumbling, started to appear. To accommodate the crush of thousands of bikes and riders, officials came up with a staging plan that at two or three abreast resembled a loud, mechanized waiting line for a Disney World amusement park ride.

Neighbors along W. National Ave. sat on their porch stoops sipping coffee and watching the motorcycles begin lining up around 5 a.m. Not that they could sleep anyway, what with all the racket.

As motorcycles reached S. 43rd St. and National Ave., they sped down Highway 41, past orange construction barrels and into one of the stadium's auxiliary parking lots. After a 15 minute wait, it was back out onto Highway 41 north as far as they could go before Highway 41 filled up with bikers.

Just before the parade started at 8 a.m., the line of bikers stretched from the start, where northbound Highway 41 turns east onto the westbound lanes of I-94, all the way back to National Ave., and then west to S. 84th St.

Riders sat down to wait for the start, snoozed on the backs of their Harleys, snapped photos, stood in interminably long lines for the scarce portable toilets and talked shop with other motorcyclists. Many adjusted brightly colored bandannas, removed leather coats and chaps as the temperature inched up and primped for the parade. A woman combed out her long, brown hair after taking off a black helmet, like the kind worn by Sgt. Schultz in "Hogan's Heroes." Her helmet had a sticker on the back that read "Hairdo by Helmet." Ted Koski, a Lockport, Ill., construction company owner, was not talking shop with any Harley riders.

That's because Koski dared to take his life into his hands and drive a (shudder) Honda. Koski was surprised to find so few people complaining about his choice of motorcycle.

"To be honest, even with all of the people here, I've gotten only two comments. One guy said, 'Buy a real bike' and another guy said, 'A Honda?' " Koski said.

A sign above the highway, normally used to alert drivers to congestion or accidents, counted down the minutes before the 8 a.m. start of the parade. Finally, the sign changed to "Harley Riders Show Time." But for most riders, it was another wait, sometimes up to 45 minutes, before they could start their engines and begin the parade.

Once the line began moving, it was often stop and start along the way with many Harley riders pulling over to let their engines cool. But once the parade moved off the highway and on to downtown streets, Harley riders enthusiastically revved their engines as the crowds got larger and more vocal.

Spectators gave throaty roars of approval to uniquely dressed motorcyclists. Such as the woman dressed like the Statue of Liberty, complete with mint-green paint, merrily waving her faux torch. Or Santa Claus on a Harley. Or Uncle Sam on a Harley.

Aside from helmets, head wear included deer antlers, court jester hats and full length wolf skins with the paws wrapped around the wearers' necks. Many also carried items strapped to their cycles such as a large pink Energizer bunny holding a petite Harley flag in its pink paw and teddy bears clad in leather jackets and goggles. Bob Whitaker, a retired Air Force colonel from Jordan, N.Y., rode in style in his homemade gray tuxedo, crimson bow tie and black top hat. His boutonniere already had fallen off an hour before the parade.

"I'm a gentleman," Whitaker said, when asked about the tuxedo. "We have enough dirt ball bikers so we need more gentlemen. I'm also an exhibitionist. I got your attention, didn't I?"

He did, and he got the rest of Milwaukee's, too.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 14 June 1998
by: Meg Jones and Tom Held