shawneetown is still a go but be forewarned , last year they had damn near the entire IL state police force there including a swat command center and their copter ( no joke)
Tim shut down hogdaddy's siting personal reasons but so far hog rock is still a go. you can't move hog rock to a fair ground trust me, anybody who has been there understands why lol

 

Yeah, that little scrum at the bank a couple years back made me rethink the Old Town rally last summer. When all hell broke out at the bank I think every IL State Trooper in the state swooped in on Ol Shawneetown. I swear to god they did! That was a night to remember.

I figured with lasts year's stabbing at Hogrock on the final day there'd be increased heat all around in the coming years. I heard there was a lot of politics being played out in Souther IL. Wanting York and others to pay for security, clean up, etc.... Well let's hope the party roles on. I got this from Tim York's MySpace page:

"Don't know if you know,,or if you care,but HogDaddy has decided not to open HogDaddys Saloon this spring. His reasons for not opening are many and his own. We will miss it as an oasis on a hot afternoon of riding. I have many fond memories of the place,,from the construction/destruction to the final product that we all loved to party at. As far as the Street Rally,,the city council is running it now and you can draw your own conclusions on how well it will turn out. Just remember,,there will be NO HogDaddys,,NO bull riding,,NO texaco bar,,NO wet T-shirt contests,,NO Hollywood Knockouts,,NO strip joint,,NO beer tent,,NO beer tubs,,and NO cool place to hang out. HogRock will still go on as planned,,with great entertainment,,Gallagher,,Bag Lady Sue,,,just to name a couple,,,,So,,there ya have it,,I also know that the biker bar in Harrisburg is shutting down."

Sounds like ferris wheels and bingo tents for the next Ol Shawneetown rally.

Bones

 

Been an interesting read going through all this . In my 39 yrs as a saddle tramp I've seen many a local party grow to the point of bust and be gone and untold numbers of fine little watering holes go away for a lot of different reasons . Got my opinions on the whys on a lot of them but the bottom line is too many people period .

I think we've hit critical mass finally if not it's not very far off , going to be very entertaining watching how all this falls out in the next 10 or 15 yrs . Got a feeling what was 25 yrs ago is coming full circle again slowly but surely .

 

For anyone that is still wanting to go to a rally that weekend there is the Boogie in southern Indiana.

http://www.abateonline.org/events/boogie.html

 

You would think this so but look at Sturgis SD. Monster big and seemingly still growing. Hell even taking to the road now.

 

That whole area lives for the rally , has for yrs hell yes they want it to grow . The 3 weeks of the rally ( the before , during and aftermath ) accounts for up to 80% of the annual income around there . Had a long conversation with the town mayor & local newspaper editor in a beer garden back in 1990 for the 50th . Can't imagine much has changed for those figures but the number of peeps making the pilgrimage .

 

Have to agree with you. Just too damn many people. Any significant event [not just biker rallies] and dealing with the crowd, no parking, standing in line for everything...even to take a **** just takes the fun right out it. I can't imagine what it's going to be like 20 yrs from now. The older i get the less i tolerate crowds, especially all the idiots. Thinking about doing Big Stugis again this year but will go the week before the main rally.

 

Most of the smaller rallies such as Little Sturgis have turned into a people rally more than a bike rally. If you only counted the number of people that rode a motorcycle in you would see those numbers be cut in half if not more.

I'm not saying those people shouldnt be allowed but I enjoy the motorcycle rallies for just that, motorcycles and people who actually ride them.

 

The weekend of July 14-17 2011 there will be a rally in "Little" Sturgis. It has been named the Kentucky Bike Fest. This is my home town, and my sisters liquor store is one of the sponsors. The board running the "Little Sturgis Rally" was getting sued from Sturgis SD, and they were money hungry. They cancelled the rally and instead of letting everyone know that there was another group of people putting on a rally,(that actually have bikes, bike shops, and know how a rally should be ran)they just told everyone it was cancelled and left it at that. The gate fees will be $30 for the weekend or $20 for just Saturday. Theres camping, bike shows, field events, live bands, concessions, vendors, and tons of fun. This is my hometown, and it's like a second christmas to me in July, and wanted to let everyone know IT'S ON!!!

 

Heading up Friday morning. Was born in Morganfield.