The unmistakable roar of dozens of motorcycles greeted motorists on the east side of Iola Saturday as participants gathered at Lucky Stop Travel Center to embark on a little joyride.
That the event also served as a fundraiser for the Five-O Motorcycle Club was a fortunate byproduct, participant Jim Luttrell said.
“It’s just a good day for riding,” Luttrell said.
More than 40 motorcyclists from across the Midwest em-barked on the 75-mile round trip, starting from Iola at noon for a dice run that took the group to Chanute, Yates Center, Le Roy and back to Iola.
The event was hosted by the Five-O’s Flint Hills Posse chapter, which encompasses Allen County and the rest of southeast Kansas.
Since its inception in 2005, the Five-O has raised money for fallen, injured or otherwise ailing law enforcement officers and their families. The Flint Hills Posse and its 22 members, also raise funds for other emergency responders such as firefighters and ambulance personnel, said Luttrell, the local chapter’s vice president.
“The best part is that 100 percent of the money we raise goes to the people we want to help,” he said. “We don’t have any kind of administrative costs. Our members pay for everything out of our own pockets.”
A number of special guests were on hand for Saturday’s run, including Five-O founder Monty Barclay of Branson, Mo., and fellow charter member Danny Luttrell. Barclay and Danny Luttrell are members of the Taney County Sheriff’s Department. The Luttrells are brothers.
The Missouri group encountered a bit of nasty weather. A passing storm front peppered them with rain and hail as they started out.
“Not much you can do but pull over and wait it out,” Barclay said with a laugh. “Other than that, we had great weather.”
The gleaming, two-wheeled jewels garnered plenty of attention of passersby while participants gathered at the Jump Start parking lot, some as early as three hours before the run began.
THE FIVE-O club’s origins date to 2005 by Barclay and others who shared a love of motorcycles and a willingness to help others.
“We were actually part of another group that did the same thing we’re doing now,” Barclay said, “but it just seemed like a lot of their goals weren’t being met.”
Barclay and a few others decided to branch off onto their own, forming the Five-O. The club has grown slowly but steadily to include chapters elsewhere in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Hawaii and even Italy.
“We got a call from the officers in Italy who had read about what we were doing on the Internet, so they asked if they could do it, too,” Barclay said.
Their offer was heartily accepted.
The club was founded with four members. Now, more than 125 are regular riders, Barclay said.
“We figured it would take five years for the Five-O would really catch hold and grow, as people saw what we were about,” Barclay said. “We hope to keep growing.”
SATURDAY’S run is one of a number of fundraisers the Five-O will spearhead in the coming weeks and months.
A fundraiser for the Boy Scouts is planned for May 1, and the “Pigs On Bikes” International Law Enforcement Bike Rally in Branson is May 19-21.
Smaller events will fill the calendars as spring heads into summer.
“There are events every weekend if we want to do them,” Jim Luttrell said.
Many will.
“That’s the best part,” he added. “It’s people helping people.”
