The motorcycle clubs in the area are no strangers to holding events and rides for members of the community.
As recently as December, several motorcycle clubs banded together for a coat drive to donate to those in need. But this Saturday, local motorcycle club the Southern Saints’ newest fundraiser will hit a bit closer to home.
“It’s still the same to this very day, you know. We’re here for each other, taking care of each other. And that’s what the biker lifestyle is all about. You take care of each other. You’re good-hearted,” said Perry Logan with the Southern Saints.
Logan has helped organize a ride this Saturday, which has been named F*** Cancer, and is dedicated to another Southern Saints member, Joe Ludwick, who learned he had kidney cancer in October.
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Registration for the event starts at 9 a.m. Saturday, and the event begins at 10:30 a.m. at the Southern Saints Clubhouse, 8195 East Bay Blvd. in Navarre. From there, the ride tours various parts of Santa Rosa County, from Brothers United MC in Milton, to the Bridge Bar and Country Gym in Gulf Breeze, and back to Navarre to visit Stripes.
The stops will include raffles and auctions for prizes, and the money donated will go toward helping Ludwick. The price of registration is $15 per motorcycle and an additional $5 per passenger.
“If somebody that they know comes down with cancer or another one’s daughter goes through a rough time and she’s gotten real ill, they put together these things just to draw the community closer and help out with these kinds of things. And I think it’s absolutely wonderful,” said Joe Dunne, co-owner of the Country Gym.
Dunne said he enjoys having the biker community as regular customers.
“Oh, we’re super excited. I mean, these guys get together — they draw in a great crowd,” Dunne said.
Ludwick, or as he is known to the motorcycle club community “Jose,” said his Southern Saints brothers came to him in December about holding a ride for him. But he said the group typically does not hold events for members.
“They’re all my brothers and stuff. So, they’re helping me out,” Ludwick said.
His wife, Ria Ludwick, added that any time the local motorcycle club community gets together, it feels like a homey and familial atmosphere.
Logan said he expects between 100 and 200 people to turn out for the event from various motorcycle clubs and said anyone is welcome. He added the motorcycle community that exists in the area is not the same as what people see on television and he hopes people take the time to learn about their community.
“Not all MCs (motorcycle clubs) are that way. Most clubs aren’t that way in the U.S.,” Logan said. “It’s Hollywood, you know. I mean, it just keeps you entertained to watch you come back and watch next week.”
Perry Logan and his wife, Sam, both said there is an added layer in the relationship between Ludwick and the Southern Saints considering he has been involved with the group for about a decade. Perry Logan stressed that all these events are for the community at-large, and this one just happens to focus in on one of the Southern Saints’ members.
“It’s all community. I’ve been here most of my life, and everybody we all know that’s been here also — we’re just here for community,” Logan said.
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