Brockton PostBROCKTON—The deafening roar of thunder surrounded Perkins Avenue and North Montello Street as the gleaming tailpipes and polished leather of hundreds of motorcycles headed to the final stop of the 8th annual Brockton Fire Department motorcycle run for charity.
Two-by-two, riders on Harley Davidson’s, Honda’s, and Kawasaki’s poured into the parking lot next to Brockton Fire Department Local 144’s union hall parking lot on Perkins Avenue.
“We came to support Local 144,” said Roger Poulin, a firefighter from Rhode Island who joined last Saturday’s ride with fellow Rhode Island jake Alan Bova (Pictured below).
While it was their first ride with Fire and Iron—a riding club of Brockton firefighters, families and friends--like many of the participants Poulin and Bova said they are frequent riders on the dozens of fundraising rides that take place throughout the state during motorcycle riding months—usually spring, summer and fall.
Under bright blue skies and white puffy clouds, an estimated 250 to 300 bikes, some carrying double riders, began the ride at Fire Station #6 on West Street adjacent to Campanelli Stadium and rode through the city’s streets for a more than 90 minute ride from Brockton to Halifax, Carver, Plymouth Duxbury, Pembroke and back through the city via the Bridgewaters.
“It was a nice ride,” Poulin said.
Brockton Firefighter Billy Hill, the union’s treasurer, said the last few years rain and threats of rain have marred the ride and fewer bikers joined in, but last Saturday, he believed was the trek’s biggest one since the first eight-years-ago.
“The weather has a lot to do with it, but at last count we had 250 bikes,” Hill said.
He said the ride, which cost $15 is the department’s biggest fundraiser and supports numerous charitable organizations, including the Muscular Dystrophy Association and Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.
While the riders might think they are having all the fun cruising around the city and the South Shore, many of those who helped set up the tents, tables, beer coolers and other necessities at the Perkins Avenue union hall, were having a good time of their own as they went about their tasks with the day’s band Shoe City Blues cranking music in the background.
“38-24-36,” shouted one of the women pointing out Kathleen Boyer's measurements as she walked toward a tent where a group of women sold T-shirts outside the union hall.
Wearing denim vests with Fire and Iron decals on the back, the women joked and socialized all the while attracting bikers to buy T-shirts or raffle tickets for good causes.
“It’s about having fun and helping out,” Boyer said while simultaneously lighting a cigarette, directing participants to the food line or the beer line and getting a hug from one of many friends.
Boyer, a Pembroke resident and sister of Brockton Fire Lt. James Young, said the Brockton Fire Department joined Fire and Iron about five years ago, and joining the nationwide club is a way for motorcycle enthusiasts to get together and enjoy the sport.
Well-known among the riders, Boyer directed the throngs into the parking lot and jumped into one of two non-motorcycle vehicles that joined the end of the parade: a bright yellow dune buggy and a stealthy, black and red sports car that made its first appearance on the Brockton run.
Some didn’t think the sportscar fit in.
“If you ask me, I think it looks like a tick,” said Donnie Baker, a rider from Brockton who preferred a Harley to the two-seat sports car.
Baker and a group of friends said they were having a great time at the event, however, John Murphy was a little sad because he wished his wife Lorie Anne, who died in 2008 was there.
“She would have loved this. She’d be so psyched,” Murphy said, showing a cross with Lori Anne's name tattooed to his shin.
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