The parade is a great favorite of participants, onlookers, and the community-at-large. It takes well over an hour to gather and instruct everyone; then the jaunt from City Park down Main Street and back is over in about 10 or 15 minutes. This year, the parade bikers honored Jim Pomeroy with a moment of silence and the organizing committee announced that a rose bush has been planted in Athena City Park in Jim's memory. Jim's brother Ron Pomeroy led out the bikes. Harry Taylor made sure Athena policeman Mark Calvert was alerted. Overheard was the irreverent comment that all these Hodakas revving up sounded "like a convention of weedeaters!"
See the Hodaka Days committee's website for a great Main Street shot of parade and spectators.
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Mike Kirchberger oversaw the 2007 Bike Show. There were 69 entries in 19 classes. Winners were selected by popular ballot, with voters scrutinizing everything from fender shapes to welds to decals to make their decisions. Many agreed that the Bike Show has really "ramped up" in quality since the early years of Hodaka Days gatherings. The sunshine off the chrome was blinding!
Bike owners hovered to tell their stories. Jerry Carter, for example, told of his brother Rick buying a Super Rat on Ebay from Big Fork, Montana, with "Uncle" Whitey Hartman chasing it to Kalispiel, and finally getting it where Jerry could work on it. Jay Lael built the engine for that bike.
Comments flew -- Stu Osborn touted Rickman frames; Jay Lael noticed which Super Rats had original fenders; Ron Pomeroy pointed out entry #107, a 250 SL, as one of his favorites in the show; Ed Chesnut found the only 03 Wombat in the show and decided it was one of his favorites.
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 Phil Chapman's Frankenstein. Jay Lael said, "Bet it goes like stink!" and explained its MAICO chassis, modern exhaust pipe, and H250 engine.Apologies to Phil for the confusion earlier in identifying this bike; incorrect info was initially supplied. Thanks to Milo Linville for setting this straight. |
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 Note the original warranty sticker on the Combat Wombat. |
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Bike Show Winners:
| BEST OF SHOW - Danny Messmore's custom 250 Hodaka Trials Machine Bike. As Ed Chesnut says: "B-E-A-youtiful!" |  |
 Danny's Trials Bike |
 Stewart's Rickman |
Stu Osborn was in charge of Vendors and Swap Meet arrangements. He found sellers very pleased with results of this year's Hodaka Days. Obviously this augurs well for future years in soliciting more vendors.
He writes: "All the vendor booths and swap meet participants were very pleased this year with their sales. There were many good deals available, at much lower prices than you'd find on eBay. Siege sold out of his Hodaka Days 2007 shirts and sold deep into his backstock of medium and small vintage racing shirts, making enough money to say, 'I did better this year than all the rest.'"
"Reggie Chapman drove over 13 hours from California, sold both of the bikes he had for sale and made a VERY tidy sum in swap meet sales. Patti Stannard said the Strictly Hodaka sales were very good this year, well worth the effort Paul made driving the Strictly Hodaka trailer all the way from Charleston, Rhode Island."
Patti and Paul Stannard
Stu reports his own small swap meet booth ended up making around $600 and that his wife Melanie sold seven of her art prints to Hodaka wives and George Eadie. Stu also sent along these photos from the vendor area of the park.
 Siege, Stu's wife Mel, and George Eadie (Hansville, Washington; a fixture at Hodaka Days and AHRMA events, retired from MX racing.) |  Judy and Bob Canfield |
 Pictured is one of bikes Bob rode in his National AHRMA Championship. |
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NOTE: Please send any commentaries and corrections or a few photos you would like added here to hodakadays @ jhmand.com -- leaving out the spam-foiling spaces in that address.
All material copyright June 2007 under JHM Associates umbrella for originating commentators and photographers.
Follow link onward to Saturday's Field Meet, Trials or return to Hodaka Days home page .