Gold Wing Road Riders Association Virginia District Times

Transcription

1 Gold Wing Road Riders Association Virginia District Times Appalachian Region N June 2006 Congratulations Nancy Wilkins, VA-J, Region N Educator of the Year NC-N, Burlington Region N Chapter of the Year Bill & Brenda O Mary, NC R & R Coordinators, Membership Enhancement Award for 2006 Inside this Issue Riding Season.. Pg 2 M.E.D.. Pg 6 But, You Didn t See Me...Pg 7 Thank You, Let s Party...Pg 8 Virginia District Website: Region N Website: National Website:

2 PAGE 2 Riding Season Riding season is upon us. In fact it is in full swing. I see more Chapter rides being posted and more come out and enjoy invitations being sent. This is great. A Chapter cannot survive unless it is willing to get out there and ride. That is what most people join GWRRA for. The fellowship and the riding. I am encouraged by the riding I am seeing. Just remember, while it is extremely important to get out and support your sister Chapters it is equally important that you ride whether it is another Chapter s event or a non-gwrra event. Speaking of non-gwrra events, I attended two over the past two weeks. Had a whole lot of fun and got in some great riding. On Sunday June 4 th it was the 4 th Annual Richmond Ride for Kids. This annual fundraiser for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation is one of the more rewarding rides for me. The last three years I have taken my sidecar rig up to the ride and taken a child on the ride in the sidecar. This year I actually made it through the entire ride without breaking down. I had the young sister of one of the survivors of brain tumor surgery. She really seemed to enjoy the ride and I know I did. Pretty day, great cause, and a nice country ride of about 40 miles. current VA C Educator who rode with us on his 1800 sidecar rig pulling his trailer. Dave was our chase vehicle carrying most of our luggage as the GL1000 s didn t come with any carrying capacity when they were made. Rt. 40 between Woolwine and Stuart, VA has some great twisties and is a cool riding road. It was fun pushing the bike through the curves. I m amazed at how nimble the Gold Wing really is. For a bike that is over 30 years old, it really surprised me how well it performed. We put on over 300 miles getting to the rally site in Mt. Airy on Friday. As if that wasn t enough, on Saturday we put on another 200 miles riding around the area including a lunch stop at C.J. and Bo Carcanes (International Trainers for GWRRA) and a run up to Hanging Rock State Park. Then 300 miles getting back on Sunday. We all arrived back just in time to make the VA C meeting in Newport News. The weather cooperated raining mostly at night after we had the bikes covered. What a great weekend - great fun, great riding, great friends. That s what it is all about!! So grab some friends and get out there and ride!! Enjoy the summer. I ll see you on the road. Keith & Carol Then this past weekend I meet up with the Region N Educator, Cundiff Simmons, two members from VA C, Bruce Barnes and Don Smith and two members from Chapter B, Harry Waggoner and Steve Seamans. All of us on our GL1000 s. We met in Waverly and rode Rt. 40 from there out to Stuart, Virginia and then down to Mt. Airy, NC. The occasion was the first in what they say will be an annual GL1000 rally. Honda made the GL1000 Gold Wing from 1975 to This rally was just for these 5 model year Gold Wings. Of course, there were folks with newer Gold Wings like Dave Huey, former VA District Director and

3 PAGE 3 Virginia District Staff District Directors Keith & Carol Lindgren, (757) Asst. District Directors (Central & Webmasters) Chris & Kathy Hooper, (804) Asst. District Directors (West) Jerry & Linda Hall, (540) Asst. District Directors (North) Pat & Kathy Hasiak, (703) District Educators Gary & Jackie Wall, (757) Assistant District Educators Nick & Teresa Knox, (757) District Trainers John & Peggy Bebb, (757) ALL CHAPTERS PICNIC SUNDAY, AUGUST 6 10 AM TIL 3 PM LOCUST SHADE PARK, LILAC SHELTER TRIANGLE, VA CHAPTER CHALLENGE DESSERT AUCTION FOOD FUN- GAMES BRING A SIDE DISH TO SHARE BURGERS HOT DOGS Membership Enhancement Coordinators George Craddock & Isabel Gray, (301) COY Coordinators Dave & Melissa Timbs, (703) District Couple of the Year Bruce & Gayle Babcock, (703) M.A.D. Coordinator Orin & Donna Thomas, (540) District Treasurers Dale & Erin Rehberger, (757) Rally Vendor Coordinators Linda Carlyle, (804) Wade & Marina Farmer, (276) Rally Registration Coordinators John & Anita Raines, (804) Rally Media Coordinators Bobbie Jo & Durwood Harrison, (804) District Newsletter Editor Carol Lindgren Upcoming Events July 2-6, Wing Ding, Nashville, TN, July 22 Virginia District Officers Retreat Holiday Lake State Park 10 am 2 pm July 29 VA-U, Hanover Poker Run, Hanover Wayside Park, Rt. 301 N. August 6 All Chapters Picnic, Triangle Park, Quantico, VA August WV s District Rally Waller in the Holler, Ripley, WV; Cedar Lakes Conference Center Aug KY s District Rally Bluegrass Blast, Bowling Green

4 PAGE 4 We will be offering an ERC class AND an Advanced Sidecar/Trike course at the Rally in the Valley in October. Both of these classes will be held on Friday morning, October 6th, from 7:30am - 12:30pm. Class size is LIMITED to 12 bikes for each class. Pre-registration is required. These classes usually fill up fast. Your reservation will be held once we receive payment for the class. The cost for each class is $20 per rider. Rally-in-the-Valley 2006 Advanced Sidecar / Trike Course Registration We will be offering an Advanced Sidecar / Trike class at RITV on Friday, October 6, The course will begin PROMPTLY at 7:30am and should be finished by 12:30pm. The cost for the course is $20 (Co-Riders are free). For this advanced class, you will be using your own Sidecar or Trike. If you interested in taking the course, you MUST complete the registration form below and return WITH your check to: Gary and Jackie Wall Virginia District Educators 10 Sanlun Lakes Drive Hampton, VA Checks MUST be made payable to Virginia Rider Education (not us). This class is on a first come, first served basis. There are 12 Rider slots for the class. The first 12 PAID registrations received, will be accepted for the class. Once the class is full, I can put you on a waiting list. There will be no refunds after October 1 st. You must be registered for the Rally in order to register for this class. Please PRINT the following information: Rider: Address: City: State: Zip: Telephone: ( ) Address: Check one: 1-up 2-up (IF 2-up Co-Rider name: ) NOTE: Please complete the registration above for EACH paid registration. If you are planning on taking this course as 2-up, the Co-Rider is free but must also be pre-registered.

5 PAGE 5 Rally-in-the-Valley 2006 Experienced Riding Course (ERC) Registration Form We will be offering an ERC class at RITV on Friday, October 6, The course will begin PROMPTLY at 7:30am and should be finished by 12:30pm. The cost for the course is $20 (Co-Riders are free). If you interested in taking the course, you MUST complete the registration form below and return WITH your check to: Gary and Jackie Wall Virginia District Educators 10 Sanlun Lakes Drive Hampton, VA Checks MUST be made payable to Virginia Rider Education (not us). This class is on a first come, first served basis. There are 12 Rider slots for the class. The first 12 PAID registrations received, will be accepted for the class. Once the class is full, I can put you on a waiting list. There will be no refunds after October 1 st. You must be registered for the Rally in order to register for this class. Please PRINT the following information: Rider: Address: City: State: Zip: Telephone: ( ) Address: Check one: 1-up 2-up (IF 2-up Co-Rider name: ) NOTE: Please complete the registration above for EACH paid registration. If you are planning on taking this ERC course as 2-up, the Co-Rider is free but must also be pre-registered.

6 MEMBER ENHANCEMENT DIVISION MAY REPORT PAGE 6 Congratulations to Kristen members from all the chapters are able to get to it, as Bruce & Gayle s home Chapter, VA-I, did for their Region N appearance. VA-I won the award for having the largest chapter from Virginia at the Rally as they supported their Chapter and our District s Couple of the Year. Chapter Directors are again encouraged to visit the Public Relations & Fun Activities web sites at & check out monthly newsletters & Guides from National. George Craddock & Isabel Gray - District M.E.D. Big congratulations go out this month to Newsletter Editor, Kristen Weston of Chapter B in Virginia Beach. If you were not at the Region N Rally in Maggie Valley, SC, last week, you may not know why. VA-B s newsletter, one of three chosen in January, February & March, by the District to be sent to Region N for the Region N Quarterly Newsletter Selection Board, was indeed chosen the top newsletter for the entire Region N in the First Quarter. The best of the best! Kristen already had a Virginia District Award Plaque, with its monetary award of $50 coming her way, as soon as District MED Coordinators could get to her location & now she has a Region N Plaque under her belt. The wellinformed VA-B Chapter members & the Staff have every reason to be proud of its accomplishments as they follow the GWRRA requirement to provide chapter members with the latest information via the best newsletter possible; which, in accordance with District suggestions, can also be an effective Recruitment tool in welcome packets carried on bikes or as a great Public Relations tool, left in Honda shops or placed on Bulletin boards. Those who missed the Rally, missed not only a fun rally but also great riding, as the rains abated and the weekend turned into good riding weather for members short trips over the mountains to Cherokee, up onto parts of Blue Ridge Parkway and even as far away as Deals Gap. On the Couple of the Year front, we are proud to congratulate Bruce & Gayle Babcock, our District COY, who were chosen over some stiff competition to be the Region N Couple for They ll be going for International selection at Wing Ding 2007 and here s hoping that many The District R&R and MED web site is still under construction and we apologize but web problems, trips and planning for even longer trips have taken longer than expected. Isabel & I are leaving on a long-planned 3-week motorcycle trip to California, returning home, then leaving almost immediately for Wing Ding in Nashville and returning home for a longer period before leaving for a trip to southern Texas for a Family Reunion, so we hope to get the web site back up before or in between those trips. Chapter Directors and R&R Coordinators are reminded again that National did curtail the Get One program and no longer offers a free year s membership for recruiting three new members nor will they be conducting a Gold Wing give-a-way. The Find-a-Friend program is still in effect, with its 5-heart bars and Halls of Honor & Fame. Newsletters are continuously improving and all Chapter Directors are reminded that they must send in their newsletter monthly to the MED Coordinators via attachment or send an denoting their newsletter availability on the web for consideration as Top Monthly Newsletter: The Selected Newsletter for April 2006 : VA- A1 Newsletter Editor Rose Miller George Craddock & Isabel Gray - District M.E.D. District Member Enhancement Coordinators

7 PAGE 7 Thank You and Lets Party (Picnic) WOW!! All we can say is a great big THANKS to everyone that went down to the Region N rally in Maggie Valley. Many of you who were not able to attend sent us down with words of encouragement. It meant a lot to us. As we have always said it really makes a big difference when you get up on stage and can look out in the audience and see all your friends. All of a sudden you realize that you are talking to the same individuals that you talk to at each Chapter meeting that you attend and each Rally you go to. Everyone has shown us so much support this year in our travels. We have had a great time representing Virginia over the past year and will continue to try to represent our friends throughout the upcoming year. We ask you to support your Chapter Couples as graciously as you have supported us, for one of them will be your next District Couple come Rally in the Valley. Speaking of Chapter Couples, we want to remind you that on August 6 th will be the All Chapters Picnic. It is being held this year in Locust Shade Park just outside of Quantico, VA on Route 1. There are fliers on the web and we hope to see you all there. The district will be providing the hotdogs, hamburgers and fixun s. We will be asking the Chapter Couples to provide the drinks and desserts. There will not be a dessert auction as in the past, but we are hoping for a lot of sweets to satisfy everyone s sugar fix. As usual there will be a Chapter Challenge for priority seating at Rally in the Valley. So get organized and come out and have fun. There will also be games for prizes, door prizes, and just a good old picnic atmosphere. We would like to ask everyone that is planning on attending the picnic to bring a covered dish (yes with food inside) to share with your fellow Gold Wingers. Well that is about all for now. Remember to mark August 6 th on your calendars. Bruce & Gayle 2006 Virginia District & Appalachian Region N Couple of the Year

8 PAGE 8 Chapter News from around the state...va-j, South Boston, will hold a benefit for Jack Holt, long-time member and former Chapter Director. Jack has been suffering from cancer and is now quite ill. The Pork Barbeque Supper will be Friday, July 21, beginning at 5 pm at the Cluster Springs Ruritan Club, south of South Boston, Cost is $7/adults; $4/children 10 and under. VA-L member, Howard Wiggie Whaley just returned home from Bahrain to spend time with his youngest daughter, Brittany, who is battling cancer again. Wiggie and Valerie were the former Chapter Couple for their chapter. Sylvia Cantanese, former Rider Educators for VA-G is also battling cancer. Please keep these families in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. Congratulations to Curt & Betty Dixon, VA-A-1, as they celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. VA-B will be holding their summer meetings on Saturday, July 15 and Saturday, August 12, at 10 a.m., at the Golden Corral on Independence Blvd, Virginia Beach. Come on down and ride to the beach for some sun and sand. VA-V, Bedford, has moved their meeting location to the Lions Club bldg on Route 460E (1/2 mi. past Walmart behind Goodes Family Diner). VA-Z cancelled their Pass the Pig event that was scheduled for July 15. VA-M has new CD s Royce & Joyce Clark. We send a big welcome to them and extend our thanks to Tammy Pickural for her service as Chapter Director. Congratulations to Bruce Barnes and Dave Huey from VA- C and Nathan Meador from VA-K on becoming new Sidecar/Trike instructors. Way to go!!! RALLY IN THE VALLEY Logo Contest This year s theme is Rockin in the Valley. Submit your logo ideas by July 31 to Keith & Carol Lindgren via or through the U.S. mail. Tips: include the GWRRA logo, theme, date, location (Salem, VA). It can be computer generated or hand drawn. Table Decorating Contest This year we will again have the Table Decorating Contest on Friday. Only one table per Chapter will be judged but you may decorate more tables if desired. Vernon L. Needham Spirit of Virginia Award The deadline for submissions is August 31. If you know someone you feel is deserving of this prestigious award, please submit your nomination to Keith Lindgren outlining their contributions to Virginia GWRRA. Program/Ad Book We need your help in selling ads for our Rally Program/Ad Book. This is a great opportunity to advertise your business or a business in your community. Since we have people from all over the United States attend the rally, this is a great way to highlight restaurants, beauty salons, real estate firms, etc. Deadline to submit ads is August 31. Ad form is on the District website. Rally Charity We are pleased to announce that this year we will be holding a raffle of handmade crafts with the proceeds to benefit the St. Francis of Assisi Service Dogs. We are asking the chapters to contribute a handmade craft item for the raffle. This raffle has been a big hit the last two years with all the wonderful items donated by the chapters. Bobbie Jo Harrison, our Rally Media Coordinator, has been coordinating this effort. If you have any questions, please don t hesitate to contact Bobbie Jo. WING DING The International Couple of the Year selection process will be held Sunday, July 2 from 1:30-3:30 p.m. Please come and join us as we cheer on Boots & Phyllis Streetman, Region N Couple of the Year. The Talent Show will be held Sunday, July 2 from 7-9 pm, in the Tennessee CDE Ballroom at the Gaylord Opryland Resort. Don t miss the fun and excitement. This year GWRRA has selected Ride for Kids as their charity. A portion of ticket sales will be donated to the Ride for Kids. Region N is responsible for handling registration at Wing Ding and Virginia is covering the duties on Tuesday, July 4. We sent out a request for assistance and were pleased with the response received from the Virginia members. A big thanks for all the members who have volunteered to help. You all are wonderful! Look forward to seeing you all in Nashville. There are a lot of sights to see, vendors to visit, and fun to be had! Hope everyone has a safe trip.