Sun staff reporter
The Too Broke for Sturgis biker rally was in the midst of celebrating its 20th anniversary when it was canceled after Friday night's shooting.
The adults-only event, which has been held at the Mormon Lake Lodge Campground for the last nine years, features everything from live music to motorcycle games and a tattoo contest.
But in the past, it's been other festivities that have brought the rally attention.
The event started in rural campgrounds at Sharp Creek in the Tonto National Forest in 1992 as a fundraiser for the nonprofit motorcyclist lobbying group A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments. ABATE was formed to fight helmet laws and restrictions on customized "chopper" bikes.
The event's name refers to a famous bike rally held each year in Sturgis, S.D., that attracts several hundred thousand participants.
The Arizona event moved to Watson Lake outside of Prescott in the late 1990s.
CONTROVERSY IN PRESCOTT
Organizers were forced to cancel their 10th anniversary rally at the last minute in 2001 when the city of Prescott declined to grant them a permit. The group's website cited the reason as "logistical entanglements with the city of Prescott."
Leaders of ABATE declined requests for comment from the Daily Sun on Saturday.
Too Broke for Sturgis had become known in Prescott for its involvement at the center of a sex-oriented night club battle.
According to the Prescott Daily Courier in 2000, the biker rally would stage "sex-oriented shows" at the Pinon Pines Nite Club, which the paper referred to as "arguably Prescott's most controversial restaurant/bar."
When the city decided to prohibit strip clubs, the Pinon Pines used photos from the events to show it should be grandfathered as a strip club. The club's lawyer also produced an article from Biker magazine about Too Broke for Sturgis that talked about an "outrageous" wet T-shirt contest "complete with ice-cold pitchers of water."
Numerous photos on the group's website also depict full-nudity from such T-shirt contests over the past several years at the Mormon Lake Lodge Campground. A number of other photo galleries show other sex-themed games that take place throughout the rally.
NO INCIDENTS IN 10 YEARS
The event, which a flier bills as "an old school biker party," can also have a rough side as well.
A YouTube video from the 2010 rally showed a man being "evicted" from camp by an upset crowd because he had been singing "bad" karaoke loudly the night before.
In the footage, around 50 people surround the man's trailer doing burnouts on their motorcycles and yelling at the man to get out. Eventually, a Sheriff's deputy has to step in to push back the crowd, and the man packs up and leaves the lodge campground.
Coconino County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Gerry Blair said that he wasn't aware of any complaints at the Mormon Lake Lodge campground in prior years and added that there were two deputies on scene at the time of the shooting simply because of the size of the crowd. It was estimated that around 2,000 people were in attendance.
Darla Cook, a spokesperson for Forever Resorts, which owns the Mormon Lake Lodge, said the rally had been going on for "10 years with no incidents."
People staying at the RV park and lodge were allowed to stay, but ABATE asked those staying in the campgrounds to leave. Many attendees remained at the lodge through the afternoon for lack of a place to go.
The adults-only event, which has been held at the Mormon Lake Lodge Campground for the last nine years, features everything from live music to motorcycle games and a tattoo contest.
But in the past, it's been other festivities that have brought the rally attention.
The event started in rural campgrounds at Sharp Creek in the Tonto National Forest in 1992 as a fundraiser for the nonprofit motorcyclist lobbying group A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments. ABATE was formed to fight helmet laws and restrictions on customized "chopper" bikes.
The event's name refers to a famous bike rally held each year in Sturgis, S.D., that attracts several hundred thousand participants.
The Arizona event moved to Watson Lake outside of Prescott in the late 1990s.
CONTROVERSY IN PRESCOTT
Organizers were forced to cancel their 10th anniversary rally at the last minute in 2001 when the city of Prescott declined to grant them a permit. The group's website cited the reason as "logistical entanglements with the city of Prescott."
Leaders of ABATE declined requests for comment from the Daily Sun on Saturday.
Too Broke for Sturgis had become known in Prescott for its involvement at the center of a sex-oriented night club battle.
According to the Prescott Daily Courier in 2000, the biker rally would stage "sex-oriented shows" at the Pinon Pines Nite Club, which the paper referred to as "arguably Prescott's most controversial restaurant/bar."
When the city decided to prohibit strip clubs, the Pinon Pines used photos from the events to show it should be grandfathered as a strip club. The club's lawyer also produced an article from Biker magazine about Too Broke for Sturgis that talked about an "outrageous" wet T-shirt contest "complete with ice-cold pitchers of water."
Numerous photos on the group's website also depict full-nudity from such T-shirt contests over the past several years at the Mormon Lake Lodge Campground. A number of other photo galleries show other sex-themed games that take place throughout the rally.
NO INCIDENTS IN 10 YEARS
The event, which a flier bills as "an old school biker party," can also have a rough side as well.
A YouTube video from the 2010 rally showed a man being "evicted" from camp by an upset crowd because he had been singing "bad" karaoke loudly the night before.
In the footage, around 50 people surround the man's trailer doing burnouts on their motorcycles and yelling at the man to get out. Eventually, a Sheriff's deputy has to step in to push back the crowd, and the man packs up and leaves the lodge campground.
Coconino County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Gerry Blair said that he wasn't aware of any complaints at the Mormon Lake Lodge campground in prior years and added that there were two deputies on scene at the time of the shooting simply because of the size of the crowd. It was estimated that around 2,000 people were in attendance.
Darla Cook, a spokesperson for Forever Resorts, which owns the Mormon Lake Lodge, said the rally had been going on for "10 years with no incidents."
People staying at the RV park and lodge were allowed to stay, but ABATE asked those staying in the campgrounds to leave. Many attendees remained at the lodge through the afternoon for lack of a place to go.
Read more: http://azdailysun.com/news/local/rally-an-old-school-biker-party/article_26207c21-cefc-54d3-8a52-9854014244ed.html#ixzz1T4kRN12K
