By Lulu

I have only repeated a Bull’s Eye one other time and that was when Bruce Rossmeyer passed away, but a very dear friend of mine and of bikers in Florida died this month and I wanted to rerun the article I wrote about him years ago. Thank you for reading about someone I admired and loved dearly and will be missed by family, friends and fans!!!

There are people in life who simply live each moment, for the moment and make that moment as full as it can possibly be. Dan Haggerty, a.k.a. Grizzly Adams, is one such soul. Born in Hollywood, CA, raised in a Franciscan monastery from the age of 7-16, he was destined to spread his wings once he left to explore the world. Throughout his entire life, he has been in the midst of interesting and extraordinary people. His grandfather was the president of the AFL-CIO. His father was an Olympic skier and a union rep for the film industry. In his youth he fell in love with exotic animals and nature.

He befriended Mabel Stark, a 75 year old animal handler with Barnum and Bailey Circus. She gave him his first lion cub, which started him down the road of being an animal trainer in the film industry. He still has a game park, Wild Life Images, in Grant Pass, Oregon. At 14, he chopped his bicycle and the custom bikes he has built look very similar to that early creation. By the age of 16, he was working under Von Dutch, where he learned painting and pin striping. He has owned his own leather business, Cornocopia. He made the hat Clint Eastwood wore in Two Mules for Sister Sarah.

While at work in his leather shop with his pet wolf at his side, he was approached to have the wolf star in a movie in the south of France. So, as a true adventure seeker would; he closed up shop and flew off to France. Loving the country and life style he stayed for two years and while there attended the Cordon Bleu Culinary School. He was an animal trainer for the TV series, Tarzan, filmed in Brazil. A scene in a movie, in which he wrestled a Siberian Tiger, led to his landing the part of Grizzly Adams in the movie and eventually, the TV series with his co-star Ben. He has built custom bikes for Bill Smith of Rich Man, Poor Man fame, and Ann Margret. Dan, Sugar Bear and Tex Hall built the famous red, white and blue bikes in Easy Rider.

Today he is involved with Club Navigo Resorts as their spokesman and he says being in Florida has been an energy boost for him. He also is involved in a line of log cabins, Lang Creek Log Homes. Dan filmed 86 episodes of the Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, he has a full page of movies he has been in, including Girl Crazy with Elvis Presley, Muscle Beach with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello and even Easy Rider. He was the stunt man; animal trainer and actor in Snow Tiger which he helped bring to the screen with an $185,000 budget. This film’s return for the studio was a 435 million dollar. If all of this doesn’t exhaust you, trying to get it all down on one page did me! Yet this 67 year old doesn’t seem to rest. A new Grizzly Adams film is to begin filming this spring with co-stars that include David Carradine, Robbie Knievel and possibly Drew Barrymore as his granddaughter.

He is on his bike more than just about anyone I know. When asked about his love of riding he replied, “My bike is my girlfriend, one day I love her and the next day we’re cranky, but the sound of a Harley and Ferrari are the two greatest sounds in the world.” Even a horrible MC accident in Benedict Canyon in 1994 which actually resulted in a death notice with his name on it, and left him with a bad leg, didn’t keep him off two wheels. He says he meets the most wonderful people on two wheels, recalling a time on The Love Ride out west, when the man riding next to him introduced himself and it was Malcolm Forbes.

Talented…energetic…creative…adventuresome…loving…extremely funny and smart, but the two things that leave me in total awe of Dan is his passion for people and commitment to helping charities like Angel Flight and Shand’s Burn Center. He NEVER seems to tire of requests for pictures with him and when he signs an autograph it is never a quick Dan Haggerty, it becomes a touch and a conversation. At that moment the person making the request is the most important person in the room. In a crowded room, before anyone realizes who he is, he fills the room with such energy, people want to be close to him and his energy for this amazes me. This is a biker with a story that had so many bumps in the road anyone else would have put their kickstand down, but not “Hag” as his brother refers to him. His mother, Ruthie, says “being Dan’s mother is like being on a roller coaster”. But when you live a grand life you take the good with the bad and just focus on the next cycle of life. In Dan’s words, “Nothing remains the same”. I would have to argue with Dan on that, the love and respect of Dan’s friends and fans will always remain the same…

By Phaedra Lee

It is unanimous! Daytona Beach has once again proven to be a generous community! The December 12th ride was successful with over 60 riders for the first event and we look forward to doing it again next year. I remember as a small child receiving my first bicycle and it really made me feel free. Many children will never have the opportunity to have their own bike since new bikes are $50-130 depending upon the size.

However, with the generosity of our community, we will be able to share over 35 bicycles each with a helmet to our local kids. The day started at Main Street Station at 11:30am with our jumbo, all beef hot dogs with all the fixin’s and kickstands up at 1pm to head over to see Steve at the Iron Horse.

We then stopped for a wild card at the Dog Pound Saloon before heading to Finn’s Beachside where Cy rescued one of their patrons from causing an accident heading out onto A1A. Cy Manula, who was a huge help in carrying all the bikes for us, said this was an extremely humbling experience seeing bikers come in with tears in their eyes to donate bikes.

Next stop was Frank’s Place to see Annette and enjoy her hospitality before heading back to Main Street Station for our final card and Backyard Boys BBQ. A big thanks to our sponsors including Tiesa at Rice & Rose Law Firm, Brigit’s Custom Works, Constance with Department of Family Services, the Chrome Divas, Elaine Holt, Ned Wald at Travelhost Magazine and all our special guests for spending the day with us enjoying the perfect Florida weather.

These bikes will go to Allison at the Early Learning Coalition, Christina at Tomoka Christian Church, Family Renew, Volusia County Family Services and numerous local families.

By Ron Cox

The Southwest Chapter of ABATE hosted its annual Christmas run to the Douglas T. Jacobson State Veterans Home in Port Charlotte on Sunday,
December 20th. The Home is home to 120 Veterans, 112 men and 8 women.

More than 170 riders assembled at Sun Sports Cycle for the police escorted ride to the home. Several clubs from the area sent contingents including the Lost Riders, SWFL HOG, LAMA and the American Legion Riders.

Upon arrival the riders were greeted by many of the Veterans who were seated outside, anxious for their arrival. It was especially poignant when many of the riders, who are Veterans themselves, thanked the elderly Veterans for
their service. Sad to say but the bikers visit will be the only visitors some these aging Veterans will receive all year.

Veterans Home Administrator Liz Barton thanked the riders for their continued support and commented that the money raised from the run will enable each Veteran to receive a $50 Wal-Mart gift card in addition to sundries (socks, underwear, razors, toothpaste & brushes) the riders brought.

By Lulu

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2015 brought another birthday to Gator Harley-Davidson. And as always they know how to celebrate. Bobby Friss Band rocked all afternoon. A bikini contest and tattoo contest entertained the large crowd. The folks at Gator Harley treat their customers as family and that is why people return to their store all year long for events and to make purchases of everything from apparel to…of course…great bikes!

By Lulu

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As anyone who knows me knows, I love Rotary Clubs. As a past president of Rotary when I lived in Santa Rosa County I know firsthand how hard clubs work. For those not familiar with Rotary it is a community based group of business men and women that do good work on a local, national and international basis each year. They have various ways they raise these funds and this year the Flagler County Rotary Club put on their first poker run to raise funds for a horse farm Whispering Meadows Ranch that does work with children and adults with special needs. The run had stops that included a Fair Trade Café in Palm Coast, The Ice House Saloon in Bunnell, Bull Creek Fish Camp and ended at Beach Front Grille. A great day was had by all and I hope they continue to put a yearly run!

By Lulu

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I rode over to Winter Haven for the 3rd Passport Run for BACA. I always love to visits areas that I haven’t spent a lot of time in and getting to know new folks. The BACA chapter in Winter Haven is extremely genuine people devoted to their organization. After registration at X-Techs the run included stops at Pour House, High Seas, Liars Lair, American Legion Post 4, Wild Fire BBQ Grill and Bar, Just Larry’s and the Avengers Clubhouse. The free food, raffles and end stop was at American Legion Post 8 a beautiful setting on a lake of course! Thank you for having me and for the great work you guys do to help bring awareness to the devastation of child abuse.

By Billy “Kneecap” Braddock

You can fool some of the politicians all the time; you can fool all the politicians some of the time; but when it comes to global warming it appears you can fool all of the politicians all of the time. Every President, every politician, and every human being tells lies and engages in acts of hypocrisy. Barack Obama does these things to a far greater degree than anyone else that I have ever known. His campaign promises were so much better sounding than anyone else’s: no lobbyists in his administration, waiting five days before signing all non-emergency bills so people would have time to read them, putting health care negotiations on C-SPAN, reading every bill line by line to make sure money isn’t being wasted, high levels of transparency. Obama’s promises of these wonderful things sounded inspiring and sincere. So when Obama broke these promises, it felt so much worse than when other Presidents broke their promises. Obama has been documented to have told 1,161 lies. Candidate Obama promised to “fundamentally transform America”, and that’s one promise he has kept. He has taken a World Power and Leader of the Free World, to a nation in decline with no respect from our Allies or Enemies. He promised to unite the country. The result: Obama has consistently sought to divide Americans along lines of class, race, ethnicity, and sex. He has taken us to a Humpty- Dumpty nation. When an egg is dropped and cracks open all the contents are spilled out. Remember, all the kings horses and all the kings men could not put Humpty- Dumpty together again. We should pay attention to this message as not all changes are necessarily reversible. Family, education, religion, the economy, government and the military; the failure of these have contributed to the death of great nations.

In 2008 voters thought that they had elected a President of the United States instead we got a CEO of Greenpeace. Now, it’s not all Obama’s fault because the voters have been dumbed down by the liberal lame stream media, a failing education system and the promise of free stuff. We have created “Stupidity”. The lame stream media is nothing more than a puppet for totalitarian government. The utterly false premise that any government wants to “help the people” or “save the planet.” History shows that governments only exist to “expand their power”, crushing freedom in the process. Consensus is NOT science. As Albert Einstein said when told that 100 scientist had taken issue with his Theory of Relativity, he replied: it doesn’t take 100 scientists, it takes one fact. If humans are the cause of the Polar Ice Caps melting, can someone explain to me why the Ice Caps on Mars are melting too? Too many ET’s driving too many UFOs or SUVs? The answer lies in the Sun, with Solar Storms and Sunspot Activity, and we have no control over that. All the global warming (climate change) alarmists miss the very important point that THE EARTH’S CLIMATE IS GOING TO DRASTICALLY CHANGE NO MATTER WHAT WE DO! The trouble with some people is that their heart is in the right place but their head is up their ass.

Now, that food has replaced sex in my life, I can’t get into my own pants.
I have a whole bunch of topics that I have an opinion on, so visit my website nobodiesopinion.com
See you on the shiny side of tomorrow.

By Ron Cox

The Ladies of Harley (LOH) group within the Paradise HOG Chapter hosted its 8th Annual “Fly Your Bra” Ride on Saturday, October 3rd. More than 100 riders set out from Naples H-D with bras decorating bikes, helmets and the riders themselves (male & female). Drivers were “surprised” to see burly tattooed bikers riding down the road in uniquely decorated bras.

E’s Country Store was the turnaround point. Naples H-D and Six Bends H-D had donation tubs set up for bras and E’s Country Store donated $5 to cancer research for every bra donated.

Upon returning to Naples H-D, an in-store poker run was conducted with Luanne Skoglund winning best hand with a mixed flush. Teakwood Drive provided the musical entertainment complementing the BBQ, raffles and door prizes.

In its early years the funds generated from the run were donated to the American Cancer Society. In the last few years it was decided to donate the money to a woman fighting the disease right now. Ms. Elaine Miller, who defeated breast cancer 12 years ago and is battling the disease again, received about $2,000, including the $125 first prize donated back by Skoglund.

By Lulu

Each month we have visited one of our ad client’s establishments and combined a Twisted Tea party with a food drive for the local food banks. We spent our time in November at Cabbage Patch in Samsula. The band played all afternoon during their monthly free BBQ, free swap meet and free live music that Ronnie and Roger put on the third and fifth Sunday of each month. Twisted Tea samples were flowing. Giveaways were given away and a grand total of $157 dollars and about 50 pounds of food was the take for Second Harvest Food Bank in Volusia County. Our next event will be at Rudy’s Crossroads in Deland on January 20th for their Wednesday night Bike Night, ride out and join us for a fun night of music and good friends for a GREAT cause.

By Deborah Speicher

Once again, “The Show That Changed the Powersports Industry” a/k/a The American International Motorcycle Expo (“AIMExpo”) was back for a third year at the Orange County Convention Center. It was held the same four days as Biketoberfest (October 15-18), with the first two days open only to media and industry people.

There were over 500 vendors which featured most of the major motorcycle manufacturers as well as many upstarts, along with apparel, accessories and just about anything related to the powersports industry. There weren’t just demo rides – there were on and off road demo rides! In addition to the major manufacturers (i.e., Harley-Davidson, Honda, Yamaha, etc), electric motorcycles were also available for demos courtesy of Zero Motorcycles. With 864,444 square feet of vendors, it was like being a kid in the candy store. What is trending? Anything to turnover/charge a battery, riding sneakers and café racers.

One exciting announcement, for those of you living in or visiting the Central Florida area, is the new Ace Café. Its’ sister location is in London, and the first and only US location will be in downtown Orlando. The iconic London location has been a destination among motorcyclists since the 1930’s. Ironically, the new Ace Café will be located in Orlando’s historic district and should open sometime in 2016. A touch of what is old is new again. Break out your bobbers and café racers!

The AMA also had a presence once again. On Saturday night, they held their Hall of Fame Induction at the Convention Center. John Parham (J&P Cycles) and other legendary motorcyclists were inducted that evening.

The AIMExpo piggybacked their event at the same time thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts would be in the area and I believe it worked. Record attendance numbers were declared for the weekend when the public could attend. Mark your calendars and don’t miss this event in 2016!

By Raven Van Pelt

American Legion Riders, Post 283, Fort Caroline Rd., Jacksonville held there 8th annual poker run in support of the Five Star Veterans Center, Saturday the 26th, 2015.

The purpose and mission of the American Legion Riders Florida Chapters is to promote motorcycle safety and riding enjoyment through programs and activities that are in keeping with the aims and purposes of The American Legion supporting programs, events charities, parades and other ceremonies of the American Legion.

350 participants in the poker run and 400+ barbecue dinners were served. And there isn’t a better BBQ at any event…ribs and chicken YUM. Approximately $20,000 raised for the Five Star Veterans Center. The local band “Double Down” performed from 5pm to the end for an awesome crowd of supporters.

By Lulu

What a great day we had at Black Bear Country Club with the folks from Gator Harley-Davidson, Bobby Friss and avid golfers. The day was beautiful! Add hot girls in skimpy attire…a few cold beers and shots…a giant gun to shoot your balls with…a perfect day had to be had…par or not! The fun twist was no golf shirt was required I saw bikers playing in Harley boots and ladies playing in fishnets! The cause was for screening mammograms and cancer care for indigent patients at Florida Hospital Waterman. I am sure they will do this event again next year come out and play you will have a blast!

By Raven Van Pelt

The biker community does it again by coming together for a worthy cause, to help raise awareness and funds for CMOS kids. Founded by Winston Barlow, their mission is to enrich the lives of special needs children by providing life-changing outdoor experiences that are exciting, fun and empowering, in a safe and accommodating environment. Their desire is to foster the development of self confidence and self-reliance through the provision of outdoor adventures including hunting, fishing and camping. Sponsors are one of the major reasons that CMO’s Kids can continue to provide outdoor adventures to the kids. Sponsors allow them to bring happiness to kids and smiles to the faces of everyone involved.

The event started at Fast Freddie’s, in Ocean Way Hwy. 17, with several stops, along the way. Raffles and an auction were held, great food, and the band Cutter rocked the night away. This was an awesome event with 110 riders who along with sponsors, helped raised $7,220.00

For more info, check out www.cmoskids,org

By Lulu

There are so many Halloween parties it is impossible to make it to all. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love dressing up and seeing the creativity of everyone’s costumes. This year although totally disgusting Chris Vorhees at Main Street Station in Daytona Beach had the ultimate costume…I think Jarrod from Subway fame would be mortified! Glenn and Martine at Smiles in Palm Coast made an adorable Indian couple, and the grinding monkey outfit was awesome.

By Lulu

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The annual Bikefest in Starke has changed during the course of its 10 year history. What started out in the local fairgrounds, a few years back moved to the downtown area of historic Starke. The pavement on Call Street now is closed to bike parking. The town square park has a permanent stage for live music and this year featured Highway to Hell on Friday and Moccasin Creek on Saturday as their headliners, but music filled the park all day. Vendors lined the street. The event includes a bike show, reptile show and games. The first 8 years Starke Bikefest was held in August. In 2014 they moved the date to October and this year they kept with a fall rally holding it October 9^th and 10^th. Unfortunately they have lots of competition in October with Sanford rally being the same weekend and Biketoberfest following their event, so it appeared the crowds were down a bit. I always enjoy their bike rally in that there are plenty of country roads to ride, their music is always great and I enjoy the small town atmosphere of the downtown area. The local bars Timbuktu and Red Dogs have fun peeps to hang out with…and I love the food at Downtown Grille.