Article and photos by Mark Garcia
When the first Shovelheads Run got the green light from Milwaukee's City Council to proceed with its poker run fundraiser, Ron Brefka, the organizer of the event, invited the whole town to join him on the run. That morning 12 years ago, 12 friends showed up to support Ron and his cause for the very first poker run. Everyone had a great time. A few from the original dirty dozen participated in this year's run, along with nearly a hundred other riders. Dozens and dozens of Shovelheads were also in attendance.
It takes good people like Bill Davidson, the Vice President of the Harley-Davidson Museum, with their help and support, to allow this event to be able to grow year after year. The Harley-Davidson Museum is also the launching point of the run, and the staff at the museum do a great job keeping things under control with registration and staging motorcycles.
Now keep in mind the directions to all the stops had no names so you couldn't just google the name of the bar and go there, you had to follow the directions provided and enjoy the scenic route planned out by the organizers (old skool shit). Here are the establishments that welcomed the riders.