Santa rides a Harley
Charles H. Featherstone/Columbia Basin Herald Unchained Brotherhood member Pony Boy poses as Santa for a photo.
Charles H. Featherstone/Columbia Basin Herald Unchained Brotherhood member Twitch and club president Redwood wave hello to passersby on Saturday as the club gathers to raise money and receive toy donations for needy kids.
MOSES LAKE — It’s not Christmas in Moses Lake until Santa sits on a Harley.
Members of the Unchained Brotherhood motorcycle club gathered in the parking lot of Penhallurick’s True Value hardware store on Saturday to gather donations of toys and cash, serve cookies and coffee, and listen to little ones tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.
The club, which prides itself on being “clean and sober,” has been collecting Christmas gifts for needy kids at Christmas for nearly a decade.
“When this originally started, members of the club saw a need, and we wanted to give back to the community,” said the club’s president, who goes by the handle “Redwood.”
Redwood said the club works with the Moses Lake Food Bank to both determine who is in need and to get the toys out. The bikers just do the collecting.
“The turn out has been good,” said Santa, who goes by the name “Pony Boy” and has been a member of the Unchained Brotherhood for the last five years. “The community is always really supportive.”
The club members still have some issues with the police and with the City of Moses Lake, Pony Boy said, adding that the club could really use community support to help get their Christmas toy drive “on the up and up” with the city.
The club will gather again next weekend too, to solicit donations of toys and cash, and then go buy out the toy aisle at the Walmart in Ephrata, which gives the club a 10 percent discount at Christmas, Redwood explained.
“It’s not Christmas until I do this,” Redwood said. “Christmas is a matter of giving, it’s that simple.”
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.