Past President Len Griffin interviewed former President Hugh Gage about his history with the Centaur MC.
THE BEGINNING:
I had been casually seeing a guy named Ernest (actually, Ernest was not his real name I later found out – it was Charlie) who was a terrific piano player and who designed and built the Eagle nail sculpture in the first Eagle. One night we went in for a drink and I got to talking to the bartender, a guy named Billy Enright. His co-bartender was Mai Ling (The Chinese Princess). Mai Ling , among other things, altered the Levis for Billy and himself to create baskets the size of Rhode Island. Billy, who was seeing Don Bruce at the time, didn’t need much help in that department, but nonetheless it was an eyeful. Not that I ever paid attention to things like that. Being 5′ 4½’ where else are my eyes going to land? On several occasions that evening, I put my drink stirrer in my eye. The next night, Saturday, I went down to Johnnie’s on the corner of Pennsylvania and 9th Street, where they had a drag show upstairs. With the exception of Raquelle Rondelle (sounds like cheese spread), the performers were fairly terrible, and one in particular, whose name mercifully escapes me for the moment or for the ages, could not count to four-forwards-and whose wig kept slipping. That was OK with us and only made the evening more fun. I was sitting with a guy named Irv Fleming and his friend Tony Bachrach. I had never met either of them before, but as the night wore on, we got a terrible case of the giggles. I actually thought the management would throw us out; I did not know the reputation Fleming and Bachrach had at Johnnie’s. As it turns out Fleming was a cook at the Eagle, and he and Bachrach were both members of the Centaur Motorcycle Club. Bachrach was in the process of moving up from Richmond. Oh yes, Billy Enright was a member of the same club. Funny how things work out. Well, for about a month I would make it a habit to drop in on the Eagle, say hi to Billy, see Irv, (who was a good advertisement for his cooking – very large man, great fun), have a drink with Tony, and got to meet some of his club brothers, all of whom I liked. Lots of laughs. Then one night, Irv said that the club was going up to Philadelphia to do a bar night, and would I like to go along. The rest is history, but worth telling, nonetheless.
On that weekend I got to meet Marvin Edwards and Phil Donato (Marvin was president, and he and Phil and several others lived in Richmond. ) The Centaurs were a Richmond Club, but half of the members lived in the DC area. As someone who had lived in Richmond for a year as a teenager, I could understand why so many were moving to DC. There were also members – Butch Tyson and George Marks- who lived in Norfolk – and they also had come to Philadelphia. I must have taken the field that day and gained a totally undeserved reputation – I scored after 15 minutes in the bar. No-one was more surprised than I, but notoriety must come easily or cheaply in Philadelphia (with apologies to John Rocco). At least it did for me!
The rest of the weekend is kind of a blur, but the Chinese Fire Drill on Rte. 95 on the way home, and the antics at Maryland House in the men’s room and the lunch counter were extra moments indeed.
After that weekend, I asked a lot of questions about membership. Billy and Irv said they would sponsor me. At that time you had to have a motorcycle license, so I took lessons. I got to meet Ed Stanley, Rusty, Gary, Donny, Rick, little John, Mike Webber, and a seeming host of others. In the Sunrise days of the Empire, you went through a probationary period after pledging. I was presented with Billy’s colors in the middle bar of the Eagle, cried, became a brother, dropped my bike on my first long ride to Altland’s, have never looked back, and cannot imagine what life would be like otherwise. I would not trade my life as a Centaur for anything else in the world- every moment -and I do mean every moment – fills me with pride for my brothers and the joy of being in their company. As Billy Enright said to me the
night of my vesting, “With a Centaur for a brother, you need no other.”
It is true.
–Hugh Gage