Article published Apr 15, 2006
Big-hearted bikers ready for run

By Tommy Stevenson
Associate Editor

The In Country Vets Motorcycle Club is sponsoring a 50-mile “Ride for Veterans" through Tuscaloosa County Saturday to raise money for various veterans’ causes next Saturday.

Registration for the ride, open to anyone with a “street legal" motorcycle, is $15 and will begin at 11 a.m. at McFarland Mall. The bikes will head south on U.S. Highway 82 at noon.

The bikers will then turn north on Hagler Coaling Road near the Bibb County line, proceed through Coaling to U.S. Highway 11, turn west and end at VFW Post 6022 in Cottondale, according to Charles Snellgrove, one of the organizers.

“We’ll then have a big cookout and fish fry with the mayor, the sheriff, the police chief and other officials on hand," he said.

Sheriff Ted Sexton, who recently purchased a two-year-old Harley Davidson motorcycle, said he plans to participate in the fund drive.

“I’ll be riding, and I imagine [Tuscaloosa Police Chief Ken] Swindle will be, too," he said. “Ken’s a bike rider, and he has been on these runs before. I’ve been on the last few rides."

Swindle was on vacation and could not be reached for comment.

For the past few years, the motorcycle club of Vietnam veterans has had different formats for their rides, making various stops along the route. This year, the ride will be uninterrupted, said member Rick Lindsey.

“Last year we raised about $1,100 for veterans causes, and we hope to do much better than that this year by just getting as many motorcycles on the road as possible," he said. “The Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Department and the Tuscaloosa Police will be escorting us all the way, so it should be a very safe ride."

Club members hope to see more than 100 bikes take to the road Saturday.

Members of the In Country Vets Motorcycle Club, which has a clubhouse in Cottondale, said that the money raised through their annual fund-raisers goes to various veterans’ causes, but most is earmarked for the Fund for Indigent Veterans, which operates several homes for disabled vets in Tuscaloosa County.

Randy Lestourgeon, coordinator for volunteer programs at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, says the motorcycle club has raised thousands of dollars in recent years for veterans’ causes.

“They are one of the biggest boosters we have for many of our programs, especially the indigent homes," he said. “They’ve done wonderful things for these guys."

Snellgrove said the more than 20 indigent homes in the county shelter veterans not only from the Vietnam era, but also from the Korean conflict and even World War II.

“The In Country Vets don’t just limit their help to this ride," he added. “They take a very personal interest in the group homes and do a lot of other events with and for them."

T-shirts commemorating the ride will also be on sale at the VFW hall.

Reach Tommy Stevenson at tommy.stevenson@tuscaloosanews.com or (205) 722-0194.