It may have been warmer than spectators wanted it to be during the Crenshaw County Chamber of Commerce's annual Christmas parade on Saturday, but by the end everyone had chills.

Not only did the parade feature floats, fire trucks, cute and cuddly children and Santa Claus, but it also featured 107 bikers with huge hearts.

After the parade, which consisted of 79 floats, snaked its way through downtown Luverne, the bikers revved up their hogs for the needy.

Each biker carried a present, which they dropped off into a huge toy box near the end of the parade route. The toy boxes were later handed over to the Crenshaw County Department of Human Resources (DHR) to help provide Christmas for those less fortunate. In the next couple of weeks, DHR will deliver the toys to Santa and his elves to load up Christmas night and place under glimmering Christmas trees.

The roar of the engines was enough to shake loose parts of some of those toys, but the emotion when the bikers stopped, one-by-one, to drop the toys in the box shook loose everyone's hearts. Some spectators could be seen ducking their heads and wiping a few tears away, and other cheered them on in support of the cause.

A lot of times bikers are misunderstood or labeled as rough necks or troublemakers, but that's not the case. A few months ago it was revealed that labels are only meant for clothing.

Just as the truck drivers did during the Fill the Boot drive, which benefited the Muscular Dystrophy Association and held by fire departments across the nation, including Crenshaw County, the bikers gave from the heart.

Surely there wasn't a biker there just to be up early on a Saturday morning. They wanted to help a good cause.

Next time you see a biker cruisin' on his Harley, don't judge them because he or she is wearing leather pants, a leather jacket and a bandanna.

They may be one of Santa's rough ridin' helpers.

Adam Prestridge is editor of The Luverne Journal. He can be reached at

335-3541 or

via email at adam.prestridge@ luvernejournal.com