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Biker breakfasts fill church coffers
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What: Grace Lutheran Church Biker Breakfast
When: 6:30 a.m. to noon today (last day)
Fee: $7
Where: Fellowship Hall, Grace Lutheran Church, 1061 Sherman St., Sturgis
Sturgis rally motorcyclists have delivered thousands of dollars annually to area church efforts over the years. Just by taking in a few of the many breakfasts served by religious organizations, biker crowds have supported a variety of Black Hills ministries and missions for decades.
Eleven years ago, Our Lady of Mount Carmel of Keystone began its biker breakfast as an alternative to long lines at local restaurants. Donations paid for the hearty meals and helped raise funds. It was an overwhelming success, according to Donna Marquardt, an organizer of the Catholic fundraiser.
“It’s our biggest and only fundraiser. We pledge $1,500 that goes to the seminarian fund. It was how the idea started for the biker breakfast,” she said.
Four years ago, Our Lady organizers extended an invitation to Keystone’s United Church of Christ to inject some much-needed youth and energy into its mix of cooks and servers.
“They needed some young blood, and that would be me,” said Eileen Roggenthen with a laugh.
Along with the extra volunteers and the chance to socialize with another congregation, the United Church of Christ brought its own projects to be funded from breakfast proceeds.
“Our church contributes to youth camps, designates proceeds for missions and what’s left over goes into the Good Samaritan Fund that helps people in need,” Roggenthen said.
Last year, the Keystone church was able to donate money to people who suffered losses in the Hermosa flood.
Take away the annual breakfast, and “you wouldn’t have camperships for the kids and the ability to help these people do charity work,” she said.
Charles Schad of Spearfish agrees. He is a member of the King’s Men, which co-hosts the United Church of Christ’s rally breakfast, along with the Women’s Fellowship.
“It gives us a chance to do other projects that we wouldn’t ordinarily do, and we have a chance for fellowship as well,” he said.
For the last eight years, the groups have served an all-you-can-eat buffet of cakes, sausages, eggs, juice and coffee for $6 in the church’s air-conditioned dining room. This year, church member Scott Temple headed up a group of musicians to entertain.
“Wednesday is usually our biggest day of the week when we serve 300 people,” Schad said.
The profits take care of expenses and are divided between the two groups, which decide on the projects that they’ll support, he said.
“It is our biggest fundraiser, no question about it,” he said.
The King’s Men have used the funds to contract with a local bus service to provide free transportation to Sunday church services for their senior members.
Proceeds also have provided new landscaping on the church grounds.
“The projects are determined by the church,” he added.
For nearly a quarter-of-a-century, Dorothy Short has helped organize the biker breakfast at Grace Lutheran Church in Sturgis.
“I have always been in charge of the scrambled eggs,” she said.
For $7, bikers settle in for a breakfast complete with cakes, ham, sausage, scrambled eggs, toast, milk, juice or coffee. It takes 25 people to set up the tables of their basement fellowship hall and cook enough food over the 5-1/2 hours of service.
“It’s our biggest fundraiser,” she said of the event, which serves 450 people each day.
Bikers return on a regular basis year after year because they enjoy the air conditioning, cleanliness and, obviously, the food, she said.
The $15,000 profit goes to support church needs, such as the air conditioning, along with programs and missions, including support for the Sturgis Crisis Intervention Center, local food bank and Meals on Wheels.
“We feel this is a service as well as a money-maker,” Short said.
Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com.
Buck Healey, center, and John Zwetzig, left, members of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Keystone, pull fresh pancakes off the griddles during last Saturday morning’s biker breakfast at Keystone Community Center. Photo by Kristina Barker, Journal staff
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