HATFIELD — Celebrating summer’s last hurrah, a group of some 80 BMX enthusiasts from across the Northeast converged on the Lions Club Pavilion lawn Saturday to show off their bikes, trade parts and ride in friendly competitions.
The Late Summer Old School BMX Jam, an all-day swap meet, was a flashback to the 1970s and ’80s, with collectors trading parts for rides of that vintage. The event was organized by Damien Percival and Steve Holloway, friends who met through the close-knit network of people who collect the off-road sport bicycles used for racing and stunt riding.
“This is the fourth year for the show,” Percival said. “Our main objective here is to have fun and get outside … People travel to be a part of this.”
According to Percival, attendees traveled to Hatfield from as far as Delaware, Long Island and Maine to come to the show.
But Percival may be the farthest-flung participant. His passion for BMX bikes sparked when he was a child growing up on the other side of the globe.
“I’m from New Zealand, and BMX was huge in Australia and New Zealand,” Percival said. “We had the same interest in different parts of the world.”
Holloway, 41, of Whately, has been riding BMX bikes since he was 12 years old. Riding always appealed to him, he said, so he stuck with it growing up.
Holloway passed that passion onto his daughter, he explained as she whizzed past him on her own 1985-model BMX bike.
“My daughter is 10 and she built that bike,” Holloway said. “We knocked it off in a night. The thing is, that bike is much older than she is.”
For the first time, the show gave out a Best of Youth BMX award for participants ages 13 and under. Other awards included Best ’70s BMX, Best ’80s Freestyle, Best Retro, Best New School and many more.
The show also hosted several games, like slowest race and highest bunny hop. Prizes included bike parts and BMX DVDs, according to the show’s website.
“It’s pretty chill,” Percival said. “We’re all about the food, the people — it’s been fantastic.”
Each year, the event collects donations for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts in Hatfield and holds a 50/50 raffle to help cover the cost of the event, Percival said. With plenty of food donations and several cash donations for the food bank, Percival said the show hopes to donate 200 pounds of food this year. Last year, the show donated 134 pounds of food.
“People were very generous,” Percival said.
The crowd, mostly men in their 40s and 50s, flocked to tables of old bike parts, scouring each spread.
Keith Donovan turned a bicycle part over in his hand. It was a small silver and black piece, about the size of his palm.
“Black widow?” Donovan asked the man behind the table, referencing a late 1970s model.
“You got it,” Eric Baker said.
Donovan, 40, got involved in the BMX world about nine years ago because of his son, who is now 14.
“I was sitting at a park bored out of my mind watching my son ride his bike. I decided to get one,” Donovan explained. “He got me into it … Now we ride together.”
Baker, 31, is no stranger to BMX swap meets. The Milford resident travels New England collecting and selling old bicycle parts. Two of his 1890s-era bicycles — complete with wooden wheels — are on display at Bikes + Life in Worcester, where he works several days a week.
“For me, it’s all about the hunt. Being out here with these guys in the sunshine, there’s nothing better. But for me, the thrill is hunting and finding something that’s been in a box for 35 years,” Baker said.
Baker got his first taste of collecting six years ago. He bought a bike at a flea market and fixed it up. Like many of the BMX collectors he sells to, he was instantly hooked.
“From there, I just steamrolled into it,” Baker said.