Aurora pastor blesses bikers at motorcycle rally and festival

When Brandy Jaeger strapped on her helmet and hopped on her motorcycle Sunday, she was ready to ride a bike that might have a little bit of divine influence.

Jaeger was, after all, one of more than 150 area bikers who attended a bike blessing in Aurora.

The 10th Annual Motorcycle Sunday Aurora has in the past drawn people from as far away as Florida. On Sunday, Jaeger made the much shorter trip from Minooka to have her motorcycle blessed by Father Randy Schoof in a ceremony that asked for God's protection and aid.

Jaeger said the camaraderie at the event was a good illustration of the biker community.

"It's a family," she said. "It doesn't matter where you are from. When you ride together, you ride as a family."

The festival was more than just a blessing, however. Live bands played throughout the day and vendors sold their wares while families and friends gathered.

A pastor at Warehouse Church in Aurora, Schoof has been riding motorcycles his entire life and said the event is a way for people to gather under a common interest and enjoy the day while acknowledging their Christian beliefs.

He said bikers can sometimes get tagged with a negative stigma but that Sunday's event shows that there is more to the community than stereotypes.

"The community is fairly tight-knit," he said. "You're different because you ride. There's that bad-boy image with it, too."

He said attendees range from anybody in a motorcycle club - the leather vest of the Christian Motorcycle Alliance was seen throughout the grounds - to "grandfathers on Goldwings."

Ron Ridgway is a member of the Warehouse Church and volunteers to set up the grounds. He has attended for several years and enjoys being around the crowd.

"Everybody comes together of a like-mind and a like-thought," he said. "It's a fellowship. It's very positive."

As for Schoof, he said the celebration has become a part of his life and unites religion with people's passion.

"There's a lot of people from different backgrounds just coming together," he said. "There are just a lot of new friendships. But for me, it's like a family reunion."