Well, I figure if you're reading these words, then you're eaither REALLY bored or are at least mildly interested in the "objective" of Squirts' Biker Page (SBP) and, in an indirect way, me as SBP is my baby. Either way, I am happy you are here and hope that you find SBP useful and maybe a bit entertaining.
Squirts' Biker Page was born in the early spring of 1997. I was a college student at the time and had just finished a "cutting edge" computer class at the local university teaching future teachers how to make and use lessons using Hypercard (kind've Apple's version of Powerpoint). My home computer consisted of a "student friendly" (re: cheap), box of wires sporting a 2 Gig hard drive and running Windows 3.1 (remember that?). She was hooked up to a loud dot matrix printer which used track paper and would send the cats cowering whenever I printed out homework. A dial up connection through a small up-start internet service provider was my outlet to the world.
In that early spring of '97 I was the President of the local chapter of ABATE of Illinois, Illinois's biker-run motorcycle rights organization, and was truly dedicated and motivated to its cause to keep bikers "free" from oppressive helmet laws. The website was begun as a way to inform other riders of the issues pertinent to our area. It's objective has always been to inform, not only bikers, but even Joe Blow who stumbles in off of the internet superhighway looking for a glimpse into another world.
As with most things in life, nothing stays the same and over the years the "face" of SBP has morphed from a two page website with minimal graphics to what you see today. The graphics and "fancy" stuff is still kept to a minimum out of empathy for those still tethered to a dial up connection. I have a lot more "foo foo" on the site now, with a rarely used message board, a page dedicated to "bobbers" and the obligatory jokes page. There's some really good stuff here, too. My favorite parts are the "In Memory" page, which rarely (thank God) gets updated, and the page detailing my grandmother's rape and murder. Those pages will always be here as long as SBP lives as I am a person who values friendship and the loss of a friend to me is like the loss of family. Those pages not only serve to trumpet loss but to celebrate the life of those gone before us. God knows, a granite headstone in the middle of a ten thousand plot cemetary is not up to the job of remembering the person enterred beneath. It's up to US to keep that person alive and to tell their story for them.
Other pages within SBP which I am also proud of are the expanded Links page, now with a huge section of links for veterans, and the Events page. My wife rolls her eyes whenever she asks what I am doing and I reply "working on the website", but it's a way for me to add just a teeny tiny bit of myself and my passion for motorcycles and freedom issues to the vastness that is the internet. I hope you enjoy your visit and find something informative or useful on the site. Until we have the chance to jump from the world of bits 'n bytes and meet face-to-face, I wish you and yours the best in these difficult times. Respects, Tom "Squirts" Clark