The number one singer was Al Jolson. Greta Garbo and Rudolph Valentino ruled the movies. The Social Credit Party was re-elected to run Alberta. The Calgary Canadians won the Memorial Cup, the school board got recalled and on March 25, 1926, the Calgary Motorcycle Club formed. Now, members are celebrating the club’s centennial anniversary, hosting a three-day event at the Double Tree by Hilton starting Friday. “We’re having a meet and greet Friday night and then an on-road ride on Saturday followed by banquet,” said past president Loreen Youngman. “Along with an amazing presentation the committee put together on our history, and then on Sunday there is a show and shine at the hotel that’s open to the public.” Group rides The club’s numbers fluctuate and right now there are more than 50 members who meet once a month annually. In the summer months the club’s tour director organizes group rides. “Riding with a group of people is fun because it does make you more visible on the road than when you’re just one bike,” said six-year member Kevin Cholowsky. “One bike is hard to see, (but) five bikes are hard to miss so there’s a there’s a safety aspect to it.” Wade Youngman says that safety component has always been part of the club, right from the start. He’s a long time member who holds the role of tour director and for the past year has also been the club historian. Youngman says members thought they knew a lot about the club’s past but are learning more through archived newspaper articles at the University of Calgary and public library. ‘2-wheel devil wagons’ In the early days, he says, motorcycles were known as “two wheel devil wagons” and members wanted to change that public view. “The Calgary Motorcycle Club starting from way back was really involved in in motorcycle safety,” he said. “If one of the members was seen going too fast, if he was doing something silly, he was written up and the club kind of self-governed that way.” Cholowsky and his wife have been contacting past member families to collect old photos and learn more about the club’s past to make sure it’s not forgotten. “If we don’t do this, it’s going to be lost,” he said. “And too much has been lost already with people passing away, or somebody has stuff in their basement and it floods and now it’s gone, so the more we can document this and put it out there, then it’s not lost. “A hundred years from now, hopefully the club is still going,” he added, “and people will be able to look back and understand exactly what happened.” Loreen Youngman is the only woman in the club’s history to hold the title of president. She joined in 1985 and says members are always willing to help each other. “I think that’s one of the benefits of belonging to a group of like-minded people,” she said. “If you don’t know how to fix something, someone does, there’s not only 100 years of an anniversary with this club, there are hundreds of years of experience in this club so somebody has a tool, somebody has a part, somebody knows somebody.” “The club’s about camaraderie, it doesn’t matter what kind of bike you have, you can join the club,” said club president Bob Roberts. “It’s just great fun, the people in this club are fun to be around and we have our monthly meetings and that’s when you get to socialize a lot and then in the wintertime we have a group that plans some social events to keep us gathered more or less year round.” Learn more about the club and it’s upcoming anniversary events here.
