Photos and story by: Ricky Jimenez Carrasco
La Hermandad MC is one of the newest clubs in El Paso that has already begun to make an impact in the community. The club, made up of many area business professionals, seeks to help the community by using their common resources to give to those charities that make a difference for people in need. According to Robert “Guns” Alvarez, president of La Hermandad, the club has helped such non-profit organizations such as La Posada Home, the YWCA Transitional Living Center, Aliviane, Project Amistad and the Ronald McDonald House, among others this year.
Club members are encouraged to help out other clubs in their charitable efforts. At this month’s Chamucos MC gift donations to the Lee Moor Children’s Home, Hermandad VP “Philly”, a Walgreen’s manager, was able to bring pharmacists who administered free flu shots to the kids who might not otherwise have received the inoculations. Hermandad member “Wolf” was an important part of the Kings and Priest’s annual “Biker Sunday” memorial.
For the recent Coalition toy run, La Hermandad teamed up with other businesses and the Marines Toys for Tots campaign to present a check back to the Coalition in the amount of $1136 for the purpose of buying more toys. The Coalition then was able to add those toys to the already sizable amount that they would donate back to the community.
The photos here were taken from the starting point for the 2nd annual Boys and Girls Club of El Paso toy drive, sponsored by Walgreens, Pepsi, and El Paso Electric and hosted by La Hermandad. Alvarez described how Hermandad is trying to contribute to El Paso, “This year, we joined forces with Operation Santa in an effort to increase our collection of toys and help with the distribution of toys to the various organizations we help. Our goal is to give back to the community. In a time of economic stress, we simply try to reach out to the children in our city and provide some holiday cheer.” About 200 toys were collected to give out needy families. “The fact is that all 42 El Paso clubs contribute a ton of support to the community” and La Hermandad is indeed doing their part.
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Photos and Story by: Ricky J. Carrasco
In these images, you can see what the El Paso biker is really about: their bikes, camaraderie, riding, pulling together for what is important, something bigger than themselves. What does the general public see? Leather, loud pipes, tattoos, “Sons of Anarchy”, bad attitude. For the most part, the EP biker does not care about their perceived image. They will continue to do their work in the community despite a general prejudice and fear against them.
On November 6th, the annual Coalition Toy Run ran this year from its usual Sunland Park beginning to this year’s destination at Cohen Stadium in the northeast. The numbers are impressive, more so because they are produced by the same leather clad, tattooed, big rough bikers people shy away from. Almost 900 people registered, close to 2000 bikes participating. More than a thousand toys were collected at the time of the run and almost six thousand toys will eventually be distributed because of this run. “We get requests for these toys throughout the year from various community and non-profit agencies that serve needy children all over the county. Such agencies like the YWCA, Aliviane, the Socorro migrant program, programs that serve the various colonias in the area all request, receive and distribute these toys for us,” says Ryan LaBarbera, Coalition Chairman. “Even from about 8 years ago, when Margarita’s on the east side hosted this event, the event has grown immensely. “
The Coalition has worked hard to have its clubs and EP bikers participate in the community. “We heavily suggest that our clubs participate in the community, host runs and give to charity. We try to keep our members informed about what’s going on, not just in the biker community, but in El Paso in general. I think that the community knows that we are involved because we have many members of the community, agency representatives and area politicians, come to our meetings. They know we participate, they know we vote. I think they know we care.”
Gracie Martinez, President of the Road Queens MC and Coalition Secretary, also stated that the Coalition is a very inclusive organization, “We always encourage independent riders to participate in the coalition. Every rider, whether they belong to a member club or not, whether they ride a little or a lot, can come participate in meetings.” Gracie says that many parade participants only come to be part of the parade, register, drop off toys, ride in the parade, then leave, never attending the party afterwards.
The secret to the Coalition’s success has been this inclusion, camaraderie, and communication between the clubs. LaBarbera remembered a story from that day, “The mayor invited an acquaintance from out of town to come ride with us in the parade. The gentleman was amazed by what he saw before the parade: a thousand bikers from many different clubs, cruisers, choppers, sport bikes, all just hanging out peacefully. We’re used to it and we expect it, but it’s certainly not the norm outside of El Paso. The public gets stuck in the leather, in the image of the ‘biker’. But the truth is that here in El Paso, it simply hasn’t been the biker getting arrested for drunkenness, for fighting in public, for generally getting into trouble.”
I told LaBarbera that last year, I attended the bikers Christmas visit to University Medical Hospital where they visited sick children and gave out toys. About 40 “typical” bikers attended, all wearing black leather, most wearing patches, and mine was the only news camera there.
“We really haven’t seen a change in the biker image. We can only keep doing what we’re doing. We know that as a whole, bikers represent one of the biggest charity organizations in the country. We in El Paso have 42 clubs, more than half are always active. We have charitable runs most weekends going on somewhere, most of which have at least 200 people participating. We support one another in .“
LaBarbera, Martinez, and Larry “Dimple” Galvan, Coalition Co-Chair and Survivors MC president, would like to thank everybody who came out and participated in the parade and in the many functions throughout the year and everybody who helped in making this toy run a success from the owners of Cohen Stadium to the EP Police Department for escorting the route. They look forward to the distribution of the toys this year and another successful efforts through the El Paso biker community in the years to come.
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By Joe Olvera ( c), 2011
From the so-called “Hogs” ridden by motorcycle gangs such as the Hell’s Angels, to the putt-putt motor scooters ridden by little ole ladies, the motorcycle has always had a romantic air of freedom about it. In El Paso, with its wide open spaces and scenic drives, it becomes even more of an icon that is beloved by doctors, politicians, and ordinary people who enjoy having a powerful machine between their legs, cruising back streets and mountainous country.
From its inception in1867, when Sylvester Howard Roper (1823-1896) invented a two-cylinder, steam engine motorcycle (powered by coal) the first motorcycle has seen an evolution of sorts. In 1885, Gottlieb Daimier invented the first gas-engine motorcycle, which was an engine attached to a wooden bike. That marked the moment in history when the dual development of a viable gas powered engine and the modern bicycle collided. Motorcycles have figured prominently in Americana, with prominent Americans like Howard Hughes producing a movie called “Chills and Spills,” a 1952 film in which Hughes creates what is described as a “fun film, jam-packed with awesome vintage cycles.” Other iconic motorcycle films include one of Marlon Brando’s earliest films, “The Wild Ones,” in which Brando and his motorcycle gang terrorize a small town – when Brando, the biker is asked what he’s rebelling against, he asks: “What you got?”
Undoubtedly, the sexiest machine in both lore and reality is the one created by William Harley and the Davidson brothers – the Harley Davidson. Prior to developing their own company to build their unique machines, they had such competitors as Excelsior, Indian, Pierce, Merkel, Schikel and Thor. In 1903, William Harley and his friends Arthur and Walter Davidson launched the Harley-Davidson Motor Company, a company which still stands above the rest in providing a motorcycle that still outdistances the rest. The Harley-Davidson is a powerful bike which is still highly popular, even in today’s movie-making ventures, such as the more recent movie, “Hogs.”.
But, perhaps the bikes which still stand out in American folklore are the ones used in the movie “Easy Rider,” starring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson. The protagonists, Fonda and Hopper, used bikes built on hardtail frames and panhead engines. These bikes, built in 1949, 1950 and 1952, known as Glide Bikes, were purchased at auction by the actors. They used the bikes to tell the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom. According to Wikipedia, this landmark counterculture film becomes a “touchstone for a generation” that “captured the national imagination,” Easy Rider explores the societal landscapes, issues, and tensions in the United States during the 1960s, such as the rise and fall of the hippie movement, drug use and communal lifestyle.
Easy Rider is famous for its use of real drugs in its portrayal of marijuana and other substances, such as Acid or LSD. But, whatever the motorcycles are used for, there’s no doubt that they have captured the imagination of an American public that is only too willing to buy vintage motorcycles, or the more modern versions. Either way, motorcycles, with their powerful, vibrating engines, are here to stay.
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