Rocket City Wings Huntsville, Alabama -- Chapter B, Region A Friends for Fun, Safety & Knowledge September 2006

From The Chapter Directors
- Mike & Cindy Janes

Hopefully this month will bring us some cooler temperatures to enjoy in the near future!  We don’t want to dwell on the subject of hot weather, but we do want to say a prayer of thanks that everyone is being careful to drink lots of water and take plenty of breaks (at Dairy Queen of course).  Our hurricane season is fast approaching, so we might have to exercise some additional cautions on our two or three wheel rides.  If we can slip the Ride for Kids in before we have another, we should have a very successful event.  Do remind all your friends that we will be finishing up this years ride at Barber’s Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham.  This benefit for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (PBTF) gets better each year, and we are on the right track this year.

We had a wonderfully enthusiastic group for the

We have mentioned it in previous newsletters and you might read it in the district newsletter as well, but it is not too early to

http://www.RocketCityWings.org/private/COY.htm

This is a link to an electronic form on the web page.  This is a simple process of filling in the blanks and click on submit. 

There are some great articles and important information in the rest of the newsletter, so we are finished.  We hope to see you on two wheels with a smile very soon.

Mike and Cindy

Miss Mary Bobo's Dinner

What is Miss Mary Bobo’s like?

Think back to when you were a child going to your grandmother's for dinner after Sunday Church or a special meal like Thanksgiving.  You can do it, close your eyes and remember...

As we enter the house, the smells are thick in the air.  I can hear my relatives that are already here talking and laughing with Grandma in the kitchen.  The light is on in the dinning room, so I quietly walk in and peak up onto the table.  There is what looks like a small city formed by rows of glasses, bowls, plates and, shinny silver, with a forest in the center made from some plants and flowers that Grandma probably picked from her garden.  Oh, I wonder what treat she has in store for us today?  The swinging door to the kitchen bursts open and knocks against the wall. "Where is my darlin'?  I wants me some sugar."  I love this silver-haired woman, but I do wish that she would learn to not pinch my cheeks.  She grabs me up then carefully positions me on the phone book and pillow in the chair that is next to hers.  I swing my legs under the table and knock the table leg causing the glasses to dance.  Momma looks at me in that special mean-kind of way that only mothers have, that causes my legs to become limp.  I'm not sure what I'm looking forward to more, the special dishes that Grandma cooks or the special stories that I know that she will tell us.  You see, all through dinner she will tell us about when she was a little girl and stories of my great, great grand-father.  Last Sunday she told us about a horse race that great, great Grand-father Anderson was in and how he ended up with all of this land in Tennessee.  I'm not exactly sure if it's true or not, because Grandma doesn't seem to have a bunch of money, but the stories are sure fun to listen to.  And there is nothing better than finishing up with a slice of her pie.

That is what Miss Mary Bobo's is like.

You can join us and relive part of your youth.  And you don't have to suffer through cousin Jeb punching you, or Uncle Joe saying, "come here and pull my finger."  Instead you can enjoy a ride through Northern Alabama and Southern Tennessee to Lynchburg with some of your best riding friends.  And then we all enjoy a grand old Southern meal with a fine Southern hostess and all of that for a mere fifteen dollars.  That is less than what we would pay for a mediocre steak at many restaurants.

Come join us October 7th after the Madison Street Festival parade for an enjoyable ride to Lynchburg, TN and a very satisfying meal with great friends and listen to the stories that come alive in the telling by the hosts.

All payments ($15 per person) must be made no later than the September meeting (9/12) to Lisa Knapp.

We will not be dining in the boarding house due to repairs.  We will actually be in the Jack Daniels distillery (which should be very interesting).

Ride With the Eyes of an Eagle
Trike Tattles, August 2006

With Julianna still enjoying the majesty of Alaska, I will try to put together some "tattles" for August.  As Julianna announced in last month's Tattles, I have achieved my goal of becoming a GWRRA Trike Rider Course Rider Coach.  Hopefully this will make it easier for our trikers to get the training that they want to help ensure the safe operation of their trikes and to allow them to participate in the GWRRA Rider Education Program.  Julianna and I have set as a goal to get all our Trike SIG members participating in the REP and a minimum of Level I (Safety by Commitment) and the opportunity for everyone to participate in a TRC which would allow them to move or maintain their participation at a higher Level.

To that end, it has been announced by Bill Gulley / Jim Lee that

I would also like to tell you about some

September is quickly approaching.  I hope everyone has marked September 17th on their calendar as the date of the Ride For Kids Ride in Birmingham.  We would like to see a large participation in this event by our trikers so that all the "Stars" who wish to ride can have the opportunity.  If any of you have friends with sidecars, PLEASE encourage them to participate as sidecars are always needed for the younger kids.  The $35 participation fee is tax deductible.

Hope everyone has had a safe and enjoyable summer and hope to see you out on the road as the weather starts to cool down enough that your tires don't melt!  As always, please contact Julianna or myself if you have suggestions of things that we can do to improve the Trike SIG program or if you want us to help you coordinate a trike event in your area.

-- Kay

GWRRA ALABAMA DISTRICT TRIKE SIG

Two Thousand One, Nine Eleven (2001-9-11)

Two thousand one, nine eleven
Three thousand plus arrive in heaven
As they pass through the gate,
Thousands more appear in wait
A bearded man with stovepipe hat
Steps forward saying, "Lets sit, lets chat"

They settle down in seats of clouds
A man named Martin shouts out proud
"I have a dream!" and once he did
The Newcomer said, "Your dream still lives."

Groups of soldiers in blue and gray
Others in khaki, and green then say
"We're from Bull Run, Yorktown, the Maine"
The Newcomer said, "You died not in vain."

From a man on sticks one could hear
"The only thing we have to fear.
The Newcomer said, "We know the rest,
Trust us sir, we've passed that test."

"Courage doesn't hide in caves
You can't bury freedom, in a grave,"
The Newcomers h ad heard this voice before
A distinct Yankees twang from Hyannis port shores

A silence fell within the mist
Somehow the Newcomer knew that this
Meant time had come for her to say
What was in the hearts of the five thousand plus that day

"Back on Earth, we wrote reports,
Watched our children play in sports
Worked our gardens, sang our songs
Went to church and clipped coupons
We smiled, we laughed, we cried, we fought
Unlike you, great we're not"

The tall man in the stovepipe hat
Stood and said, "Don't talk like that!
Look at your country, look and see
You died for freedom, just like me"

Then, before them all appeared a scene
Of rubbed streets and twisted beams
Death, destruction, smoke and dust
And people working just 'cause they must

Hauling ash, lifting stones,
Knee deep in hell, but not alone
"Look! Blackman, Whiteman, Brown man, Yellow man
Side by side helping their fellow man!"

So said Martin, as he watched the scene
"Even from nightmares, can be born a dream."

Down below three firemen raised
The colors high into ashen haze
The soldiers above had seen it before
On Iwo Jima back in '45

The man on sticks studied everything closely
Then shared his perceptions on what he saw mostly
"I see pain, I see tears,
I see sorrow -- but I don't see fear."

"You left behind husbands and wives
Daughters and sons and so many lives
Are suffering now because of this wrong
But look very closely. You're not really gone.

All of those people, even those who've never met you
All of their lives, they'll never forget you
Don't you see what has happened?
Don't you see what you've done?
You've brought them together, together as one.

With that t he man in the stovepipe hat said
"Take my hand," and from there he led
Three thousand plus heroes, Newcomers to heaven
On this day, two thousand one, nine eleven

Author UNKNOWN
(What a shame!)

Remember

Remember

Remember the day we all cried together.  Remember the day that war was brought to our shores.  Can you remember?  Do you remember seeing the towers burn?  Do you remember thinking that this just can't be real, its not really happening?  The image of black clouds of acrid smoke stretching across the city is etched into my memory.  It seemed that the whole country had stopped.  There was nothing, nothing more important than those people in the twin towers.  Can you remember that horrible feeling of panic when you saw tower number two start to collapse?  I shouted at the TV and I wanted to jump up reach into the TV with all of my energy to lift it back up.  But alas, no amount of wishing at that point would stop those towers from collapsing.  Do you remember the dust clouds that engulfed everything for miles around?  Remember shock, anger, tears, and strangely enough, thanks.  Do you remember thanking the almighty God that you and your family were safe?  Do you remember that ordinary people became extraordinary heroes that day?  From that day forward, it was okay and even good to be a policeman or a fireman.  People were quitting their jobs to join the military service.  How wonderful to see someone go up and shake a policeman's hand and thank them.  Do you remember all of the flags that stretched from shore to shore in this country?  Do you remember?  Always remember...

-- John Griswold

September 2006 District News
– From the District Director

August has been another hot month, but we managed to do some riding.  Hope you have been out some in the cooler part of the day.  We’ve managed to make 5 Chapter meetings and 3 Chapter rides since the last article.  T

Please get your registration in to Jim Lee for our 25th Anniversary in Mobile next March 29-31, 2007.  We have some new and great events planned for this one.  Snowball and the Officers Conference are coming up in January.  Start making plans now to be there.  Plans have been finalized at the Embassy Suites again for next time.  The number for room reservations is 334-269-5055.  Use code GWR when calling for a room.  We will do the financial reports again on Friday evening this year.  If you can’t make it Friday evening, we’ll take care of it Saturday morning so it will not take away from the Officers Conference.

Speaking of finances, I have received word from Phoenix that all Chapter charter fees are due to be received by me by November 30 this year.  If you have any questions about the Charter fee or the financial reports please let me know.  All financial reports must be accompanied by a cover sheet, a copy of Jan – Dec bank statements, and a chapter inventory form.  Please make sure your treasurer gets this information.  If you have changed CD during the year, you must do a financial report and an inventory sheet at the time of the change.  There will also be one due Dec 31.

Don’t forget the Rally pin contest for our 2007 Rally in Mobile.  Send me your designs.  You could be a winner and get $100 and 2 Rally registrations.  So far I have three entries.  Requirements for the design are, Alabama District Rally, 25th Anniversary, GWRRA or logo, March 29-31, 2007 and Mobil, AL

We hope to see you in Perry, FL. We will be leaving home Monday morning to make the trip down.  This year we are camping, a new experience for us.  Please keep our Military folks and all those who are sick and recovering in your prayers.  Till next time, Hug someone you love and don’t forget to wave.

Bill & Dian

September 2006 District News
– From the Assistant District Director

As hot as this summer has been we have still been able to get in a lot of rides. This month not much has taken place in the district but I have had an opportunity to participate with my local chapter. One of my favorites are the overnight rides. This allows us to go as a group and have the special times to fellowship after hours. It gives us the time to not be hurried and really get to know our fellow riders. It’s what this organization is about, Friends for Fun, Safety and Knowledge with emphasis on FUN. That too is what rallies should do for the chapters. It should be a time when a chapter can go for several days and spend time with their fellow members in a more relaxed atmosphere. 

What makes a good rally? Is it the people that attend, the events that are scheduled or the location? Is it the weather or the riding? I’ve never heard anyone say what the ingredients are for a good rally. I’ve gone to some and walked away and said this was a flop. I’ve been to some and said what a great time I had. But to put the actual formula down to make up a good rally I simply haven’t seen it.

So, this is what I think. I think all rallies have their bad moments and good times. What is important is to be there for the good times and put the problems into perspective. Our first rally in Mobile was a good rally for almost everyone that came. It was marked with some of the worst rain we had seen for some time but Saturday was nice. Our people attended more seminars and spent time fellowshipping with each other. Fortunately we had plenty for you to do so you weren’t confined without activity. Our next year, we had tours to Biloxi, poker runs, plenty of vendors and great weather the entire weekend. The people used that great weather to take advantage of the tours and poker run. Venders saw large crowds. It was a great rally and people were excited about coming back. This year we don’t know what the weather will hold. What we do know is it is our responsibility to provide plenty of opportunity to have a good time regardless of the weather. This year we will provide more training than we have in the past. ERC and TRC courses will be given. Co Riders courses will be offered. CPR and First Aid will be given again. We expect a large turn out of vendors again. We have some new vendors interested in our rally as well. We will provide more entertainment. We will have a dunking booth in the vendor area. CD’s and District Staff will be invited to encourage you to take a stab at dunking them. Once again tours will be provided with a poker run that provides a cash award. Naturally the COY competition, auction, talent shows, bike shows, bike games will take place. Two cruises, Friday afternoon and Saturday night will be offered. These are going at a steady pace. Thursday evening we will have the ice cream social and lighted bike show. Friday evening we will have hamburgers and hot dogs followed by the talent show and either a disc jockey or band.

Hotel rooms are starting to book up. Please don’t procrastinate. We have made the Ramada and Malaga Inn’s our host hotels. There will be plenty of parking in each parking lot and they are fenced.

This year we have the opportunity to have a better rally than we had the last two years. The only way this rally will be better is if you attend. In other words The Alabama Rally Wants YOU! Please plan to attend and enjoy the festivities.

Jim & Karen Lee

September 2006 District News
– From the District Trainers

Personal Background

Thanks to all for their confidence in selecting us as District Trainers. We accepted the position in early August. We look forward to working with the individual Chapters and assisting in your training needs. We are also looking forward to hearing your ideas. You have our assurance that we will get up to speed as soon as possible.

We would like to introduce ourselves to those who do not know us. We are Life members and Senior Masters (Level IV) in the Rider Education Program.

We are charter members of Chapter B in Huntsville and joined GWRRA in 1981. We left in 1987 for personal reasons. We got back into riding motorcycles after Alice (my sister) and her husband Mike Chapman talked to us about getting back into motorcycles and having fun with the Chapter again. Richard Chapman, Mike’s brother was selling a 1200 and thought we would be interested, he was right. So we brought it to see if riding was what we wanted to do.

We really enjoyed riding again but made a mistake and rode Alice and Mike’s 1500. As you probably suspect, shortly afterward, we started looking for a white 1500.  While we were looking, Anita was diagnosed with breast cancer. Luckily it was found very early so after a lumpectomy, she only had to go thru radiation. I know that the Wing served as therapy to assist in her recovery from cancer.

Thanks to the help of others during that troubling time, a white bike was located, of all places in a Chain Saw Shop in Lumberton, NC. They were also a Honda dealer and had every color made in 1997 on the showroom floor.  Lumberton was the closest place that had a white bike. The day Anita came home from the hospital, Mike and I went to pick it up. While we were gone Anita had been busy as well, she had spent time looking through bike magazines at accessories. She had a list of almost every item we needed or wanted picked out to go on the Bike, but I said lights are first. We named our bike Escape Therapy. Sometimes we would ride the bike to Anita’s radiation treatments. The nurses and counselor were amazed that she was riding so soon after surgery and while taking radiation treatments.

In 2004, we traded our 1500 for a Magenta 1800 at Sloan’s in Murfreesboro, TN because it was the only one we could find. We have a matching Hannigan trailer that is dedicated to 9/11.

GWRRA has turned into our social life. We support our chapter in everything they do. We enjoy getting together and sharing ideas, experiences and just having fun.  We became Chapter Directors in January of 2002. Before that we were Assistant Chapter Directors, Ride Coordinators and Couple of the Year for our chapter in 1998 and 2003. We are currently serving on the Chapter Staff as Recruiting and Retention.

The Chapter rides in several parades a year and sponsors a team in the Relay for Life that is put on by the American Cancer Society.  We participate in local charity rides as well as helped with the inaugural Ride For Kids in Birmingham and have been involved every ride since. We are now Co- Task Force Leaders and would like to invite all to join us 17 Sep for this year’s ride. We participate in all Chapter activities that work and health allow. We have attended Fun Days, monthly meetings, poker runs and charity rides as often as we can. In 2002 we attended the Leadership Training – Horizon Program.

A little about our other life, we met in 1962 at Redstone Arsenal, Al. Our Fathers were both In the Army and both Missile Systems Instructors. I joined the Army 30 days after I graduated from High School and Anita started college (1966). I came back to Redstone Arsenal for school and Anita and I started dating again. We got married in Nov of 1966 and have two children (Roy III and Roberta). We have 4 grandchildren (3 girls and 1 boy) I retired from the Army in 1987 and went to work for Lockheed Martin as a Logistics Engineer. Anita works for Civil Service and is a Budget Analyst (we can’t go to Wings Over the Smokies anymore because Anita has to work year end closeout. I did get to take our oldest Granddaughter once).

Thanks for your time in reading this and please let us know if we can be of assistance.

Roy & Anita Fosnight Please Ride Safe and Often

September 2006 -  AL-B Ride Schedule

• 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 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, and at least enjoy some of them.
• If the weather is bad--come in your car.
• If you have a CB, you will find us on Channel 1 (unless noted otherwise by the ride leader).
  
  
• We need your ride suggestions!! Please e-mail us at Rid eCoo rdin ator with any and all ideas.

September - 2006

October - 2006

Ride Maps & Directions

RIDE TO HURRICANE MILLS

Summary:  302.4 miles (6 hours, 34 minutes)

Ride For Kids

Eat at Old Rocking Chair Restaurant

Summary:  188.3 miles (6 hours, 29 minutes)

SUMMARY
Driving distance:  188.3 miles
Trip duration:  6 hours, 29 minutes
Driving time:  3 hours, 59 minutes