6 B’s: A juggernaut of goodwill

6 B’s A network created by 2 Elkton thousands. ‘It’s debauchery wit one founder said. ‘A juggernau

By Ken Mammarella Contributing Writer

Two men who met at Elkton High School have created an impressive network of people who agree on what’s important in life and often help out each other – and their communities.

Sturdy Wengen said he and Mike McCarter were “two kids from Cecil who only had what we could hustle.” Now they own businesses and are rich with a network of more than 5,000 mostly local guys, but also women and people living far away.

The group is called 6 B’s, which stands for bikes, boats, babes, bad-ass rides, bullets and beer.

It’s a private Facebook group (you can ask to join by heading to its public group, 6B Network). In the real world, members often display the group logo – those six terms, surrounding a feisty bee.

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n High alumni unites with a good cause,’ aut of goodwill.’

Photo courtesy of 6 B’s

(right) Mike McCarter (at the microphone) and Sturdy Wengen attend an event where they dropped off donations to Preston & Steve’s Camp Out for Hunger, a food drive to support Philabundance.

Its approval process asks potential members if they support local charities and first responders and, in somewhat saltier language, if they’re good people.

“It’s debauchery with a good cause,” McCarter said. “A juggernaut of goodwill.”

‘Humble beginnings’

The 6 B’s spell out their shared fun, and the application process bakes in a wholesome stance.

“We’re not just about charity,” Wengen said, although later noting that “Mike and I have always allied themselves with people who like to help. I’ve had money, and I’ve been really broke and had to rely upon the charity of others. I’ve learned to be humble.”

“We grew up with humble beginnings,” McCarter said. “We know what it’s like to be in need.”

McCarter said the community “needed a group like this, but nobody knew how do it.” They applied their business and marketing skills. Wengen, 51, owns Elkton-based Forever Clean. McCarter, a 50-year-old who lives in Pike Creek, owns the Lawn Doctor of Wilmington franchise. They also perform in Shotgun Betty, which McCarter called “a blue-collar rock band.”

Photo courtesy of 6 B’s

Sturdy Wengen (left) and Mike McCarter founded 6 B’s.

Mike McCarter, Sturdy Wengen and other members of 6 B’s during an event at Veterans Memorial Park in New Castle.

Photo by William Scarborough

The 6 B’s began early in the winter of 2016-17, as sort of joke, McCarter said. The lawn business was slow, and he has lots of time to share photos online of things he liked, like bikes, cars and models posing with either.

“My phone was blowing up with hundreds of likes and notifications,” Wengen recalled, so to create some sort of order they formed the Facebook group to share similar photos, and then activities.

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They were also concerned about “a lot of political unrest and that great divide all over social media,” Wengen said. “No in between. Absolutely zero compromise.”

‘Conservative values’

The 6 B’s are “rooted in the same conservative values, but we have friends on both sides of the aisle,” he said. “We all drink beer.” And, it turns out group members are united in other pursuits (“Here are things we can all agree on as men”), like gun ranges and ways to travel in style.

Wengen, for instance, owns a 1954 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery, a 1966 Pontiac Bonneville, a 2013 Road King and a 1982 Shovelhead.

“It’s more of a garden gnome that hangs out in the yard,” he said of the last vehicle. “I’ve had it longer than my first wife.”

After building up to 40,000 members, their Facebook group was shut down for too many content violations. Facebook’s algorithm had issues with all the pinup photos, McCarter recalled, and they didn’t want to become “keyboard warriors,” Wengen said of the time suck of monitoring.

They quickly set up to a private group in Facebook and set up guidelines for members, who often are friends of friends of friends. And as members have moved and people in the military are transferred overseas, membership has

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Photo courtesy of 6 B’s

(top left) Delaware’s Special Olympics – including its Polar Bear Plunge fundraiser – is one of the two nonprofi ts that members of 6 B’s have decided to focus on.

(left) A trick-or-trunk entertains the children of members of 6 B’s.

Photo courtesy of Mike Clark

Photo courtesy of Mike Clark

(above) Members of 6 B’s collected more than a ton of food one year for Preston & Steve’s Camp Out for Hunger, a food drive to support Philabundance.

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broadened substantially, but it’s still predominantly in this region.

The group’s newsfeed mixes memes, rants, notices and requests.

“We try to be apolitical, but in this day and age, you can’t,” McCarter said, later calling it “a fun page that’s not politically correct.”

On the Sunday morning this paragraph was first drafted, the top posts included a request for an enclosed trailer to help out a domestic situation and this: “So my brothers and sisters and friends of my circle. I am in need to borrow a wheel chair for a brother of mine. Just for a couple of weeks. Is there anyone out here that could help?”

Within an hour, someone responded with a private message leading to a wheelchair.

“That’s what our page does,” McCarter said of the fast connection. “That’s the beauty of it.”

Photo courtesy of Mike Clark

Members of 6 B’s are united by their love of bikes and fi ve other terms beginning with B.

‘Brothers and sisters and family’

Members of the 6 B’s have also helped each other out with business referrals and roadside emergencies. And they’ve also united behind individual causes (such as a jobless leukemia patient, veterans who need work done on their houses, people who lost their home in a fire) and multiple local charities (such as Firebase Lloyd, food banks in Delaware and Maryland, the Ronald McDonald house for families at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Faithful Friends).

They have decided to focus their efforts on Preston & Steve’s Camp Out for Hunger, a food drive to support Philabundance; and Delaware Special Olympics, including its Polar Bear Plunge.

In 2019, in the last holiday drive before coronavirus restrictions, they delivered 6,200 pounds of food for Philabundance.

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Photo courtesy of 6 B’s

Members of 6 B’s support Motorcycle Santa’s efforts for families staying in the Ronald McDonald House in Rockland while their children are hospitalized across the street.

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Member Drew Beideman was the impetus for supporting Special Olympics. “It’s something true to my heart,” he said of the program for people who have intellectual and physical challenges.

As for 6 B’s, “at first it was a fun Facebook page, a bunch of guys joking around,” he said. “As it grew, I realized how it benefited the community.” And himself. “I consider them brothers and sisters and family.”

McCarter, Wengen and all the members have devoted a lot of time to charities, but the co-founders did not want to give dollar figures on donations. “We don’t want any credit,” McCarter said. “We’re just a conduit to get help where it needs to be.”

Just say “We’re a big community,” Wengen said.

“Sturdy always says ‘Do great things,’” McCarter said. “And I’m always for going above and beyond.”

Photo by Nick Remick

Members of 6 B’s support a breast cancer patient, whose children painted and sold positivity rocks that declared “you can do it,” “you’re awesome” and other sayings.

|Cecil County Photo Essay|

For the past eight decades, Good Shepherd Catholic School has been educating its students under the principles of faith, socialization and character ‘Be who you are, and be that well’

Text by Richard L. Gaw

What began as the dream of Father William R. Couming 64 years ago to bring Catholic education to the young people of Cecil and Harford counties is today a dream realized.

Over the past eight decades, Good Shepherd Catholic School has grown from two classes taught by two nuns to a community of 90 students who receive an education grounded in the principles of the Catholic faith.

The magic of Good Shepherd Catholic School begins with its dedicated staff of 20 educators and the support of parishioners, friends and family and extends to a comprehensive curriculum that combines a modern education with the principles of faith, socialization and service.

“Seeing us in action is the best way to feel the best part of our school -- our community,” said Principal Jenifer Pileggi. “Our mission is to build a safe and nurturing environment, where our educators care for their students like they are their own, and parent involvement is very high. Within the framework of this community, we give our students what they need to succeed.”

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Photos by Jim Coarse

Good Shepherd Catholic School Principal Jenifer Pileggi.

The 90 students currently enrolled at the school receive an education that offers a comprehensive curriculum and one that is also grounded in the principles of the Catholic faith.

Good Shepherd Catholic School

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Beyond the classroom interaction they have with their educators, Good Shepherd Catholic School students participate in annual events like Christmas bazaars, silent auctions, spaghetti dinners, Strawberry festivals and field days, geography and spelling bees and band concerts. They work together – older students assist younger students through a “buddy program” and provide after-school tutoring. From a young age, students develop their public speaking skills and embrace their faith through class prayer services, honors breakfasts, sacramental preparation and charitable outreach efforts.

“Because we have small class sizes, we are able to give a lot of one-on-one attention to our students, and they receive a lot of hands-on learning, so they get to experience what they are learning instead of just reading about it,” Pileggi said. “With the help of funding, we have been able to improve the technology we bring to each classroom.

“We also get to incorporate faith into our daily routine as well, which helps provide a nurturing environment.

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The latest in educational technology is a part of every classroom learning environment.