STURGIS – The Sturgis City Council honored Roger and Elaine Haydock for their generous contribution to the Sturgis Rally Endowment fund Monday, Sept. 18, at the Sturgis City Council meeting.

Roger Haydock, a nationally recognized law professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, has taught and practiced law for more than four decades. He and his wife, Elaine, live at Spearfish.

The Haydocks say they love Sturgis and everything the community puts into the Rally and want to leave a lasting legacy. They donated $18,000 to the endowment on Monday, but have truly been behind the endowment since its start.

The Haydocks are the anonymous donors who pledged to match, up to a maximum of $100,000, cash, pledges and deferred gifts to the Sturgis Rally Endowment Fund for the past two years. 

“We are delighted and honored to donate this check and our $100,000 legacy gifts to the Sturgis Rally Endowment,” Roger Haydock said.

He thanked Sturgis City Attorney Mark Marshall for his vision and dedication in establishing the Sturgis Rally Endowment. The Haydocks also thanked Mayor Mark Carstensen for his leadership and to the Sturgis City Council for their commitment to the Sturgis Community.

“It’s quite clear you all love Sturgis, as do we,” Roger Haydock said. “We honeymooned here sometime last century and are very fortunate to live in the Black Hills.”

Roger Haydock said he and Elaine view the gifts as the beginning of a development and fundraising effort for the community. 

“Sturgis ought to be the place where folks donate their motorcycles, just like people donate cars to charitable organizations in other cities. We need to spread that word,” he said.

Roger Haydock has authored many law books and has received numerous accolades for his lifetime of professional work. He has served with distinction as a federal court special master and mediator, and as a director and arbitrator with Forum, a company that provides dispute resolution services.

He is a member of the United State Supreme Court, Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, and the State of Minnesota. 

And, Roger Haydock currently serves on the Board of Trustees of St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, and formerly was vice-president of the Board of Directors of the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame, is on the Board of Advisors of the Black Hills State University Newman Center, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Court Appointed Masters.

Roger and Elaine have three children and 11 grandchildren and say they enjoy spending time with them. 

In 2021, the city of Sturgis established the endowment fund as part of the Black Hills Community Foundation.

Proceeds from a wide range of sources — rally event registration fees, use of certain trademarks, including the rally’s “Winged S” logo and sales of officially licensed merchandise — help build the endowment fund, said Sturgis Mayor Mark Carstensen.

The city established the endowment fund with the goal of building it to become financially self-sufficient.

“The City Council wanted to ensure that there would be a lasting legacy for future generations of the rally,” the mayor said. “Who knows in 20 years what the profitability of the rally will be like."

You can donate funds or a motorcycle to the Sturgis Rally Endowment fund by sending a check to the City of Sturgis Finance Office, 1040 Harley-Davidson Way, Sturgis, SD 57785.