Fire and Ice ready to roll this weekend

By Helen Davis
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — Rain?

Aw, that is just bike rally weather, according to Fire and Ice Bike Rally vendors. It is summer, after all — the eighth annual rally starts Friday and runs through Sunday.

Kathy Gonzales, Grants MainStreet Project executive director, said that when she talked to vendors who were caught in last year’s monsoon and the resulting mess of flood waters, mud and closed down entertainment, they told her the weather did not bother them at all.

Most vendors at the annual MainStreet-sponsored event are professional rally sales people, Gonzales said. They sell at motorcycle rallies all over the country and take summer storms in stride as part of the program.

To illustrate that there are no hard feelings about last years rainout, which cost the rally $30,000 for bands that had to be paid no matter what, vendors have signed up in the usual numbers. Gonzales said so far the rally has registered 102 vendors, or about what Fire and Ice usually attracts, with about 12 spots reserved for last minute local vendor requests.

Rain or shine, the rally is set to go starting at 9 a.m., Friday when the parks and vendors open to the public. The Budweiser Pavilion opens for entertainment at noon Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with a $10 cover until 7 p.m. and $15 after 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday; no cover will be charged Sunday, which is community day.

This year, old favorite activities like the Biker Baby Contest, the Motorcycle Rodeo, the Harley-Davidson Give-away drawing, the big poker run on Sunday at 1 p.m., a Saturday Bernie Augar Memorial leisure run and other events will be back.

Live entertainment in the “Bud Tent” includes Lovedrive 7, Mister Black, Lady Smith, Perfect Alibi, Street Survivor, and Jimmie Van Zant on Friday and S**t Happens, Street Survivor, Mrs. Fire and Ice 2008, Missing Stateside, Lady Smith, and Foghat on Saturday. Tobias Rene will perform at noon on Sunday with no cover charge; no alcohol will be sold in the tent Sunday.

Remembering our soldiers is a subtheme this year, Gonzales said. The Grants area National Guard will display a dedicated National Guard chopper created by Orange County Choppers and put one or two Humvees from the armory on display.

Information: Rodeo and poker run, (505) 287- 8633 or (505) 285 - 5772; Rally and vendors, (800) 550-3573; Grants MainStreet Project, (505) 285-3573.

On the Web:
http://fireandicebikerally.com/index.html