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Rocket City Wings
Huntsville, Alabama -- Chapter B, Region A
Friends for Fun, Safety & Knowledge
November 2004
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What a wonderful October in North Alabama. We have had some of the best Fall riding weather that we have had in years. The leaves are changing colors all around us, and if you get the opportunity, get out for a little while and enjoy all the colors. We rode South and West Sunday and the colors where great. The weatherman says rain for this weekend, but if it is raining, go in a 4 wheeler. I am going to my folks and bush hog, so I hope they are wrong.
We would like to say Congratulations to Joe and Charlotte Smith. They are Chapter Bs Couple of the Year for 2005. They have been staff members for a long time and are always there with flowers, fruit baskets and kind words when needed. I guess I know why they never ask me to deliver the fruit baskets. Anyway thank you for being there when needed and for taking care of whatever came up. Thank you again for supporting all of us.
The Holidays are fast approaching and we have reserved the 5th Seasons Club house again this year for the Christmas Party. The party will be 11 December. The Chapter will furnish the meat and drinks and we are asking everyone to bring a covered dish or dessert. Julianna will keep up with what everyone plans to bring, so please let her know. She will have an article in the Newsletter that will explain EVERYTHING (right Mickey). If you plan to play Dirty Santa, bring a wrapped gift from each person playing. We are going to have a tree to place unwrapped gifts for the teen shelter and the Dirty Santa money will also go to help them purchase other things they need for the teens or the shelter. If anyone has any questions please let us know. We will do pretty much the same as last year, do set up on Saturday morning and clean up Sunday after breakfast.
It is time to ask for team members for Relay for Life. Chapter B has had a team for a long time and the meetings have all ready started. If you are interested in being a team member, please talk to one of the staff and we can provide you with information on the team and team member requirements.
Please remember that if you are thinking about going on a ride, call a friend, they are probably thinking the same thing.
RIDE SAFE and OFTEN, Roy & Anita
Director: Roy & Anita Fosnight 721-9151 fpo orf* knol ogy: net
Asst. Directors: Mike & Cindy Janes 721-0598 fro ggyc aj*k nolo gy:net
Treasurer: Julianna Polka 233-6334 jul ipol ka*c hart er:net
Chapter Educators: Paul & Susan Neely 216-1026 pjn 48*m chsi :com
Newsletter: Don & Ellen Grundt 883-1041 don zora e*kn olog y:net
Country Store: Mike & Alice Chapman 722-0725 mch appy 46*k nolo gy:net
Ride Coordinators: Russ & Betty Werman 777-9467 rwe rman *yah oo:com
Chapter Couple: Russ & Betty Werman rwe rman *yah oo:com
Region Director - Larry & Patty Lingo
District Director - Ray & Cindy Erickson
Assistant District Director - Bill & Dian Gulley
November 9, 2004. MEET AT Ryan's. 6 to eat, 7 to meet. Hope to see you there.
Thanks to Rex Holder for creating and maintaining the Chapter B web page. For the latest news consult the web page at http://www.geocities.com/scipvteye/alb.html
We are trying to collect some pictures of chapter members, places we have been, bikes, trikes, etc. We want to post them to the web page and be available for all our members to see. If you have any digital pictures, please e-mail them to Mickey Polka at "mcp 326* char ter: net".
Door Prizes were won by Susan Neely, Chris Miller, Donna Merchant, Bill Leonard, Cindy Janes, Peggy Foster, Ellen Grundt, Richard Chapman, and Don Peck.. The winners for the 50/25/25 were Ken Hamilton and Randy Harris. Jeff Dearman was selected for the membership drawing, but he wasn't there so the pot is growing. Mickey Polka won the JA award.
If you buy 50/25/25 tickets you will receive 1 extra ticket for each if you wear shirt and/or vest with Chapter logo and/or ride your bike to the meeting.
Also Alice has the country store if anyone needs items for vest or hats.
When Autumn leaves begin to fall it is a reminder that Christmas is just around the corner. As you know, the older you get the faster time flies by. Sadly, at our age, Mickey and I are in the fast-forward mode. At the staff/ride meet we were discussing holiday rides, get-togethers, and of course the annual Christmas party.
The Christmas party only gets better year after year. Throughout this past year we have been very fortunate to welcome new faces, bikes and trikes into our GWRRA AL-B family and we encourage them to join us at our Christmas gathering.
December 11th is the date to mark on your calendar. The who, what, where, and when’s are covered elsewhere in this newsletter. However, anyone of our staff members will be more than happy to elaborate on any questions you may have.
This year I will again be the chairperson for the Christmas potluck supper. AL-B is going to provide the turkey and ham as well as assorted non-adult drinks. We ask that you bring a complimentary side or dessert. In order to have a nice variety, please advise me what you will be bringing. If you aren’t sure what you want to make, I will be happy to make suggestions. It would be a great help if you would bring the proper serving utensils with the dish you prepare as the kitchen at the rental hall only has a few items.
Many of us are on low-carb or low-calorie diets. If you make a sugarless dish or a special dietetic dish, it would be nice if you would label it for the guests. I would like to add your recipe to the January newsletter if you care to share.
My email address is; jul ipol ka*c hart er:net . My phone number is (256) 233-6334 or cell (256) 230-8048.
I would like to encourage all of you that have an internet access to please visit www.sig.gwrra.org/trike/ . Go to the bottom of the page and click on “We Will Never Forget” banner and follow instructions. “This is what our nation is responding to. Please remember that in difficult times ahead”. Your patriotism will be boosted sky high, your soul will fill with love for those that WE WILL REMEMBER.
Safe Travels to you All..Julianna
For those of you that have known Netsybro and me for a while may recall that we have attempted to attend the Mississippi District Rally for the past three years. Work or family emergencies at the very last minute have always caused us to cancel our plans. We had always registered, made reservations, even packed a time or two. The fourth time was going to be a charm.
After work on Tuesday I hooked trailer to bike and commenced loading and performed a complete safety check out. Tire pressures, lights, horn, (just changed the oil so it was OK), cleaned the windshield, etc. etc.) Satisfied that all was well I was about to get ready to attend our monthly chapter meeting when I thought I might better spin the tires and check for any foreign objects sticking in them. Well the back tire had what appeared to be two nails embedded side by side in the middle of the tread. PANIC!
I immediately contacted Tommy Reiad of Reiads famous world tours. He also will get you a deal on tires on the side. Actually what I needed from Tommy was the telephone number to Minor Tires in Decatur. I called Minor tires and arranged for a 7:00am tire mounting appointment.
At the meeting that night the bad news had spread like wildfire. We informed the group that we would see them down in Biloxi sometime on Wednesday. Netsybro had to drop our dog at the kennel on Wednesday morning at 7:00am and I would have to come back to Huntsville to get Netsybro. Thus, we were going to miss the 8:00am prearranged departure time.
Richard Chapman came to the rescue and volunteered to give Netsybro a lift to Decatur and then we all could meet the group in Cullman for breakfast. Thanks Richard.
Kudos go to Minor tire. They took my bike in a bit after 7:00am, demounted the tire, removed the industrial staple (2 parts – no 2 nails) and mounted the old tire back on the rim as a puncture could not be visually detected. Checking this time with the tire inflated revealed that one of the two holes was indeed leaking air. A new tire was installed and they backed my bike out at 8:00am.
We met up with the tour group in Cullman about 10 minutes behind schedule. Not too bad considering my sheer panic and thoughts the previous evening.
The ride to Biloxi was just great. Thursday rain caused us to hang around the rally site, eat twice at the Casino and wander the vendor area between showers. I drooled over the GPS and accessories until the man ran me off.
Netsybro was running around with a Wal-mart sack on her head so the GPS salesman at Cyclegadgets just figured we could not afford a GPS. Then Netsybro, along with Linda and Tom went and bought these waterproof smoky the bear hats and the GPS man would not even talk to me.
On Friday several of us rode to New Orleans for lunch on Bourbon Street. Netsybro telephoned our son to tell him where his old fashioned Mom and Dad were having lunch. He has made several fun trips to New Orleans and Lynette and I had never been before. We are trying to make plans to go back to do a complete walking tour of Bourbon Street and all of the sites nearby. Driving in that part of the town is totally out of the question.
Saturday we had lunch with 70+ members of various GWRRA chapters. Actually it was more like an early dinner in as much as I did not eat again until the following morning.
At 6:30am we pulled out of Biloxi for the ride back to Huntsville. We witnessed a very pretty sunrise in 64 degree temperatures. As we were finishing breakfast at the Cracker Barrel at Moss Point, MS; Roy & Anita and the 7:00am departure group pulled into the parking lot for breakfast. As we were filling up with gas, Mike & Cindy were pulling into the Cracker Barrel parking lot for breakfast. Mike was so happy that Bill Heard finally got his Avalanche repaired that he drove it to Biloxi! Now there is a happy camper for sure.
The temperature was still in the 80’s as we gassed up one final time in Gardendale and started the last leg for home. We pulled off in Hartselle after the temperature plunged into the upper 50’s with a whole bunch of cloud cover. We pulled on our jackets to finish the ride and arrived home on the tail end of a rain shower.
The morale of the story is that I have been told by some satisfied riders that one can get as much as 20,000 miles from a set of Dunlop Touring Elite IIs. I suspect I am destined to never find out as I had just changed tires out in March after 10,000 miles because of a nail in the back tire. Now after 8,000 miles I changed out the rear tire again.
I do firmly believe that it is just not worth my life and most especially my very pretty co-riders life to ride around on anything other than the best two tires money can buy – without patches on them or plugs in them.
Netsybro and I have decided not to attend Wing Ding this year since we have already been to Fort Wayne, Indiana. We are looking for ideas and a group to go North, South, East, or West to someplace we have not been before. Please let us know if any of you are interested and we will all sit down and work up an itinerary. Some possibilities are Northeast and stop for a couple of days at Americade in Lake George, NY. Other possibilities are the badlands of the Dakotas. Like all of you, we are limited by time and money to around 10 days or so for a big warm weather tour, so keep that in mind while you are dreaming and scheming.
See you on the road or at an upcoming chapter event soon.
Don & Lynette Broxson GWRRA AL B
(Found this on a table at the 2004 Mississippi Rally, Roy & Anita)
Every chapter in GWRRA has a couple who deserves to be recognized for their dedication to GWRRA! One couple in each chapter deserves to have that recognition bestowed upon them for their good works!
A worthy couple should not be denied that honor. It is a privilege to be selected. Couples need to be assured that it really is special recognition. Help alleviate their fears by assuring your couple that they have already been outstanding chapter members and they will only continue to be so. {participating in the selection process is merely an option. It is not mandatory. It is a wonderful experience that many couples enjoy so the opportunity is provided those couples who wish to participate. Although chapters are proud when their couple does participate, no couple is
coerced to do so.
They are still special!
I would like to say congratulations to our 2005 Couple of the Year, Joe & Charlotte Smith
Roy & Anita
- Thanks to Betty Werman for this
I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice, really nice!
The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.
But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into $8,896 a year, $741.38 a month, or $171.08 a week. That's a mere $24.24 a day!
Just over a dollar an hour.
Still, you might think the best financial advice says don't have children if you want to be "rich." It is just the opposite.
What do your get for your $160,140?
For $160,140, you never have to grow up.
For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck.
ENJOY YOUR KIDS AND GRANDKIDS
Have a great day!
www.Alabama.GWRRA-RegionA.org This is the link for the flyer for Alabama District Rally in Mobile for 2005. We are encouraging everyone to register early for this as the host hotel is filling FAST!!!
- Unless otherwise indicated, all rides will leave from the ride meeting place at scheduled time.
- As a courtesy to all members, it is important to be ready to leave at the departure time.
- All bikes should be fueled and bladders emptied ahead of time.
- We will plan a variety of rides. Time and money might make it hard to make all events. We hope this variety will give you an opportunity to pick and choose.
- If the weather is bad---come in your car.
- If you have a CB, you will find us on Channel 1.
- We will meet at Mullins for our Sunday morning breakfast at 8:30 am, most of the time. However, there are some rides to breakfast at other locations. CHECK THE RIDE SCHEDULE.
NOTE: All weekend rides throughout the winter will not be on the ride schedule unless it is something special that is not weather dependent. We will have breakfast on the schedule every Saturday and Sunday, then go for a ride after breakfast or later in the day, depending on the weather, forecast, etc.
Tue Nov 2 Supper at Outback Steak House on Whitesburg Drive, at 6:00 pm
Thu Nov 4 Supper at Po Boy Factory – Andrew Jackson Way, at 6:00 pm
Fri Nov 5 Breakfast at the Little Diner on Jordan Lane, Huntsville, at 8:30 am
Sat Nov 6 Ride For Our Troops – Breakfast at Country Vittles, Hwy 72 & Slaughter Rd, Madison, at 7:00 am. Depart Country Vittles at 8:30 am for the Ride For Our Troops in Florence, AL.
Sun Nov 7 Breakfast at Mullins at 8:30 am
Sun Nov 7 After breakfast ride TBD at breakfast.
Tue Nov 9 Monthly Meeting at Ryans, S Pkwy, Huntsville. 6:00 pm to eat, 7:00 pm to meet
Thu Nov 11 Huntsville Veterans Day Parade. Meet for breakfast at Mullins at 8:30 am. Decorate bikes after breakfast, then to the Parade Lineup.
Thu Nov 11 Supper at Macaroni Grill, Madison Square Mall, Huntsville, at 6:00 pm
Sat Nov 13 Help Roy celebrate his birthday by meeting at his house at 11:00 am for cookout. Please let Anita know if you will be attending. ( fpo orf* knol ogy: net )
Sun Nov 14 Breakfast at Mullins, Huntsville, at 8:30 am. Ride after breakfast TBD dependent on weather.
Tue Nov 16 Supper at Atlanta Bread Company, Target Shopping Center, University Avenue, Huntsville, at 6:00 pm
Thu Nov 18 Birthday Dinner at the Olive Garden, University Avenue, Huntsville, at 6:00 pm
Fri Nov 19 Ride to Huntland, TN for lunch. Depart Chevron Station at N. Pkwy & Winchester Drive at 10:00 am
Sat Nov 20 Hobo Stew at Guntersville Dam. Depart Hardees, Governors Drive, at 10:30 am
Sun Nov 21 Breakfast at Mullins, Huntsville, at 8:30 am. Ride after breakfast TBD dependent on weather.
Tue Nov 23 Visit AL-I meeting at Tony’s Restaurant, Hwy 31, Decatur. Depart Madison CB/Shell at 5:30 pm
Thu Nov 25 HAPPY THANKSGIVING
Sat Nov 27 Ride over Brindley Mountain to Supper at All Steak - Cullman. Depart Texaco Station at Hobbs Island Rd and S. Parkway at 1:00 pm
Sun Nov 28 Breakfast at Mullins, Huntsville, at 8:30 am. Ride after breakfast TBD dependent on weather.
Tue Nov 30 Supper at Rosies Cantina, on South Parkway, at 6:00 pm
Wed Nov 29 Staff Meeting at Mickey & Julianna Polka’s at 6:00 pm. All are invited to participate. Please RSVP Julianna at jul ipol ka*c hart er:net or 256-233-6334. Ride Meeting to follow.
Thu Dec 2 Supper at Gibsons, around Drake & S. Pkwy, Huntsville, at 6:00 pm
Fri Dec 3 Ride to Pigeon Forge, for viewing Christmas Lights & Shopping, for the weekend. Depart Shell Station on Hwy 72 East at Moores Mill Road at 8:00 am. Contact Melissa ( red trik e*ch arte r:net ) for further details.
Sat Dec 4 Ride to Dubbs in Athens for lunch. Depart Mojo’s (Conoco) Hwy 72, Madison, at 10:30 am
Sun Dec 5 Breakfast at Mullins, Huntsville, at 8:30 am. Ride after breakfast TBD dependent on weather.
Tue Dec 7 REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR!!
Tue Dec 7 Supper at Old Greenbrier Restaurant, Old Hwy 20 and Greenbrier Rd, at 6:00 pm
Thu Dec 9 Supper at Cricketts, on Wal Triana, Madison, at 6:00 pm
Sat Dec 11 Breakfast at Country Vittles, Madison, at 7:30. Then to Fifth Seasons, on Shelton Road to Decorate for Christmas Party. Then to Huntland for the Christmas Parade
Sat Dec 11 Chapter Christmas Party, Eat @ 5:30 PM @ Fifth Seasons on Shelton Rd behind Donato’s in Madison. Please coordinate pot luck dishes with Julianna Polka and be there by 5:15. Dirty Santa contributions and Christmas Tree gifts are for the Teen Shelter in Huntsville. Please purchase gifts suitable for teens. Thank you.
Sun Dec 12 Breakfast at Mullins, Huntsville, at 8:30 am. Ride after breakfast TBD dependent on weather.
Remember, this is YOUR chapter and your participation and ideas are what makes it all worth while. So please pass along any ideas you have. It will be appreciated by all. Also, if 2 or more chapter members (from different households) meet or go somewhere, this is considered a Chapter event. Let Roy know how many folks so the chapter can compete for an activity award at the end of the year. Russ Werman, Ride Coordinator, Rwe rman *yah oo:com - 256-777-9467
11/05/04 to 11/07/04 BRC
11/13/04 ERC
11/19/04 to 11/21/04 BRC
January 15th, 2005 – 9:00 AM till 2:00 PM
Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center
300 Tallapoosa Street, Montgomery, Al. 36104
For Reservations, Phone 1-800-362-2779
Group Code for Reservations: GWR
FREE ADMISSION & YEAR BAR
Head Pin available for small charge
Games: 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Check the temperature before leaving home as a plaque will be awarded for coldest temperature, on a wing, valkrye, and in a car.
Grand Prize: Char-Broil 7000 series, 35,000 BTU w/side burner and tank. Set of tires for 1500 or 1800 from Honda of Montgomery. Others TBA
Join us for fun and games, door prizes, awards for the rally pin contest, recruiter of the year and Joe Sellers award.
Remember, the Officers Conference will follow the Snowball activities. Officers Conference will begin at 4 PM. All CDs, ACDs and Rider Ed. Are expected to attend. See you there!
Contact Bill and Dian Gulley:
Phone 256-229-8833 / bam awin g*ne tzer o:com
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