RICHARD DYMOND
bradenton.com
Sorority makes a strong showing at ‘Run for a Cure’
When Bradenton’s Norma Fletcher began riding motorcycles in the 1970s, she got dirty looks.
The prevailing opinion at that time was that upstanding women didn’t ride bikes, Fletcher said.
But Sunday, the 74-year-old was the center of adoration wearing her Motor Maids vest at the second annual Phi Beta Psi Sorority “Run for a Cure” Poker Run, which began at Mattison’s Riverside.
Attitudes have changed over time and now a woman on a Harley-Davidson is regarded with respect and even admiration, Fletcher said.
“People would give me dirty looks and call me motorcycle mama back then,” said Fletcher, whose Motor Maids club is the oldest women’s motorcycle organization in the country. “But I found freedom riding. It was fun and I loved it. Now, they smile and I’m the one calling myself a motorcycle grand-mamma.”
In fact, Fletcher, who stresses safety to all newcomers who start the sport, motivates many women to become riders.
She even got her husband of 40 years, Keith, on his first motorcycle.
“Norma is terrific,” said riding pal and former Manatee Memorial Hospital registered nurse Betty Beckham, who helped out at Sunday’s Poker Run, where riders have to make numerous stops to pick up cards to fill a poker hand. “We tell people we meet that riding is the best feeling on earth.”
Beckham, who rides her Harley up and down the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, says her life’s motto is, “Retired and riding.”
The Poker Run, which started at 11 a.m. and finished up with The Billy Rice Band and food and refreshments on the water at Mattison’s, is one of the chief fundraisers for Beta Kappa, the local Phi Beta Psi chapter.
About 100 riders took part in Sunday’s event, said sorority sister Dee Kring, who organized this year’s event. Beta Kappa has been raising money for cancer research for more than 30 years.
Phi Beta Psi Sorority is a national organization founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1904.
“It’s a civic organization, not affiliated with a college or university,” Kring said. “We have 84 chapters nationwide and more than 1,500 members.”
Recipients of research grants include Moffitt Cancer Center, M.D. Anderson, Florida Hospital, Children’s National Medical Center and Palmer Eye Institute.
“I love to help out charities,” said Cindy Ball, another Harley girl who loves to ride.
Ball, who has been riding for 14 years, is a dental assistant at Dr. Terry Alford’s office on Manatee Avenue West. The doctor is so admiring of her riding that he hung her picture in the reception area.
“They call me ‘The Bodacious Biker Babe,’” Ball said with a grin, noting that many of her patients envy her flights of freedom on two wheels.
“It’s a great stress reliever,” Ball said. “And you meet great people.”
Although he is now sharing the road with the girls, Harley rider Ric Gatehouse of Bradenton Beach doesn’t mind a bit.
“We are all one big family,” said Gatehouse, a dredgeman with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 25, who perform heavy equipment work on the water. “I work 12 hours a day, seven days a week and when I get off work, I want to ride. There’s nothing like it.”
Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at 748-0411, ext. 6686.
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