POCATELLO — The huge black-and-white POW*MIA flag — nearly large enough to drape a full-sized basketball court — waved high above the rows of street bikes and motor homes lining the Bannock County Fairground parking lot Saturday.

    “We want people to know we’re here today,” said POW*MIA board member Brian Howell. “The flag lets everyone know we’re here.”

    Saturday, hundreds of locals flocked to that 60- by 30-foot flag, viewable from Interstate 15, for the annual POW*MIA Awareness Rally, a yearly event sponsored by a group devoted to reclaiming the whereabouts of over 81,000 U.S. soldiers lost or missing in action since World War II.

    But despite the staggering number of lost soldiers, Howell and other members of the group say they greet the event with cheerful hearts every year.

    “This is supposed to be a fun event,” he said. “It brings together hundreds and hundreds of people that stand for the same thing — getting an accounting of those lost soldiers.”

    A centerpiece to that “fun,” Howell said, is the annual “Biker Rodeo,” which takes place on the rodeo grounds in front of the grandstands.  

    “We start out with the slow race,” Howell said. “Drivers from as Nevada to Boise bring their bikes onto the dirt track and compete in a variety of events during the rodeo.”

    The slow race, Howell said, takes place between two bikers competing to ride the slowest through a roughly 20-foot stretch of dirt on the track without falling over.

    “It gets tricky for a lot of them,” Howell said. “It’s hard not to tip when you’re going so slow. Some of them even come to a complete stop for several seconds before they hit the throttle and jolt forward.”

    Bikers mixed speed with roaring engines later on, however, during the 100-foot drag racing event that took place along the same stretch of track in front of the grandstands.

    The nearly-packed crowd roared as the bikes rocketed past the finish line.

    But bikes and speed were only a part of the day’s events, however. Restaurants ranging from Ruby Tuesdays to Frankie’s Phillies, which is based out of lava, lined the grass area behind the stands.

    “The way I look at it, “Frankie Pflieger, owner of Frankie’s Phillies, said, “If it weren’t for veterans like the ones here today, I wouldn’t be able to even own my own business and do what I do today. I’m very grateful for our nation’s vets.”

    Pflieger opted to donate a portion of his proceeds to the local POW*MIA chapter.

    The event is set to last until Sunday night at the fairgrounds.