BSMC-FLORIDA | HISTORY

Three friends in St Petersburg and Bradenton, Florida who rode together, decided in 1996 they wanted to make their riding more organized and turn it into something they could gain recognition on the local bike scene. Forming a club was discussed but nothing was ever decided on. That summer one of them, Carl Laury, took a long bike trip and reunited with friends from Chicago’s Buffalo Soldiers MC while in Denver, Colorado. After traveling on to Sturgis, South Dakota from Denver, Laury also visited Chicago and was impressed with the openness of the Buffalo Soldiers MC in their home city.

Upon his return, Laury began to work on the idea of starting a Florida Chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers MC with his two friends and the organization was created in January of 1997. Founding members Carl Laury, Mack Burton and Vince Bland were joined by Clarence Sanders, Marva Carley, Claude Carley, and in February Eugene Wright. The club quickly became known for its hard riding and long distance trips throughout the southeastern United States. The club grew with support from a number of family members and soon was collecting “Most Members” along with “Longest Distance Club” trophies from events they attended. With an initial focus on distance rides, few new prospects and applicants could actually keep up with the traveling schedule and hard riding style of the club.

Eventually a number of new riders were able to make the cut and become members, that list including Walt Massie and Jake Collins. The club turned a new page with the arrival of biker Tom Macon. With a military background, Macon brought strong organizational skills and a professionalism and level of energy that set a new tone for the club, which has prospered and set new Florida standards of hosting annuals and fundraising.

Early in 1999 the Florida Chapter met in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina along with the Maryland Chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers M/C. It was the first time two of the three original chapters had ever gathered in one location. The meeting provided the opportunity to plan the Round-Up gathering, with the purpose of organizing the chapters, which by now included Delaware, New Jersey and Virginia. That summer the Florida Chapter hosted a Buffalo Soldiers M/C hospitality tent at the National Bikers Round Up.

The idea to offer all clubs using the Buffalo Soldiers legacy membership into a new organization, one that would unite members under the One Club One Patch (OCOP), resulted in the first set of National By-Laws being developed. The national meeting was used as a spring board to create the National Association of Buffalo Soldiers M/Cs (NABSMC). The bylaws were ratified and the National board elected. New chapters have been added each year since that first national meeting.

The Florida Chapter and its members are very proud to have played such a significant role in the creation of the NABSMC and to have been the third chapter in this motorcycle club organization. We have produced a number of firsts within the NABSMC organization, including:

hosting the first National BSMC Meeting
introducing the club’s uniform hat complete with cavalry braid as a BSMC symbol
having members that have held the national offices of the first National Vice President, first National Sgt at Arms and the second National President
creation of the protocol for creating new chapters
introducing the National Rocker
the only chapter to have held two National Rockers at one time (we held them both for five years)

Since January 2004, our membership Full Members has grown 9 to 25 and Associate Members 4 to 10, with a total membership of 35 as of Summer 2006.