History of the Red Knights

During the summer of 1982 several firefighters were visiting "Randy's Cycle Shop" in Boylston, Massachusetts and the subject of motorcycle clubs came up. Soon they were all grousing about the fact that law enforcement people had a motorcycle club known as the Blue Knights but there was no club for firefighters. After this tire kicking session, owner Randy Wilson suggested to Ed Wright, a firefighter from Northboro, MA, that he stop talking about the lack of a club and form one instead.

Recognizing a good idea when he heard one, Ed Wright went home that afternoon and made some hand printed posters inviting firefighters from the area to meet and determine if there was enough interest to form a motorcycle club. On August 17th, 1982, Fire Chief Jack Pierce allowed a small group of motorcycle enthusiasts to meet in Northboro Fire Headquarters to lay the ground work for the formation of a motorcycle club.

On October 19th, 1982, firefighters Colin Mackey, Bob Bourassa, Ed Wright, Roger Wentzell, Dave Hamilton, Bob Goulet, David Hunt, Jon Tripp, Don Parker, Norm Beausoleil and Chief Pierce met again. There was interest in promoting the positive image of motorcycling while enjoying the camaraderie of other firefighters. It was decided then that this group would be known as the Red Knights Motorcycle Club.

News of this new club spread like a grass fire. In July of 1983, a chapter was formed in Connecticut. In October of that year a second Massachusetts chapter was formed. Soon applications came in from such distant places as Nevada and Louisiana.   In August of 1983 the founding members realized the organization was rapidly growing beyond their original expectations. To properly handle this growth they elected a committee to serve as a National Board of Directors. With applications from Ontario and Saskatchewan, Canada, the club became the Red Knights International Firefighters Motorcycle Club.

As a result of the seed that was planted at Randy's in 1982, there are now more than 300 Red Knights chapters and 9,000 members throughout the world,  Check out our chapter locations page for the various chapter locations.  MALs are not listed.

 Contact us for information on Red Knights Motorcycle Club chapter charter and members-at-large information.

In 1984 the first club convention was held in Boylston MA. Each year since that time a convention has been held for all Red Knights.  Convention sites have been Boylston, Massachusetts (1984, 1985, 1987), Cromwell, Connecticut (1986), Toronto, Ontario (1988), Mentor, Ohio (1989), Waterville Valley, New Hampshire (1990), Leamington, Ontario (1991), Worcester, Massachusetts (1992), Angola, Indiana (1993), Belleville, Ontario (1994), Dublin, Ohio (1995), Leamington, Ontario (1996), Marlborough, Massachussets (1997), New York City (1998), Daytona Beach, Florida (1999), Indianapolis, Indiana (2000) Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (2001), and Warwick, Rhode Island [2002], and la convention de 2003 sera à Laval, Québec (Laval, Quebec, Canada, 2003), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada [2004], Toronto, Ontario, Canada [2005], and New York, New York [2006], Worcester, Massachusetts [2007], Sandusky, Ohio [2008]

Ft. Lauderdale, FL [2009]. 

CLICK HERE for information on upcoming Conventions

Come join the fun at all our conventions!  

As of October 12, 2009

List Of Past Executive and Board Members of the

Red Knights Firefighters International Motorcycle Club Inc.

MEMBERS OF EXECUTIVE BOARD ONLY

(These members sat as members to the Executive board to break any ties in voting)

The above positions where deleted in 1987 when the Board of Directors was created.

Board of Directors             

Regional Directors (took over the positions of the Board of Directors in August of 2004)

Contact the Web Liaison for any suggested changes or corrections to this page.