THE CAPITAL REPORT GWTA OF MICHIGAN Chapter A" SEPTEMBER 2018 Lansing, MI. Region F Directors Region F Board Rep. Bob & Kim Davis Ron Klann gwtaregionf@yahoo.com OFFICERS rbklann@yahoo.com State Director: Eric Larson ericmlarson@ermichigan.com 517-646-0256 Chapter Director: Gene Hoover riorider50@yahoo.com 517-262-1065 Asst. Chap. Director: Treasurer(s): Karmen Bentley Vickie Hammond knf785@aol.com tvhammond@wowway.com 517-449-9965 517-646-7314 Newsletter Editor: Sandy Helfer helfer797@comcast.net 517-694-4665 Trip Coordinator: Al Jack al@michjack.com 517-281-6763 Sunshine Person: Sandy Helfer helfer797@comcast.net 517-694-4665 Events Coordinator: Safety Director: Chapter Webmaster: Eric Larson ericmlarson@ermichigan.com 517-646-0256 From Your Chapter Director Sept Chapter Meeting, Tuesday, September 11, 2018. Dinner at 6:00 p.m. business meeting to follow. Flap Jack Restaurant, Waverly Rd. Lansing. Your Chapter Director Gene Hoover 1
CHAPTER MEETING NOTES AUGUST 2018. Gene opened the meeting by announcing the August Birthday of Terry Hammond and the August Anniversary of Al & Mary Jack. Karmen gave a rundown of Chapter expenses noting that our joint Fun Run in June brought in $75.00, $40.00 of which was used to purchase a new coffee pot for Albin s Honda who hosted the registration portion of the Fun Run. This left $17.50 each for Chapter A and Chapter N. We currently have a healthy budget. Sandy Helfer then read a Thank You note that she had received from the staff at Albin s thanking the chapters for the surprise gift. For those members who wish to attend the Das Essen Haus ride on September 1, 2018 a departure time of 9:00 a.m. from the Charlotte McDonald s was set. If you wish to caravan down to Middlebury, Indiana for this event. The Chapter C Fun Run is September 8, 2018. The ending venue has been changed to Turkeyville. A departure time of 9:00 a.m. from the Charlotte McDonald s was set for those who wish to ride as a chapter to this event. Karmen Bentley gave a short recap of the Board of Directors Meeting that was held at Gold Rush. Judy Schaefer and her band of volunteers have done a fantastic job working on getting debts paid down or paid off. There is still an outstanding debt on the Credit Card, but it has been whittled down to a more manageable amount. While being able to pay your dues by credit card is still unavailable, Judy hopes to have that back up and running soon. Currently when you renew you need to download and print out your renewal form and mail it with your check to the National Office. (By doing it this way the Association eliminates the surcharge that the credit card companies charge the Association when members use their credit cards). Karmen says that several by-laws were changed, one of them having to do with relocation the National Office from Indiana to Illinois. Next Year s Gold Rush will be held in Medford, Oregon. It is a long trip for those of us who live in the Midwest, but you have other modes of transportation if you don t want to make the 2400 mile ride. There were 208 members registered for this year s Gold Rush. Al Jack talked about the midweek rides, noting that because of rainy weather, not too many of the dinner rides actually took place. He asked the group if they thought perhaps extending one more dinner ride into the first Wednesday in September sounded like a good idea. Dinner rides usually start at 3:00 p.m. Rides leave from Eaton Rapids McDonalds the month of September. Al also announced that he would be stepping down from his position of Trip Coordinator and he was willing to donate his little black notebook to the next person who takes that position. Chapter elections usually take place at the October meeting. With no further business, the meeting was adjourned. We had 13 members in attendance for the August Chapter meeting. The quarter cup winner this month was Phyllis Slagell. The 50/50 winner was, Rocky Rockafellow for $18.00. Congratulations! The next Chapter meeting will be Sept.11, 2018 at the Flap Jack Restaurant starting at 6:00 p.m. Meeting notes repectfully submitted by Sandy Helfer 2
SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAYS SEPTEMBER ANNIVERSARIES 5 TH Don Fuller 20 TH Gene & Beth Hoover From the Sunshine Lady: August was a busy month for the Sunshine Lady. Get well cards were sent to Don Fuller, National Director Judy Schaefer, who had partial knee replacement surgery, and to a fellow GWTA member from Chapter G, Dennis Morick, who was in a motorcycle accident on his way to the Chapter G Fun Run. Also a Thinking of You card was sent out to Al Jack who was dealing with a health issue. Anniversary wishes were sent to Al & Mary Jack and Birthday wishes went out to Terry Hammond. I hope I didn t leave out anyone. For the month of September we have the Region F Das Essen Haus ride, one more Fun Run with Chapter C and then the All Chapter Color Tour, back up to Shanty Creek at the end of the month. That is usually the end of any organized rides and brings the season to a close, with the exception of our chapter weekly rides, which are pretty much hit or miss due to the weather and late vacations. Summer is a hectic time, and way too short to manage to do it all but we all try to do what we can and that is what counts. It is hard to wrap my head around the fact that the start of fall is on the 23 rd of this month, the riding season has pretty much zoomed by this year and of course the weather was all over the place. It s time to be thinking of late fall and winter activities that we can plan on doing as a chapter to keep us connected and of course there is Chapter elections next month. We also have to be thinking of a Fun Run date, as the Fall GWTA Michigan planning meeting will be coming in early November. If you were like me, at the beginning of the riding season back in May, you thought you had plenty of time to get it all taken care of, but life happens to us all and the days slip past a lot quicker than they used to. So, put your thinking caps on about activities that you would like to host, or suggest and bring your suggestions to the next chapter meeting. In the meantime, enjoy the last days of summer and embrace the coming days of fall. Above all, stay safe and aware of your surrounds whether you are on two wheels, three wheels or four. Wishing everyone safe travels and good times to come. Sandy Helfer 3
All submissions for the chapter newsletter must be received by the 25 th of the month in order to be included in the next newsletter. (I.e., submissions must be received for the next issue by the 25 th ) This makes life so much easier on your Newsletter editor. Thank you. MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Please note that the September Chapter rides are out of Eaton Rapids, McDonalds starting Wednesday, September 5th and are at 6:30 p.m. Ride coordinator Al Jack will email any changes to this schedule to the chapter members. Sept 1 st Sept. 3 rd Sept. 8 th Sept 11 th Sept. 23 rd Sept 28-30 th Region F Das Essen Haus ride. Lunch at noon. Middlebury, IN. Labor Day Chapter C Fun Run Chapter A Meeting. Dinner at 6:30 with meeting to follow. First Day of fall GWTA Michigan Fall Color Ride, Shanty Creek, MI GWTA REGION F EVENTS 2018 Das Essen Haus Ride for Region F is September, 1, 2018. Lunch at 12:00 noon. GWTA National Rally 2018: GOLD RUSH XXXI Medford, Oregon. July 22-25, 2019. Check out the National Web-site for an application and information on the Host Hotel. NEW ADDRESS FOR NATIONAL GWTA. Please make a note for future reference. All written correspondence and membership renewals are now to be mailed to: GWTA P.O. Box 24390 BELLEVILLE, IL 62223 Judith Strong Schaefer is our National Director and can be contacted at this new email address. exec.director@gwta.org 4
Judy and her team are making progress in getting the new office up and running, so please be patient. Sarah Dumais, the editor of our national magazine, Touring News is always looking for articles, pictures, and events to publish in the magazine. You can send in your items to Touring News at this new email address: gwta.tn.sarah@gmail.com Don t forget to check out the GWTA websites. Chapter A website: www.gwtamichigana.org State website: www.gwtaofmichigan.com Region F website: www.gwtaregionf.org (this web-site has been dismantled. All info can be found on the State of Michigan GWTA web-site pertaining to the Region.) National GWTA website: www.gwta.org GWTA MICHIGAN FUN RUN SCHEDULE September 8, 2018 Chapter C Fun Run September 28-30, 2018 All Chapter Color Tour Shanty Creek. Rooms available at the Lake Hotel. (Deadline to reserve your room was August. 25, 2018.) Registration flyer for dinner and hotel info available on the GWTA Michigan web-site. Region F, where all the fun is, will be hosting a spring 2019 Get-A-Way weekend at The Shack in White Cloud Michigan. Dates for this event will be March 8-10, 2019. It isn t too early to make your reservations for this event. 5