Bikers hit the road for Father Fred

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Garry Plane, of Elmwood Township, poses for a photograph on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle overlooking West Grand Traverse Bay and Old Mission Peninsula on Wednesday in Elmwood Township. Plane plans on participating in the annual Ride for Father Fred this weekend, hosted by the Northern Chapter Harley Owners Group, with part of the route taking place on Old Mission Peninsula. Record-Eagle/Keith King

July 19, 2012

Bikers hit the road for Father Fred

By Vanessa McCray vmccray@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Thu Jul 19, 2012, 07:14 AM EDT

TRAVERSE CITY — Garry Plane recalls the rides he took with beloved Catholic priest Father Edwin Frederick on the back of his bike.

Not just any bike: A big, tough motorcycle. And not just any ride, either: A cruise amid a pack of hundreds united in a common cause.

Plane plans to once again join The Ride for Father Fred, a police-escorted processional that thunders up Old Mission Peninsula. This weekend's event marks the 20th annual ride, and Plane remembers the first one and the many he later shared with Father Fred.

The priest, who died in 2000, launched the local Father Fred Foundation, which benefits from the ride and related weekend events.

"When he was on the back, I think he enjoyed it very much. He would talk constantly. I was getting an earful, but I was learning so much about him," said Plane, 66.

He's participated in many of the benefit rides, about six of which found Father Fred seated in that prime position behind him as they led the roaring herd.

The Northern Chapter Harley Owners Group organizes the annual motorcycle event. It begins Saturday with a poker run that takes riders through the three-county area. A motorcycle show runs Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m. along Union Street in Traverse City.

The ride starts Sunday at 11 a.m. at Classic Motor Sports off U.S. 31 and runs along Center Road to Old Mission Peninsula's tip. Participants pay $20 to register for one or both days. The ride is open to all motorcyclists who ride any kind of bike.

The route takes motorcyclists past St. Joseph Catholic Church, where Father Fred once served.

It's a special occasion for onlookers, too, said Beth Denoyer, who will ride Sunday as a passenger on her husband's bike.

"To me the most moving thing is when we're riding along in that group is the people that line up along the sides of the road, and they get out and wave," she said.

Spectators flap American flags. They stake out spots with pickup trucks along the route and snap pictures as the pack motors past.

Denoyer is one of the planners who began to organize this year's event in February, securing permits and coordinating countless details. The event raised roughly $200,000 for the foundation since its start.

Donations stemming from the ride range between $15,000 and $20,000 a year, said the foundation's Executive Director Martie Manty. This year's event will pay for back-to-school supplies such as backpacks, funds for shoes and school items, she said.

A foundation board member will provide a bike blessing before the ride's start.

"I love to be right there at the beginning when the blessing happens," Manty said, who called the event a slice of "real Americana." "You see every kind of bike — three wheelers, you see bikes with sidecars ... people with their dogs dressed up."

The ride's longevity over two decades could make this anniversary event a special draw, said Paul Jarboe, a past president of the local Harley group.

"When this started people really weren't thinking it was going to go as long as it has," he said. "It started out really with just a bunch of local members of the Northern chapter kind of throwing money in a hat."

Plane remembers that first year and how after just a few days of planning, the ride day came — along with rain. About 20 bikes gathered for that first ride, when the rain stopped and the sun emerged.

"As we were going down the hill, we had bikes joining us right and left," Plane said.

The ride grew from that first event, and the motorcyclists — "doctors, attorneys, blue collar, white collar" — embraced the foundation as a cause. Plane considers himself "very fortunate" to have known the priest who founded the local nonprofit and that the ride continues "in his memory."

"When you mention Father Fred's name to people out in the community, they open up their arms and give and give and give," Plane said.