The Veteran's Rock N Roll Rally

(Formerly the Branson Motorcycle Rally)
by Stix Douglas

Do to unfortunate circumstances the Branson Motorcycle Rally was donated and turned over to new Rally directors. They had big plans with a new agenda and only six weeks to get the word out about this “new” Rally taking over where the Branson Motorcycle Rally had left off. With each obstacle encountered those involved worked harder and were determined to make sure it would be a complete success down to the last detail.

The 1st annual Veterans’ Rock N Roll Rally was held on the third weekend of May, traditionally known as “Armed Forces Weekend.” This year’s four-day event ran from Thursday, May 17th through Sunday, May 20th, and was held in its new location, a valley now known as “Area 57”.

While everyone has heard of Area 51, this new “Area” has the potential to become just as well known. It is located on the strip in Branson, MO, right next door to Dick Clark’s American Bandstand and its 57 Museum. This is one area with many things to see and do, not only the sights but also everything Branson has to offer. The region around Branson is a motorcyclist paradise and has been a well-kept secret until now.

Each day of the Rally brought new events and attractions including:
Field Games, a Bike Show, two separate Poker Runs, a Cruiser Area Ride, and Three regular motorcycle rides that took bikers into some of the best riding available, for which the Ozarks is well known.

Live music was provided most evenings with the Main Headliners performing on Saturday night. They included Bill Haley’s Comets who opened the show for Paul Revere and the Raiders, and The Righteous Brothers Bill Medley with encore guest appearances by Fabian and Bobby Vee

More than 600 bikes and over 1700 people participated in this years Veterans’ Rock N Roll Rally, which raised $50,000. The money goes to The Ride To The Wall Foundation, which has a government 501(c) 3-charity status, and is a non-profit organization that helps not only homeless but also “at risk” veterans.”.


Paul Revere and the Raiders are very active with Rolling Thunder and their efforts for veterans everywhere are well documented. They have recorded 2 CD’s and a DVD dedicating all of the sales to the “Ride To The Wall Foundation

Paul Revere and several members of The Raiders usually travel by motorcycle each year with Rolling Thunder, making stops to veteran hospitals along the route and perform near the Lincoln Memorial at the Festivities in Washington DC.

Many wonder if it is possible to have the Rolling Thunder crews make Branson and the Veterans’ Rock N Roll Rally become part of the permanent route as the place to be for the weekend prior to the larger events in Washington, DC.


Next year’s Veterans’ Rock N Roll Rally promises to be even better. It is expected to have more venders, events and things to see and do throughout the four days of the Rally. With plans already being made to have more live music with big name entertainment playing each night of next year’s Rally with the added possibly of more surprise guest appearances that is becoming a Branson tradition.

With the success of the first Veterans’ Rock N Roll Rally and the enthusiasm and support of the community, Branson is the ideal place to hold such an event. With its reputation for being the ultimate Veteran Friendly community where all Military personal from every branch of the service have always been welcomed and respected there, regardless of war or military conflict in which they served. Next year there will be Color guards and Flag raising ceremonies put on by different local veterans’ organizations to honor those who have served, and those that gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

Mark your calendars and make plans to attend next year. The dates for the Veterans Rock N Roll Rally are scheduled for 22-25 May 2008. For more information on the Rally, the Ride to the Wall Foundation, or on Paul Revere and the Raiders go to these websites:
http:/www.veterransrockandrollrally.com
http://www.ridetothewall.org/
http://www.dickclarksabbranson.com/shows/sub_paul.html

I hope to see you at next year’s Veterans’ Rock N Roll Rally.

Full Circle Continued

Nothing hits home as much as when you have a near death experience or the opportunity of meeting your maker and knowing it.



Being dazed and confused is not only a temporary mind set but can be more permanent as it carried over after the accident.


When you wake up, literally I began to realize just how blessed I really was. There is no doubt that this could have been a hell of a lot worse. And although I was in a lot of pain and rightfully shook


I was fortunate to not have any visible broken bones but had a herniated disk in my lower back. There was also the issue of 2nd and 3rd degree burns on my back from the exhaust that kept reminding me from laying too comfortably on my back.


Once I had called my buddy Mike Bertolini. He had gone down and picked up the motorcycle with his enclosed trailer. He brought it home to me and unloaded it without charging me anything.


I was still hurting so bad I couldn’t even get up to go see it or much less to help him with being able to unload it.


For the next several weeks I was in limbo uncertain as to what to do. My mind flashed back to remembering Skip and how badly he had looked the day I went to see what would later become my first Harley. It seemed like so long ago they were different times. I was mirroring the fact that this was my accident


Over the course of the next several weeks, I was looking forward to being able to lie down to just relax and not move, but that wouldn’t be happening.


The Rail Dock Rats from work kept calling. They wanted me to come back immediately before there were any personnel changes could happen on the dock. They offered me the opportunity to just do the checking of visual paperwork of the inventory of the rail cars without having to get up and down or drive my fork-truck.


I was dumbfounded because I didn’t know if I would have been willing to have done the same for someone else. Looking back on it now I went back to work way too early. I was in no shape to be even have been walking around much less working. They kept me active but it was also the end of an era




I had to go through a lot of soul searching then. I had too many unanswered questions and doubts that took a lot of time and consideration to mull over and just sort through.


Why had this happened to me? What was I going to do next? What does all of this mean? What should I be doing now? Where do I go from here? Why am I alive? Why didn’t I die? What’s my purpose? What have I not done? What do I need to do? How do I move on? When will I get over this? But the one that really stuck seemed to be Why am I alive?


Besides my injury’s mentally I had a chip on my shoulder.


The more I thought about it the more research I done in my own mind.


When I finally felt up to it I called my mechanic buddy Butch. I was still unsure of myself and had to have an open discussion with him. At first there was a lot of uncertainly. But Butch said something rather profound to me and in doing that sparked other thoughts. In so many words he said something to the effect that it was you have to make the decision yourself. Do you quit? Take the insurance check and walk away? No one would think any less of you if you did. This is where you get off the bus, or checkout. Many would walk away and wouldn’t put themselves back in the situation of ever riding again. The choice is yours.


My mind flashed back to Rusty. Having had a Harley at one time and having given it up. Always thinking and reminiscing about those days and in some ways a “has been”. Which in my definition meant would not ride again or it would never be the same again. Rusty's was someone who had gone on to and put away those freedoms and those feelings and had allowed them to become fond memories.


The risks maybe to great to continue. Something this devastating takes time to process. I can’t make that decision for you. No one would think any less. You have to make that choice on your own.










I was mirroring Skip and didn’t realize it.






It just dawned on me I had come full circle.