The stereotype of rough-edged Harley riders undergoes a radical shift with the Unknowns. Every holiday season, they mount their Harleys to collect toys for local low-income children and top off the fundraising with a fun and social poker run.
They’re also the ones who, through the club’s 40 years, have done road trips for sight-seeing, camaraderie or visiting kindred souls around the country. Since most of them are military veterans, they support the American Legion Post 474. They focus on being a vital presence in the community.
 Photo courtesy Jim Holsman He doesn'€™t wear black leather, but this Santa Claus is a big part of Christmas for the Unknown Motorcycle Club and its annual holiday toy run. |
This week, the Unknowns will be placing big boxes for the toy collection in the Half Moon Bay, El Granada, Moss Beach and Montara post offices, and also at Sea Crest School in Half Moon Bay and the American Legion Post 474 at 470 Capistrano Road in Princeton.
The Unknowns seek to de-emphasize toys like stuffed animals in favor of school supplies and educational toys. “Things that make kids think,” said Jim Holsman of Moss Beach, owner of Coastside Technical Services and an Unknown since its first year.
The club will monitor the boxes and, once filled, take them to Coastside Hope for its annual Adopt-a-Family program.
The toy run was begun 18 years ago by Bob Resch of Montara, owner of Princeton Welding and an Unknown since 1974. Starting then, toys went to local physician Josefina “Joy” Enriquez and to Coastside Hope, formerly the Coastside Opportunity Center.
The Unknown Motorcyle Club started in 1968 in northern Indiana.
“We were just a bunch of guys who liked to ride motorcycles, myself included,” said Holsman. “So we started a club. It seems like that was what everyone was doing back then.”
Many people did something else back then — they went to Vietnam, where, ironically, this enclave of peace-minded, community-conscious bikers came together. Resch and Holsman met while serving in the Navy between 1969 and 1973, “and we’ve been traveling together ever since,” said Resch.
Upending the image of bad-boy bikers, the club adopted the colors black, white, red and gold, and refused from the start to allow drugs or “a criminal element,” said Holsman. “We decided early on to be different.”
He added that he doesn’t remember exactly how the name came about. “It represents something mysterious,” he said. “The unknown is always something everyone wonders about.”
The number of club members is also unknown — intentionally. “It’s just something we don’t divulge,” said Holsman.
Club members get together for road trips for fun, like the 6,000-mile spin around the United States in June to celebrate their 40th anniversary, or their annual jaunt to Oregon for a weekend of fun. “We have friends around the U.S. we go visit,” said Finlayson. “We’re a nomad club.”
With an average age of 50, the club quietly supports its community. They sell Philadelphia cheesesteaks at the Pacific Coast Dream Machines to benefit the Coastside Adult Day Health Center. They support the American Legion, and Resch is active with the Legion’s annual fireworks show. Finlayson, a member of the Sons of the American Legion as the son of a World War II veteran, helps with the Sons’ annual raffle before the toy run, which raises funds for Coastside Hope.
On Dec. 13 the Unknowns will make the final toy run to Coastside Hope in a cavalcade including Santa Claus, who looks a lot like American Legion commander Russell Bissonnette. Then they’ll do the poker run — pitching $5 per hand into a pot and riding to the South Coast and back, making five stops where each rider picks up a card. The best hand wins half the cash in the pot.
The collection boxes will stay at the post offices until after Christmas, for toys to rev up next year’s collection.
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