(Club President and reunion organizer Tony Suarez gathers the tribes and lives to tell the tale.)
The 25th anniversary of the Secret Society Scooter Club was held over the Labor Day weekend in San Diego. One hundred twenty or so current/alumni members and their wives descended on San Diego from as far away as Boise, Idaho, and Warrington, Va. The newly formed Chicago chapter (of two) and the San Francisco chapter made it as well.
Cat-herding folks that I hadn’t seen for a good 20 years was not as difficult as I had predicted. Getting folks to pay for a dinner at a hotel on time for our due date was another story! Threats of e-mail spam and other modern online tactics got everyone together.
In any case, “The Club” had a meet-and-greet at the Livewire Bar (owned by Sam Shammis, drummer for CLA and the Outriders, and loosely connected to several Che Underground-ers) to get all the old and new members together for a few drinks. (Our SF chapter put the drinks away!)
Eleven p.m. came up, and we scooted off on our Vespas and Lambrettas (for those who still had them) or taxied it to the Hillcrest cinemas for a midnight showing of “Quadrophenia.” I harken back to the times that I have seen this film at the Ken Cinema, only to enjoy the banter and crowd commentary more than the actual film itself. It was no different at this showing, 25 years later. Members Steve Griggs, Dave Dubiner and Mark Stilnovich kept us in stitches through the night with their smart-ass observations during the film, as they tied certain scenes to the film to current and old members. (How many times can you yell “Slut” at the Stephanie character?)
We cleaned up the theater (when was the last time you drank Tecate in a Landmark establishment?) and went home a happy bunch.
Saturday night was our dinner at the Handlery Hotel in Mission Valley. We had dinner, watched slides of old photos and looked at old scrapbooks. For the most part, this was the “high-school reunion” part of the weekend, but not completely.
Sure, there were bad-hair photos. I saw a few photos with acid-washed jeans. But the old photos of times gone by were reminder of how interesting that period of time was in San Diego and San Francisco (I mention SF, as the SF club started two years later in 1985). Most of the members were out of high school when it was formed, and the club was really formed as a connecting point to all the strange worlds of post-punk/ mod/ goth/ underground/ beach cultures in San Diego. While scooters were a focal point in the club, they were secondary to the friendships we had formed by hanging out at the Headquarters and International Blend and continued with events at JP’s, SDSU Montezuma Hall, Club Zu and Che Café.
We had a few speeches, fueled by two hours of hosted bar. Gifts were exchanged, and a few roasts were done. We followed that with two hours of 1983 dancing. (That is to say, I had not seen some of the styles of dancing since 1983!) I saw a few members gasping for air on the smoking balcony. We had “good times.”
Sunday, we had the traditional scooter rally: Sixty to 70 scooters left Gelato Vera at 5 p.m. We rode to our traditional meeting spot at Presidio Park and took a group photo. Club founder and first President Mark Stilinovich led the rest of the ride on a borrowed P125, through Point Loma on Rosecrans St, cutting across Canon St to the Sunset Cliffs Park at the end of Sunset Cliffs.
After a few more photos, we headed back to the Casbah, where former member and current booker Tim Pyles (and 94.9 FM DJ and tireless San Diego music promoter) had free food waiting for us from Luche Libre Mexican restaurant. Manual Scan (Bart and Kevin were members); Self Made Men; and Downs Family played through the night (Damn that Dave Dick, his band is amazing!), and we had DJs in the back.
We danced more of those circa-1983 dances in the Atari room. We even had a nice raffle with great donations from area motorcycle and scooter retailers. The photos can attest to the fun, and I will allow attendees to chime in.
- Daniel Bergeron’s photo set
- Tony Suarez’s photo set
- Secret Society 25th anniversary photos around the Web
The first five original members (Mark Stilinovich, Randy Weller, John Ryan, Mike Rice and James Kessler) all showed up from afar and were touched by the fact that the club is still going. Some folks were surprised that Secret Society still meets every Sunday night. Someone likened Secret Society Scooter Club to a Moose Lodge with wheels. And yes, it’s strangely fraternal, without all the charity attached it. But there are Secrets, and that’s OK for the most part.
Secret Society SC in all forms (San Diego, San Francisco and Chicago) continues to sponsor and host several scooter rallies. If you’ve got two wheels, come to the Skutoberfest ride (the 12th one we’ve put together) on Oct. 4. We meet at Kensington Coffee (on Adams at Marlborough) at 10 am. We leave for at 11am, with a stop at Mount Helix, and end up at the El Cajon Oktoberfest. If you ride with us, it’s free parking and free admission. How’s about that for a hookup?
SF hosts the annual Scooter Rage in June every year. All Chapters assist in the Mods vs. Rockers Run in their own cities. Please check the event calendar at SecretSociety.org.
— Tony Suarez
Man that was a great time!