Well, another one complete! This is difficult for me to write because I wasn’t actually there due to health issues. I must go off what other people have told me. And they have told me that they had a blast!

Bikers are a tough group! The weather played havoc on Thurs and Friday but many riders braved the storm and came anyway. Saturday was a flood of riders and the Lone Star Rally was back to its usual size!

Other than a few problems at load in, production of the event was smooth and successful! Police reported that very few incidents occurred and that overall it was a very peaceful show. The accident count was down and no fatalities were reported. A special thanks to GPD for working with our internal security team. The partnership seemed to work well and should get even better in the future. You truly have a great group of people in your Police Department!

The wharf area did become a problem as a couple of shrimpers complained about the Rally taking up around 8 of their parking spaces and rallied the Port Police against us closing Wharf road and most of the access to the pier. This really screwed up a few of our vendors and the flow of our traffic but we worked around it and everything wound up ok. With better planning we can eliminate this problem next year. The Olympia Grill reported great business and the stage was well liked.

Down on the Strand huge throngs of riders enjoyed promenading, partying and having a great time. Our new noise reduction policy irked a few riders and some got tickets but overall it was well received. No one likes the overwhelming noise!

It seems that every business became a bar and sold beer so it was easy to grab a cold one and watch the craziness. While good for the riders it was not good for us but it seems there is nothing that can be done about it. I really don’t understand why the local bar owners accept it though.

Probably the most fun people had was watching the huge Halloween Biker Costume Parade. Over 100 bikes entered and it was obvious that they put a lot of time, money and effort into making their entries really cool. All of the judges told me they had a tough time picking the winner! I think it was because their eyes were still clouded from judging all of the beautiful women that entered the Ms. Lone Star Rally contest a few hours earlier! Speaking of giveaways a lucky lady won Jean Lafitte’s chopper in front of many thousands of Lynrd Skynrd fans Saturday night! Both shows were fabulous and we hope to do it again next year.

Thanks to the hotels who worked with us to provide good rates and rooms for our staff. Shame on those hotel owners who chose again to raise their rates to the point of ridiculous. You folks just don’t get it! Many riders reported staying in Texas City and other areas due to the high rates.

Thanks also to the many business who pulled hard earned cash from their pockets and supported the rally with advertising and as poker run stops, clue stops and more!

Lastly, thanks to the City Officials for our contract and all of the City departments for their co-operation again. We think we’ve finally got a cohesive team!

Our theme for next year will be a salute to our troops. We’re already working on some cool ideas. The dates are Nov 4-7 so book early.

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