Updated with additional information from Clarksville Speedway owner William Scogin.
CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – For many years, the Bikers Who Care used the old Clarksville Fairgrounds as the most reliable and consistent location for their BWC Toy Run and Party, a huge benefit festival now in its 43rd year featuring live music, camping and hundreds of motorcycles.
But when the Fairgrounds became Liberty Park, they had to move to the Clarksville Speedway. Now, with the future of the Speedway in question, BWC organizers are running out of places to host their event, and they aren’t the only ones.
“The Toy Run will stay in Clarksville, regardless,” BWC founder Bill Langford told Clarksville Now. “The kids are going to get their toys. But the fundraising for Camp Rainbow? That’s going to hurt it terrible.”
Bikers Who Care
In 1982, members of Bikers Who Care held the first Leslie W. Watson Memorial Toy Run as a way to show respect for Watson’s memory and the kindness he showed others. The idea was that all participants would buy a toy and donate it to the Clarksville Fire Department for their Christmas toy drive.
After the Toy Run, those riders held a party. They soon realized that if they made the party a part of the Toy Run, they could raise money that could be donated to a worthy cause, just as “Les” would have done. The money goes to the Dream Factory to support Camp Rainbow – a summer camp for seriously ill children. To date, BWC has given the Dream Factory over $2 million.
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The BWC Toy Run Party began in cow pastures and junkyards. Eventually, it moved to the city-owned Billy Dunlop Park, off of Needmore Road.
After 20 years, the event garnered such success that it outgrew Billy Dunlop. Between 2002 and 2003, as the 21st annual BWC Toy Run Party approached, Langford and his crew appealed to the Clarksville City Council to host their event in a more accommodating setting: the Clarksville Fairgrounds on Highway 48/13.
Land for the Clarksville Fairgrounds had been purchased by the Montgomery County Fair Association in 1968 and was sold to the city in 1970. In 1977, the city unveiled development plans for the Fairgrounds, which opened a year later. By the early 2000s, the location was prime real estate to host the growing BWC Toy Run Party and other events.
“They (City Council) talked very highly of us,” Langford said. “They voted us in 100 percent.”
Fairgrounds transformed into park, marina
With the operation now moved to the Fairgrounds, Langford said then-Mayor Don Trotter congratulated the BWC on a job well done and assured them they had a permanent place to host their event. All was well, Langford said, and the BWC was making more money for the charity than they ever had before.
According to the Montgomery County Archives, plans to develop a marina in the park had been explored since the 1970s. In 2000, during Mayor Johnny Piper’s term as mayor, a study was proposed on the development of the marina.
Another study was conducted in 2005, during a Trotter term. In 2009, when Piper was mayor again, construction began to transform the Clarksville Fairgrounds into what would become Liberty Park and the Clarksville Marina. It was completed and opened in 2012 under Mayor Kim McMillan.
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During construction, the BWC was asked to move their Toy Run Party to a temporary location for the next few years, and Langford was under the impression the BWC could come back when the new park was finished. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and the biggest events at the old Fairgrounds were now without a home.
“When Clarksville lost the Fairgrounds, they lost Kiwanis Rodeo, Oktoberfest, they lost thousands and thousands of dollars in revenue that the Fairgrounds was generating,” Langford said. “Now they’ve shut it down to where you can’t have events down there like that anymore.”
Major Clarksville fairs, festivals displaced
The Kiwanis Rodeo, after disappearing for four years, found a new home in 2013 in the 4-H Arena, which opened in 2011 on Rossview Road. The old Edelweiss Club Oktoberfest was handed over to many other groups after the Edelweiss Club disbanded. Now, various organizations hold their own Oktoberfest events.
The Montgomery County Fair itself found a new home at the Clarksville Speedway, which altered its name to the Clarksville Speedway and Fairgrounds to reflect the additional events. The BWC Toy Run and Party also moved to the Speedway, and has been going strong for the last 16 years.
But change is once again rearing its head.
In 2022, the city expressed interest in purchasing the Clarksville Speedway. That came to fruition this year in January, when the City Council approved a plan to buy the Speedway to build the Hazelwood Recreation Complex on the Speedway site.
Based on renderings of the proposed site plan, it looks like there could be space for fair and festival activities in the future, but that is still up in the air. Clarksville Speedway owner William Scogin has said he hopes the Montgomery County Fair and similar events can continue after the city purchases the land.
“The city hasn’t finalized the purchase yet,” Mayor Joe Pitts told Clarksville Now. “Any planned uses will be a result of lots of public input, especially from those who live near the property.”
William Scogin, owner of the Speedway, told Clarksville Now this hasn’t been an easy decision or process, but that nothing is set in stone while the lawyers are fleshing out details. He expects the Speedway will continue to operate for two years after the purchase is finalized. Currently, Scogin is scouting for more land to build a new racetrack and fairgrounds, but the cost of purchasing land is high.
With negotiations are still ongoing, Scogin is urging people not to entertain rumors. “Until I physically say, ‘This is exactly what’s going to happen,’ it’s not going to happen. I will let everybody know, whether it does or doesn’t, whatever it looks like – I will be the first to say, ‘This is how we’re going to do this. This is the last day, the last this, the last that.'”
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Even if the BWC Toy Run Party and the Montgomery County Fair are welcomed at the new Hazelwood park, they would be displaced for at least a year, likely longer, during construction.
As Clarksville continues to grow, it’s possible that the BWC Toy Run Party could move outside the city limits. Montgomery County Mayor Wes Golden said that acquiring land for a fairgrounds in the future is a possibility. “We recognize the need for that type of space,” Golden said. “We are currently discussing options. I would love to see the agricultural component made more accessible to our community and youth.”
Langford said if the city continues on this trajectory, the next suitable location to host the BWC Toy Run Party is a fairground in Robertson County, which he said doesn’t seem fair to the Clarksville-born-and-raised organization.
“The point that we have to move out of town is wrong,” Langford said. “Very wrong.”
Chris Smith contributed to this report.
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