Details are sketchy, but new rally committee is working closely
with City Hall
The lack of an official Independence Day motorcycle rally this
year might have put a damper on some in the Hollister community,
but others have worked up plans for what they hope will be a bigger
and better rally.
Details are sketchy, but new rally committee is working closely with City Hall
The lack of an official Independence Day motorcycle rally this year might have put a damper on some in the Hollister community, but others have worked up plans for what they hope will be a bigger and better rally.
Now a new group has been put together with the intention of hosting an organized Independence Day motorcycle rally for 2007.
Organizers say the new motorcycle rally committee reflects many different backgrounds. One of the biggest changes from past events is that the new organizers want to structure the event more like the Garlic Festival, where local nonprofit groups all work with the organizers and split a portion of the proceeds, this according to Paul Levy, treasurer of the newly formed steering committee.
“Basically, the way we’re envisioning it now, it would be the same set-up we had in 2005, where the majority of the rally would be downtown, but hopefully Dave Grimsley would also be able to get permits for an event out at Bolado [Park]. We’d also like to make the rally more of a family-friendly affair, so it’s not just for bikers, because I think that people are burnt out on the same ole same ole,” said Charisse Tyson, chairman of the steering committee.
The idea is that there would still be an event downtown, but in addition to the downtown festivities, there would be a gated event in the south part of the county, around Bolado Park, organizers explained.
Details pertaining to crowd control and law enforcement have not been worked out yet, but the group is working with city officials to make sure that everything that can be done is done.
Part of the reason they’re excited about this rally commission is that for the first time both the Chamber of Commerce and the Hollister Downtown Association are on board with the organizers and lending their support to the endeavor.
The key differentiator with this group is that there are 19 members on the committee and they come from all the facets of the community. Member expertise includes law, a few people from the previous Hollister Independent Rally Commission, small business owners, and interested citizens. The steering committee is made up of nine members including Tyson, Levy and several others.
At the Nov. 6, Hollister City Council meeting, Tyson unveiled the commission’s mission statement and requested that the council allow them to move forward with plans for the rally – the council was responsive to the presentation. Councilman Doug Emerson thought the presentation was thorough and appreciated the fact that the group is already thinking about spreading out the activities, however details about what activities would be included are still unknown or are not being divulged.
The plan is that by spreading activities out around the county, there would be less congestion in downtown Hollister. Tyson didn’t say how congestion would be controlled. However, she did say that there would be more activities for children and that next year’s rally would be more family friendly.
“I think there are some good concepts there. We still have some questions about financing and insurance, we’ll have a special session of the council on Nov. 13 and probably make it an action item on Nov. 20,” Emerson said.
Levy, the new treasurer, said he is excited about the opportunities that could exist for not-for-profit groups out in the community. The idea that they are talking about would allow nonprofits to share the profits from the event based on the amount of manpower they put into it, like the Garlic Festival.
“One of the organizers is a former senior official with the Garlic Festival, Ed Mauro, and Bette Grace [another member of the group] has had a lot of experience with the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am,” Levy said.
The group will be holding a meeting at 6 p.m. on Nov. 15 at City Hall for all interested nonprofit groups who would like to raise money for their organization. Levy explained that often, because some groups are not official non-profits they are not eligible for things like this, but the commission wants to work with any and all interested groups who want to raise money for their organization, be it church, service, or other, they are trying to get all the manpower they can.
“We’ll need Garlic Festival type support to pull this thing off,” Levy said. “We want the dollars to stay local.” That is why he is asking any group that wants to raise money to come to the meeting.
Patrick O’Donnell can be reached at [email protected].
