ALLEGANY, N.Y. — A longstanding motorcycle rally will return this month with some tuneups.
Rally in the Valley will for the second year take place at Allegany’s Firemen’s Park after previously being held in Olean’s Bradner Stadium.
While organizers are happy with their new home and report last year’s event raised more than $25,000 for local charities, they hope some changes will streamline the 15th annual event, which will run from Aug. 15 to 20.
“We obviously had some hiccups last year down there. Trial and error, you got to live and learn,” said Rally in the Valley co-chair DJ Dick. “The parking situation, we hope we remedied that. … We’re going to shut off part of First Street and put all the bikes down there so that way you still get traffic downtown through the village.”
Yet one of the major changes is moving the annual dice run, which was named the Dennis Jones Memorial Dice Run last year for Rally in the Valley’s late founder, from a Sunday to a Saturday. After heavy rain hurt last year’s dice run participation, organizers hope to give themselves an extra day to take a rain check if the same thing happens this year.
Dick said holding the dice run on a Saturday will also be more convenient for the riders who come from out of town and need to go home before the weekend ends.
The dice run, which often brings in more than 1,000 riders, will also have a staggered start as opposed to the more parade-style start attendees may be used to.
“It’s nice to see a thousand bikes riding down the street at the same time, but with that you do run into safety issues,” Dick said. “We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from bikers about that. They like that idea so hopefully it works.”
Registration is from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug 19.
Rally in the Valley moved on from the Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce and the city of Olean after the 2015 event, as GOACC officials agreed to turn over the event to longtime volunteers who planned the move to Allegany. Organizers cited GOACC costs and Bradner Stadium rental fees, as well as difficulties placing bikes on the stadium’s dirt and grass, as reasons for the move.
“There’s no bad blood or anything between the rally and city of Olean, or anything like that. It’s just we had to look at it as far as a business standpoint,” Dick said. “Over the last few years our sponsorship levels have kind of dropped off a little bit. We hadn’t been able to raise as much and give away as much money as we had in the past, and we just thought a changeup was necessary to try to spur a little bit of growth.”
As it did last year, the rally will still have one event inside city limits. Poor Cow Leather’s parking lot party will start at 5 p.m. Aug. 16 outside the store’s new Westgate Plaza location on West State Street, with food, music and beverages.
The week will get started Aug. 15 — the first time the rally has expanded to a Tuesday — with a kickoff party at the Allegany American Legion starting at 5 p.m. On Aug. 17, Community Bank, NA will host a street dance party beginning at 7 p.m.
Weekend festivities at Firemen’s Park, including food, live music, vendors, fireworks, and a professional stunt show, begin 6 p.m. Aug. 18 and last until Aug. 20.
The rally has raised more than $290,000 for local charities over the years. Dick said last year’s approximately $25,000 was the biggest the rally has raised in several years.
Organizations like HomeCare and Hospice and Southern Tier Child Advocacy Center will benefit this year.
“I like to think people come out and enjoy themselves and have a good time coming out to support a local cause and help people in this area,” Dick said. “We’re hoping that not just bikers come to the rally, but everybody comes to the rally. (That’s) kind of been the mantra of it from the get-go.”
