Riding with Pride
Members of the Greene chapter of Pride MC are preparing a fundraiser that will be held March 18 at Buddy’s in Waynesburg. Proceeds from the event will be used to help fellow corrections officers employees in times of need. (Photo by Steve Barrett)
Members of the Greene chapter of Pride MC are preparing a fundraiser that will be held March 18 at Buddy’s in Waynesburg. Proceeds from the event will be used to help fellow corrections officers employees in times of need. (Photo by Steve Barrett)
WAYNESBURG — Eric “Tut” Biagini of Spraggs has been a motorcycle enthusiast since the age of 16. Over the years, he’s had close to 15 bikes of one sort or another, including his current Harley Road King.
A Corrections Officer I for the State Corrections Institution at Greene in Waynesburg, Biagini also serves as national president of the Pride MC, short for motorcycle club.
Pride MC has its origins in 2000 when a corrections officer in Dallas, Pa., was struck by a drunk driver leaving him with a bruised brain stem. After the officer ran up a pile of medical bills, his fellow CI employees decided to organize a motorcycle run to help pay his bills.
The event raised what Biagini believes to be between $10,000 and $12,000 and proved so successful that, when a group of CI employees sitting around a campfire a few weeks later discussed the fundraiser, they thought it might be advisable to organize others to build a fund for future emergency needs of their fellow employees. As a result, Pride MC was born and has since gone on to become a national non-profit created for CI employee members.
“One of the organizers, Jack Callagham, came up with the name,” said Biagini. “As corrections employees, we all work in society’s jungle and consider ourselves lions, the kings of the jungle. Because lions live in prides, the name is especially appropriate.”
Nationally, Pride MC has grown to 21 chapters, open only to CI employees who work in a prison, be they federal, state or county, and their spouses.
“We like all of our members to help out at our fundraisers, whether it’s even just selling raffle or admissions tickets,” said Biagini, who with his brother-in-law, Tom Tennant of Bentleyville, and 13 others, formed the Greene Chapter in 2005. Most of the original members are still with the chapter, which has since grown to 58 members.
Biagini and Tennant had been members of another law enforcement motorcycle group, but grew dissatisfied with the organization.
While attending the Corrections Officer Academy in 2002, someone told him about Pride MC. After checking out the organization online, Biagini said he liked what he saw and decided to form the Greene Chapter.
The major goal of Pride MC is to raise funds for fellow employees in times of need, and all the money raised goes towards meeting that goal.
“We also do a lot of pass the hat and raffle fundraisers and have had a successful run of Steelers party fundraisers,” said Biagini. “The parties are held at Buddy’s Place in Waynesburg and are open to everyone 21 and older.”
For $20, attendees get a chance for a $1,000 door prize, access to an open bar and all the food they can eat. Pride MC members prepare everything from fried chicken, stuffed shells and baked goodies to Biagini’s special sweet and hot sauerkraut and kielbasa.
“We have more food than you’ll find at an Italian wedding,” he said. “The club also rents three, 73-inch TVs to watch the Steelers’ games, and we usually get between 120 to 150 people at each party.”
Since the chapter opened, Biagini said it’s raised over $20,000 to help CI employees with everything from flowers at funerals to giving to someone hurt and going without a paycheck.
This Sunday, March 18, the Greene Chapter is throwing a Penguins fundraiser built on the same format as the Steelers fundraisers at Buddy’s, located at 555 W. High Street in Waynesburg. The doors open at noon with the Penguins game against the Philadelphia Flyers starting at 12:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome, including non-bikers. Tickets are $20 and are available at the door. For more information, call 724-852-2889.
Besides building the reserve fund, one of the recipients of Sunday’s fundraiser is a CI employee afflicted by Gullain-Barre Syndrome, a disease that attacks the immune system and sometimes results in muscle paralysis.
In addition to its fundraising efforts, the club also tries to get together every weekend for a ride and also links up for runs and rallies with the local chapter of ABATE, a motorcycle rights organization of which Biagini was a member for sixteen years and president from 1998-99.
The first Saturday in June the Chapter also stages a poker run that starts at Waynesburg Yahama with a sign-in at 10:30 a.m. The run starts at noon and continues for 85 to 100 miles with five stops in between and ends with dinner.
The national organization also organizes an annual motorcycle rally fundraiser titled Jail Break. For the last four years, the event was held in Cook Forest, but this year, the rally will be held at the Susquehanna Valley Motorcycle Club grounds on August 18.
Locally, the Greene Chapter of Pride MC meets at 6 p.m. the second Monday of every month at Buddy’s. Ron Cox, current chapter president and one of the original members, said the national organization of Pride MC has raised a total of $64,952 to help 142 CI employees and their families between 2001 and 2010.
“We’re one big family that promotes camaraderie between the bikers and the community and helps our fellow employees who might be down and out,” he said. “For next year, we’re already thinking of throwing a NASCAR buffet fundraiser.”