"We didn't have the money for a parade permit back then," Murphy said Saturday as dozens of riders gathered at Legend's Pub for a club tribute. "So that first year, we chose the same day as the Fayetteville Christmas parade, figuring all the police would be there."

On Saturday, club members and other veterans who hold the ride every December for Fayetteville Urban Ministry didn't need to worry about the cops. They had the mayor on their side.

Mayor Nat Robertson, himself a motorcycle rider, joined the celebration as the Urban Ministry said thanks to the riders for 33 years of service.

"This club was responsible for the first Christmas toy run for children in Fayetteville," Robertson said as dozens of riders gathered outside the Bragg Boulevard bar.

Janice Voter, Urban Ministry's emergency assistant coordinator, presented club president Juan Lopez with a souvenir photo album adorned with Wingmen colors on a leather cover.

"I think we went through more than 800 packets of pictures, thousands of photographs, that record your history of service," she said.

"You've made all the difference in the world to thousands of children in the community over the years," Voter said. "I wish you could see the smiles on their faces each year."

Lopez accepted the award, noting that his club was "only a fraction" of the riders who deliver toys to the interfaith organization.

"We appreciate all the men and women who ride with us," he said. "If it weren't for all the bikers and their families who make this event a success each year, we couldn't make it happen."

But if Wingmen club members hadn't brought the tradition of a toy run with them from Europe in the early 1980s, hundreds of local children may have gone without toys on Christmas.

Murphy credits Mike Roy, now the group's national chaplain with the idea.

"We organized the club for military veterans after coming from Italy," Murphy said. "We had a toy run there each year, and Roy started asking when we were going to do the same here.

"We were a small club; we didn't have the resources for permits and police, but Roy was adamant: he didn't want children without toys for Christmas."

So, club members put the word out, figuring may a couple dozen bikes would appear.

They got more than 100 for the first ride.

"We chose a route away from downtown, where the parade and the police would be," Murphy recalled. "We were hauling, hoping to get done before anyone reported us."

The next year, 200 bikes took party. By the third year, the total was up to 300 bikes, and club members realized the community was solidly behind the project.

"We also realized we had to get police escorts with that many people," Murphy said with a laugh. "It was getting downright dangerous to have that many people riding."

Over the years as many as 700 bikes have taken part in good weather.

"When the weather's bad, those numbers drop," said longtime member Bill Beard, who has organized the parade for more than 20 years.

"But we always have people from the community who turn out," he added. "They aren't fair-weather folks."

Lopez agreed, adding that Wingmen clubs up and down the East Coast have adopted the toy run tradition.

"We work with other clubs and with individuals," he said. "We're all active in our communities.

"And we're proud to help Urban Ministry. What they do for our community is amazing. Fayetteville would be a far different place than it is now, if it wasn't for them."