Bill Kluth wanted nothing more than “a nice, quiet” motorcycle ride Sunday.
The irony of his statement was lost on him just a little bit, as Kluth, sitting atop his Harley, thundered out of a Midlothian parking lot with more than 700 other bikers Sunday morning. “I guess it’s not quiet, especially when there are a lot of us,” he said. The fleet of bikers rode across southern Cook, Will and Kankakee counties as part of a fundraiser for Park Lawn, a nonprofit organization based in Oak Lawn that offers school, vocational and residential programs for those with developmental disabilities. As the group of bikers pulled out of the Midlothian lot, they were greeted by a dozen participants in Park Lawn’s programs who were holding thank you signs. Kristal Belt, a fifth-grade teacher from Frankfort who rode with her boyfriend, Larry Price, of Midlothian, said that’s what makes the Park Lawn fundraiser different from the myriad of bike rallies held each weekend for different organizations.
“It’s always more meaningful that you know exactly who the money is going to,” Belt said.