Motorcycle aficionados competed and perused a large selection of bikes Saturday at the Show-Me Bike Show on the Missouri State Fairgrounds.
The winter show is hosted each year by the Sedalia Motorcycle Association and has been offered for well over a decade.
“I was trying to think this morning how many years we’ve been doing this show,” Association Treasurer Rick Yeager said on Saturday. “I’ve been in charge of the show now for nine years, and it’s been going on now for, we figure, somewhere between 15-to-17 years. A number of years, right here at this location on the fairgrounds.”
Yeager noted that the group hosts the show in February to “get people out for a winter break.”
“This February date can bite us, good weather, bad weather, but the good thing is if it’s doable, we get a bigger crowd than we do in the summer …,” he added. “So that’s the beauty of doing it in the winter, people will come looking for something to do.”
The Sedalia Motorcycle Association, a non-profit organization, has a membership base of 30 members; the president is Dave Skrzypczak.
“The organization has been going since the late 50s,” Yeager noted. “We had a name change in that length of time, but the organization is very old.”
The annual show has motorcycle, food, jewelry and rights organizations vendors and it offers a competition featuring different classes. This year there were approximately 70 bike entries.
“We have 19 classes of motorcycles here,” Yeager said. “That’s a fluid deal each year. Each year we change classes and move classes around because of what people build and what their interests are. This show today has 19 classes, with the best of overall show.
“Those are all judged by three judges, independently. In fact, only one of our judges is from Sedalia, the other two are from outlying areas. They are all qualified judges, they know what they are doing.”
Yeager added that entries for the day, besides Sedalia, included St. Louis, Kansas City, Marshall and Clinton.
“We have a wide variety of people coming in, from a wide area, to participate in our show which we are proud of too,” he said.
Last year the show drew approximately 1,000 people. Live entertainment is always provided, this year it featured the bands Tobacco Row and Morgan Highway.
