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FORT SMITH – Residents and visitors will once again have fun and help the community next weekend at the annual Charity Motorcycle Rally.
The Steel Marathon will rumble Friday and Saturday down Garrison Avenue in downtown Fort Smith. The rally will feature a variety of live entertainment and motorcycle-oriented events, and attendees will be able to park their bikes in the middle of downtown’s unusually wide arterial roads.
Over the years, the event has expanded significantly. The first rally in May 2015 drew more than 30,000 people and had an economic impact of more than $4.2 million, according to the rally’s website. By comparison, more than 200,000 people attended last year’s rally, which had an estimated economic impact of more than $22 million, according to the Fort Smith Advertising and Promotions Council.
Dennis Snow, founder and president of the nonprofit Steel Horse Rally, said the event is for all service members, including veterans, military, law enforcement and first responders.
The rally’s board of directors also selects local charities to receive donations generated by the event each year. Antioch for Youth and Family, Children’s Services Alliance and Buddy Smith Veterans Home are this year’s beneficiaries.
One of the main fundraising strategies is the Official Rally Charity Cup, Snow said. For a minimum donation of $5, attendees 21 and older can receive a mug to carry their alcoholic beverages through the convention and elsewhere in the Downtown Entertainment District.
The mugs will be sold at the Steel Horse Handle Bar on the corner of Sixth Street and Garrison Avenue, as well as at all participating businesses, according to a March press release.
Snow said that this year’s rally will also feature a new event: the steel horse Hercules duel. Showdown, an officially sanctioned strongman competition, will take place Saturday at 11 a.m. on the middle of Sixth Street between Garrison Boulevard and North A Street, in which professional and amateur athletes — men and women — lift the “amazing Unbelievable” weight in a unique way.
“It’s not just about lifting weights,” Snow said. “It’s very unique and very competitive, but it’s fun to watch for the whole family and we encourage everyone to check it out.”
All downtown rally events, including the Hercules showdown, will be free for people to watch, Snow said.
Fort Smith Police Department Patrol Special Operations Commander Capt. Daniel Grubbs said officers began preparing for the rally months in advance. At any given time, there are 30 or more officers on the scene.
“We came up with a system where we just added dispatch within the uniformed or patrol divisions, allowing dedicated units to be fully designated for the event itself, so other units could handle other parts of the city and any other call services, so there wouldn’t be any interruption of service,” Grubbs said.
There have been “virtually zero arrests” at past rallies, Grubbs said. He pointed out that police had only arrested one person last year — for public intoxication.
Grubbs said Garrison Avenue from Fifth Street to Rogers Avenue will be closed to all traffic, except for motorcycles, pedestrians and emergency services. Closing hours are Friday 6:30pm to Saturday 2am and Saturday 9am to Sunday 2am.
“If you cross this bridge from Oklahoma into Arkansas, traffic will either turn north on A Street or south on Rogers Avenue,” Grubbs said. “Rogers Avenue will become a through corridor.”
“If you’re going downtown, you’re going to have to turn straight onto Rogers, then get to Towson, and go around that road into Oklahoma, or you’re going to have to go around B Street and go into Oklahoma Maryland.”
The rally will officially begin at noon on Friday, according to the event website. Official t-shirts and other merchandise will be available in the first tent on Garrison Avenue in the northeast corner of the parking lot. Additional vendors will be located in “Vendor Village” on the 800 block of Garrison Avenue, the Main Stage on the corner of 6th Street and Garrison Avenue, and Cisterna Park on the 1000 block of Garrison Avenue.
Live music will begin at 5 p.m. on the Main Stage Tri-State Speedway at 1705 W. Race Track Road in Pokora, Oklahoma will also open its doors for the Steel Horse Rally Shootout, which will feature professional and amateur motorcycle racing and Additional live entertainment.Game starts at 7pm
Admission to the shootout, which includes grandstand seating, is $10 for adults and free for children 10 and under, according to the Tri-State Speedway website. Past and present military members will have free access to the stands and will provide proof of service. There will also be “Pit Pit Passes” for $30 for adults, $15 for kids 6-12 and free for kids 5 and under.
Vendors will be open again for Saturday’s 9 a.m. rally before the Cops and Cones Motorcycle Show begins at 10 a.m. in the 1100 block of Garrison Avenue, the rally website says. Law enforcement officers from across the state will be able to route through the precise orange cone in the middle of Garrison Avenue. Kids can take photos with the police and their motorcycles afterwards.
The Law Enforcement Motorcycle Unit will also lead the Thunder through the valley motorcycle parade. The parade begins at 121 Riverfront Drive at 3pm and there will be a photo session at 3:45pm. The parade itself begins at 4 p.m., with cyclists riding through downtown under the American flag, stopping on Garrison Avenue.After the parade there will be more live entertainment on the main stage and the Miss Steel Horse Bikini Rally at 8pm
Cyclists ride along Garrison Avenue on the second day of the 2022 Steel Rally in downtown Fort Smith on May 7, 2022. (File photo/River Valley Democratic Gazette/Hank Layton)[ad_2]
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