Wayne "Dusty" Doubrava
"Heavens Thunder"


     "I've lived in Silverhill all my life. My grandparents came from Czechoslovakia in the early 1920s for a better life," Wayne "Dusty" Doubrava will tell you. "I remember growing up with my brother and parents in our small two-room house just behind Silverhill School. We enjoyed hunting and fishing as a pastime." Then "it" happened. Doubrava says it simply, "I grew older and riding motorcycles became a passion of mine. I still remember my first scooter, a '59 Cushman. I still enjoy riding today, but now I'm riding my Harley." He will tell you that "there is something about the freedom you feel just riding down the open road with the wind in your face!"

Ken Cooteau, Wayne Doubrava, and Henry Davenport - Click to enlarge.


     Vice President Ken Cooteau, Chaplain Wayne Doubrava, and President Henry Davenport (l to r), officer's in "Heaven's Thunder - Branch 955" of the Christian Motorcyclists Association in Baldwin County, were January special guests at Silverhill's Zion Lutheran Church's "Men's 710". - Click to enlarge.


     Doubrava operates Wedco Jewelry in Silverhill. It started in 1981 when he bought jewelry for a gift in a store. This is about the time that he stopped building houses--he has 20 years of construction in his background. But he buys this jewelry, and ultimately learns about promotion and retail versus wholesale in a little more than a year as he operated jewelry sales business out of his home. By the end of that year he ended up being a wholesaler to the fellow that sold him that original jewelry! In the interim he taught himself jewelry repair and established Wedco. So, Doubrava is an entrepreneur. He still serves the sales territory of Alabama and Florida for gems.

Wayne

         Wayne "Dusty" Doubrava can be reached at Wedco Jewelry, located at 16050 Silverhill Avenue, Silverhill. Information about the ministry of the Heavens Thunder Chapter #955 can be obtained by calling (251) 945-5206 or by e-mail at waynedoubrava@yahoo.com. Information concerning the Christian Motorcyclists Association and its Chapter Affiliates can be accessed at www.cmaser6.org/al/heavensthunder.

     At the same time as his business is developing, Doubrava is attending motorcycle meets and rallies. He keeps running into people from the Christian Motorcyclists Association (the "CMA"). There was no chapter in Baldwin at that time. But then about a year ago, a chapter of the national finally organizes as "Heavens Thunder Chapter #955" and Doubrava gets involved. He says, "I now have the opportunity to combine my joy of riding motorcycles with my Christian faith. I have been a member of the CMA for a year or more now and I serve as Chaplain of the Baldwin County Chapter 955." It turns out that the CMA is one of the largest motorcyclist associations in the world, 140,000 members strong, organized in 18 countries with another 6 in the works. "In just the U.S. alone, there are over 800 chapters. As a chapter we attend motorcycle rallies and fund-raising events where we have the opportunity setup our ministry tent."

decal      Members of "Heavens Thunder Chapter #955" (CMA) often pray for motorcyclists and their machines at rallies, meets, and other events. The motorcycle owner receives a decal as a remembrance of the blessing.


     You might ask, "What is a 'ministry tent'?" The organization's mission is to build relationships with other bikers by sharing the Gospel of Christ through prayer and God's Word. "We give out Bibles and tracts about the the plan of salvation and about the CMA. We pray for bikers and their bikes and their felt needs." But this ministry is not all rallies and ministry tents. The ministry is involved in such things as a prison ministry throughout Baldwin County.