Gypsy Culture
Front of the Pack

A Houston Prospect's Story by Jeff

2012/03/12 13:27
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Raoul’s Intro - Take a ride with Houston’s 2011-2012 Prospect as he introduces himself, describes how he was introduced to the Houston chapter, his hang around period and one of the challenges he accepted to “prove” himself to the Houston members. No further introduction is required ...

 Here’s Jeff’s Story - I go to church… a lot. I am a preacher, and have been for the past twenty years. Other than skipping church on vacations—(which I have done for years without shame or reservation)—I am almost always at church every single Sunday.

Up until just recently, a Sunday off was just that. No church. No responsibilities. No nothing. Freedom. Rest. Still grateful to God, but in a very relaxed way. But now, the Sundays that I am away from my ministerial responsibilities are different.

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Midnight at the Waffle House by Wango Tango

2011/12/22 17:46
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It had been one of those days where I was out of my comfort zone. Things were stressing me out that normally never did. I was nervous and jittery like I had consumed a pot of coffee. I hadn’t of course, I had just woke up and it was 11:30 am. I was wondering if I had some strange affliction like cold Chihuahua syndrome. I carried on and rode on in to my job.

Work was slow and my co-worker didn’t show up, so I was elected to cover his area as well. I managed though, taking my ginkgo biloba pills that are supposed to enhance your memory, and washing them down with copious amounts of industrial strength coffee.
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2010 Ride to Papa Jack's Grave by Wango Tango

2011/08/29 12:12
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Last year, after Big “D”s Lifer Appreciation Party Raoul, Super Pickle, Eyeball and I struck out for Arkansas. We were following Raoul, and not really knowing where we were going. It was a wonderful “destination unknown” ride through the Ouachita, Boston and Ozark Mountains.

On the second day of our journey we found ourselves in the small town of Westville, Oklahoma. Just outside the town, we turned down a little country road and pulled up in front of a farmhouse for sale. Eyeball and I followed Raoul and Super Pickle into the property. We watched as they searched through the tall grass in an open field south of the farmhouse. Soon Eyeball and I were signaled to come over to a spot where they were standing.

They pulled the grass back and there was Papa Jack and Jaynie's headstone with the Gypsy logo and the inscription “Together for Eternity” on it. Raoul and Super Pickle had been to the gravesite before and probably knew what to expect, but Eyeball and I hadn't and I was moved, even awestruck, by this sight. Papa Jack was the man who established the Gypsy MC in Texas, and the club as we now know it today. I had no idea he and his wife Jaynie were buried in Oklahoma, actually I had no idea where they were buried. We cleared the weeds from the gravesite with our hands and took some pictures. Super Pickle told us that Papa Jack and Jaynie had lived in the farmhouse on the property, and Papa Jack had suffered a fatal heart attack while tending to his horse in the barn. His wife Jaynie had passed away  in 2001, and they were both buried here, with their infant son and Jack’s dog Pistol Pete. Their home was left vacant and had burned. It was torn down in 2007. Read More...
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Papa Jack's Ballad

2010/08/30 12:36
Every so often something happens to re-ignite my pursuit Gypsy MC history. Earlier this year I got a phone call from Greyback who told me about a chance encounter he’d had with a truck driver at a Beaumont What-a-Burger. I followed up on the lead and in the course of my conversations with the former member, Jon “Andy” Anderson, I feel I now know when Papa Jack first started the club in Corpus Christi. Andy’s account agrees with the timeline that Jack’s brother, Hap, provided but conflicts with official Gypsy histories written as early at 1976. The start-up date Andy claims was March 1968. I’m now convinced this is the date the Gypsy Motorcycle Club was established in Texas. This was the first of two epiphanies that I’ve had so far this year.

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Motorcycle Club Hierarchy

2010/04/12 17:06
This blog topic is a response to Daniel’s comments in the Houston guest book (March 17 … please read his complete entry for his perspective … I’m paraphrasing in this piece). It seems that young Daniel is a Dallas area college student and is doing a paper on 1%er motorcycle club’s influence on “legitimate” motorcycle organizations. His perspective focuses on the control that the dominate 1%er’s have over those motorcycle clubs (MC’s) that exist within their “territory”. Unfortunately, Daniel didn’t leave an email address so I could communicate with him directly. Hopefully Daniel will read this entry and include my perspective in his paper. Read More...
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Bill the Cat Weighs In on MC Hierarchy

2010/04/11 16:12
“The Cat” has this response to Daniel’s guest book entry (March 17) about motorcycle clubs and especially 1% clubs. I would use this analogy: Daniel, you go to a major university which would be like your dominate 1% club. You have to follow whatever rules are set for you by the powers that be. You either like it or not; and if you don’t like it you can leave that university. If you stay the course, after a time you get to know the people in charge and you become accepted. This only happens after you give up some of YOUR freedoms to obtain status and respect. Freshmen are like Prospects, you do as your told. When you become an upper classman and earn respect and status you become a more dominate player in your local society.

I am a patch holder and the day that I started prospecting was a major change in my life. At the time I didn’t know it but I was on a path road that I had always dreamed of. Along the way I found out that motorcycle club life can be difficult at times … in ways I had never thought of. I ride thousands of miles a year, in many states, and riding by motorcycle is really the only true way to see the country. Read More...
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The Fallen Brother Project

2010/04/05 12:28
The 2010 “Fallen Brother Run” was held on Saturday, February 27th in Rossville, Texas. The run is hosted by the Gypsy MC River City chapter and came about through the combined vision of Lifer Patchless and River City members Bounce! and Popeye. The run was originally called the “Splinter Memorial Run” held in memory of River City member Jason “Splinter” Villanueva who was killed with his girlfriend in a tragic motorcycle accident in 2002. The run is typically held on the last weekend in February to remember Splinter’s birthday on February 22nd. The run was renamed Fallen Brother when Retired Lifer and River City member Charlie “Little Charlie” Settles died in 2005. The realization that, as a club, we lose as many as a dozen members each year has really driven home the fact the we need an organized approach to supporting both members and non-members that need, and deserve, our help. The Fallen Brother project has done just that for the last five years.
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My Gypsy Colors

2009/07/20 21:03
I’ve made a tradition of wearing my original colors to Mandatory each year; but ‘09 will be the last year I wear these colors. I slipped in the mud this year, breaking my leg and getting all manner of mud on my colors. After the trauma of the accident passed (surgery, narcotics, immobility) I got my colors out of the closet and washed them. I went through the entire routine; taking off the leather laces, removing the metal fasteners and taking off the few pins and baubles that have accumulated over the years. The mud and grime came off but the vest and patches are showing about as much wear as their owner. I hung them in my kitchen window and noticed the material around the neck; just above the top rocker is so thin I can see through it. It’s definitely time to convert the colors that I’ve worn so proudly to a display … perhaps placing them in a shadow box would be a fitting final resting place for them. Read More...
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