OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Pam Horton drove two days in the rain from Michigan to Old Orchard Beach to attend the national convention of the Chrome Angelz women’s motorcycle organization.

As Horton readied to begin a group ride to Fort Williams on Friday morning her answer to why she joined the group four years ago was simple.

“The sisterhood,” she said.

Horton was one of about 120 members who gathered in Old Orchard Beach for the four-day convention that began on Thursday.

“Each year the convention gets bigger. We’re real excited, because some of our girls from Canada came down,” said Annamarie Sesta, a teacher from New Jersey, who founded Chrome Angelz five years ago.

Sesta said she had been involved in another group, but the focus was often on money, and she wanted to start a women’s motorcycle group that was focused on helping communities. She said chapters mostly support projects that directly help local charitable efforts, but have also been known to help other communities outside their local region with efforts that include collecting educational supplies for schools in Puerto Rico after hurricanes Maria and Irma.

She, like Horton, stressed the sisterhood of the organization, and told the story of one member who donated a kidney to another member.

The organization has grown quickly in five years, and there are 140 chapters worldwide on four different continents.

Membership for the organization is just $10 a year, to make it affordable for all riders.

“Not everyone has the same pocketbook,” said Sesta.

Jennifer Demers, a member from Sanford, said she moved to Maine as a single mother to be closer to her family, and she joined Chrome Angelz because she wanted to meet like-minded people who also rode motorcycles.

“I didn’t have any friends, but I do now,” she said, gesturing to the crowd of women at the Inn at Soho Square who were gearing up for the ride.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected]