THE CAPITAL REPORT GWTA OF MICHIGAN Chapter A"

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1 THE CAPITAL REPORT GWTA OF MICHIGAN Chapter A" JANUARY 2015 Lansing, MI. Region F Directors Bob & Kim Davis OFFICERS Region F Board Reps. gwtaregionf@yahoo.com State Director: Eric Larson ericmlarson@ermichigan.com Chapter Director: Eric Larson ericmlarson@ermichigan.com Asst. Chap. Director: Treasurer(s): Karmen Bentley Thomas Ongstad knf785@aol.com gwta@att.net Newsletter Editor: Sandy Helfer helfer797@comcast.net Trip Coordinator: Al Jack al@michjack.com Sunshine Person: Chris Larson chrislarson@ermichigan.com Events Coordinator: Barbara Ongstad kitten1985@att.net Safety Director: Vacant Chapter webmaster: Eric Larson ericmlarson@ermichigan.com From Your Chapter Director Happy New Year and welcome to With the beginning of both a new month and a new year, I hope you are all ready to get started. Personally I m excited for the New Year to begin and I look forward with anticipation to all the fun things that I hope to see and do during We ended 2014 with a great Chapter Christmas Party and Brunch at the Hammond s house in December. It was a great time and I believe that everyone who attended enjoyed the event, including the good food and friendships. My thanks to everyone for bringing all of the delicious food that was shared. And my thanks to Barbara Ongstad for the incredible amount of laughter and fun that her two games brought to the event. Some twisted minds added to the laughter as we attempted to pin the nose on Frosty the Snowman and although we all looked funny during the drawing contest with a paper plate tied on top of our head, we found that a few of us can do some great artistic work even when we can t see what we are doing. Maybe some of you can use those talents to put together a design for the State Rally logo contest that ends on January 31 st. As was the case last month, during the winter our activities within the association tend to slow down, so there

2 isn t a lot going on right now. For January our activities will consist of the regular dinner/business meeting and an optional Saturday morning breakfast scheduled for January 31 st at Blondie s Barn in Haslett. Hopefully you can join us for one or both of these events. Here is another reminder that I have raffle tickets available for the GWTA national raffle. The tickets are a donation of $1.00 each and the grand prize is $5, cash to the lucky winner with the winning ticket being drawn on July 16, 2015 at the close of the Gold Rush gathering. This raffle provides an important source of funds for operation of our association, hence it is to our benefit to buy (or sell) some tickets to help our association. Please see me at the meeting if you would like to participate in this fundraiser. I look forward to seeing you at an upcoming GWTA event. Eric Larson Chapter Director. CHAPTER MEETING NOTES: The meeting opened with Eric welcoming everyone. Birthdays were announced and Thomas Ongstad, who was celebrating his birthday that day, got a rendition of the birthday song. Gene Hoover, who also has a birthday this month, was also present. Anniversaries were announced. Thomas gave the treasurer s report and Eric proceeded into discussion of the Chapter Christmas brunch plans. Barbara has two games planned and the menu will be filled with a lot of good things to eat. If you would like to bring an unwrapped toy to be donated to Toys for Tots, you can bring that along with your dish to pass. Table service will be provided, along with coffee, tea, and water. Eric talked about the Logo and Pin Design contest for the 2015 Michigan GWTA State Rally in June. The rules can be found on the Michigan GWTA website. All designs are due by January 31, Voting will take place soon afterward, so stay tuned. Eric also reminded everyone that he had raffle tickets for the National GWTA office. The proceeds from the purchase of these tickets keep the doors open and also help offset costs associated with running GWTA. If you are in need of tickets to purchase, or to sell to friends and family, see Eric. Eric mentioned a ticket selling contest and hopes to have more specific information next month. Tickets and money can be turned in to Eric at each month s meeting. Next up was a Chapter event for the month of January. Everyone likes breakfast, so the date of January 31 st was chosen and Gwen Fuller suggested meeting at Blondie s Barn in Haslett. A time of 9:00 a.m. was chosen. Eric announced that as a chapter we have collected $9.00 so far in our Helping Hands change can, up $1.00 from last month. The can is available at each monthly meeting if you would like to toss in some pocket change. It was noted that no one has volunteered for the position of Chapter Director. The duties are simple, one meeting a month, and passing along information you will receive from your State Director. There is a monthly piece for the chapter newsletter and a little paperwork. You will have a lot of helpers. If you haven t held any office yet, this is a good one to try. If interested, give Eric a call. With no further business, the meeting was adjourned. The quarter cup winner was Beth Hoover and the 50/50 winner for $17.00 was Gerry LaMere. Congratulations! The next Chapter meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015, at the Flap Jack Restaurant on S.Waverly Rd. Dinner at 6:00 p.m. and the business meeting will follow.

3 JANUARY BIRTHDAYS: JANUARY ANNIVERSARIES: 9th Phyllis Slagell 19th Fred & Karmen Bentley 18 th Ron Palmer 31 st Don & Mary Tithof 24 th Barbara Ongstad 26 th Fred Bentley 26 th Teresa Larson Chapter A Christmas Brunch. This event was held on December 13, 2014 at the home of Terry & Vickie Hammond. The food was wonderful, Stacie Larson was the head pancake maker, and among the many dishes to choose from were two types of egg dishes, cinnamon rolls, cranberry/ walnut bread, bagels, hashbrown casserole, fruit kabobs, reindeer cookies and an airy lemon/meringue dessert. Barbara was in charge of games and she came up with two fun ones. Pin the nose on the Snowman, and those noses ended up in some pretty interesting places! Then it was time for the artistic side of this group to come to the fore, as everyone was given a paper plate with yarn ties and a red felt tip pen. After donning our paper plate hats we were instructed to draw certain shapes on them without of course looking. What we all created was surprisingly good! The morning melted into the afternoon as we all enjoyed what we like to call destination friendship. After a Chapter picture was taken, it was time to depart. Thanks go to everyone who came, those who brought something yummy to contribute to the brunch, and those who brought a toy to donate to Toys For Tots. Did I mention that this was a pajama/ugly sweater event? That only made it more fun. Recipes were requested and you can find them elsewhere in the newsletter! From the Sunshine Gal. HAPPY 2015! Wow! Can you believe it is time to toss the 2014 calendar and replace it with a nice, clean, empty one? Whether you have been filling in 2015 dates for some time now or are staring at the blank daily spaces, let s make the most of the next 12 months! Our Chapter was very healthy in December! No special cards were sent or special sunshine rays were beamed. My article this month is actually a repeat from the January 2014 newsletter. It seems to sit well for starting off a new year and just as pertinent for this month as it was a year ago. So, here it goes I ran across an article last month titled 12 Things Happy People Do Differently that was very interesting. One of my 2015 resolutions is to focus on these, after all, who doesn t want to be happy? Here they are, with a Gold Winger/GWTA twist. Express Gratitude: Be sure to thank the people who work behind the scenes to make fun runs, chapter activities and

4 state events run smoothly. Cultivate Optimism: No matter how dark the rain clouds are, remember you are having more fun on the motorcycle ride than you would be at home cleaning the stove. Avoid Over-thinking and Social Comparison: Don t spend time worrying that your helmet hair looks worse than all others. Just slap on a baseball hat and smile. Practice Acts of Kindness: Leave a good tip for the Leslie Depot waiter. Nurture Social Relationships: Go the extra mile to make it to chapter meetings, potlucks, and events. Learn something new about every chapter member. Learn to Forgive: Harbor no ill feelings when the group ride leader finds a gravel road. Increase Experiences: Pull over and take a few extra minutes to enjoy a beautiful sunset instead of worrying about getting home before dark. Savor Life s Joys: Take in the moment when you win the 50/50. Commit to Your Goals: Get out and ride! Increase your motorcycle mileage by 10% from last year. Practice Spirituality: I ll leave that one up to you. Take Care of Your Body: Eat a salad prior to enjoying the ice cream. Are you in with me on these?! Your Sunshine Gal Chris Larson MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Jan. 13, 2015 Jan. 31, 2015 Chapter A Flap Jack Restaurant at 6:00 p.m. Meeting to follow. Chapter A Breakfast, Blondie s Barn, 5640 Marsh Rd. Haslett at 9:00 a.m. (Located in the Shop Town Shopping Plaza at the corner of Marsh and Haslett Rd.) A Chapter Director to lead Chapter A in the fun activities that we all enjoy participating in. The job is easy to do and will ensure that the legacy of our chapter continues. It entails a few monthly communications via and planning a short monthly business meeting to keep the members up to date. The job comes with many willing volunteers who are always ready to lend a hand to keep the chapter fun going. Exact details of the job can be obtained by contacting the outgoing Chapter Director, who has stepped up to fill

5 the State Director position and who will gladly coach a newcomer to the position as necessary. Michigan GWTA Events for 2015 GWTA Michigan Spring Fling GWTA Michigan State Rally GWTA All Chapter Color Tour Date and location to be announced June 18-21, 2015 Osceola County Fairgrounds, Evart, MI Date to be announced. Gaylord, MI. Recipes: Hash browns Casserole Copycat (like Cracker Barrel s) Serves Ingredients: 2 lbs frozen hash browns ½ cup butter or margarine melted (1stick) 1 (10 ¼ ounce) cream of chicken soup 1 pint sour cream ½ cup chopped onion 2 cups cheddar cheese, grated 1 teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon pepper Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, spray an 11 x 14 inch baking dish with cooking spray. 2. Mix the above ingredients together, place in prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until brown on top. Serve and enjoy! Don t forget to check out the GWTA websites. Chapter A website: State website: Region F website: GWTA national website: From the 1,339 Quite Interesting Facts to Make Your Jaw Drop by John Lloyd, John Mitchinson, and James Harkin, copyright 2014: Imbibe too much cheer ringing in the New Year, try this popular Roman cure; deep fried canary.

6 2015 PREDICTIONS CONTEST This year our chapter is having a fun little contest to see whose 2015 predictions were closest to reality. Special rules for those snowbirds who are probably coming back from a ride as they read this (we in Michigan are j-e-a-lo-u-s): Your guesses apply to riding your Gold Wing from your Michigan home only. Sorry Glenn, Phyllis and Fred! Please bring your guesses to the following questions to the January meeting. At our December 2015 chapter event we will see how close we each came. You can also mail/ your guesses to Chris Larson. In How many miles will you ride your motorcycle? 2. How many states will you visit on your motorcycle? 3. How many chapter fun runs will you participate in? 4. How many state rallies will you participate in? 5. How many regional events (including non-regions F) will you participate in/ 6. What day will you take your first motorcycle ride? 7. What day will you take your last motorcycle ride? 8. How many people will attend Chapter A s fun run? 9. How many times will you win the 50/50 at a Chapter meeting? 10. Who will win the 50/50 the most times at a Chapter meeting? 11. Who will do the best guessing their predictions? 12. How many Chapter A members will be riding on July 4 th? 13. Who will be the first member to ride their motorcycle this year? 14. How many times will you be getting your kicks on Route 66? 15. Who will bring the best dish to our December 2015 Christmas potluck yes we will have one!