10 ~ 18 Memorial Page
The Best of the Best Motorcycle Club began as a memorial ride dedicated to our two passed friends and work colleagues Brent Broome and Ed Wynn. The 10 & 18 in our insignia comes from their tech unit numbers. For many years several of us worked together at TeleCable/TCI/Time Warner as linemen and cable technicians and each had a unit number, Brent was #10 and Ed was #18. The Best of the Best comes from how Brent always referred to our Installation department. Their numbers have been officially retired from the work force, but live on in the hearts of the Best of the Best Motorcycle Club and their many friends, family, and colleagues.
Edward Michael Wynn (1956 – 1997)
Ed was born on October 21 st 1956 in Kansas City Mo. He died on May 27 th 1997 from injuries suffered from an automobile accident while driving home from work a few days earlier. He was married to Joy Mossman Wynn in 1986 and they had two children, a son Loren and daughter Katie, and he had another son Sean from a previous marriage. He started with TeleCable in about 1981 and over the years served as a service technician, maintenance tech, construction tech and finally as a cartographer for the Mapping and Design department. Ed was an avid deer hunter, golfer, great artist and wood worker, but he was probably best known for his twisted sense of humor and relentless practical jokes. You didn't dare bring a sack lunch to work and leave it unattended, or you would most likely find that he had taken a big bite out of the corner of your sandwich and then neatly packed it all back unsuspectingly in the bag. He was also a huge MU Tigers fan and needles to say this always led to many mostly friendly rivalries between him and the KU fans at work. Ed was also an organ donor, and his heart, liver, kidneys and cornea live on in the lives of 5 people who we are sure are a lot more cantankerous now than they were before.
Brent Thomas Broome (1957 – 2000)
Brent was born October 16 th 1957 in St Louis MO. He died November 17 th 2000 from heart failure while attending the Time Warner Company Christmas party. He was married to Therese Johnson Broome and together they had three children, two sons Kevin and Kyle and a daughter Katelyn. Brent was a loving, dedicated father, husband and friend. He is remembered for his quick humor, sincere kindness, and ornery spirit. He enjoyed boating trips, teaching friends and family to ski, watching Chiefs football and KU basketball, and laughing and partying with friends and family. He is probably most remembered for his ornery smile, you could always tell when he was up to something no good or scheming his next move on the poor unsuspecting upper management. He hired on with Telecable in 1979, became a supervisor in 1983, founded the installation department he always referred to as “The Best of the Best” in 1985 and became Technical Manager for Time Warner in 1998. Brent was the Heart, Soul and Muscle behind our machine. To some he was like a father, others a brother, to all he was a friend.
The Last Prank???
As stated before both Brent and Ed had an equally spirited sense of humor and love of the practical joke, and needless to say with Ed being the MU fan he was and Brent a die hard KU man, there were many, many, many opportunities for friendly rivalry between them over the years and their friendship. Rumor has it, that as a pallbearer at Ed's funeral, Brent claims to have put a KU sticker on the bottom of Ed's casket thus getting the last one over on him. But what no one really knows is if this really actually happened, or was it just made up by that Brent sense of humor and rivalry, thus actually giving Ed the last word. To this day it is still unknown who got the last one over on the other? But, what can be sure is that every time KU and MU play the heavens are sure to erupt as Brent and Ed continue that old friendly rivalry.
BotB History
The "Best of the Best Motorcycle Club"
(A Loosely structured group devoted to living life to it's fullest through riding, partying, and enjoying & remembering our friends)
It all started in 2004 when a small group of us Chris, Anuj, Jon, Jeff & Marty (the founders) were setting around the campsite at the Buffalo Chip in Sturgis drinking a few cold ones and having a good time. Somehow we started reminiscing and someone mentioned Brent & Ed and how great it would be if they could have been here with us enjoying the great time. From that point no one is really sure exactly how the conversation went, but we do know it was Smitty that said something to the effect that he had never been to Brent's grave site and didn't know where it was or something like. Marty mentioned that he always rode by both their grave sites on their birthdays to pay his respects, share a cold one, and carry on the tradition. You see every year after Ed died, Brent and Marty would go out to Ed's grave site on his birthday and share a "cool water sandwich" (how Ed always referred to a beer) with him.
This continued for 4 years until 2000 when Brent also pasted away, at which time Marty continued the tradition on both their birthdays which were very close to each other in October. Smitty was quick to say he wanted to join Marty that year when he went, and the rest all joined in as well. That year Brent's birthday was to fall on a Saturday and the idea to make it a memorial ride and to include other riders from where we all worked together to honor them was brought up. Needless to say before long and several beers later they had also talked Marty into having a barn party with a bonfire etc. at his place following the ride, and the rest is history.
That year there were 8 of us that rode in the memorial ride, the number of us that owned bikes at Time Warner was small, but there were many others that joined us at the end for the party. Since then the numbers have grown increasingly every year as other friends and colleagues have joined our riding brotherhood.
The majority of the Best of the Best members come from friends, family, and loved ones... now all of us that are Best of the Best members consider each other a friend, family member, and a loved one.
You can find us all over the Kansas City metro area riding all times of the year. We ride all over the country. Everything from Sturgis to Stevie Ray Vaughn in Texas to Bikes Blues & BBQ in Arkansas. We ride Harley's, Honda's, Yamaha's... anything with two wheels and sometimes 3. Everyone is welcome!
Not only is the club just for riding and partying, we also give to and ride for several charitable events and companies.
The Best of the Best MC take part in the following events:
Sunflower House - Annual Poker Ride
The March of Dimes - Bikers for Babies
United States Marine Corp - Toys for Tots
And many more.
Leroy "Buddy" Bronson (1955 - 2013)
A bit about Buddy from his Buddies.
He was a terrible influence on all his friends from his teens till the end. But, you had to run with him, wondering what he might say or do next. He had little to no mechanical skills, but knew what was cool, and always had some unsafe, but cool ride for any and all; as he would say, "Event".
His philosophy on life would make most people just shake their heads; but at the same time a little envious of his life style.
He would avoid any work outside of his job, if it was at all possible for it to wait. He was always at the top numbers at his job, seldom missed a day of work, and was always hours early to discuss the weekend events with his buddies.
He could retain unbelievable amounts of worthless information, stories and bad jokes. He remembered everybody's name and the story of how he met you. He could remember the dates of all swapmeets, carshows, cruise nights, pub crawls, and attend EVERY EVENT!!! He was like no other.
"Only Suckers work on Fridays"
He was a terrible influence on all his friends from his teens till the end. But, you had to run with him, wondering what he might say or do next. He had little to no mechanical skills, but knew what was cool, and always had some unsafe, but cool ride for any and all; as he would say, "Event".
His philosophy on life would make most people just shake their heads; but at the same time a little envious of his life style.
He would avoid any work outside of his job, if it was at all possible for it to wait. He was always at the top numbers at his job, seldom missed a day of work, and was always hours early to discuss the weekend events with his buddies.
He could retain unbelievable amounts of worthless information, stories and bad jokes. He remembered everybody's name and the story of how he met you. He could remember the dates of all swapmeets, carshows, cruise nights, pub crawls, and attend EVERY EVENT!!! He was like no other.
"Only Suckers work on Fridays"
The Over the Hill Bike Gang is a very loosely knit group of Vintage Bicycle enthusiasts in and around the KC area.
It all started at the 2012 Belton St. Patrick’s Day Parade when Buddy Bronson convinced a bunch of his fellow bike friends to come out and ride in the parade. Who would have guessed that our group would win the “Most Enthusiastic Entry” award that year? (I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that that we all love to ride our vintage bikes and also enjoy a few beers/drinks while we do so.)
Anyway, when they called Buddy up to give the award they ask him what our group was called. On the spot, Buddy shouted out “the Over the Hill Gang”.
Really? That’s the best you could come up with? Yea, sure many of us are over 50, and technically in that category, but let’s don’t make it so obvious.
Well, we did it again the next year and that started a tradition. Buddy also organized a bicycle show, a swap meet, and had big plans to grow them into a Bicycle Festival. But, before he could do all that his life was cut short by a drunk driver.
A small handful of his friends have worked hard to keep his vision and wishes alive. We still ride in the Belton Parade, and have grown his little bike show into “Buddy’s Pedal Fest” an annual event in the fall that has a Bicycle show, Swap meet, Trail/pub crawl ride, Live music and much more.
It all started at the 2012 Belton St. Patrick’s Day Parade when Buddy Bronson convinced a bunch of his fellow bike friends to come out and ride in the parade. Who would have guessed that our group would win the “Most Enthusiastic Entry” award that year? (I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that that we all love to ride our vintage bikes and also enjoy a few beers/drinks while we do so.)
Anyway, when they called Buddy up to give the award they ask him what our group was called. On the spot, Buddy shouted out “the Over the Hill Gang”.
Really? That’s the best you could come up with? Yea, sure many of us are over 50, and technically in that category, but let’s don’t make it so obvious.
Well, we did it again the next year and that started a tradition. Buddy also organized a bicycle show, a swap meet, and had big plans to grow them into a Bicycle Festival. But, before he could do all that his life was cut short by a drunk driver.
A small handful of his friends have worked hard to keep his vision and wishes alive. We still ride in the Belton Parade, and have grown his little bike show into “Buddy’s Pedal Fest” an annual event in the fall that has a Bicycle show, Swap meet, Trail/pub crawl ride, Live music and much more.
RIP, Punk Rod Todd Karnahan!
Punk Rod Todd Karnahan, was the founder and master mind behind the Greaserama Car show and the driving force behind the Los Punk Rod Car Club in KC/Lawrence. He also brought the fun back to the World of Wheels show with the Old S'kool Rods section.
He will be missed, but never forgotten!
http://lospunkrods.com/news/5-help-punk-rod-todd
He will be missed, but never forgotten!
http://lospunkrods.com/news/5-help-punk-rod-todd
Fred Green (3/18/59 - 7/17/16)
"When I Die and They Lay Me To Rest
Gonna Go to the Place That's the Best
When I Lay Me Down to Die
'Goin Up to the Spirit In the Sky"
Gonna Go to the Place That's the Best
When I Lay Me Down to Die
'Goin Up to the Spirit In the Sky"
