I was getting my hair cut Tuesday at The Barber Shop in Liberty when a young lady stuck her head in the door and informed barber Gary “Fish” Van Norman his mother-in-law was about to come by on a motorcycle.
Considering his mother-in-law, Lena Pearl Tuberville, is 90, we were skeptical.
But the young lady, Tamah Ward (who works next door at Sign Here for Fish’s brother Mark), insisted it was for real.
After I finished getting my hair cut, I stood outside a few minutes to see. No motorcycles showed, so I got in my truck and was headed up the road when here they came.
I looped back around in time to see Miss Lena Pearl on the back of a blue Harley-Davidson trike driven by Derrall Porter of the Patriot Guard.
Behind them on a red Harley trike was Charles McNeil driving Dorothy Bates, 80.
They paused for photos, then invited me to come on over to Liberty Community Living Center, where the Patriot Guard was giving residents rides.
At the nursing home I found a gang of bikers, residents and staff out front under the nursing home’s covered entryway.
Miss Lena Pearl was sweaty from the hot ride but clearly tickled.
“It was fine. It was good,” she said, noting her hair was damp from the helmet. “I used to ride motorcycles. I didn’t drive, but I rode.”
Eight members of the Patriot Guard Riders — Foster, McNeil, Lloyd Wilson, Willie Dumas, Billy Creel, Gary Duncan, George Beck and a man who identified himself only as “Bear” — had answered the call when nursing home social services director Stephanie Andrews invited them.
Stephanie got the idea after learning a couple of residents used to ride motorcycles. She found out about the Patriot Guard and sent them an invitation.
“I thought it would be fun,” she said.
She was right.
“It brought back a lot of memories, happy memories,” said resident Merita Ross. “It was wonderful.”
The Patriot Guard often escorts funeral services for veterans, so this was a bit different for them.
“We’re just here to brighten some older people’s day,” Lloyd Wilson said. “That’s what we’re supposed to do. This generation is very important and they’re forgotten a lot.”
Positioning senior citizens on the back of motorcycles wasn’t always easy, but the riders did it with “nurses’ help and a lot of manpower,” they said.
“If they can stand a little bit, they can sit back on the bike,” McNeil said.
Afterward, the nursing home treated the riders and staff to hamburgers and hot dogs.
Later I texted Lena Pearl’s daughter Diane my proposed headline: “Biker gang terrorizes Liberty.”
She had a better one: “Granny gone wild!”
