Wheels and meals
About 150 motorcyclists took part in the inaugural Butler Bikes & BBQ's parade Thursday night, which took bikers from downtown Butler to the Butler Farm Show grounds in Connoquenessing Township.
Tina Perry and Margie Helgert live in downtown Butler, and were some of the first people on Main Street waiting for the event, which had a 6 p.m. kickoff.
That many bikes driving by was a sight to see for Perry and Helgert.
“It gave us chills,” Perry said. “We love everything happening downtown.”
This is the first year Butler Bikes & BBQ is taking place, and parading motorcyclists rolled up to about 40 booths at the farm grounds. Vendors at the event will display motorcycle merchandise as well as lots and lots of barbecue over this weekend.Eric Mershimer, president of the Butler chapter of the Alliance of Bikers Aimed Towards Education, led the parade, which benefited Butler County Veterans In Need through its registration fee.“It's great,” he said. “Butler needs something like this.”
Jack Cohen, president of the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau, said an event like this is good for the Butler area.“There's a lot of people that ride bikes here, and a lot of people who want to ride bikes here,” he said. “How could you not want to come here and see those beautiful machines?”Cohen said the organizers didn't market the event too far out of the county to keep the scale of the event manageable.Despite this, Amanda Becker, event planner with Appleseed Events, said Bikes & BBQ garnered widespread attention in the weeks leading up to its opening.“I know we have some decent vendors coming from out of town,” Becker said. “I'm really looking forward to talking to people to see where they are from and what brought them in.”
Hundreds of people also turned out on Route 8 to watch the parade Thursday evening. Not all of them were motorcycle fans; many were just looking for some weekday entertainment.“I have never seen something like this in Butler,” Helgert said. “But this was wonderful.”Cohen said depending on the feedback, this year's Butler Bikes & BBQ could be the first of many.“We wanted to make sure to do it right, and if it does well we'll see about bringing it back,” Cohen said.Butler Bikes & BBQ is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free, but parking costs $5 for cars.Becker said the motorcycle entrance to the event is off Meridian Road, which is the “back entrance,” and the car entrance is off of Evans City Road/Route 68, which is the “front entrance.”For more information on the event, visit the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau's website at www.visitbutlercounty.com.
