Rich Rautenstrauch/Chieftain Gary Bethscheider (left) and Dick Cross will host this weekend's Wallowa County Thunder Run motorcycle rally in Enterprise. Four days of activities and entertainment are scheduled beginning Thursday morning. The organizers estimate 1,500 to 2,000 motorcycles could show up for the event.

Bike rally’s inaugural event expected to draw hundreds of riders.

By Rich Rautenstrauch

Wallowa County Chieftain

ENTERPRISE – Four days of rumbling will fill Wallowa County this weekend when Stubborn Mule owner Gary Bethscheider and bronze sculptor Dick Cross, both of Joseph, combine forces for the first annual Wallowa County Thunder Run.

Bethscheider is the main organizer and sponsor for this year’s motorcycle show, and Cross will be unveiling a life-sized memorial tribute to bikers he has been working on for the last seven years. Four days of activities are scheduled for this weekend in both Enterprise and Joseph, starting Thursday morning and continuing until Sunday.

Bethscheider is excited about the event and estimates that 1,500 to 2,000 bikers will attend. Cross will finally be able to unveil his work, which he terms, “A tribute to all bikers across the world, past and present.”

Cross is a 1971 graduate of Enterprise High School and one of the first hires in the Wallowa County bronze industry. His bike statue is a replica of a mid-1940s flathead motorcycle like the one his dad had when Dick was just a child. Cross said he has been riding motorcycles since he was 15 and has long been involved in the biker culture. “I have a lot of friends and family who ride motorcycles and I find them to be some the nicest people you can meet. That’s why I made the bronze,” Cross said.

This weekend event begins Thursday morning with registrations starting at 8:30 a.m. at Cloverleaf Hall. People can begin to set up their campsites at the fairgrounds at 9 a.m. This is also when vendors will open their booths.

Friday’s first excursion will begin at 1 p.m. with a group ride over the North Highway to Boggan’s Oasis. Next on the schedule is a trivia quiz with prizes to be awarded. Happy hour starts at 4 p.m. followed up by a barbecued chicken dinner.

There are four nights of music scheduled, beginning Thursday evening at 6:30 with Ron Keel, the amazing metal cowboy, opening for Wicked May at 8 p.m.

Bethscheider said most music will be played in the show barn and a tractor-trailer was due to arrive Wednesday to set up a dance floor and a stage. Headlining Friday night’s musical lineup will be the band Homewrecker, and Saturday the pavilion starts rockin’ at 4 p.m. with live music by Stomping Ground joined by Keel to warm things up for the evening’s show, which is headlined by Blue Tattoo, which takes the stage at 8 p.m. Expect Blue Tattoo to bring the show to a climax, playing until midnight in the barn.

Friday’s main event will be the unveiling of Dick’s bronze at the Indian Lodge Motel in Joseph at 1 p.m. A memorial bike ride will follow with the statue traveling to Enterprise via a flatbed trailer and motorcycles trailing. The bronze will be exhibited on the pavilion stage at the fairgrounds for the remainder of the event. Friday night’s dinner will again be catered by the Stubborn Mule with a barbecued hog feed, starting at 4 p.m.

At 9 a.m. Saturday morning a 100-mile poker run is scheduled with a trip to Imnaha. Saturday afternoon from 3 to 6 p.m. is the bike show-and-shine. Saturday evening’s dinner will be slow-smoked barbecued beef.

Breakfast will be served Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Cloverleaf Hall by the American Legion Riders Post #43 starting at 7 a.m. each day. Breakfast will feature an all-you-can-eat buffet at $10 a plate.

Sunday will highlight Biker Church at the pavilion at 9 a.m. with vendors remaining open until noon.

Biker games, raffles and a Harley Davidson display by Rattlesnake Mountain Harley Davidson will round out the new event.

The Thunder Run will offer a four-day pass for $40, or day passes priced at $15 for Thursday, or $25 for Friday or Saturday.