Nervous Nellies hosts Summer Bike Night
An event which is being billed as the Florida West Coast kick-off party for Fort Lauderdale Summer Bike Fest is coming to Fort Myers Beach this weekend.
Firemen Memorial Benefit sponsored by Summer Bike Fest and Nervous Nellie’s Crazy Waterfront Eatery is a party on wheels tour stop on Saturday, Aug. 7, from noon to 6 p.m, at Nervous Nellies at 1131 First St.
Event coordinator Michael Rudical, who owns South Florida Bike Events in Fort Lauderdale, has made the trip across the state to plug his East Coast festival.
“What we are doing now is a road trip,” said Rudical. “It’s like bands going on tour. We’re giving away 100 t-shirts at each location. On the back of the shirts, we have all the stops. We’re taking bike builders, vendors, the Jagermeister girls and a stage with a band. All these factor into setting up a party at each location. That’s what we are doing at Nervous Nellie’s. We are shutting that street down and having a big event there.
Co-sponsored by Budweiser and Jagermeister, Firemen Memorial Benefit will include event happenings such as a Harley Davidson Hooters girls bikini contest, live entertainment, bike builders and displays. The Fort Myers Fire Department will be on hand with a display.
“We’re going to have vendors up and down the street,” said Rudical. “We’re putting motorcycles on the street. We’re buying the parking meters. Right outside of Nervous Nellie’s, we’re building a 16′ by 20′ foot stage that will be facing the beach. Hopefully, everybody down by SOB and Yucatan will hear the music and come on over.”
The event coordinator will be making his third trip to the Fort Myers area.
“Everybody goes to Daytona twice a year and Leesburg and Panama City and Key West for the poker run,” said Rudical about motorcycle events. “Fort Lauderdale does not have a major bike event, and we have the largest bike building community around. I do three events a year: Toy Run from Fort Lauderdale to Naples, Fire Fighter Memorial Bike Run and this one (in the Fort Myers area).
“In two years (in the Fort Myers area), we’ve increased our numbers greatly. Our first year we had 600 people show up for it and last year we had 3,000. We tripled everything.”
Last year, the West Coast event was held at the defunct Bourbon Street Bar & Grill in Estero.
“This year we are expecting a huge turnout,” he said.
The Fort Myers Beach stop will promote Rudical’s main event, which is Fort Lauderdale Summer Bike Fest on Aug. 29.
“It’s a promotion,” he said. “It’s actually the Florida West Coast kick-off party for Fort Lauderdale Summer Bike Fest. That’s what it’s being billed as.”
Rudical said some of the money that’s raised is going to Squad Company 343, a rolling memorial fire truck for victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. The fire truck will have pictures and badges of fire and police personnel who passed away in the 9/11 tragedy. Fire fighters from New York are expected to be giving out literature and showing pictures of 9/11.
“I want people on the (state’s) East Coast and the West Coast to know about these bike events,” said Rudical. “If you throw these satellite parties and people come out to it, you can hand out flyers and tell people to come to Fort Lauderdale and join the big party. It’s only 1 1/2 hours away.”
Rob DiGennaro of Nervous Nellies is looking forward to the event.
“We’ve been planning this event for more than five months,” said DiGennaro. “Part of the proceeds we raise here will go to buying fire equipment for underprivileged towns along the Gulf Coast. What this organization does is raise money for fire departments and police departments.”
DiGennaro said the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District will be bringing two fire trucks and collecting money during a boot drive and selling t-shirts. FMB Town Manager Terry Stewart, a retired fireman out of Pembroke Pines, is also expected to be on hand. There will be an after-6 p.m. party in Nervous Nellie’s upstairs bar, Ugly’s, put on by bar manager Alan Lessard.
“There will be some drink and food give-aways,” said DiGennaro. “We’ll have free hors d-oeuvres at happy hour. We’ll also have a reggae band out back by the dock after 6 p.m.”