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86-year-old gets lifelong motorcycle wish
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FarkRAPID CITY -- The Sturgis motorcycle rally has made a dream come true for Tom Sawyer, and Mark Twain probably would not have seen this one coming.
Thomas Dale Sawyer, 86, of Rapid City has wanted to ride a motorcycle for many years, and his wish was granted last week when he rode with rally attendees he met through a close friend.
"I wanted to ride one for 70 years," he said. "They took me to breakfast and took me back."
When Sawyer was a young teenager in 1935, he said he looked out a window and saw a shiny, new motorcycle parked in their yard.
"It couldn't be," he said to himself.
But it wasn't for him. Sawyer said a man drank too much the night before, didn't want to drive home, parked his motorcycle in the Sawyers' yard and walked home. The man later returned to retrieve it.
"I was relieved," he said when he found out the bike was not for him. "It was a new one. I knew we didn't have much money."
This type of selflessness is what attracts people to Sawyer, including Frank Condon, 62, of Chaska, Minn. Condon stays in touch by phone calls and visits Sawyer whenever he is in the area, he said. This year, he thought it would be a great idea to introduce some of his friends at the rally to Sawyer, and that's when Minnesota resident Dave Burfield offered him the ride.
Sawyer lives at Primrose Retirement Communities in Rapid City, so when about 15 motorcyclists pulled into the driveway on Aug. 3, they did not go unnoticed.
Condon said the other residents thought it was great that his dream was finally fulfilled. "All of the residents think highly of Tom," he said.
Sawyer's friends include his cat, Spike, who has been a great companion to him ever since he came "screeching" at his door one night when Sawyer lived in Deerfield.
Sawyer ran a grocery store there with his wife, Sherrill, until she died in the early 1980s. At the time, Deerfield had a whopping population of two. He said he didn't bother to change the population sign after that.
"I figured Spike can take her place (as the second Deerfield resident)," Sawyer said.
Condon said his fellow rallygoers enjoyed Sawyer's company and loved hearing his stories. They all signed his guestbook before they departed, but even if the ink fades, Tom Sawyer will not forget his big day.
86-year-old Thomas Dale Sawyer of Rapid City experienced his first motorcyle ride this past week thanks to Minnesota resident Dave Burfield, who offered to take him for a spin. “I wanted to ride one for 70 years,” Sawyer said. (Courtesy photo)
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