10TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY AT THE DEAD RAT SALOON
Richard Tilley OWNER/EDITOR
It was a nice morning as we headed out from Lemoore towards Fresno. We had to stop and pick up Dana and Lauren Bartram on our way to Fresno Harley Davidson to kick off our 10th Anniversary Poker Run. Our Van was loaded to the top with all the tables, and crates full of prizes for our opportunity drawing.
When we arrived, there were already several Bikers there waiting on us. We had to work quickly to get the registration table set up. The arrangements were completed, and Girl Scout cookies were also available for purchase at the end of the tables. Next to us were the young girls who were selling cookies to make their own money, and their mom was making food for folks to purchase.
We had to work fast to get everyone taken care of. That is what happens when you are a bit late getting there.
Fresno Harley were awesome Hosts, they had coffee and doughnuts all set up for folks to have refreshments, thank you Fresno Harley staff for making us feel so welcome.
While we were signing folks up for the Poker Run, I heard a lot of Bikers revving up as they were making a U-turn to come into Fresno Harley. There were close to a dozen riders from 5 Diamonds MC Fresno Chapter coming in to give us some support even though they had another events to attend that morning. Joey their Vice President come over to let me know that they wanted to come by and give some Love and
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Editor
Writers
10th Anniversary
Support to us, but they had a private party to attend for one of their members family. That sure put a big smile on my face, these guys always make me feel so welcome at their events. Helldog and LA from True Heart MC were in attendance as well.
At 10am Dallas Poore of Warriors of the Wind Foundation gave a speech and said a prayer for everyone to have a safe Ride out to the Dead Rat Saloon in Woodlake, California. The Riders went down highway 99 to highway 180, then a short ride out of town to get to highway 63. They took the back way towards Woodlake. We headed as quickly and safely as we
could down highway 99 to Avenue 384 to make our way to the Dead Rat. I felt like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get everything all setup. It sure made me think how things get harder to get done as my health is declining and I am getting old. Anthony and Judy Coelho and my cousin Kelli Morgan Langley were already there waiting to help us get things done. As well as Rudee De La Vega was there to lend a helping hand as well.
Papa Rick and Tina Payton were already setup and music was going. We worked as quickly as we could to set up 4 tables full of prizes for folks to win. That was a lot of dang work lol.
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10th Anniversary
Our crew put our booth together and got the tables filled with CC Biker shirts and cups for sale. As well as a few giveaway items. Rooster (David Ross) had his food booth all setup and going to feed folks, Sigmund had his booth for his company Skull & Spade Stitching all set up to sew patches onto biker’s cuts.
Overall, I think we had around 50 people in attendance at our 10th Anniversary Run. Which helped make it a fun day.
I would like to Thank Everyone who Helped and showed up to give us some Love and Support. And to my helpers who worked to make this a fun day.
BIKER FRIENDLY DIRECTORY FOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
Central California
Graphic Design Services
Jennifer Turk
559-708-8122
jenhturk@gmail.com
Inhisimage Cleaning LLC
Professional Cleaning Services
559-286-8207 www.facebook.com/ InhisownimageCleaning559
Karaoke & DJ Service
Tina & Papa Rick 209-376-1894
Central Coast
California Cravings www.californiacravingsca.com
Clovis
Sassano’s Men’s Wear
448 Pollasky 559-299-4430 www.sassanosmenswear.com
Fresno
420 Compassionate Care
Medical Cannabis Cards
559-498-3899
Daruma_Doll559
https://www.instagram. com/daruma_doll559/
Clawson Motorsports 6334 N. Blackstone Ave 559-435-5020 www.clawsonmotorsports.com
Kooty
Freeze Dried Kreations 559-2132-8271
Ruff Cuts Dog Grooming
Dana Bartram
559-558-0018
Friant
Crafters Garden Boutique 17304 N. Friant Rd
559-999-2376
craftersgraden@gmail.com
Mariposa
Happy Burger Diner 5120 Highway 140 209-966-2719 www.happyburgerdiner.com
Steve’s Sportsman Café 3441 Woodland Dr. 209-966-8223 www.facebook.com/ StevesSportsmansCafe
Nationwide
Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys 4400 Coldwater Canyon Ave Ste 200 Studio City, CA 800-424-5377 www.russbrown.com
North Fork
Buckhorn Saloon 32992 Road 222 559-877-8700 http://www. buckhornsaloon.net/
To have your business listed for $8.00 a month Contact Richard 559-572-3573
Opening mid January
Thursday - Saturday, 10am-6pm
Patti Crocker (559) 999-2376 craftersgarden@gmail.com 17304 N Friant Rd. Friant, CA 94626
Filling in the Blanks
Sara Jackman WRITER
There’s a place in Malta called the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum. It sits underground, carved out thousands of years ago, with layered rooms cut into limestone and no written explanation left behind. We know how old it is. We know people were buried there. Beyond that, we fill in the blanks.
That’s where it gets interesting.
People don’t do well with blanks.
Give us something we don’t fully understand, and we’ll build a story around it until it feels finished. Not necessarily accurate. Just finished enough that we can stop asking questions.
The Hypogeum has picked up its share of those stories. There are whispers about giants who created the place, because the scale feels bigger than the tools, we assume were available. There are stories about a group of school children who went in on a field trip and never
came back out. None of that is verified. None of it has to be. The place leaves room, so the stories show up.
That’s the pattern.
If something isn’t clear, discomfort gets filled with a version that makes sense to whoever is telling it. If we say it enough times, it starts to stick.
We don’t just do that with ancient structures.
We do it with people.
Spend enough time with bikers and you start to see. A group pulls up to a stoplight and we stop being individuals. We turn into something people react to. You can see it in how they look over, or how they shift, or how they decide what we must be up to-- even if nothing has actually happened.
By the time that moment gets retold later, it doesn’t stay simple. It picks up details it never had; someone almost got run off the road; someone barely made it out;
something happened that... didn’t actually happen.
Reality? We were heading to breakfast. That’s it. Just a group of friends trying to decide between waffles and pancakes.
But that version doesn’t fill the gap, so it gets replaced
with one that does.
I saw the same thing happen on a smaller scale, recently.
I was in a parking lot with a friend, working on her car door. I had it open and was working the latch
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back and forth, trying to figure out why it wouldn’t catch. My concern? I didn’t want it to fly open while she was driving.
One of my students saw part of it, not the whole thing. Just enough to know something was happening, but not
enough to understand what. By the next day, it had made its way around the school.
I wasn’t fixing a door anymore. I was breaking into a car, and in some accounts, stealing it. Depending on who you asked, you may even hear about a high speed chase that never happened.
Same moment; different versions. The thing is, no one sat down and decided to lie. It was just people trying to make sense of something they didn’t fully see, and they filled in the missing pieces with whatever made sense at the time. Once it got said out loud, it stayed.
That’s how these stories work. Not just the big ones buried under stone, but the everyday ones that follow people around.
Bikers carry a lot of them. Some we earned. Some we didn’t. Either way, once it sticks, it tends to stay.
People see leather and patches moving together. If they don’t have their own experience to pull from, they reach for whatever explanation is already out there. It gives them something. It makes the unknown easier to understand.
Most of the time, the
reality is quieter than what gets told.
We ride because we want to ride. We meet up because we enjoy each other’s company.
We fix things, help each other, and show up where we’re needed. We are just like you, but on two wheels. The Hypogeum is still down there, unchanged by whatever story gets layered over it. So are we.
