BThe Schlater Riders will celebrate their fourth anniversary this weekend.
The three-day event will kick off Friday with a meet and greet, fireworks show and awards banquet.
The second day of the celebration will start at 8 a.m. Saturday, when local motorcycle clubs meet at Whittington Park to join in prayer and take a memorial ride past the graves of lost members.
Saturday night, the club will hold a party at The Historic Elks Building. Admission is $5.
The event will conclude Sunday at A-Mc Park in Schlater with a free blues concert featuring Mississippi artists.
Anthony Collins, the motorcycle club’s president, said he wants to provide people who cannot usually afford a big concert with a little fun and relaxation.
The gates of A-Mc Park will open at noon, and the show will begin at 3 p.m. Families may bring their own food and tents. Vendors must pay a fee of $40.
Schlater Riders is more than just a motorcycle club, Collins said. “When people think of motorcycle clubs, they think of parties and rough riders,” he said. “But this is so much more. It’s about the community.”
The founding of the nonprofit club was “just an idea I had,” he said. “I wanted to make a difference in our communities.”
The group, consisting of 37 members, uses donations to help families in need, hold rallies and support the community in other ways, he said.
Since its founding in 2011, the club has provided meals and gifts for the elderly during the holidays and given school supplies to children every year, Collins said: “We find families that need help and take them in and help them out.”
Collins, originally from Itta Bena, moved to Schlater five years ago. His love for all of Leflore County is strong, he said.
Collins said that the only qualifications to join the club are to be at least 21 and “passionate about doing things for the community.”
“We are more a social club than anything,” he said.
Anyone interested in becoming a member of the Schlater Riders may contact Anthony Collins at 392-1813.
• Contact Chloe Ricks at 581-7124 or cricks@gwcommonwealth.com.
