Nobody could say it better than the folks at Schaeffer’s Harley-Davidson in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, who put out the word in August that “God took a big piece of our sunshine” when dealership scion Dennis Schaeffer, 71, son of Fern “Nana” Koch Schaeffer and the late Carl A. “Pap” Schaeffer, passed suddenly and peacefully on Wednesday, August 30, at a medical facility in California. He married his wife, Carol A. Kimmel Schaeffer, a few years after graduating from Blue Mountain High School in 1963. Dennis was legendary for helping anyone in need and favored the Muscular Dystrophy Association. His obituary in the Republican Herald of September 5 noted he would give sidecar rides at fundraising events to MDA kids afflicted with neuromuscular diseases. His last ride, the Schaeffer family noted, was on a 2018 FLHTK on the Pacific Coast Highway. Thanks went out to all who showed support for the family, whose love of motorcycles prompted the opening of Schaeffer’s Harley-Davidson in March of 1967. Why not join others who sent a donation to MDA, instead of flowers? Mail to: MDA, 1123 Brick Hill Rd., Orwigsburg, PA, 17961, in memory of Dennis Schaeffer. They’ll notify the family of your kindness… Elsewhere, the Massachusetts Motorcycle Association (MMA), renowned for promoting and protecting motorcyclists through education, legislation and safety efforts, held a sold-out annual raffle of 2,500 tickets on Saturday, July 15, at the Upper Deck, an oceanfront bar with three huge decks, in Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts. Organizers told me the winner was Jeffrey Judd, 59, a practicing trial attorney and an accomplished actor in television, stage and film in New York City and elsewhere. He is from Copake Lake, New York. I talked to him and heard an amazing story. His new bike is a Velocity Red Street Glide Special. His old one is a 2013 Road King. Judd said he tends to patronize Woodstock Harley-Davidson in New York and Ronnie’s H-D in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The prize bike from the MMA is his third Harley and “my best one yet.” But here’s the kicker: He won the Road King, too, at a volunteer fire department bike raffle. And to sweeten even that deal, he won the new bike from the MMA on his birthday, July 15. He told me, “They called me and told me I won my birthday wish, that I was the winner out of 2,500 entries.” He had purchased two tickets because he “had a lucky feeling.” He forgot he already had bought the first one. The MMA’s Dave Condon, chairman, and Ron Baldwin, MMA District 1 representative, were among many congratulating the winner. Talk about lucky, forgetful dogs!… Now, a big shout out to longtime THUNDER PRESS reader Don Hamme from Erie, Pennsylvania, who called Shadow, our esteemed THUNDER PRESS editor-in-chief, with the news that Charlie St. Clair, longtime executive director of the Laconia Motorcycle Rally Association, was recently elected to a New Hampshire House of Representatives seat for the Lakes Region. According to the Union Leader of September 12, writer Kevin Landrigan confirms that the special election eased St. Clair, a Democrat, over the top to defeat Republican opponent Steve Whalley by a vote tally of 1,267 to 1,009…That’s all for now, friends. See you down the road.
