性视界传媒

Urban legend has long held that police officers tend to pull over red vehicles more than those of other colors. Their flashy paint jobs make them easy to spot, and the perception that their drivers are fast-paced hot-shots seems to beckon to those behind the badge.

That性视界传媒檚 a myth, but the truth is that East Texas law enforcement officers frequently pull over a John Deere green-painted Chevy pickup as it rumbles around the region性视界传媒檚 roadways. They stop it because of its paint job聽性视界传媒� and because it has only three wheels.

And it性视界传媒檚 missing a wheel because its driver is missing a leg.

East Mountain resident Dave Sullens, better known as 性视界传媒淧rofessional Hugger Dave,性视界传媒� knows of no one else in the country who has a truck like his. After all, it was his youngest son, an engineering graduate of LeTourneau University, who designed the custom rig and vows he won性视界传媒檛 make one for anyone else.

The truck has made Sullens perhaps one of East Texas' most interesting men on wheels 性视界传媒� and his ride has gotten some national attention, too.

The truck性视界传媒檚 front axle is gone; filling its role is a tricycle-like front end, giving the vehicle a unique appearance. And in the eyes of Sullens, the truck has a unique purpose. He uses it to attend biker rallies and car shows, where he gives people his signature hugs and tells them about Jesus.

With his truck, he captures people性视界传媒檚 eyes. And with his hugs, he aims to capture their hearts.

It takes only 15 seconds, he says.

"If you hug a kid or a grandkid or a friend or whatever, and you hug them for 15 seconds, this doctor says it releases endorphins, or whatever an endorphin is, into your body. It makes you feel better. It makes the person you're hugging feel better,性视界传媒� he said. 性视界传媒淎nd so I try to do that.性视界传媒�

Hugger Dave's Special

Donning a battered blue denim biker vest, well-worn overalls and a tractor-green doo rag, 72-year-old Sullens sat down recently at Guadalupe性视界传媒檚 Mexican Restaurant in Gladewater. He perused photos of his grandchildren聽性视界传媒� all 24 of them聽性视界传媒� more than the number of items on the menu.

He already knew what he would order: the entr茅e named in his honor, the Hugger Dave Special, a hefty Texas burrito smothered in queso and served with rice and beans.

How性视界传媒檇 he get his name on a menu item at the restaurant?

It started on the road. Sullens, a self-described 性视界传媒渂iker preacher,性视界传媒� was in Missouri to officiate a wedding. He stopped at a Mexican restaurant and chowed down on a massive burrito, and he suggested that Guadalupe性视界传媒檚 add one to its menu. He often told his fellow bikers to stop there and eat it. When the menu was redesigned, his name was on it. (He didn性视界传媒檛 say if he gets any royalties, but he paid for his meal on that August day.)

With that in mind, it性视界传媒檚 clear that his love for riding motorcycles is the basis for almost everything Sullens is known for, from his truck to his hugs.

Sullens grew up in West Virginia and Ohio in a family that loved hugging people; it was a standard greeting, and he brought it with him when life took him to East Texas.

He also grew up in a family that didn性视界传媒檛 want him to ride motorcycles, which he started doing anyway at the age of 16. And as if it were prophecy, his parents性视界传媒� worst predictions about his future behavior came true.

性视界传媒淚 was not a nice person,性视界传媒� Sullens said. 性视界传媒淚 spent my time in biker bars, pool halls, fights. I spent the evening in the jail. But then once I met Miss Cathy, that all changed. She told me and she showed me what a real Christian was.性视界传媒�

Miss Cathy, as she性视界传媒檚 known, is, of course, his wife, and she has been for 51 years now. Although Sullens credits her with his character change, he never repented of riding his motorcycle. He kept attending biker rallies, and he became a deacon at the Spring Hill First Baptist Church in 1982, the beginning of his self-proclaimed biker-preacher ministry. He later became a licensed minister.

In 2007, he thought it was about to end.

One leg, three wheels, four degrees

Sullens has been a building contractor for years. Seventeen years ago, he fell off scaffolding while working in Carthage and landed on concrete. His right leg was badly injured, but multiple surgeries allowed him to keep it聽性视界传媒� for a while. He lost his equilibrium in the fall, however, and he couldn性视界传媒檛 balance himself on a bike.

His days of two-legged riding on a two-wheeled motorcycle were over. But fortunately, he had a son with more engineering degrees than legs聽性视界传媒� four, to be exact.

Sullens told his youngest son: 性视界传媒淚 don't know what the heck I'm going to do. 性视界传媒� I've been a biker-preacher for, you know, years.性视界传媒� And his son replied: 性视界传媒淚性视界传媒檒l build you something.性视界传媒�

After his injury and before his son性视界传媒檚 invention was brought to fruition, Sullens rode trike motorcycles. They had standard transmissions, meaning he had to shift gears with his right leg. Eventually, he wasn性视界传媒檛 able to do that anymore. But he still needed something to ride that had three wheels so he could get into biker rallies; two- and three-wheeled rides are welcomed, but vehicles with four or more are turned away.

His son性视界传媒檚 engineering skills paid off: He transformed a Chevy S-10 into a three-wheeled truck for his dad, cutting away the front axle and replacing the front wheels with a Harley Springer front end.

The amputation of a wheel was the solution. Sullens got the truck in 2012. After a nasty staph infection, his right leg was amputated in May 2013, and he's had a prosthetic one since then. (Sullens isn性视界传媒檛 alone: His oldest son lost a leg because of a birth defect, and his youngest lost one in a farming accident.)

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The S-10 served him well for about six years, but as time passed, Sullens found it harder to climb in and out of the small truck. His son then built him another three-wheeled truck with John Deere green paint, a 2005 Chevy Silverado, and delivered it in 2019. (The truck has Illinois license plates because his son still owns it, and that's where it's registered.)

The selection of paint for both rigs was merely financial. Sullens wanted the truck to be painted International Harvester red, but green paint was cheaper, he said.

That custom paint job and wheel arrangement have made it a favorite at biker rallies and car shows.

性视界传媒淣ow that I性视界传媒檝e been doing it all these years,性视界传媒� Sullens said, 性视界传媒減eople are waiting for me to get up there.

性视界传媒淚t's still enough of an oddity that, even people that have seen it聽性视界传媒� I get people that get an old tarp or something and throw [it] down on the ground and crawl around underneath [the truck] and see what he did underneath.性视界传媒�

Sullens can be spotted hugging the white line of the roads around the region as he drives his truck to shows, smoke shops and more. It性视界传媒檚 his daily driver. It doesn性视界传媒檛 have speed restrictions despite its unique design, and he tows trailers with it.

Police officers seem to enjoy examining his automobile, which is street legal. Sullens has been pulled over hundreds of times but hasn性视界传媒檛 been ticketed, he said. When an officer stopped him one late August day after following him a considerable distance, though, the officer wrote Sullens a warning for having a small cab-mounted brake light that was burned out. (Sullens said the officer was really just trying to find a reason to make the stop official.)

"I said, 'Well, most of them just put their lights on because they got the lights and they want to take pictures of the truck,' " Sullens told the officer. "He said, 'Well, that's what I wanted. But 性视界传媒� I was trying to do it legally.' "

At car shows, Sullens serves coffee and water to those who come to feast their eyes upon his truck. Like his main commodity聽性视界传媒� hugs聽性视界传媒� there性视界传媒檚 no charge.

性视界传媒楬ugs are free性视界传媒�

Born into a family of huggers, Sullens vividly recalls the time he first hugged his father-in-law, who was raised in a family devoid of such warm embrace.

But with a degree of pensiveness, he also tells the story of someone he never hugged: a sweet, hard-working woman at his church who died unexpectedly. As he sat at her funeral, Sullens considered how many people in his congregation he性视界传媒檇 never hugged. He made up his mind that he性视界传媒檇 make a change, he informed the congregation the next Sunday: 性视界传媒淔rom now on, if I see you, I性视界传媒檓 going to hug you,性视界传媒� he said.

He didn性视界传媒檛 come to bear the name 性视界传媒淧rofessional Hugger Dave性视界传媒� immediately, however. And to understand how he did requires a bit of knowledge about biker culture.

Much like truckers, whose use of nicknames or 性视界传媒渉andles性视界传媒� over CB radios inspired countless boys to come up with their own, bikers have 性视界传媒渞oad names性视界传媒� by which they refer to one another. They proudly wear those patches on their vests.

性视界传媒淏ikers never use their real name on their patch on their vest,性视界传媒� Sullens said.

After years of hugging folks, a friend of Sullens性视界传媒� created some patches for him bearing the name 性视界传媒淗ugger Dave.性视界传媒� Then, Sullens gave the moniker some more mulling-over.

"If I just get a 'professional,' a PhD, then I'd have a doctorate," Sullens said. "So I told her about it, and she said, 'Well, yeah, I can do that,' so she made me up a bunch of the patches with the PhD on it, and that way, you know, I'm a professional hugger聽性视界传媒� not just your run-of-the-mill grandpa hugger."

He can justify that he性视界传媒檚 a trained professional thanks to his two dozen grandchildren. And thus he obtained his PhD in 性视界传媒渉ug-ology,性视界传媒� as he calls it.

"If you ask somebody who Dave Sullens is, a lot of people got no idea,性视界传媒� he said. 性视界传媒淏ut if you ask where Hugger Dave is, or who Hugger Dave is聽性视界传媒� 'Oh, yeah, he's got that weird truck.' "

His PhD is advertised on the tailgate. And on both sides of the bed, 性视界传媒淛ohn 3:16性视界传媒� is written. At shows, Sullens聽性视界传媒� a longtime member of the Christian Motorcyclists Association聽性视界传媒� talks about Jesus.

"People come look, [and] I tell them why that truck exists," he said. "It's in John 3:16 on the back of the fender.

性视界传媒淚t's not like I get paid for it or anything like that. I could save some money if I didn't do all that. But most of the time, people, even if they're not real excited about what I'm doing, they accept what I've got to say.性视界传媒�

Sometimes, his actions speak a little louder. A man at a rally once told him that the only hug he gets all year is the one Sullens gives him. Sullens described the man as a 性视界传媒渂ig ole grizzly bear-looking guy性视界传媒� who had a criminal record; the man said people were afraid of him.

But he wasn性视界传媒檛 too mean for a professional hugger. The 性视界传媒渂ig ole grizzly bear-looking guy性视界传媒� got just what he need: a professional hug聽性视界传媒� perhaps a bear hug. And Sullens has no plans to quit giving them away anytime soon.

With one leg and three wheels, Hugger Dave can use two arms to touch countless hearts.

性视界传媒淵ou know, hugs are free,性视界传媒� Sullens told the man. 性视界传媒淚 don't charge for 'em.性视界传媒�