"Harley's Ride Home Celebration at the
World's Oldest Harley-Davidson Dealer"

Hog Wild!!

Cherry Valley, IL--Three routes, 50,000 riders and one ultimate goal; Milwaukee, Wisconsin-Harley-Davidson headquarters. And Cherry Valley, Illinois, one of the stops, is home to Harley-Davidson's oldest dealership, Kegel Motorcycle Company. Starting in 1909 as a bicycle shop, founder Joseph Kegel decided to 'branch out' and added a new brand of motorized cycles to his inventory. Today 3rd and 4th generation family still operate the #1 dealership of 1998 chosen by DealerNews magazine.



Pulling out all the stops and having a Harley festival complete with BBQ, massages, tattoos and some of the best live music in the Stateline area. Some early estimates put the number of attendees at 2,000 to 5,000 but both event coordinator Jennie and General Manager/Co-owner Mark Kegel agree the number was much higher. "The totals aren't in yet but we're thinking for the two days (8/26 & 8/27) total attendee estimate is around 25,000". Jennie stated planning for the celebration started right after they had been selected in 2002. "We found out around this time last year. By January we started to get serious". "And with us being the world's oldest Harley dealership it just made sense for us to host a party." Mark added. Kegel sales associate Lisa Rehberg said that many of the riders were pleasantly surprised with the scale of the dealership's event."They said in some cities all they got was cake and ice cream".

Help provided by volunteers kept any logistical problems to a minimum. "The volunteers have been great" event coordinator Jennie says. Over 400 people from the Cherry Valley Fire Department, Easter Seals, Illinois Growth, Kegel Motorcycles staff and various other groups helped out for the two day event. Security was also very visible directing traffic around the event to on-site security. Local Cherry Valley and Rockford Police departments and other law agencies that assisted included: Rockford Park District Police, Winnebago County Sheriffs, State of Illinois Police and U.S Marshals Service.




Media coverage was highly visible also with a number of satellite trucks parked on the grounds both national and local. Helicopters flying overhead gave a bird's eye view of the sprawling 2 square miles of motorcycles. But national publicity was not the only encouraging effect of Tuesday's event. Area businesses in Cherry Valley and neighboring Rockford also benefited economically from the gala says Marcus A. Chapple, Revenue Supervisor-City of Rockford. "Many of the restaurants, hotels and motels along Rockford's main business corridor East State Street, were operating at 90-100% capacity on a normally very slow Tuesday night. All of these establishments pay local taxes on every sale. This event absolutely was a benefit to the City of Rockford and the Village of Cherry Valley, IL".

Rumors were persistent during the day that celebrityTonight Show host and Harley owner Jay Leno would be at party (Leno was scheduled to be in Milwaukee). Local Labor Day festival headliner Willie Nelson was also said to be invited and expected sometime during the event. After Leno and Nelson were no-shows a hopeful rider yelled out "now we're just waiting for Elvis".






While party-goers reveled event coordinator Jennie waxed profoundly on days just prior to the party."This was a blast but it was a lot of work. For the last two weeks I've had nightmares; mainly about the weather." When asked if they were already planning the next Harley-Davidson party (every 5 years) Jennie smiled cryptically and said "we'll see". Kegel has their own 95th anniversary coming up in 2004 and the annual Biker Jam in June which attracts thousands of riders locally.


Harley fever was contagious away from the party also. Rockford resident Lisa Giles who didn't attend the event still got caught up in the excitement of it all. "If I ever hit the lottery a Harley would be one luxury I'd have". Michelle Lamb of Poplar Grove, IL would like to look the part in the Harley attire. "After I get my [Harley] Sportster I'm getting the tank tops with rhinestones on them".

As the sun set on the Ride Home party in Cherry Valley and started to wind down people were looking forward to the ride of a lifetime 90 miles northeast to Milwaukee the following day.

Some were more excited than others. Steve, a long time Harley rider and past Sturgis attendee said he'd pass on the ride to Milwaukee with the group. "I'll come and take some pictures but it's (the ride) to much stopping and starting---that can be dangerous if you're not paying attention". But Tim Duffy,another Harley owner local resident said he wouldn't miss it.


"I took two days off [from work] just to be here tonight-- and tomorrow for the ride. This is history."

Important Notes

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