CHESTER, S.C. These bikers ride for a cause, Iron Eagles make a toy run to raise gifts for needy kids.

OFF THE WIRE
By Matt Garfield -
mgarfield@heraldonline.com
Iron Eagles make a toy run to raise gifts for needy kids.
CHESTER --
Clad in jeans and denim vests, doo-rags and enough tattoos to make Dennis Rodman blush, members of a local motorcycle club mounted their Harleys on Saturday afternoon and rumbled down the road - for a cause.
These men and women resembled any biker group you might see on the highway - except for the colorful stuffed animals loaded on the storage racks.
With an annual toy run to raise gifts for foster children, Iron Eagles Club members said they hope to deliver Christmas joy - and offer a positive image of bikers compared to the bad-boy depictions on TV and the big screen.
"That big, bad biker stuff died a long time ago," said Gene "Dozer" Cartee, one of the group's leaders. "The stuff you see, that's not us. The kids are what we're all about."
Storylines portrayed on TV shows such as "Sons of Anarchy" - an FX network drama that depicts a motorcycle gang and organized crime ring in northern California - give the wrong picture about bike clubs, several members said.
"We're just good guys that like hang around," said Johnny Ray Fowler, 54, of Blackstock. "That thing in the movies ain't real life."
The 40-year-old Cartee helps organize rides across South Carolina, including a recent trip to Charleston on his 2008 Harley-Davidson Road Glide, trimmed in shiny black and copper.
Members of the Iron Eagles Club gather in a clubhouse on S.C. 72 to eat and drink, play pool and watch a big-screen television next to the bar. Parties are known to spill into the backyard, but bikers say they do more than socialize.
The group left Saturday afternoon for a 40-minute ride to Lancaster, where chapters from other Iron Eagles and Trinity clubs planned to come together for a dedication.
Proceeds benefit children through the Chester County Department of Social Services.
"These people are just as close to me as my real blood brothers," said Don Looper, a club member from Great Falls. "We look after each other and don't mind helping anybody that can't find help somewhere else."

MELISSA CHERRY - mcherry@heraldonline.com - - Gene Cartee, right, and other motorcyclists ride from Chester on an annual toy run to Lancaster, where chapters from other Iron Eagles and Trinity clubs plan to come together for a dedication. The toy run raises gifts for needy children.

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Matt Garfield 803-329-4063