Open House At Kennedy High School

The coming of summer means the end of another school year, including the school year at Kennedy High School in Bloomington, MN, home to the Build a Chopper Class with everyone’s favorite teacher, Kevin Baas. Before bidding all the students a nice summer, Kevin held his annual open house, which is a great opportunity for supporters and parents to view all the projects in the shop. The Open house also creates a chance for Kevin to give a little speech, thanking both the students for their good work and persistence, and the many supporters for their monetary and moral support.

The event turns into a mini bike show of sorts, as anyone who can, rides their bike. The bikes themselves tend to be a little out of the ordinary. This year the sidewalk display included a whole raft of Knuckles (hard to believe given Kevin’s fondness for Knuckleheads) including the ’39 his wife Amy rides, as well as his personal ride complete with side hack. Of course Matt Olsen, of Carl’s Cycle Supply Fame, showed up with one of his Knuckles, I think this particular bike is a veteran of at least two cross country rides.

The annual Kevin Baas Open House at Kennedy High School always turns into a very eclectic bike show – every thing from Knuckles and Pans to Donnie Smith customs.

The cast of motorcycle luminaries and guests included Donnie Smith, the man who Kevin thanked profusely for the phone calls that Donnie made ten years ago when the class was just beginning. By calling everyone in the industry Donnie not only helped Kevin obtain a bunch of parts for building motorcycles. He gave Kevin instant credibility.

The rainy day kept a few scooters at home, but did nothing to diminish the turnout for Kevin’s open house.

After the speeches the event turned into a good, old-fashioned BS session…. “they left me in the campground with a broken leg and rode to the bar for a quick beer. Well, an hour later I had to figure out how to start someone else’s Triumph with my hand, cause my right leg was the broken one. They were pretty surprised when I showed up on the Triumph with my crutches strapped to the handle bars, they all wanted to know, ‘how’d you start that thing.’”

Sometimes if you want to figure out how someone did something, you just have to get down on your hands and knees and have a good look.

The open house gave the students a chance to explain exactly what they did and why.

As Donnie Smith demonstrates, we can tell stories without alcohol, but we can’t do it without our hands.