Motorcyclists get their bikes blessed Saturday; safety urged
When Harry Tebay crashed his motorcycle a few years ago, he was thankful that he had his bike blessed beforehand.
“People like to get their bike blessed. I know I like to get mine blessed,” Tebay said. “I wrecked mine a couple years ago and I was very fortunate.”
On Saturday morning, April 26, Tebay helped share that fortune with others, by having a Christian minister bless motorcycles at the Alliance of Bikers Aimed Toward Education’s (ABATE) annual Bike PAC fun run and breakfast.
ABATE is an organization that advocates for the rights and protection of individual riders on the road. The fun run and breakfast raises money for the organization to promote its mission.
Tebay, the chapter president, said Butler has the longest-running ABATE chapter in Pennsylvania. The fun run has taken place 34 of the past 35 years.
Following the breakfast, members of the Christian Motorcyclists Association gave a group blessing, then gave individual blessings of riders’ bikes for the year. They prayed for safe rides and that their motorcycles would continue operating correctly.
Don Wolf with the Christian Motorcyclists Association said there are a lot of bike blessings out there, but he enjoys coming to Butler every year to bless the bikes of local riders.
“The idea that God will bless you, and he will bless your bike, that’s what I say,” Wolf said. “We pretty much pray, pray for protection, pray for protection for the bike, keep it running, things like that. It helps encourage the person, and I can say a special prayer for something they want, their wife or family member or issue they’re going through. It’s an opportunity.”
Wolf said bike blessings are common around Pennsylvania in the end of April and beginning of May, when bikers are getting back on their machines for the first time since the winter.
“It’s always happening in April and May, at the beginning of the riding season, everybody hasn’t been out on their bike since November,” Wolf said. “These blessings are also an excuse to get together, for kind of an opening ride.”
The group’s first big ride of the year started on Route 38, before cutting over to Slippery Rock where riders could stop to fuel up. The trip would end at the Evans City VFW, where riders would have a meal.
The riders made sure to go over their formation before they hit the road, emphasizing safety and awareness, something they do every time they have a group ride.
Tebay said some members ride every weekend during the summer. As a group, they sometimes ride up to 200 miles a day. Using a stamp book with locations in Butler, Beaver, Lawrence and Clarion counties, motorcyclists will go as far away as DuBois, Meadville and East Palestine, Ohio.
As part of efforts to improve safety and awareness on roads, county commissioner Kevin Boozel presented the riders with a proclamation declaring May 2025 as motorcycle safety awareness month in Butler County.
“It’s very important to us that we have the education available for folks that want to try riding and learning how to make sure we keep ourselves safe and others safe,” Boozel said. “What you guys do is very important.”
The organization does charitable work year round, with its biggest event being a ride in September — a fundraiser supporting the Portersville food pantry. But Tebay said the Butler event is a great way to start off the riding season.
“A lot of people just like to ride,” Tebay said. “A lot of people like to donate to the bike PAC. Some of them come because they’re just friends with us. It’s a tight-knit community.”
