Cumberland Motorcycle RoundUp

Revised September 17,2014

Although I had attended the Wounded Warriors Weekend in Slave Lake the weekend before the Cumberland Motorcycle Round Up, I have decided to wait to write about that amazing weekend until I am at home where I can put all of my love and energy into that article.  That article is going to be a long and intense one to write, so watch for it coming soon!

In the mean time, I want to share with you my time at the RoundUp in Cumberland…

I got to the BC Ferries terminal at Horseshoe Bay in time to board the evening ferry.  The service on the ferry was awesome. I know a lot of Islanders have an issue with the ferries and the prices they charge, but running a ferry service is expensive and someone has to pay the freight. I guess that’s the price you pay for living in paradise.

I thought the ferry was awesome. The staff was friendly; the food in the cafeteria was very good as was the selection and I found the prices to be very reasonable.

There were a half dozen bikes on this ship and we shared some great laughs and stories – all of them were heading to the Cumberland Motorcycle Round Up too!

The views from the deck were nothing short of awe inspiring and some of Mother Nature’s actors decided to put on a wee show – the seals were having what appeared to be a lot of fun. The sunset was intense and absolutely gorgeous.  As we pulled into Nanaimo, the lights from the shore danced on the water and made one feel so welcomed.

I got into Ladysmith at about 10:00 pm and stayed over night with our web mistress Ali and her hubby Gator.  It was awesome to see them and reconnect.

In the morning we rode together into Cumberland and spent some time walking the impressive display of vendors and bikes that graced Main Street.  

The streets were teaming with people, shoulder to shoulder, bikes and laughter everywhere.  Ali and Gator headed back to Ladysmith and I spent time walking with WyzWmn, Karen Brown and her dog Pixie. I was able to connect with many friends like Lady Di, and spent a most enjoyable afternoon wandering up and down the street, visiting, taking photos and video and just being.

There were thousands of people walking up and down the streets of Cumberland, all had smiles on their faces and they seemed to enjoy the street performers that were performing.

There were people on stilts who were dressed in a wide array of costumes, belly dancers, hula dancers and a snake charmer, and even a Robot!  All of these people were out doing their best to ensure people were having a good time.

In the Cumberland Hotel, there were burlesque and lingerie shows, a beer gardens that was directly across from the bandstand, making it the place to be if you wanted a beverage.

Tom and Angela from BikerTV were on hand interviewing and filming for an upcoming episode of their popular show and I was doing interviews for my TV show Ride Like a Local.

At about 4 pm, the street started to thin out and vendors began putting away their wares so I headed up to the bike games.

There was a small beer gardens alongside the track where the riders and passengers took part in al sorts of skills games.  People were hooting and hollering for their favorite teams.  The tire pulls were a tad on the dangerous side as the passengers were often not dressed in full gear and I expressed my concerns, as did a few others. I have since learned that the tire pulls are not going to be a part of the games next year.

Pretty soon it was time to head over to my hosts place, Ian and Kathy Kelly had a fresh salmon on the BBQ and we had a good feed and some great conversation before walking up to the dance.

The dance was amazing, the band had so many people up dancing, the hall was decorated with mini lights and the silent auction tables were brimming with items!

The hall soon became hot and stuffy and I spent sometime outside in the extended beer gardens area, staying cool and chatting with many of the visiting riders. Everyone seemed to be having a ball.

At midnight, the Mr. Cumberland contest got underway and oh my word did we get a show!

There were 6 guys who were brave enough to get up on the stage and strut their stuff; some even dropped their laundry, which had the crowd roaring with laughter.

The gent who won was crowned and given a sash just like any beauty pageant winner would get. It was good clean fun that had everyone in stitches and of course Jean – the Dominatrix of the rally was hamming it up!

I headed back to the Kelly’s place just before the dance ended at 1 am and was out like a light in no time!

At 8 am, we all headed down town to the pancake breakfast. There were easily over 150 bikes that were going to take in the poker run.  After being given a safety talk, the mayor, a wonderful woman who totally supports this event, got on the back of one of the bikes for the Mayor’s ride and that was the signal for the poker run to start.

The ride took us through the Comox Valley with the highlight being the fourth card stop at Mount Washington.  The ride up to the ski hill was wonderful, the road is wide and paved and filled with nice curves.  Once there we took in the biker’s buffet that offered chicken breasts, burgers, potato wedges and all sorts of salads for $10.  With a full belly we headed for the chairlift, the fee to ride the lift was compliments of Mount Washington’s owners. 

Since I don’t ski, I have never been on a chairlift and I have to tell you it was an impressive experience. The view from the top of the mountain is something I won’t forget any time soon. The entire valley lay before you and it is truly an awe inspiring experience.

After the that stop, we headed back to Cumberland and the Cumberland Hotel where there were thousands of dollars in door prizes up for grabs. Tickets were sold at  $1 each and many people walked away with impressive prizes like tattoo gift certificates, and gift cards from Steve Drane H-D, wine baskets  and leather goods. 

Ian Kelly, my host, won the poker run with a full house!  The prize was a Harley duffel bag (leather), filled with $2,500 in prizes; everything from tattoos to over night stays in some of the regions most impressive spas to a bottle of tequila were included in that bag!

Everything wound up at about 5pm, and judging by the comments and faces of the riders who had attended, a great time was had by all!

Jean Cameron

I spent Monday with Jean Cameron and her team discussing the event and giving them some suggestions of different events and things that I have experienced that they could use to change up their event.  It was heart warming to see how eager these people are to take suggestions and ideas from others. They did the same sort of suggestion gathering from many others. We had a wonderful day, sharing and chatting….on Tuesday morning I got to interview Jean and Cresslynn, the organizers and then I was off to Ladysmith where I literally crashed for 18 hours of sleep.  I was absolutely exhausted.

If you enjoy street based events like Port Dover, the Wharf Rat Rally or the Real Sturgis in South Dakota, this event is a MUST DO! The town’s people WANT you to experience their region and they all break their necks to ensure you feel wanted and welcomed.

There were lots of police because of the Hells Angels being present, but both groups were polite and courteous and left the average rider alone…in all, it was a wonderful event that every rider should experience at least once!  

I want to thank Jean and her entire crew of the Cumberland Motorcycle RoundUp for a most joyful and enjoyable event.

REVISION INFORMATION - I have been advised that there was an error in my mentioning a veterans support club bringing the attention of the police. There is one, but I named the wrong one. The image I was given was extremely similar to that of another club, The Veterans Canada MC. My apologies to the 22 Crew for misreading the image linked in the Liquor Control Board email.  

Belt Drive Betty

Editor & Rider

Bikes Against Bullies - an amazing event, doing amazing things

Carol Todd

On Sunday, July 27th, I rode from Surrey/Langley to Port Coquitlam for the Bikes Against Bullies event.  It was a gorgeous morning, the temperature was perfect, the sun was out and there was hardly a cloud in the sky.

I rode into a parking lot that already had about 75 bikes in it! There were a number of booths where you could get a coffee and a cookie, Snowflake Bracelets etc...everything seemed very well organized for an event only in its second year.

The Bikes Against Bullies event was started by Tneesa Tyerman and her mom Kymberley.

Tneesa's step sister Sophia went to school with Amanda and wanted to do something positive and so this became a family affair with Tneesa's dad, Tracy, Kymberley's ex-husband also getting involved. It was amazing to me how everyone from the two blended families just dug in and made this a spectacular event - a free event that raises funds by selling shirts and other items like bracelets and through donations.

CAV Members

I met up with some of my fellow CAV members and we got to talking and before I knew it there were 200-225 bikes in the lot and it was time to go!

Tracy, Tneesas, Dad, and his wife

We rode to Trev Deeley's on Boundary Road with Tracy and Tneesa in the lead, the reception that was waiting for us there was amazing. The BBQ was on, a band called One Big Bicycle was playing up a storm and there were all kinds of vendors plus a silent auction.

Sarah Karkouch giving donation to Carol Todd

There was an amazing young lady named Sarah Karkouch who sang her song Fly, and she donated $400 from the sales of her album to the Amanda Todd Legacy Society.

I got to meet Carol Todd after she had addressed the audience.

Carol is an amazing public speaker who captures your heart and makes you feel the pain a mother feels when their child self destructs.  Amanda had made some mistakes in judgment that she paid with her life for. The cruel taunting of those who bullied her created more pain in her head than she could deal with.

Carol has many suggestions she offers to parents and to kids alike, like forced offline time and making sure that there is family time.

Bullying is horrible to experience, and many of us were bullied in school and sometimes on the job so to some extent we can identify with our young people today.  BUT with the advent of the internet, bullying has become relentless.  In a matter of no time at all, people can be whipped into a frenzy and thousands of people can pick on a person they deem as weak or odd in a heartbeat.

The result of bullying for Amanda Todd was that she took her own life. The cyber bullying had spilled into the school yard too and it became more than Amanda could bare and yet she created a video to help others: http://amandatoddlegacy.org/amandas-you-tube-video-original/

Amanda was also the victim of extortion, watch the 5th Estate Episode on her story: http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/2013-2014/the-sextortion-of-amanda-todd

The extortion along with the bullying, the shame, the regret, the pressure was too much for this young woman to bare.

Carol Todd, Amanda's mom has started the Amanda Todd Legacy Fund meant to aide in support and awareness campaigns. Carol herself does a lot of speaking at schools and to parents.

The Riders of 2014

The coordinators have some changes planned for next year's event that will make it about an hour - hour and a half or so shorter.  They realized that everyone had other commitments and many just wanted to ride as it was such a beautiful day and so they are going to have more activities in Port Coquitlam before the ride!

I was proud to play a small part in the 2014 event and look forward to playing a larger part as a sponsor again next year. Watch for the episode on the Bikes Against Bullies event on Ride Like a Local on YouTube in December!

Belt Drive Betty

Editor & Rider

The Ride Into History for the Salvation Army’s Gateway of Hope

Stop 1 The Dairy

I was absolutely blessed to partake in the Ride into History.

Mother Nature cooperated with me as I rode into Langley and Holeshot Racing where I was to hook up with my host for the next two evenings, Marq Smith. Marq used to own Western Powersports!

I stopped in at Barnes Harley-Davidson and got to see Kevin Chow, who has moved from Kamloops HD over to Barnes, while I waited for Mark to be done work.

I also got to finally install the highway pegs on my bike thanks to Waylon in parts!

Marq and I headed over to Fort Langley when he got off work and what I saw there truly took my breath away – there were amazing antique and vintage cars and bikes on hand, lots of vendors and a fully portable stage where we would be treated to a wide variety of entertainment.

Car and Bike Show

The quality of the vehicles on hand was nothing short of impressive!

The evening was filled with magic as the various presenters and speakers shared their stories. In between the speeches and stories a solo guitarist took the stage as did the headliner, Randy “Elvis” Friske.  I cannot remember the name of the solo entertainer, but he was some talented.

Both entertainers did an amazing job and both had people up and dancing and singing.

Randy "Elvis" Friske

The kids in particular loved “Elvis” who was utterly incredible. He danced with them, walked into the crowd and made us feel a part of the show. His band was fabulous and man can this dude imitate Elvis!

After the evening festivities we over, Marq took me to his home where I stayed both Friday and Saturday evening. I want to thank him and his family for taking me in!

We were up bright an early on Saturday morning to go on the ride. Mother Nature blessed this ride with ideal riding weather.

We were treated to a pancake breakfast hosted by the Lion’s Club. The ride Captain from the Greater Vancouver Motorcycle Club called us all together for a riders meeting.

The route that had been chosen had historical significance as each stop is planned for it’s historical significance, it’s all part of the Ride into History theme!

We were given a booklet with the route information in case we got separated from thr group, which sadly happened pretty quickly. Thank goodness one of the guys in our group knew the region and we ended up getting to the Birchwood Dairy in Chilliwack before the lead group did!  I didn’t have any ice cream but I was told that every rider in the region comes here on short rides, as the ice cream is phenomenal.

From here on in we had a vested rider with us so we didn’t get lost for the rest of the day!  We next took in the Atchelitz Threshermen’s Association Museum also in Chilliwack.

Stop 3 - Cultus Lake

Our next stop was lunch at Cultus Lake where we were treated to a meal of wraps and veggies for dipping. We also had wonderful fruit kebabs for dessert!  Sadly one jerk in a white Dodge damned near backed into a rider and acted like we riders were being asses when we began to holler at him to stop saying I have a back up camera – and then using some verbal diarrhea on us. We insisted he’d best leave instead of being a rude human being.

We had a leisurely ride back into Langley and the Gateway of Hope.

This amazing facility offers far more than a shelter. It offers all sorts of counseling and job retraining programs. In fact, the resident members of the cooking program at the Salvation Army’s Gateway of Hope made the lunch we had at Cultus Lake!

Gateway of Hope Games

We were treated to some rodeo games for about an hour and a half.

We had a blast watching and cheering on the participants.

At about 5pm we were ushered into the centre for our dinner, which was catered by Milestones, a local restaurant that is very popular.

We heard from all kinds of dignitaries and took part in the many gift giveaways that took place.  Dinner was absolutely marvelous, a beautiful roast beef with veggies and potatoes was served and an amazing chocolate pecan cake closed it off!

The Gateway of Hope is so far much more than a shelter and their ride fee was ridiculously low for everything a person got for the $65 ride fee.

Dinner

Pancake breakfast, a wonderful lunch, impressive dinner, a tee shirt and a pin!

If you live in the region, this event is a must do. While there were a few challenges with the poker run and not enough outriders in the middle and back of the pack, it was an amazing event.

Thank you to the Salvation Army, the 3 credit unions who joined forces to help this amazing centre (Aldergrove Financial Group, Envision Financial and Prospera Credit Union), the mayor and town of Langley and all of the vendors and volunteers that made this event so memorable!

Watch for coverage on this event on Ride like a Local on YouTube.  The episode should air end on October or early November.

Belt Drive Betty

The 25th anniversary version of Summer Stomp - A HUGE Success

The 25th anniversary version of the Summer Stomp was a roaring success.

Riders from all over western Canada converged on Sicamous BC, and were treated to a wide variety of entertainment.  

I missed the burnouts and first round of bands on Friday as I had stopped in Golden overnight so I could see a friend in the hospital.
I heard nothing but rave reviews and was wishing that I could clone myself.

Saturday did not disappoint either though. It poured from Golden to Malakwa but then the blue skies materialized and the rest of the day was picture perfect Okanagan weather.

The main street of Sicamous was a motorcycle only zone and was lined with vendors of all types just like they are at all the major American rallies and there is no fee to visit these vendors or any of the entertainment on the street.


Kamloops Harley-Davidson was there with their event truck, Rollin' Rubber from Vernon was letting riders know about their tire services, Behind the Bars was selling all kinds of gadgets and goodies, and the list goes on!


There were handmade belt buckles, handmade shirts, leggings and all kinds of food vendors and then of course the beer gardens.  The music was rockin' and people were dancing to the BC DC Band - the AC DC tribute band. What a hoot!  This is a fun band to watch and listen to.

At 4 pm the poker run with over 100 bikes rolled in and that was a signal for the stunt riders to start doing their thing. People lined the street watching talented young men whip their machines around doing stop pies and all sorts of stunts.  

The winds were too high so Kris Garwasiuk was not able to perform any freestyle jumps, but the crowd thoroughly enjoyed the entertaining riders on their sport bikes.

After the beer gardens closed down on main street, I headed off to my accommodations in Sorrento. 

If you don't reserve your accommodations in Sicamous a year in advance, you aren't going to find a motel or hotel room!  




I headed back to the main Stomp grounds at 10pm.

The venue was laid out very well with tenting off to the right of the main gates and vendor alley straight ahead and ringing the perimeter.   There were big tents and picnic tables for those who wanted to partake in the food and beverages out of the heat of the day.  The big Houseboat where the VIP's were partying was full and people were hollering and hooting - having a blast.



Vendor Alley still had many vendors open, Up Your Leather, from Vancouver, Rose's Front Room from Blackfalds Alberta was there as was Dark Lord Clothiers just to name a few.  

 There were 4 - 1% er booths on the grounds, and lots of new club patches everywhere. 

This time, as in the past, there were no issues with the clubbers other than the fact that they bring the gang squad with them. A few patrons were uncomfortable with the police presence, but the officers were pleasant enough and not oppressive in their numbers.  

LegZZ, the ZZ Top Tribute band brought the house down. There were people everywhere and not one person was standing still, they were bouncing around, singing to the music, dancing and just having a smoking good time.

At midnight was the wet tee shirt contest and there were a dozen gals who decided they wanted in on the action.  Some people don't like this aspect of a lot of biker events, but the ladies who got involved seemed to love the attention they were getting.

I myself don't really get into the whole wet tee shirt contest, it's just not something that I enjoy and certainly not something I would participate in, but there are many who have no issue with dropping their laundry in front of a few thousand people.

I did note that the police who were on the main gate all wandered down to watch the contest and they seemed to be enjoying the show, even the lady police officer.

As I headed back for the main gate to leave, so did the police.

It had been a long day but thoroughly enjoyable day.
I want to thank Steve Hammer and the entire Stomp team.  I truly enjoyed the heck out of myself!

For those considering attending the Summer Stomp, stop considering it and just do it, you'll have a blast!  Not only is the Stomp a well run event, but the location is awesome, tenting is included in your ticket price and the town of Sicamous is so welcoming that you will feel right at home!

 (The following photos are from insight-photography.com and give you a glimpse into the first 2 days of events that I was not present for):

To see the other photos from Insight-Photography, visit: http://www.summerstomp.ca/2013-photo-gallery

Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider

Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs & OMG's, attempting to get at the truth

I wrote an article on my time with the Iron Order MC in Edmonton recently and a lot of the people who decided to make some pointed remarks about the veracity of this Outlaw Motorcycle Club quoted articles written by the Aging Rebel in their argument that the Iron Order is a cop club and a bunch of posers who buy their patches.

The Iron Order MC has been on the receiving end of much wrath on the Aging Rebel blog.
The Internet is filled with information and mis-information and sometimes deciphering what is fact can be challenging. Often times there is just enough truth in something that is written as to make it appear credible.

Up until now I have largely ignored the Aging Rebel as the topics he generally covers are of no interest to we Canadians, or should I say this Canadian.  However, that has changed now that the Iron Order MC is here in Canada.

Around the time I wrote about my time with the Iron Order MC's Snow City Crew, there was a shooting that took place in Florida and a man died.

The two clubs involved are the Black Pistons MC and the Iron Order MC.
Reportedly a prospect of the Iron Order MC shot and killed a full patched member of the Black Pistons MC during a bloody fight.

There have been articles written by the Aging Rebel that make claims that this situation was somehow a murder.  According to various articles elsewhere, there have been contradictory statements and eye witness accounts offered up as "evidence" and the police in Jacksonville Florida released the "facts" that they are able to.

Watch the News Video here: 

http://www.news4jax.com/news/nippers-shooting-investigation/26850654

Because of one of his recent articles Feds Talk About The Iron Order,  where in the Aging Rebel claims that the Iron Order are now labelled an OMG by the ATF, I made a number of calls to the ATF and finally got through to a representative at the Public Affairs Office to have the referenced report verified.

The gentleman I spoke to spent several days looking into this report and the veracity of the information on the Aging Rebel Blog with regards to this report.

Here is what this spokesperson told me:
The report that the Aging Rebel refers to and quotes from is a 40 page unclassified report.

The spokesperson is not sure how the Aging Rebel came to be in possession of an emailed report that is meant for law enforcement personnel only. It is not meant for public consumption.

The spokesperson also told me that the snippet that appeared on the Aging Rebel Blog was taken out of context in terms of the greater report and that the writer of the report made a small mistake in how the 2 groups were designated in his description of an altercation between an OMG and the OMC.

He also expressed that the ATF does not designate who is an OMG and who is not, they simply deal with the violence that erupts as a result of the presence of any gang be they motorcycle related or street.

He verified with other agencies that the Iron Order MC is NOT deemed to be an OMG.

If you want to verify what I am writing here, you can do exactly as I did, call the Office of Public Affairs for the ATF  at (202) 648-8500.

Here is the quote from the Aging Rebel Blog:

Begin Quote: 

“In southern and central Maryland, the Iron Horsemen MC is furious that the Iron Order continues to don a three-piece patch. In the past 2 months, there have been several bloody confrontations between the two. On February 28, 2014, both were involved in a melee at a strip club in Baltimore. Iron Horsemen members were equipped with bats, knives, MagLite flashlights and hammers. Even though nobody was killed, both OMGs suffered major injuries. One week later, as three Iron Order members were idling at a red light in Prince George’s County, they were viciously attacked by several car loads of suspected Iron Horsemen members. Two of the three Iron Order members were severely beaten with bats, ax handles and crow bars. The assailants were not wearing colors or indicia that depicted they were Iron Horsemen members, supporters or associates.

“The Iron Order is one of the fastest growing motorcycle clubs in the United States. Members wear a traditional three-piece patch with a State bottom rocker. The fact that they wear the State bottom rocker has infuriated the HAMC, Outlaws, Iron Horsemen, Pagans and Bandidos. More importantly, many of their members are police and corrections officers, active-duty military and/or government employees and contractors.

“Over the past 4 years, the Iron Order has had several violent confrontations with each of the aforementioned OMGs. Per the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), in 2013, an Iron Order member was run off the road by a Bandidos member. In Clarksville, Kentucky, the Iron Order and Outlaws have been involved in several violent altercations. On May 14, 2011, HAMC South Carolina Nomads member William Sosebee stabbed an Iron Order member outside a bar in South Carolina. Despite the violence, they continue to move into territory controlled by one of the Dominant Seven.” End Quote

So why am I so interested in what is going on between clubs in Florida and the rest of the USA?

How could their "shit' down there possibly have anything to do with us in Canada?

• Well, we have 5 chapters of the Iron Order MC in Canada, there are 8 or 9 chapters of the Outlaws MC in Canada.

• Top that off with the announcement that the Outlaws have set up shop in Saskatoon where there is a chapter of the Hell's Angels.

• Add in the tensions between the IO and the Black Pistons MC (a "puppet" or support club of the Outlaws MC AKA the AOA) after the shooting in Florida and the fact that there is an IO chapter in Edmonton.

There is a potential for rivalries and issues to flair.
We are after all discussing men and their territorial mind sets, these kinds of rivalries go all the way back in time to Cane and Abel....

I am not saying there will be trouble, but I am saying that we all need to be educated as to the politics and goings on in our community.

Why?

Well, these are after all Motorcycle Clubs and some of them may attend events that you attend.
If tensions get high, it could become unpleasant and potentially lethal, just look at what happened in Hollister a few weekends ago.

The MC world affects those of us who do not ride in that world in that they are the ones who generally get the headlines, aide in the creation of the visions others have of the rest of us who ride alone or with the various MRC's etc., and when they come to events, sometimes they bring the Gang Squads with them. When that happens we are all subject to being photographed and having our plates photographed by law enforcement.

Knowledge is power. 

It is far easier to stay out of any potentially bad situation when you know the players and the playing field. Being situationally and rivalry aware can help keep you out of harms way.

I am going to attempt to write a series of articles on the MC world and hopefully we will discuss the conflict between the Iron Order MC and the Black Pistons MC - the Outlaw MC (AOA)

I have interviewed a couple of members of the upper echelon of the Iron Order MC and have requested interviews with members of the upper echelons of the Florida chapters of the Outlaws MC.
I have not heard back yet from the Outlaws MC, but so far, 10 days later, no one has responded to me to discuss their position.

It is my hope that by creating some dialogue, that there can be an education of sorts in this community as to who is who and what is what.

If you want people to know about your club, who you are and what you represent - I want to hear from you:
bdbetty @ gmail.com (remove the spaces).

The series of articles that I want to put forth is not meant to "push" or "condone" any one point of view but to educate those who want to be, on what the points of view, philosophies and values are of these clubs from their perspective.

How they resonate with you is up to you. What you take away from the articles is up to you.

My goal is to truly be a messenger of many, and educator so to speak, so that you can come away with a balanced and impartial perspective on the various factions, and decide on who you want to associate with or not.

Look for the first article soon...

In other news, Sturgis North AKA Sturgis Canada has, before they even got my counter offer to settle, offered me a second resolution - they would like to buy $1,000 worth of advertising and give me 30 - 4 day passes to their event to sell.  I have rejected that offer and my attorney has sent of my counter offer.  We shall see if there is a resolution there soon or not, in the meantime, I still have a $3,000 lawyer's bill I have to pay so we are holding an auction of SOA art which started yesterday with "Bobby" and will continue for another 8 days until all 9 Pieces are gone!

The Defense Fund Auction for Sons of Anarchy art  by Mark Mullen is on over at: www.beltdrivebetty.com/auction-home

Have a fantastic day everyone!

Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider

The last season of Son's of Anarchy and a great Art Auction

As many of you know this upcoming season of Sons of Anarchy will be the last.

And, as many of you know, I am in a lawsuit and need to raise the funds to fight the "charges" against me.  For those of you who don't know what the lawsuit is about, please visit my Defense Fund Page.

The reason that the final season of SOA ties into me being sued, is that a talented young man named Mark Mullen has donated an entire set of his pastels of the original cast of the Sons of Anarchy to my defense fund.

Mark met Charlie Hunnam through a family friend who was working on the set of "Pacific Rim" and when Charlie saw the renderings of Young Jax, Mature Jax and Clay he wanted to support Mark in his bid to go to college and help pay his way.  Charlie challenged young Mark to create the entire original cast and he did.  Good to his word, Charlie took them to the set and 8 out of 9 of these amazing pieces were autographed. William Lucking had already left the show and so was not available to autograph the piece of "Piney".

These prints are all accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and photos of Charlie Hunnam and Mark together.

I helped facilitate the auction of the originals and Mark decided to donate set number 25 of 25 to my legal defense.

Once season 7 of SOA is over, these actors will never again autograph anything as their character.

Besides this set, there are 2 or 3 other sets left to sell.  Once they are gone, they are gone!

The auction starts on Thursday July 17th with one piece featured every day.

I need to raise the funds to pay a lawyer to defend me.

Right now, my goal is to raise $10K, 3 of that is needed ASAP to pay for this latest lawyer's bill.
The other $7 is to cover the appearance of my lawyer before the courts in Surrey. 

Because of this lawsuit and my crash, my business has suffered. I am just getting caught up on three months of invoicing, marketing materials that have to go out and getting ready to finally mail our phone books out. It's been draining, time consuming and frustrating.

As another way of growing the business and services we offer:


I am offering 25% commission to all riders and or riding clubs who bring new businesses to the Rider Friendly Business Association.

If you are interested in making some money for your club or yourself, give me a call. I need sales people and reporters in every province!

If you are interested in promoting your community, your businesses, your events - get in touch!  bdbetty @ gmail.com
Fix the spaces!

Have a great day everyone, and please ride like everyone around you is blind and cannot see you.

Belt Drive Betty,
Editor & Rider