Walk the Plank—Boogie Bash Style. The object is to keep your feet off the ground and your bike on the boards. This was one of several biker games in the arena at the 2014 AIM Boogie Bash.
The 26th annual Association of Injured Motorcyclists (AIM) Boogie Bash was held at the Rock Creek Fairgrounds last weekend.
AIM Director Dave Munro has been riding since he was 14—he is now 68. He knows first-hand what a group like AIM can mean to a rider after an accident. “About seven or eight years ago a drunk driver took my leg off,” he said.
“I’ve got no complaints,” Munro went on. “I’ve ridden all over the States and most of Canada. I have never been to the NWT so I have to say most of Canada.” He lives in Surrey now and will help organize an AIM event at GF Strong hospital next weekend. “We take the patients out of the hospital and do a motorcycle show and shine right in the staff parking. Burgers, pop, airbrush tattooing, cake and it is free for all of the patients.”
Munro said that last year AIM helped an estimated 60 riders with over 300 hospital visitations. “Plus when a patient is released from the hospital we will still go and see him if he needs things. We don’t have a criteria saying what we will do for somebody. We do what we can. Everybody’s life is different. What is important to you might not be important to me. “
This year the organization spread their good works to the Boundary too. Over the summer, eight-year-old Sienna Nadeau from Grand Forks has been making flower fairy fridge magnets and selling them at craft markets with a goal of raising enough money for horseback riding lessons.
Sienna is a regular at the Rock Creek Market and when she heard the Boogie Bash was coming to town she contacted the group for permission to make some magnets with the Boogie Bash logo on them. She planned to sell them for $3 for a pair; with $1 from each sale going to AIM. She’d made lots, but unfortunately there weren’t many Boogie Bash people visiting the Rock Creek Market.
But she had a card and a few magnets that she wanted to get to Interior Chapter president Dave (Newfie) Stuckless as a thank you to AIM for permission to use their logo. So when a couple of Boogie Bash riders were at the market she gave them the package to deliver along with her bag of unsold Boogie Bash magnets.
When Newfie heard the story he immediately got the organization to sell the magnets for her and then called Sienna that night to invite her to come to the Boogie Bash arena games on Sunday afternoon. When she got there Newfie presented her with the proceeds of the magnet sales (over $600) and told her that money was for her to buy riding equipment; that AIM would cover the cost of her riding lessons.
The Boogie Bash gives the Interior Chapter the funds to do their work, and it attracts bikers from all over the province who come to party and have a good time. “Attitudes aren’t permitted,” Munro stressed.
There were a number of organized events throughout the weekend: a poker run, Bavarian garden, bike games in the arena, and there were seven bands providing live music at night.
Because most injured motorcyclists are transported to the Lower Mainland for their initial treatment and rehab, the Vancouver Chapter is a busy one. There are now four chapters in the province: Vancouver, Interior, Prince George and Kootenays. Riders will be referred to their local chapter when they head home. Each chapter is financially independent, though each must abide by the constitution and bylaws as adopted by the Vancouver Chapter in 1983.
“AIM will help anybody who has been hurt on a motorcycle, but we have to be called,” Munro said. “We do not ambulance chase. Once we are called then we can go see him—but we have to be invited in.”