LAPLACE — For years, motorcycle clubs have been tied to unfair stereotypes of gang behavior and organized crime. Those associations couldn’t be further from the truth for 99% of motorcycle clubs, including the Street Hogs nonprofit.
The local Street Hogs N.O. Motorcycle Club chapter is dedicated to giving back to the communities of St. James and St. John the Baptist parishes, according to president Tony English. Scholarships to graduating seniors, sponsoring the Gray baseball team in LaPlace, and hosting school supply drives and voter registration drives are among the ways bikers make and impact in the River Region.
English said the New Orleans Chapter has three main goals. The first is to promote brotherhood, unity and support. The second is to provide outreach to support the Ride to Success Mentoring Programs, the Street Hogs Annual Scholarship Fund, Christmas Family Gift Program and the Helping Hand School Supply giveaway. Lastly, Street Hogs seeks to “establish, equip and provide social and civic tools to help better our lives, our family and our community by collectively working together.”
The Street Hogs recently celebrated their third anniversary with an event that brought in more than 1,000 bikers from surrounding regions. The bikers stimulated the St. John the Baptist Parish Economy while attending events at Old Skool Cigar Bar, The Monarch, Jazzy’s 2 Bar and the Choice Marketplace Complex in LaPlace last week. Visiting bikers gave local hotels a boost by reserving rooms at Best Western LaPlace and Fairfield Inn LaPlace.
“You might have the 1% of motorcycle clubs that are like gangs, but we are in the regular 99% that don’t want to be crazy,” English said. He continued, “Motorcyclists bring a big impact. If you allow us to come into your area, everybody benefits. We sold out two hotels this weekend. I gave out flyers to restaurants and different stores to let them know to come shop with us. Every night, we had no less than 70 people at our events.”
Saturday’s event was by far the biggest with approximately 1,000 bikers. English said motorcycle riders meet a lot of people on their journeys, and they come out in droves to support events hosted by other motorcycle clubs.
English started out as a rider in the New Orleans area for 12 years. In 2018, he had a desire to start a club closer to home.
“I started the motorcycle club here in the LaPlace area in 2018 to bring brotherhood by using motorbikes to make a difference in St. John and St. James. All of us are local guys who work in the area. Most of us work at the plants,” English said. “We have 14 active members right now. This was our third year having our anniversary weekend, and we use the money we receive to benefit what we do as a 501c3 organization.”
English said he is especially passionate about making an impact on the youth.
“The young people today have totally been attracted by Hollywood, rappers and everything. We try to give them a local face that they can look up to,” he said.
Eric Perrilloux of the Street Hogs N.O. Motorcycle Club said the group is more than a family.
“Street Hogs is not just my family. We are brothers for life. We have each other’s backs no matter what, and we try our best to give a helping hand to the community,” Perrilloux said.
Other members of the local organization include Henri Miles, Rhys Harrison, Meldon Borne, Christopher Solite, Ranaldo Evans, Larry Jackson, Corey Nicholas, Jarmall Davis, Rodney Nelson, Lance Octave, Deshawn Burham and Jairius Tapp.
