I had a 1947 Indian back when I was in college that I was planning to restore, but unfortunately, it was stolen and never recovered. That was where my passion for Indian Motorcycles was born. When I heard about Polaris’ resurrection of the brand and their dedication to making Indian truly Indian again, I put a deposit on one sight unseen. Three months later my 2014 Vintage arrived, and I knew this was the start of something special.

 

Towards the end of 2013, Curtis Sloan mentioned to me and a few other new owners that Indian was starting a national rider’s group and wanted to know if we might be interested in forming a chapter. We whole-heartedly said “Yes.” So, John VanScoten, John Garibotte, and Stan Hilton and I became the founding members of IMRG Middle Tennessee. Back then the dealers had to pay a $1500 “startup and application fee” which Sloans covered and they have been a wonderful partner ever since.

 

Initially we would organize rides and sometimes it would only be two or three riders. However, as sales of Indians grew, so did our group. Sloan’s once again gave us assistance by allowing us to hold meetings at the dealership. Since I ended up working at Sloan's I was fortunate enough to meet many new owners and told them about our chapter and recruited many of them as new members. I even meet a woman, Lisa Martin, at Sloan’s who happened to be the great, great niece of Oscar Hedstrom. Lisa was kind enough to come to one of our meetings and share stories and pictures about her famous ancestor. It was really starting to feel like we were on our way to becoming an active, cohesive group.

 

After getting hired at Sloan’s to sell Indians, it became apparent that I could no longer devote enough time as president of our chapter, so John VanScoten stepped up and became our next president. While the chapter leadership has changed hands a few times over the years, the chapter continues on.

 

I am proud to say that I feel we have some of the best people in our chapter, who have a true passion for the Indian brand, and who enjoy the camaraderie of riding together on their motorcycles.