Bikes, Blues, and BBQ and More

It is party time in Fayetteville with one of the biggest motorcycle rallies in the country about to open. I cruised Dickson Street on my way to work today just to enjoy the bustle of preparation that has been underway all week. Bikes, Blues, and BBQ will officially start this evening, but the Street is already busy with vendors setting up, BBQ pits smoking, music stages being given a final check over, and people crowding the sidewalks. I saw a pair of bicycle police setting up “Motorcycle parking only after 6 p.m.” signs. Their rides may be driven by leg power rather than a noisy engine, but they were enjoying the find weather of a beautiful fall day as much as anyone. A stand on the terrace at Colliers was offering free lemonade. Inflatable “bottles” advertising different drinks topped several buildings. More and more motorbikes roar past.

Their rumble is an ever-present reminder that this is BBB week. I can hear them clearly in my office as I write this. The excitement of such a big event is contagious, even if it is inconvenient at times. But it is hard to be too disgruntled over the various downsides of such a large and noisy gathering when you consider that it will help fund over 30 area charities, many of them benefiting children and youth, ranging from Horses for Healing to the Sheriff Ralph Baker Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Of course, Bikes, Blues, and BBQ is not the only thing going on this weekend.

September 30 – October 3 – The Rogers Little Theatre presents Nunsense (Winner of four Outer Critics Circle Awards including Best Off Broadway Musical in its original New York production, this show is a fund raiser put on by the Little Sisters of Hoboken to raise money to bury sisters accidentally poisoned by the convent cook, Sister Julia (Child of God).)

October 1-3 –Arkansas Apple Festival, Lincoln 

Saturday, October 2 – The Center for Non-Profits @ St. Mary’s Fall Festival, Rogers 

Here are just a few other activates from one of my favorite calendars. 

Friday, October 1, 2010

FPL Crimes and Clues Book Club – Fayetteville Public Library, Fayetteville

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Walk to Defeat ALS – Arvest Ballpark, Springdale

Lee Creek Clean-up – Devil's Den State Park, West Fork

Arkansas Gravestone Project –Newton County Library, Jasper

It is a busy week North of the Tunnel. Let me know if you see a biker with a bright orange Mohawk; I spotted him outside the Dickson Street Post Office Tuesday!