Motorcycle enthusiasts need not wait much longer for that little slice of hog heaven. The annual Lake Shore HOG (Harley Owners Group) Bike Blessing, which kicks off the official riding season, happens this weekend.
Registration begins at 9 a.m. Sunday at Lake Shore Harley-Davidson, 1424 Belvidere Rd. (Illinois Highway 120), Waukegan. Come rain or shine, the double-wide procession will take off at 11 a.m. sharp, led by Lake County sheriff’s deputies’ squads and members of the Blue Knights Illinois Chapter 10 police motorcycle organization.
The assembly will head on a 25-mile journey, ending up at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 8760 37th Ave., Kenosha, where pastor Jim Niederloh and assistant minister Ray Trusky will bless individually the riders and their motorcycles in an outdoor ceremony after regular Sunday services.
Trusky, a charter member of HOG, started the event in 1990. “It’s the perfect way to start the new riding season,” he says. “The riders come and take it very seriously. And it makes them feel closer to God.”
The event is free, and riders with any type of motorcycle are welcome to participate, says Richard Gould, director of HOG.
Gould expects this event to be bigger than ever. Last year more than 500 bikers enrolled, while many others hooked up with the caravan along the way. Onlookers and participants alike testify that the rumble of the fired-up engines and the performance of the riders are sounds and sights indeed to behold. Spectators, many armed with cameras and video recorders, hung over fences and set up lawn chairs last year to watch and wave to the bikers.
It’s a diverse group in every way. Riding motorcycles has the magic of melding groups that normally wouldn’t socialize, says retired Metra police chief Charlie Mason. “There’s a type of brotherhood among all of us,” he adds. “The police aren’t out there to push their authority on other bikers, and we all get along pretty well.”
Mason, a member of the Blue Knights, was instrumental in getting the group involved in the bike blessing four years ago. Now the Knights lead the pack during the run up to the Kenosha church every year. The Blue Knights are also handling a fundraiser for Shriner’s Hospital for Crippled Children after the bike blessing.
The event takes place from 1 to 6 p.m. at Julie’s Texas Style Bar and Grill on Illinois Highway 21 just south of Illinois Highway 22 in Lincolnshire.
For further information, contact Lake Shore Harley-Davidson at 847-662-4500.
