BIKER NEWS: Bikers line Jefferson streets in benefit for burn patients

BN- JEFFERSON — Motorcycles lined the streets, three rows deep, in downtown Jefferson on Saturday as bikers from near and far turned out for the annual Burn Run Biker Benefit, formerly known as the Boo Run Benefit.

"This is our fifth year to be here," Greenville couple Russell and Tammy Rice said Saturday. "We brought two motorcycles down here for the event.

"The hospitality here is great, and we love being in historic Jefferson, and this all for a darn good cause," Tammy Rice said.

The run benefits people who have been burned and helps fund a weeklong summer camp.

Seventeen years ago, Charles "Boo" Chaler was burned over more than 95 percent of his body in a welding accident. Friends began the run while he was hospitalized as a way to help his family, and he later turned the benefit into an annual blowout benefiting hundreds of burn patients.

Though Boo was riding his motorcycle during the run Saturday, he turned the run over to Jefferson business owners Stan and Michelle Davis in 2013.

"I think the turnout is great," Stan Davis said Saturday. "The weather is great. We definitely have a bigger turnout than last year, and even last year we managed to turn some good numbers for the benefit and our annual car show."

Stan said he hopes to continue growing the run every year.

"You know, it took Boo 15 years to get the run as big as it was, so we'll get there. We need some more vendors, but it's all about helping these survivors."

Saturday's event included several activities, including a tattoo contest that was judged by Longview tattoo artist Rikki Bailey and Marshall tattoo artist Steve Dodge.

Jay Muller of Shreveport took home the grand prize for best overall color with his full back tattoo dedicated to the police, military and firefighters.

The tattoo shows a police car, soldiers and firefighters standing over the ruins of the Twin Towers after the two buildings crumbled. A firefighter with the New York Fire Department 343 is seen holding a folded American flag.

Under the scene is a quote from John 15:13 that reads "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends."

Other contests included a poker run and a raffle for a 2015 Harley Davidson motorcycle along with the trailer to haul it, with an estimated price tag of about $20,000.

Antione Morrow, who was working the event with his brother Cheoveon Beechum, said he knows firsthand the benefits of the summer camp for survivors.

"I was burned in house fire when I was 6 years old," Morrow said. "I started going to the camp in 1999."

Source: http://www.news-journal.com/news/2015/oct/11/bikers-line-jefferson-streets-in-benefit-for-burn-/