August 2008

The summer months seem to go by so fast. I suppose that can be attributed to having a lot of activities. July was fairly busy for Shirley and me. The 4th of July holiday, Staff meeting, District Rally Skit rehearsal and our Chapter Gathering. Yeah… I’d say most of our weekends were fairly occupied by Chapter stuff.

We hadn’t had a Staff meeting in awhile; this one was very productive in that we were able to set in place after-meeting rides for the duration of this year, scheduled a weekend overnighter for early October and settled quite a few other Chapter business items.

We had a rehearsal for our District Rally skit performance. If you recall, I had mentioned that at the Officer’s meeting back in January, each Chapter had to pick a “Movie” theme to base their “skit” performance. Good ol’ Steve Foster was quick to claim “Goldfinger” for us. I’m very happy to say that we have a pretty entertaining production. Thanks mainly to our “Director” Lynda Smith. She’s put in a lot of creative energy into this program. It also helps that we have Linda Sciacqua to give our production that special “Wow” performance. If you haven’t planned to go down to the District Rally, you may want to reconsider and support our performers.

Our after-meeting ride put together by Jim Smith through the Sonora and Ebbets pass was just wonderful. I’ve always loved riding in the mountains. The weather could not have been better, although it did warm up pretty good coming down to Angels Camp. But an ice cream stop was the perfect answer. Everyone was thankful to our 50/50 winner Susan Howland for the special treat. Well… at least the folks on group 2. The ride was so nice that we may make it an annual one. Linda Androws suggested the name “The long way around for Ice Cream Ride”. An excellent after-meeting ride that I believe had the most number of bikes (thirteen) for an after-meeting ride all year.

Last weekend (July 26th), thirteen of us took up Neal Graham’s invitation for his annual barbecue at his “cabin in the woods”. If you’re not familiar with Neal, he’s the Chapter Director for CAC in Sacramento. This gathering is a celebration honoring his wife Susan who past away a few years ago. It was a fun get-together with folks from other Chapters in northern California. We even got our mascot back “Little Freebody”. The story goes, Nick of CA2N who had the little guy were riding back from the southland and went through some strong winds. Although they didn’t lose “Little Freebody”, the wind did blow off his vest leaving him cold and naked. We took him back and Shirley will put a new vest on him and give him back to Nick for his next stop. That would be the Madsen’s in Utah.

Lastly, I’d like to remind everyone that Shirley and I along with Steve and Jacque Foster will be on a trip to Colorado for our Region Rally. This would be at the same time we hold our monthly gathering. So, without an “Officer” present, there can not be an “official” gathering. However, you as individuals are not prohibited from gathering on your own at the same place and at the same time. I believe our “ACD” candidates John and Edie Camacho will be glad to “unofficially” lead a gathering of friends. I know everyone will be kind and give them the support they deserve for stepping up in a time of need. Thanks everyone!

Stay safe!

Alan & Shirley