Trailblazers Honor Legends
A
fter multiple pandemic-
caused delays, the Trailblaz-
ers were finally able to host their
76th annual meeting and awards
ceremony. Yes, it was a year and
half late, in another county and
more or less outdoors, never-
theless, it was wonderful to see
hundreds queue up for passes to
meet and greet old friends.
The master of ceremonies
was Trailblazers President Don
Emde, and he did his usual
excellent job, albeit without his
familiar co-host Larry "Motor
Mouth" Huffman. Huffman has
been experiencing some lengthy
health problems and was unable
to attend, but the motorcycle
community wishes him a speedy
recovery!
After months of delays and
a variety of problems because
large gatherings were forbidden
by state and local mandates, the
Trailblazers were finally able to
secure a venue for the night at
the Phoenix Club. Originally a
German-American club in Ana-
heim, the Phoenix Club has a
large outdoor banquet area that
is covered, which suited the
purpose perfectly.
Opening the event was the
Tom Cates Memorial Motorcycle
Show, and there were some
beauties. Not the least of which
was the BSA Goldstar that Jody
Nicholas (the world's fastest con-
cert violinist!) took to an unusual
win at Laconia New Hampshire
in 1963. Why unusual, you ask?
Because after leading all but
two laps of the 100 laps at the
Belknap Recreation Area track,
Nicholas slid the bike down and
was passed by Harley-Davidson
factory's George Roeder as he
lay sprawled on the track! Nicho-
las had kept the bike running and
immediately re-mounted in pursuit
of Roeder. He re-passed Roeder
down the long backstraight after
a super-human effort and won the
IN
THE
WIND
P32
Eddie Mulder (holding the picture) was honor with the Dick Hammer
Award at the Trailblazers Banquet.
PHOTOS: MITCH FRIEDMAN
