Winchester’s Main Street was filled with happy and hungry people on Thurs., July 14. There was music, food, fun and of course more than 800 motorcycles from all over the country to look at. Morin Photo
WINCHESTER – Bike Night in Winchester has returned.
The first event of the year was held on Thurs., July 14. Perfect July weather, a great mood and a huge crowd came out to enjoy the evening along with more than 800 motorcycles from around the region.
The late afternoon street party featured music at Sweet Corner Park by Eastbound of Bytown and food by several vendors all offering a different kind of meal.
The designated charity for the evening was the House of Lazarus.
A special feature of Bike Night is something called “Manufactures on Main”. This event featured Wheelsport and owner Jim Kolman from Orleans, along with his many great models of motorcycle. The ‘Bike of the Month” was a Suzuki RE5 Rotary machine. The motorcycle came from the private collection of Wheelsport founder Fred Kolman.
Kolman pointed out that this particular motorcycle was too expensive to make and too expensive for consumers. As a result, the manufacturer stopped production after only two years of manufacturing.
The event was the product of the Winchester Downtown Revitalization Committee of which Vince Zandbelt is a member.
He said in a Facebook post, “A special thanks go out to our sponsors who make this show happen. As well as to all the volunteers from the different community groups or individuals who stepped forward to make this event happen and thank you bikers and the public for attending. We had a special unveiling tonight of one of the tulips that had adorned the Main Stage back in 2019, it was cleaned up and painted with scenes from our beautiful downtown, awesome job Carrie O’Neil.”
Visitors to the event had a number of great food vendors to choose from and provide a tasty summer supper.
The House of Lazarus raffle brought in $865.50 to raffle winner Tara Agler and a corresponding amount went to the House of Lazarus for their ongoing drop-in program.
Organizers arranged a shuttle to move visitors to the evening event from the Winchester arena to the Winchester downtown area. That new idea for the downtown event was a success.
Winchester Bike Night organizers are looking forward to next month’s Bike Night on Thurs., Aug. 11.
Joseph Morin is the Editor of the Eastern Ontario AgriNews, and the Record. He is, despite years of practice, determined to eventually play the guitar properly. He has served the Eastern Ontario community as a news editor, and journalist for the past 25 years with the Iroquois Chieftain, Kemptville Advance, West Carleton Review, and Ottawa Carleton Review in Manotick. He has never met a book he did not like.
