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Meetings are the first Thursday of the
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The following is
a brief history of the Gypsy Motor Cycle Club as told by the Gypsy Historian
“OH-BABY” …. We would like to thank and acknowledge our Brothers and Sisters
at the Gypsy MC “BigD” Chapter for this information . We will compile and
post our own Fort Bend Gypsy MC Club history so that visitors and members
alike can learn about the history of the Gypsy Club and the Fort Bend Chapter
. "You have a
choice being a Gypsy, but I was born a Gypsy" -Papa Jack Gypsy MC Club
History In 1932, in a
small town in Eastern Tennessee named Maryville, the GYPSY MOTORCYCLE CLUB
was born. At this time several adventurous souls were beginning to venture
out on the public roads on their two-wheeled machines. One of these brave
souls was a young man named Lee Simerly "Happy Jack", Papa Jack's
father. Happy Jack would get several of his friends and acquaintances
together and do some serious riding through the mountains and towns of
Tennessee. As this group of daring young men grew they took on the name of
the "Gypsies" and formed a club with Happy Jack being its first
President Thus, the GYPSY MOTORCYCLE CLUB was born. As the group
grew larger and rode a greater number of miles the people from the towns
around began to refer to them as the "Sour Pickles Of Society" not
understanding these daring and fun loving group of bikers. When Papa Jack
first saw the character pickle riding a motorcycle, he knew the pickle patch
had been born and to this day is proudly worn on the back of all Gypsies. Then in 1948,
some 16 years later Happy Jack's brother Chuck took over as President and
remained so until Papa Jack became President in 1960. Jack Simerly, now known
as Papa Jack, moved to Aransas Pass, Texas where the club became known as an
outlaw group. Because of this notoriety the club was disbanded in 1964. In 1966 Papa Jack
and brother Jim "Hap" Simerly decided to reorganize the Gypsy
Motorcycle Club with the main aim in mind to build a better image of bikers
in the public eye. It began by first chartering the club with the American
Motorcycle Association (1968) ,and changing the once worn levi cutoff jacket
worn by that daring group of young men, to the Riverboat Gamblers Vest that
is still worn today. Estella Simerly, Papa Jack and Hap's Mother was heard to
say that this vest would influence the Gypsy members to be as "good as
gold". The Aransas Pass
Chapter, now known as the Corpus Christi Chapter and still referred to this
day as our "Mother Chapter" was chartered with AMA in 1968 and
carried Charter #4 upon joining Texas Motorcycle Roadriders Association
(TMRA) in 1972. However to safeguard that charter # from ever being lost,
International now holds it. In 1973, some 41
years later, the Gypsy Motorcycle Club became National and International by
forming chapters in not only Texas, but Oklahoma, Mexico, Tennessee and the
first chapter in Germany in 1983. Since then we have crossed the state lines
with chapters also in New Mexico and Louisana. Up until this
time the Gypsies had known only one leader, Papa Jack. But the club was
growing so large now and covered so much territory that Papa Jack found it
necessary to have his own personnel offi~ers. This group of officers became
the International Chapter and were designated to wear "Black
Rockers". At a meeting in the early 1980"s on the beach, Papa Jack
changed the black rockers to red rockers in an effort to more easily
distinguish his International Chapter. The Red Rockers
made up Papa Jack's chapter and answered only to him, and this still holds
true today with the Chairman of the Board/International President. Their positions
are appointed and not elected offices. In 1979 Papa
Jack married Jaynie Phillips. And in 1980 Papa Jack was spending more and
more time on the road as a truck driver and felt the needs of the Gypsies
could be better served if there was someone around more often. So at a Red
Rocker meeting at the clubhouse in Corpus Christi, he appointed Jim
"Crazy Indian" Scarberry as President and Chuck "Gray
Fox" Darnell as Vice President. It was an exciting time with Indian and
Fox, as this was Papa Jacks first, but not last, attempt to transfer power
and responsibility from his shoulders in an effort to pursue a life long
dream. In 1984 Papa
Jack and Jaynie moved to Oklahoma with farming and raising cattle as their
long awaited dream. And once again as President, Papa Jack had the 1985
Mandatory in Oklahoma and this time appointed Jim " Pappy Jim"
Davis as President and Bert" Erdin-Erdin" Lynch as Vice President
of the Gypsy Organization, but Papa Jack remained Chairman of the Board with
51% of the vote. The next few
years proved to be turbulent to say the least under Pappy Jim's leadership.
It became more and more apparent that Pappy Jim's vision for the club was not
the vision that the membership had come to believe in thru Papa Jacks
direction. It became obvious that Pappy Jim's integrity was going toward his
need to abuse his power as International President In 1992 Pappy Jim had
secretly incorporated the Gypsy Motorcycle Club as a non-profit organization.
The majority of the Gypsies were not in favor of the incorporation including
Papa Jack and Erdin-Erdin. Then in July of 1994 Papa Jack removed Pappy Jim
as International President and appointed Erdin- Erdin as Chairman of the
Board & International President giving him his 51%. Erdin-Erdin then
appointed Roger Ross as his Vice President. Pappy Jim was
not giving up that easy and tried to ignore Papa Jack's decisions trying to
rally support for his leadership and control of the club. Then in November of
1994 a very public court battle began between supporters of Erdin-Erdin and
Pappy Jim. To resolve the matter of who would lead the Gypsies, the judge
listened to testimony from a..number of Gypsies, then called for a vote by
the membership that was in attendance. In the final judgement in June of 1995
the court awarded the Club to Erdin-Erdin and Papa Jack with 229 votes in
favor of Erdin-Erdin and 47 votes only for Pappy Jim. Pappy Jim tried
to ignore the court's final decision forcing Erdin-Erdin's attorney to obtain
a temporary injunction that restricted Pappy Jim from representing himself as
a Gypsy. Erdin-Erdin was
to remain Chairman of the Board and International President to the Gypsies
from1994 to 2001. During that time Roger Ross was to retire and Erdin-Erdin
appointed Lloyd "Burrr" Rowland as his next Vice President The
GYPsies thrived under Erdin-Erdin's leadership and the organization became
stronger than before and more loyal to the Gold. Known for his down-to-earth
views on the importance of the motorcycle in the Gypsy culture and the
fundamental reason for the existence of the Club, i.e., to ride and have fun,
attracted many new members. Erdin-Erdin was very active in his role as
Chairman of the Board and International President, and supported, with his
attendance, many of the Gypsy rallies and benefits that were held each year.
Erdin believed that the Gypsy MC was meant to allow us all to enjoy the
friendships of our brother and sisters whether by riding side by side or
sitting around a campfire telling a few stories or jokes. As we walked
along the dirt road at a rally, Papa Jack stopped and pulled a worn out old
wallet from his back pocket. Fumbling thru the clouded plastic picture
holder, he pulled out a faded black and white picture and handed it to me. It
was of a young woman, quite attractive, I thought, standing next to a
motorcycle, only like the ones I"ve seen in antique motorcycle
magazines. I stared at the picture, then looked up, He said "The woman
you see there is my Mother, I rode on the back of that motorcycle in her
belly on the way to the hospital, and I rode in her arms on the way
home". -He truly was
born a Gypsy .. Oh Baby Gypsy Historian Revised 11-04-07 |
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