Chapter Member Spotlight - Gene & Mary Faulk

Chapter Member Spotlight - Gene & Mary Faulk

I’ve ridden many bikes in my younger days although they were never my own. Then, in 2005, single and what I considered finished with the majority of raising my family, I purchased a 2005 Sportster 1200 Custom. I coincidently signed the papers the same day that my youngest son left for Army Basic Training. I was lucky enough to talk to him as he boarded the bus to share this happy moment. I’ve since traded the Sportster for a 2010 Ultra Classic Electra Glide which I still ride today. With the exception of a few setbacks, I’ve been riding ever since and am currently working on my 100,000 mile H.O.G. badge. Due to an accident in 2012, my lovely bride Mary has chosen to not ride but we’ve managed to share the saddle for quite a few miles before then.

My favorite ride to date was a ride my good friend Hal Wilson and I took in 2013. The three things that were a must on this trip was that we ride up Hwy. 7 through Arkansas, eat BBQ at Arthur Bryant’s in Kansas City, MO and do the Steel Toe Tour at the soon to be closed Harley-Davidson factory also in Kansas City, MO. Aside from that, the rest of this ride was “come what may”. For those that don’t know Hal, he’s had a BBQ GPS Chip implanted in his brain that notifies him when he’s close to good BBQ, so needless to say, we ate a lot of BBQ on this trip. The tail end of the trip consisted of riding several rides out of Harrison AR, the Bull Shoals Dam Route, the Jasper Disaster, the Mountain View Run and the Peel Ferry Route to name a few. Oh, we also found a great BBQ place in Yellville, AR, Razorback Ribs. I guess I can say that the best part of this ride was that the “come what may” part was just as good as the planned part.

My bucket list rides have somehow turned in to a 55-gallon drum of rides I’d like to do with no one particularly on top. I guess if I’m forced to put a few on top, they would be the Cherohala Skyway/Tail of the Dragon, the Harley-Davidson Corporate Headquarters and Museum in Milwaukee and the York PA Harley-Davidson Vehicle Operations facility.

I was lucky enough to be able to retire at the end of March 2018. The majority of my career was spent in sales. The last 20 I was self-employed in information technology, mainly in computer network setup and support.

Mary and I have been in the Cajun Chapter for 11 years now. Being a National member for the previous 3 years, we had no clue about local chapters until we went to the 2008 H.O.G. Rally in Baton Rouge. There we saw a few members with their Chapter vest on and it peaked our interest. We joined the Cajun Chapter the very next week. Little did we know that it would lead to 9 years of service to the Chapter to date. Very quickly I became a Road Captain and have since served as Webmaster, Assistant Director, Director and am currently serving as Treasurer. Although I have been the one to hold the official position, Mary has been there right by my side serving as my North Star, often reminding me to do what I feel in my heart is best for the Chapter, stay true to myself and stay the course. I am forever grateful to her for supporting me through all these years.

It’s hard to pinpoint the thing we like the most about our Chapter. There’s always the camaraderie and riding, but I’d have to say that it’s the many lifelong friendships that we’ve made due to being members of the Cajun Chapter. As a person who values his friendships, this has to be my number one benefit. My travels involving service to our Chapter have given me the opportunity to meet and get to know many members for all over the country, including management and support staff from Harley-Davidson Corporate. Taking pride out of the equation, the biggest thing that I’ve learned about our Chapter is that we pretty much set the bar. From the support of our dealer, to the organization, communication, events and riding, no other Chapter comes close to the Cajun Chapter.

I earlier mentioned the 2008 Rally, little did I know that my journey would include helping in organizing H.O.G. Rallies. In 2011, I was asked to handle the webmaster duties for the 2012 State Rally in Lafayette. I was then asked to serve in the newly created Marketing Coordinator position for the 2013 State Rally in Houma. Since then, I served in that position in Lafayette-2014, Monroe–2015, Shreveport-2016 and a new Regional format in Alexandria-2017. 2018 being an anniversary for both Harley-Davidson and H.O.G., there were no local rallies. Due to past successes, we were awarded the 2019 Regional Rally and I was lucky enough to serve as Rally Coordinator. The 2019 Cajun Country H.O.G. Rally was organized by an excellent committee of eight members and executed by outstanding volunteers from our Chapter. We played host to members from 31 states including two Provinces from Canada and members from 131 Chapters. All comments from our visitors indicate that by any measure, the 2019 Cajun Country H.O.G. Rally was a huge success.

I’ll end this with a quote from an unknown author, a quote that I love and often use when an unknowing person warns me to be careful on that dangerous motorcycle, “Die Living or Live Dying”. See you on the road!

By Yvonne Menard
Multimedia