MOA #146 RA #4-49

History

The Early Days

The Early Days

The earliest beginnings of the Bluegrass Beemers dates back to the summer of 1975. A group of three friends began getting together for breakfast at Frisch’s to plan a second motorcycle trip after having come back from one to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. At this point, Tom owned a 1967 Norton 750 and Boone had a 1972 Suzuki 550.

In February 1976, Terry, Tom and Boone made two trips to Sport Motors in Cincinnati, purchasing two Norton 850 Commando Roadsters and an Interstate 850. Soon after, they were joined by two more friends at breakfast, meeting to discuss where they were going on their next trip and how they were going to pay for it. Breakfast at Frisch’s took a nine month hiatus while the group met at Scottie’s in Nicholasville as they worked on building a house to sell for trip monies.

It wasn’t until the fall of 1976 that the first BMW was purchased, a 1975 R90/6 by Terry. Tom purchased his first BMW, a 1974 R75/6 in June of 1977 with Boone quickly picking up his first, a 1975 R90/6 in the fall.

Breakfasts continued in the following years with notables such as Randy Scott, Chester Martin, John Rice, Doelan Anderson and Paul Elwyn joining in. On the seventh page of the first record book, on January 27, 1985, the application for the charter of the Bluegrass Beemers was submitted with the following as charter members:

1. Tom Sutherland (10,725)
2. Chester Martin (22,286)
3. Bill Bowles (27,978)
4. Terry Ferguson (12,076)
5. John Rice (24,267)
6. Chuck Griffis (27,007)
7. Joe Berry (10,771)
8. Doelan Anderson (31,344)
9. Bob Buckley
10. Boone Sutherland (11,265)
11. Ron Day
12. Paul Elwyn (31,448)

The first entry in the official Breakfast Log is February 2, 1985, which happened to be Groundhog Day. Boone writes “It was a cold, cold day with a fresh blanket of snow covering everything – about nine inches now on the ground. Lots of folks out for breakfast though, but no riders.” It wasn’t until February 23rd that the first official rider to breakfast was recorded, when the temperature was a balmy 55 degrees and expected to rise to 70 after several weeks of snow.

The Breakfast Log continues on, recording who comes each morning, what they’re riding, general information about the day, where the next rally is and, as always, where the next trip destination will be for the riders.

Many thanks to Boone Sutherland, who has done an unbelievable job at maintaining the records for the club, and all those that dutifully filled in when Boone was absent. We wish we could share the many stories that appear in the notes, along with bits of wisdom, witty poetry, and the fine artistic renderings of the day. The records reflect who purchased what bikes and when, what upgrades (and downgrades) had been made to member motorcycles, who took what trips and where they traveled. A very real sense of the wonderful people that make up the club can be gained from these records.