Toys for Tots 2004

Toys for Tots Parade 2004

by Toni Haggard

	It was chilly morning on December 7th when we hopped on our bikes and headed to a forest preserve in Chicago. It was so cold my anti-fogging helmet visor was going to fog whether I liked it or not! (Thank goodness for that Triumph alpine suit!) On our way into the city we saw a lot of other bikers all heading in the same direction as us and with toys strapped to the back of their bikes too. Even though we didn't know each other, there was a sense of camaraderie on the road that morning.
So why are we all motorcycling in December in Chicago anyway? For the annual Toys 4 Tots charity event, of course!! It's the largest motorcycle event of its kind in the country and we weren't going to miss it! When we got to the area around the forest preserve where the parade lineup was already well underway, we found the area pretty congested. Bikes had already filled the horse shoe shaped forest preserve road and we found ourselves lined up on Western Avenue, which is the road leading to the preserve. It was 8 a.m.
	There were bikes in both directions of Western Avenue as far as the eye could see. Many had their bikes decorated with garland and were wearing Santa hats over their helmets.
The Teamsters had a semi-truck that we all drove by so that we could drop off our toys before heading on the parade route. They had two huge speakers mounted on the truck playing Christmas music so the atmosphere was very festive. As we all were parked on Western waiting to make it into the forest preserve, we struck up conversations with people next to us to pass the time.
	After about a half hour we actually made it into the forest preserve area. We parked our bikes, and then began walking around the area looking at all of the other bikes and people. We knew that it would be a while before our group of riders began the parade, so we walked around the preserve and even picked out some souvenir sweatshirts.
On our way back from buying our shirts, we were surprised to bump into another member of our pack. Considering the estimate of the number of bikers was around 40,000 we were shocked to have even bumped into each other!
	While walking around we found another group of Triumph riders parked in the area of our bikes so we quickly struck up a conversation. One thing that was evident was that everyone was there to have fun and to spread the Christmas spirit.
The parade began around 9 a.m. Based upon the number of bikers at the event, some of the coordinators that we spoke to said it would take about two hours to ride the 10 mile route to the Marine reserve center. We were all proud to be a part of such a great event and as a former Marine, Chris has participated in many of these parades in the years past. We all had a great time riding for such a great cause and look forward to participating next year.

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