March 28, 2024

Rev up for Elm’s Club Bike Night slated Friday

As the sun goes down, music will be playing and the people of Creston and surrounding towns can enjoy a cold drink in the heat of June during the seventh-annual Elm’s Club Bike Night.

Bike Night, a free, family-friendly event scheduled for Friday, will start at 5 p.m., with music playing and food available. Once the sun goes down it’s requested to be a 21-years-old and up event.

“If this rain holds off, I think it’ll be awful good. You got a lot of people talking about it, and you can just walk in, you don’t have to buy a ticket,” said Gus King, co-owner of Creston’s Elm’s Club. “I think it’s good for the whole downtown. I think that’s why everybody likes it.”

The 100 block of North Elm Street will be blocked off for those wanting to show off their motorcycles.

“We don’t do a contest. We just encourage everyone to come up and show off their bikes and let everyone see,” said Victoria Brammer, Bike Night volunteer.

Tacos and nachos will be available by El Ranchito of Afton, as well as other local restaurant food and drinks. Creston band Amish Rake Fight is set to rock at 8 p.m., and Greenfield band Humbled Soul will start jamming afterwards.

A bikini contest will also be held on the stage, with registration at 11 p.m., and the contest at midnight. The only requirements are contestants must be female and wear a bikini.

“We used to do a wet T-shirt contest, and that was kind of frowned upon, so it got changed to a bikini contest,” Brammer said. “It’s $100 for first prize.”

Bike Night was started seven years ago when Brad Abildtrup came up with the idea.

“There was a kid across the street that had a tattoo shop, Brad Abildtrup. He used to come here and get sandwiches to go,” King said. “He said, ‘the town’s just dead, there’s nothing downtown. We need to get something going.’”

King then invested in the event after that, and it’s lasted seven years now.

At last year’s event, 150 bikes were shown off by their owners amid sporadic rain showers.