DaytonDailyNews.com

DAYTON — Wearing a black leather jacket and hat, Anna Palatas celebrated her 89th birthday a bit early Friday, April 25, with a ride in the sidecar of her nephew's motorcycle.

On the hat was the emblem of the Dayton Ramblers Motorcycle Club. Palatas is the last surviving member of the club her family founded.

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Anna Palatas, 88, the last surviving member of the Dayton Ramblers Motorcycle Club, takes a ride around the block. Palatas, who lives at Graton Oaks Nursing Center, celebrated her birthday with a ride in her nephews sidecar.Click to enlarge

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The Ramblers once had about 50 members and met at a clubhouse on Airway Road. Club members road Harley-Davidsons and Indians, said Jerry Henry of Brookville, Palatas' nephew.

"They constantly had parties and rallies, and I'm sure they did charity rides," Henry said. Palatas "was one of the wild childs. She was a character, my favorite aunt. She sort of had that flavor of the '30s. I called her my flapper aunt."

One of five children, Palatas had four husbands: Carl Blackson, George Gregg and Melvin Mead, who are deceased; and Ray Palatas, whom she divorced. Her only son, Carl Blackson Jr., died in 1999. She lived in the Drexel area and served as a firefighter/EMT there, Henry said.

"She quit riding about 10 years ago, but her eyes light up whenever I mention the club or motorcycles. She's been riding since she was 18."

Her birthday is May 18, but she had quit eating lately, and the ride was a surprise special "gift of a day" organized by the staff of Crossroads Hospice in Miamisburg, who help care for Palatas at the Grafton Oaks Nursing Center off Grand Avenue in Dayton, where the ride took place.

Accompanying Palatas and her nephew on the ride around the neighborhood were Karl Abram of Waynesville, Rodney Leland of Farmersville, Tom Meininger of Vandalia, and Bob Baughman of Brookville on their bikes.

Nurses from the center and staff from hospice encouraged Palatas before the ride and cried when she passed by with a big smile on her face.

Palatas used to ride a white Harley-Davidson, said Henry's daughter-in-law, Nan Henry of Miamisburg.

"I rode them everywhere," Palatas said of her early biker days. "I just like them."

"It was wonderful. It made my day," she said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2341 or kullmer@DaytonDailyNew

s.com.

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