Kingdom Thunder 2010 Recap
Cedarwood Resort, Jay, Vermont – August 27 to 29, 2010
Great Weather. Great Ride. Great People. Great Eats. Great Bands. Great Cause.
Kingdom Thunder rumbled through Newport on Saturday, August 28, 2010. Out past Lake Seymour to Island Pond, down through Burke and north up through Willoughby Gap and back to Cedarwood Resort in Jay. The word of the day from rider after rider – “What a great ride. We’re coming back. We’re bringing our buddies.”
When all was said and done — 76 Bikes and about 110 Riders participated in the ride. Harley-Davidson was on display in a big way. Over 90% of the bikes were Harleys. Total value of the bikes participating in Kingdom Thunder was well over $1 Million. And, about 250 riders and locals enjoyed an incredible BBQ with music by Illusionary Life Line in the afternoon and Southern Comfort late into the night all at Cedarwood.
The event was a fundraiser for the Healthy Changes Initiative of Indoor Recreation of Orleans County (IROC). The initiative is a groundbreaking membership and exercise program IROC runs for people suffering from Diabetes, Obesity, Heart Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis as well as cancer patients and cancer survivors and Seniors age 65 and over.
Riders came from Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and throughout Vermont for a full weekend of activities centered out of Cedarwood Lodge in Jay Village. Those who rode in Friday night partied to the sounds of The Bus Drivers at D’Cotas Lounge.
During the ride on Saturday, folks stopped at IROC, the American Legion Post in Island Pond, and Robin’s Roost in Westmore. Robin put on an afternoon BBQ and donated the net proceeds to IROC as well.
The American Legion in North Troy provided breakfast on Sunday morning, followed by a blessing of the bikes.
The event was hosted by IROC and Cedarwood Lodge and was sponsored by Wilkins Harley-Davidson in South Barre, Vermont, Jay Peak Resort, United Motorcycles of Vermont and Kimtek.
Thanks to the many riders who joined us for your support of the Initiative, the sponsors who did so much to make this first year possible, and the Organizing Committee for all the hard work you did in planning and promoting this event. This started out as the brainchild of Steve Vincent, pharmacist at Kinney Drugs in Derby. He put out the word and a great group of enthusiastic bikers from northern and central Vermont responded. They rolled up their sleeves and spent 6 months planning, promoting, and preparing for the ride. We had some fun along the way. Mark Perry, Pat Kilday, Randy Wells, Kimball Johnson, Richard Lebracque, Steve Vincent, Tom Donnellan, Don and Donny Henn, Keith Flynn, Bill Hafen, Joe Benning, Rob Hodgkins, and Jeff Hall were unrelenting and unwavering in their commitment to do whatever was necessary to “Git ‘er done.” They broke some real sweat to make this event a success.
The sponsors were terrific to invest in this first year. John Lyon and the folks at Wilkins were great to work with. Jay Peak also worked with us every step of the way. And, United Motorcycles of Vermont and Kimtek provided extra financial support to allow us to bring in one heck of a band, Southern Comfort out of Connecticut. Del and Annie and all of the folks at Cedarwood Resort busted their chops to do a great job at hosting this event. And what a wonderful thing for Robin’s Roost to donate funds from the BBQ to IROC and for the American Legion Post in North Troy to invite us up for breakfast on Sunday. Vermont Beef Jerky donated 2 oz bags of Jerky for all of our riders, to help support the cause. Really nice. The Orleans County Sheriff’s Department provided lead escort from Jay Village through the Village of Derby Center.
It was some kind of a good time from start to finish.
Given the enthusiasm of the riders, it didn’t take long to decide to make this an annual event: Organizers set the date for the Second Annual Kingdom Thunder as the weekend of August 26 to 28, 2011 and thanked Cedarwood Resort for becoming ”The Home of Kingdom Thunder.” From here on out, we will refer to Annie and Del as Ma and Pa, at least during Kingdom Thunder Weekend.
See you next year.
Phil White, member
Organizing Committee
Kingdom Thunder
Photos from Kingdom Thunder 2010
