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Sun News Pro Rally Video Clip

http://videos.myrtlebeachonline.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=3181598&item_index=2&all=1&sort=NULL

Sun News Anti Rally Video Clip

http://videos.myrtlebeachonline.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=3182361&item_index=1&all=1&sort=NULL

Sun News Article

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/local/story/788028.html

Atlantic Beach Says "NO" to the City of Myrtle Beach

http://www.carolinalive.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=261574

Channel 15 News

http://www.carolinalive.com/news/story.aspx?id=261591

Channel 13 News

http://www.scnow.com/scp/news/local/grand_strand/article/council_meeting_heats_up_over_biker_debate/34020/

 

Good Morning Friends/Family

 

As promised, WE will continue to keep you posted as much as possible.

 

On Tuesday, February 17, 2009 many people flooded the County Council meeting in reference to the bike rallies.  The concerned of the bikers, this would be a third and final reading.  The first two readings passed.  This new ordinance would eliminate the numbers of vendor permits, minimized the numbers of days you could vend from 10 days to 5 days, increased the vendor fees from $800.00 to $1,500.00 and $400.00 to $1,200.00, and the 35 contiguous acre rule (which would eliminate vendors altogether in some areas).  The nearly 4 ½ hour meeting seemed to be vocal from both sides expressing their feelings, not to mention explosive expressive tones with the Council body going at each other.

 

Our (Harley and Memorial bikers) attendance was well worth it, our voices are being heard, although neither sides didn’t get what they want, the biker walked away with a better deal than what they originally had on the table.

 

In closing, Chairman Liz Gilland said to the bikers, they are counting on us to police ourselves…it’s up to the bikers at this point.  In other words friends….WE (as Bikers) must assume accountability for our actions, conduct ourselves in manner in which we want to be treated.  It’s not just contingent on the government body…it’s contingent on us as bikers, for WE have the power to make or break our rallies.

 

As far as the actions taken by the City of Myrtle Beach…at this point they stand alone.  Let u as biker make a difference, let's defend our rights and preserve our history....simply comply with the terms of the law, show up in greater numbers and we win...we have the power to rewrite what the City of Myrtle Beach has written.

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To All Of Our Family/Friends
 
There are many things planned to preserve the history of the RALLIES, the most important thing we would like you all to note is the collective UNITY that is represented on both sides of the rallies.  This press release was very short notice, (as in less than 12 hrs notice).  HOWEVER, collectively we are THANKFUL to have the visual and written coverage to validate the collective efforts that are being set forward on both sides of the rallies.
 
Hakim Harrell of Cycle Shoes International was in Town to meet with several businesses to duplicate the same level of Vendors he sponsored at the Convention Center in May 2008.  In the mist of the meetings the Press Release was launched on Saturday, January 31, 2009, and on short notice, both black and white supporting both rallies came to deliver their messages the RALLIES ARE NOT OVER. 
 
Locally to our fellow bikers, we apologize for the short notice, as we know by the emails, phone calls and text message you all were planning to attend, and some of you arrived as it was ending.
 
Nationally for those of you all who think that we aren't fighting here to preserve our history, we are continuosly fighting, our efforts doesn't/didn't receive media coverage, at least until now.
 
As promised, we will keep you updated.
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"We are not going to lay down to the city of Myrtle Beach," said Hakim Harrell, an event promoter from Philadelphia. "Our message to the city of Myrtle Beach is, you should be thankful. These events helped build the city of Myrtle Beach."
 
The show of unity comes after many area governments, led by the city of Myrtle Beach, enacted new rules to limit the scope of May's two major motorcycle rallies - the 10-day Harley-Davidson spring rally, which attracts a mostly white crowd, and Memorial Day weekend's Atlantic Beach Bikefest, which is popularly known as Black Bike Week.
 
Saying that the two events' half-million visitors overwhelm the city, Myrtle Beach passed 15 new laws last fall, including helmet requirements and decibel limits, and it has a new Web site stating that this year the city "will no longer host motorcycle rallies." Horry County is debating restricting vendors, which nearby Surfside Beach banned outright for two years.
 
On Saturday, both groups touted the heritage of their rallies: The Harley rally is 69 years old, and the Atlantic Beach Bikefest began in 1980. John Glover, president of the Carolina Knight Riders club that started the Atlantic Beach event, said neither rally is Myrtle Beach's to end.
 
"Now they want to pull the plug on the bike rallies," Glover said. "I'd like everyone to know, there's more to the Grand Strand than Myrtle Beach."
 
In their promises to come to this year's rally, the bikers uniformly said they would avoid Myrtle Beach. To some degree, that is part of the city's goal, said Myrtle Beach city spokesman Mark Kruea in a phone call afterward.
 
"The city has said it doesn't want to be the focus of these rallies," Kruea said. "If these rallies go elsewhere, Myrtle Beach would be happy."
 
At the event, many of the motorcyclists said their good works and charity fundraisers during the rallies are ignored. Instead, Myrtle Beach city officials chose to blame violence and misbehavior by local teens and spectators along Ocean Boulevard on bikers, said Violet "Heels" Lucas of the Horry-Georgetown Bikers Association.
 
"A lot of the people on the Boulevard aren't bikers, but we're stigmatized by their reputation," said Lucas, noting that she doesn't visit Ocean Boulevard at all during rallies.
 
Myrtle Beach and bikers attempted to plan the rally together in years past, but the city spokesman said rally organizers were unwilling to shorten the rallies - leading to the city's new, harsher position against them. Individual bikers only spend a week or so at a time at the rallies, so they do not realize the events' cumulative effect, Kruea said.
 
"If we were talking about three or four days for each one, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation," he said. "We're talking about 20 straight days of motorcycle rallies, and that is too much for the city."
 
Although the event was held on the front lawn of Atlantic Beach Town Hall, none of the town's four elected officials were present, and the only town employee there was Police Chief Randy Rizzo. Mayor Retha Pierce has been hospitalized since feeling chest pains while waiting for a court hearing Thursday, but spokesman Mustafa Abdullah of Conway said at the event that Pierce supports the bikers.
 
Rizzo, who said he was not informed of the gathering beforehand, said he is waiting on the Atlantic Beach Town Council to give him some direction on this year's rally, so he can begin coordinating law enforcement with other agencies.
 
"Their decision is vital," Rizzo said. "They're going to have the bike rallies whether anybody sponsors it or not."
 
Representatives from Myrtle Beach are set to speak to the Atlantic Beach Town Council at their Monday night meeting about the Bikefest, town officials said. Contacted by phone, Councilman Donnell Thompson said he is waiting to hear their comments before he decides how to proceed.
 
"This is a time when we can work with our neighbors," Thompson said.
In years past, costly contracts with promoters and entertainers created deep debts the town has yet to climb out of, but in 2008, former town manager Charles Williams restricted the town's involvement to support for the officers in town, providing portable toilets and hiring cleanup crews afterward. Interim Town Manager Kenneth McIver said he will recommend the council continue that approach.
 
"From a financial standpoint, we don't have it to spend. We cannot do a lot," McIver said. "We just don't want to incur any more debt."
 
Thompson agreed that the town's spending should be minimal, unlike the lavish plans of the past.
 
"I don't think we should ever go in that direction again," Thompson said. "We shouldn't put the town out where we spend a bunch of money and don't know if it's going to come back in."