The American Legion Riders as a whole started in 1993 when a few people in American Legion Post 396 in Garden City, MI came up with the idea of starting a motorcycle association that would operate within the American Legion. They ran the idea past the Legion bigwigs, and things started rolling! As word spread, more and more chapters of the ALR have been springing up nationwide. (There's a full story on this HERE.)
The first meeting of the Northwest Iowa chapter of the American Legion Riders happened on 19 November 05. Our fearless leader, Jerry, made a couple phone calls, contacted the media and e-mailed a few people, and by the end of the first meeting there were 18 or 19 members of the new chapter and things were off and running! The Iowa ALR President at the time, Chuck Thompson, was at the first meeting, as was his wife and Everett Freel, also from the State chapter.
31 August 06 marked an emotional day as the ALR, in conjunction with the Patriot Guard Riders (PGR), participated in escorting a fallen soldier's remains home from Sioux Falls, SD to Orange City, IA. It was quite the scene; all along the route home we could see farm families standing in the dark alongside the road, waiting for the procession to pass so they could give honor to the fallen soldier. Many of the small towns along the way were full of people standing shoulder-to-shoulder holding flags or candles, fire trucks and police cars parked with lights flashing, all in honor.
The next weekend was the soldier's funeral. The ALR again participated in the PGR mission to honor the soldier, both at the funeral and at the gravesite. (Photos can be seen HERE.) Military funerals are a somber occasion, but members of the ALR will always do what they can to honor the fallen.
Following the PGR mission, our very own Bob Helwig was featured in an article by the Northwest Iowa Review. You can read the article on Bob's page.
It's not all sadness at the ALR, though. On 1 October, Ride Captain Bob Helwig led us on a nifty tour through the Loess Hills. The timing was perfect to see the fall colors.
On 21 October, the ALR participated in a Welcome Home ride for members of the Troop C, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Army National Guard unit, based in LeMars, Iowa. Unfortunately, on the way to Worthington, MN to meet the convoy, one of the riders hit some loose gravel and went down. (The Le Mars Daily Sentinel's article on that incident can be seen on Karen Paulsen's page.) After more than a year in Iraq, the 113th Cav was certainly ready to be home, and their families were very happy to see them! There is a write up about this HERE, and photos can be seen HERE.
The winter of 2006-2007 crawled by about as slowly as possible. If you ever want to see a group of listless, unhappy individuals, just visit a motorcycle group when there's snow on the ground.
In the spring and summer of 2007, the Northwest Iowa Chapter of the American Legion Riders has been particularly busy, participating in parades almost every weekend and doing all they can to promote veterans' causes.
