March 29, 2024

Bring on the thunder

Thunder Nites’ 2019 season comes to a close, founder and executive director step down

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Thunder Nites will now be under new leadership.

After closing its 2019 season this past Friday, founder and president Bob O’Brien announced he will stepping away from Newton’s annual summer motorcycle rallies, along with executive director Lance Hawley, event photographer Ryan Sabinski and head of logistics/maintenance technician Norman Maple.

However, O’Brien stressed this is not the end of bike nights in Newton.

Stepping in as the new executive director of Thunder Nites is Jenna McIntyre, who O’Brien said was recruited by Hawley. Acknowledging the impact of the event in Newton and its ability to draw crowds, McIntyre envisions even higher attendance numbers in the upcoming years and still wants the bike nights to give back to charities and showcase the town.

“We’re really set on doing that and giving back,” she said, noting that the event’s location at the DMACC parking lot — which took the place of its original downtown location near the town square — will remain unchanged for now but could be altered in the future. “It’s a lot on my plate, but I have great backup.”

McIntyre sees the importance of Thunder Nites as a family-friendly community event, and she has high aspirations to attract as many guests as possible for the subsequent years. The last bike night of the season may have ended, but the new executive director is already planning ahead for the 2020 schedule.

“A lot goes into this,” McIntyre said. “It just doesn’t happen in a couple of months. It’s over but we’re already thinking about next year’s events and bands and sponsors. That’s the big thing. It takes a lot of work to get this going. Some of those bands are already booked for next year. I’m excited to get the ball rolling.”

Thunder Nites was created by O’Brien and his former executive director, Libbie Marshall, to generate traffic back to downtown Newton, post-Maytag. Hours before the first Thunder Nites bike rally began, O’Brien received a phone call from a rider wanting to know what kind of things he could expect from the bike night.

O’Brien told him all about the music and the vendors and the downtown atmosphere. The rider told him, “I’ll be there. I’ll leave here in 15 minutes.” Flabbergasted, the Thunder Nites president told the rider the rally didn’t start for another couple hours. O’Brien was then shocked to learn the rider was driving all the way from Minnesota to be at Thunder Nites.

It was at that moment O’Brien knew he had made the right decision to form a bike night.

With life getting busier for some of the folks at Thunder Nites, organizing a local motorcycle rally had become all the more difficult. O’Brien said if he is not able to devote 100 percent of his time to something he’s involved in, then he does not want to do it.

“What I’m going to miss with Thunder Nites is the interactions with the people on my committee and the interaction with the community,” O’Brien said.

Crowds still seem to enjoy Thunder Nites, too. Tim Hutchins and Ron McCumber, both of Newton, have attended several bike nights in the area. Although they lamented the bike rally’s change in locations from downtown to DMACC, the two still find things to like about Thunder Nites.

"It's a good diversion from the rest of the month," McCumber said. "A lot of times the only time you see your friends — because of work schedules — is at Thunder Nites. Some people I don't see for three or four weeks at a time, yeah, I'll 'em down here. It gives me a couple hours to catch up on what's going on."

Although he’s not a motorcycle rider, Hutchins likes checking out the two-wheeled vehicles with their robust, revving motors and pristine paint jobs. Of course the bands, the music and the beverages are always to his liking.

“I like it no matter where it’s at, because I’d hate to see it go,” Hutchins said. “It’s really good for the city of Newton. It’s a good atmosphere for people to mingle.”

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com