From the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce
The 4th annual Middletown Motorcycle Mania, presented by Trantolo & Trantolo, Gengras Motorcycles, and WCCC will be held on Wednesday, August 12, on Main Street in Middletown. Hours of the event will be 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Over 2,500 bikes are expected to converge on Main Street this summer for the fourth year of this event, which will showcase custom and vintage motorcycles.
In 2008, there were 2,000 motorcycles on display along with thousands of spectators at the event.
“All bikes are welcome to come out for this summer event that is sure to be a fantastic time for everyone involved. This event is an opportunity for the city to showcase its many fine restaurants and retail shops in the downtown district,” said Chamber President Larry McHugh.
There are a variety of activities planned for the evening, including a bike show and awards, street vendors, and entertainment.
In addition to the event’s title sponsors, Liberty Bank, Hunter Limousines and Hunter’s Ambulance, Verizon Wireless, Minuteman Press, Home Team Supply, Emrys Design, McHugh, Chapman & Montalbano, LLC, and Connecticut Spine & Sports Medicine are all sponsors of the event.
“The Chamber thanks Al Santostefano and Frank Posca, the event’s co-chairs and their committee for all of its continued work in putting this event together,” McHugh said.
This event benefits Middletown youth and past proceeds have gone to the Middlesex Chamber’s Middletown Mentor Program, led by Hal Kaplan, and the Middletown Parks and Recreation Department’s Hoops and More on Friday Nights program, led by Ray Santostefano.
Rain date is Wednesday, August 19. For more information or vendor space, please visit www.midtownmcmania.com or contact Cathy Duncan at the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce at (860) 347-6924.
As part of Motorcycle Mania, South Church on Pleasant will have a food booth in front of the Church. Stop by "Hog Heaven" for some delicious pulled pork sandwiches!
ReplyDeleteNoise pollution on parade.
ReplyDeleteBring back the good old Middletown Sidewalk Sale, or "A Taste Of Middletown" right on Main Street instead of this event. You would get just as many people, and would directly involve more of the community's businesses without unleashing a night of roaring terror.
I am not a motorcyclist - but I have to disagree with Anonymous 10:18 PM -- Motorcycle Mania as well as the car show are great events for the city. It showcases the downtown district to a large cross-section of CT residents many who return back to town to eat in our restaurants. It is not as you state "a night of roaring terror". I have attended this event each year and have never seen any violence or disruption. Yes, the bikes are loud...but they do not cause, as you say...terror.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever think that the reason that the Taste of Middletown or the Middletown Sidewalk sale are no longer viable is because they were not well attended? The old Middletown Sidewalk Sale worked 20 years ago because there were many retail establishments along Main St. then. We do currently have some great little retail shops on Main St. - have you bothered to come downtown to support them?
Instead of being narrow minded and boycotting events - why don't you embrace our towns' efforts to bring various festivals to town - maybe then we can expand to create and include additional festivals in the future.
In fact many restaurants do more poorly than usual during these events (some do better), and chamber members from Main Street businesses have complained bitterly, but with futility, that these events hurt, not help, business.
ReplyDeleteWhat bothers me most is the promotion of a method of transportation that is patently unsafe, and a glorification of the straight-pipe thunder that would send noise meters off the charts.
Anon. 10:18 here
ReplyDeleteIf you live near Main Street like I and many others do, you are in for a very loud and disruptive afternoon and evening, well into the night. And of course this carries over to other days and nights as more and more Motorcycle riders get attracted to the city because of this event.
I think The Chamber Of Commerce's Motorcycle Mania event is a great success on many levels, and I understand your pro-commerce position, as we all love to have some money come our way, but honestly it is a hell night for anyone who lives near the event. A few thousand residents have to suffer an awful lot of noise. I personally don't want the town of Middletown to get louder and louder and attract more and more Harleys with roaring tailpipes going up and down Main Street and through the central neighborhoods all the time.
I would think that all the restaurants in and around Main Street that have invested in outdoor seating over the last several years would actually benefit from less Motorcycle traffic and less noise pollution in general. I believe that there could be other events in place of Motorcycle Mania that could drive restaurant goers to our Main Street restaurants, like a "Taste Of Middletown" on Main Street, like I mentioned in my first post. Now, you can't have too many events that block off Main Street throughout the year, so I don't think the solution is to add that event in addition to Motorcycle Mania.
I guess I am bringing up the issues of noise pollution, what we want to attract to our city, and quality of life in Middletown in my position on this event. I respectfully encourage a public dialog on this because it is a real public issue in these noisy times.
How can I possibly enjoy myself at Motorcycle Mania knowing Anon.10:18 is huddled in a corner comforting Fluffy the cat, waiting for the "roaring terror" to leave. Easy....just watch me!
ReplyDeleteThe bikes arrive---they park---and then they leave. They do not cruise up and down Main Street.
I will enjoy the bikes, the vendors, the food booths, and the great music. It's just like the sidewalk sale---minus the murder.Plus, the money goes to a good cause--not to merchants trying to get rid of the junk they couldn't ordinarily sell. Have a glass of warm milk and tough it out.
Anon 10:18 here
ReplyDeleteWow, NOBO. For the record, I don't own a cat and I won't be huddling in some corner during this event. Don't be a jerk. You can paint me as a pussy but you don't know anything about me except what I have written here, and I am not at all like the picture you are projecting.
The murder of Jessica Short was one of Midletown's greatest tragedies, but it was a freak accident and not caused by the Sidewalk Sale. Don't be so crass.
You go ahead and enjoy yourself. Live it up NOBO. Make some noise. Eat and drink. Just like you would be able to do at a Taste Of Middletown or a Sidewalk Sale.
Unlike you, I'll never buy into supporting something just because it 'raises money for a good cause'. My mind doesn't think that way.
See ya' NOBO. Have a good time at Motorcycle Mania.
Jessica Short. We as a town don't deserve to hold a sidewalk sale in memory of this tragedy.
ReplyDeleteIt is very stereotypical to have issue with bikers. Despite what you might believe, Motorcycle mania is very kid friendly, if it be deemed all events on main street must be so.
ReplyDeleteAnd no- the Jessica Short murder was not a "freak" accident. We all are to blame for not have been harsher on CVH giving out day passes to unstable persons and opening our backyard to these individuals to galavant unsupervised amongst our children. Middletown is to blame for that tragic murder. Businesses the day of the event kept open and kept selling too, how do i know? I was there! It was horrible. I hope we have all learned a lesson about the difference between stereotyping and prejudice with just cause in the name of safety.
I know that all motorcyclists are not hoodlums, though I notice that many want to play at being menacing. Why would the City encourage these people and their loud and polluting and dangerous machines? Are the finances of the City that bad? By the way, I live on the outskirts of the city and Wednesday night the usual screeching of motorcycles has been absent! I assume that the motorcycles are all downtown. I have sympathy for the residents of the center of the city.
ReplyDeleteWord on the street is that the Taste of Middletown cost $80,000 in police and other city overtime.
ReplyDeleteCity overtime did cost close to $80,000. Every time the City hosts an event, it costs the taxpayers money. The July 4th fireworks cost over $40,000 to put on. The question is; do the events benefit others than our businesses? Do they benefit more than a few residents? Is it for a cause which requires attention from the public?
ReplyDeleteI live downtown and have no problem with Motorcycle Mania. My neighbors are bikers and the 30-second rev of their Harleys leaving their yard doesn't disturb me at all. I have had relatives die in motorcycle accidents as well. What I have to say is to each his own- there are no laws prohibiting motorcycles nor are there forcing riders to wear helmets either.
ReplyDeleteNoise wise downtown, I am more bothered by screaming kids whose parents are no where in sight, backfiring cars, illegal fireworks, car alarms, loud music from cars and homes, and the discharge of air soft guns (at least I hope they aren't real), all of which happen no matter what time of the year it is.
My point is its one-day of the year- these are law-abiding citizens who are living a lifestyle that just because you wouldn't choose it does not mean that anyone should stop them.
Sayrbook Road residents endure the roar of nearly 2,000 motorcycles that take to the pavement during yearly charity ride to the CT shoreline that begins at the Elks Lodge in the late spring. Often times residents cannot leave their driveways for hours. However, seeing how happy the leather-clad riders are, my family and I have often sat at the end of the driveway to wave them on- and just enjoy this anomaly as just another unique event Middletown has to offer.
IF you want to talk about 1 day noisy events then lets be fair- and be critical of all the downtown events such as: the Memorial Day parade with its deep bass drums and sirens, air horns at road races, the Viti with it’s screaming participants and cheering watchers, and the annual fireworks display as well. Residents can even hear the Wesleyan graduation hoop-la from blocks away . No one has found issue with the downtown car-show- which is just as noisy. One cannot pick on a single event just because they do not choose to participate. And what’s wrong with attracting bikers to Middletown?
No one event will win the hearts of everyone in town- as you know Middletown prides itself on diversity- so be happy that there is something for everyone here- and I mean everyone!