Toy Run to the Presbyterian Home coming Sunday

You can hear them coming, and that’s the fun of it.

Unlike the slight thud of reindeer hoofs on a roof, this Sunday’s annual Toy Run to the Presbyterian Home will arrive with the full-throated roar of hundreds of motorcycle engines.

“The excitement really builds,” said Presbyterian Home admissions director Amy Beatson, “because the sound carries a long way as they come up Linden Avenue.”

And the reaction of today’s Lindenites, added Toy Run organizer Kim Lucas, is an indication of how far the event has progressed.

“The first few times we went that way, some of the residents called the police,” Lucas said. “Now, they stand outside and wave, and some of the people on the street have a community Christmas party at the same time. It’s sort of like the beginning of the holiday season for them.”

Now in its 22nd year, the Toy Run began with a dual purpose — to do good, and to raise the image of those who ride motorcycles.

That image has improved exponentially from the “Wild Bunch” days, as the people beneath the leather have been revealed to be social workers, doctors, lawyers and even ministers. And hanging out with Santa Claus doesn’t hurt, either — call it innocence by association.

As always, Santa will be at the head of the two-by-two column as the long line of motorcycles winds its way (with police escort) from the staging area at Cattle Annie’s to the Presbyterian Home, which will also be hosting children from SPARC House and the Miller Home for the day.

“The thing we’re proudest of,” said Lucas, who will be astride her Harley on Sunday, “is that we’ve never missed a child. Every one has gotten a toy, every year.”

Giving new meaning, perhaps, to the phrase “No child left behind.” Some of them even get motorcycle rides around the rolling Presbyterian Home campus.

The Presbyterian Home includes a place for emergency crisis admissions, Beatson said, “but even if a child comes in on a Saturday night, we make sure they’re not missed the next day, either.”

Children at the homes fill out a “wish list,” she continued, that is passed along to the Toy Run organizers. Groups involved include the Southern Cruisers, the Millenium Sportriders and the Christian Motorcycle Association.

Yet even though the Toy Run has now become one of the city’s most anticipated Christmas events, the group ABATE (American Bikers Advocating Training and Education Association) had a hard time at first finding community organizations that would accept their donations in the spirit in which they were offered.

“A couple of them said we could donate to them, but they wouldn’t give us any credit for it, and they couldn’t guarantee that our money would stay in the area,” said Lucas. “That wasn’t at all what we were looking for. We wanted to do something for the local community.”

How many riders will turn up on Sunday depends, to some degree (no pun intended), on the weather.

“We’ve had days some years where it was 60 degrees and we had 500 riders,” Lucas said, “and days when it was around zero and we had 100. Riding a motorcycle is always a weather-driven activity.”

From the vantage point of mid-week, Sunday is expected to be somewhere in between the two extremes Lucas mentioned, with temperatures in the 40s and the chance of flurries.

Come to think of it, a sky full of flurries descending upon a line of motorycle riders laden with toys would be just about perfect. And don’t forget — this guy Claus has never taken a snow day.