Polk County Wings
News Letter
JUNE
1 – Ch I Dinner Ride to Hickory Park, Ames, meet 6:30 at Shoppers Supply NE 14th
5-7 Region E Rally, Eureka Springs, AR - Kettle campgrounds
7 NE Ch B and IA Ch L Fun Run, Lake Manawa,NE
8 – Ch 1 Dinner Ride to Country House, Colo, meet 6:30 at Shoppers Supply NE 14th
12-14 Region C Rally, Chippewa Falls, WI
15 Ch I Dinner Ride to Italian Villages, Adel, meet 6:30 at Fenders, Southridge Mall
20 Iowa State Picnic, Ottumwa, Iowa
22 Ch I Dinner Ride to Udder’s in Knoxville, meet 6:30 at Fenders, Southridge Mall
27-28 JP Open House (2 days)
28 Chapter P Fun Run
27-28 Bohemian Rally, NE - BMW
29 CH I Dinner Ride to Lincoln’s Lounge in Stuart, meet at 6:30 at Fenders, Southridge Mall
JULY
2-5 July 4th trip?
6 Ch I Dinner Ride to Steak Center in State Center, meet at 6:30 Shoppers Supply NE 14th
13 CH I Dinner Ride – Gold Rush week, need volunteer to plan and lead this ride
13-16 Gold Rush, Lexington, KY
16-19 BMW rally Johnson City, Tennessee
20 CH I Dinner Ride to Dexfield Diner in Redfield, meet at 6:30 Fender’s Cycle, Southridge Mall
27 Ch I Dinner Ride to The Port in Panora, meet at Shoppers Supply, NE 14th
AUGUST
3 CH I Dinner Ride to Old Chicago in Ames, meet at 6:30 Shoppers Supply, NE 14th
10 CH I Dinner Ride to Golden Coral in Boone, meet at 6:30 Shoppers Supply, NE 14th
14-15 NE Chapter Z Wine Ride
14-16 State of Iowa FUN FEST, Storm Lake, Iowa
17 CH I Dinner Ride to Fuji’s Japanese Steak House in Ames, meet 6:30 at Shoppers Supply, NE 14th
20-23 Hawgstock, Winterset, Iowa
22 Baxter Cycle Open House, Marne,Iowa
24 Ch I Dinner Ride to Mr. C’s in Knoxville, meet at 6:30 Fender’s at Southridge Mall
31 CH I Dinner Ride to Terribles Casino in Osceola, meet at 6:30 at Fender’s at Southridge Mall
SEPTEMBER
3-6 Thunder in the Sand, Conesville, IA
4-7 Labor Day Trip??
7 Dinner Ride TBA by someone not on weekend trip
11-13 Davis Rally
11-13 Nebraska Friendship Campout
14 CH I Dinner Ride to Zeno’s in Marshalltown, meet at 6:30 at Shoppers Supply, NE 14th
21 CH I Dinner Ride to Gabby’s in Prole, meet at 6:30 at Fenders, Southridge Mall
26-27 Applefest - Woodbine, Iowa
26-27 Applefest - Gays Mills, WI
28 Ch I Dinner Ride to Roadside Inn in Martinsdale, meet at 6:30 at Fenders, Southridge Mall
OCTOBER
2-4 Hallowing Campout - Rhodes, IA
2-4 Ride for the Cure
5 IMPROMPTU Ride 6:30 TBA
9-11 Colorama, Eureka Springs, AR
9-11 Falling Leaf Rally, Missouri - BMW
12 IMPROMPTU Ride 6:30 TBA
19 IMPROMPTU Ride 6:30 TBA
26 IMPROMPTU Ride 6:30 TBA
NOVEMBER
20-21 Nebraska Fall Follies, Grand Island, NE
DIRECTOR NOTES -Riding season is beginning to get into full swing. Most of us have been out for at least a few rides and if weather will ever cooperate, we should start getting lots of windshield time in.
I am going to take this months space to recap some of our rides as I have neglected to put out reports on the last several events.
Our first official dinner ride on May 4th to Bandana's was well attended. I think we had 14 or 15 bikes and we pretty much filled the room for dinner. Food was good and conversation was lively. At this dinner, we awarded Charlie from Amanda the Panda our donation from February Thaw in the amount of $1200. She was extremely happy to get this money and told us about some new programs they have being put in place. They can always use any money they can get as this is the only way they fund their programs and being such a worthwhile cause, it was an honor to be able to present them with the check for our donation.
On a personal note here, I'd like to ask for your cooperation. I know a lot of you don't care for the day to day operation of this organization and just come out for the rides. I know you don't like to hear me talk but from time to time we do have business to attend to. I try to keep this short and there are many that want to hear what is going on but can't do so with all the sidebar conversations going on. I'd ask you to please just give me 5 or 10 minutes to get done what needs to be done and then you can go about your business. If you can't keep the conversations down or don't want to hear the business going on, then please go out for a little bit so that those who do want to hear the information can hear it. In the past I've had to go over the information time and time again even days after and it would be nice to not have to do so. Thanks for your cooperation in this matter.
On May 11th, Harry led us on a wonderful ride to Casa De Oro in Perry. Again we had a good crowd. A number of bikes took the ride and a few met us at the restaurant. We had their back room pretty filled up and again the conversation was lively and the food was good.
May 18th took us to Cals in Norwalk. Rich McCullough set up and led this ride. Some very nice curvy scenic roads both in and out of town. Not a far distance from parking lot to restaurant but Rich worked out a route that took us just over an hour and it was very enjoyable. We had a good crowd for this also. I forgot count of bikes and people but it was well attended. Service was not quite up to par as it was kind of slow but we managed. Most seemed to enjoy their food.
I want to take this time to thank Harry and Rich for working so hard in getting routes planned. The ride captains are doing exactly what I would like for them to do. Planning and leading the rides. With multiple captains it also gives a chance to see new roads and get a different perspective. I have done it long enough that I am getting into a rut and it is nice to have other people’s ideas to pull from. Thank you both for all that you do. Please thank whoever might lead a ride. They have really helped a lot!
If you would like to plan a route, feel free to do so. Some of you know the roads better and if you have an idea for a route to one of the dinners then by all means pass it along and we'll see if we can't incorporate it into the plans. I'd be happy to lead a ride that you planned out if you don't want to lead it. Also, if you'd like to lead a ride, that can be arranged too. Give it a try, see how it differs from being just one of the pack.
I'd also like to talk about some other events some of us have been to. 6 of us went to the Missouri state rally in Weston Bend the weekend of April 18th. Surprisingly, we were the only ones from Iowa there. This have been a well attended rally by many in the state before but this year we were the only Iowans to attend. The weather did not cooperate very well and thankfully Ernie and Louise decided to take the short bus (van) to haul us around if necessary and it turned out to be a good decision. The event was nice and if you get a chance to attend next year, I would highly recommend it. They have good food and plan a nice ride and just have a good time. There is plenty to see and do in the area. The bad part is that it is that time of year when you never know what kind of weather you may encounter.
Mothers day weekend, Dennis Baber put together some plans and a number of us participated. We took in the poker run out of Country Cycle in Winterset on Saturday and also went back to Winterset on Saturday night for the bike night. On Sunday we had a nice breakfast at Gabby's and then took a great ride that Dennis planned out that took us down south and then out to Greenfield where we went to the Freedom Rock. He only had it partially started and most of it was just roughly sketched out but it was very interesting. From there we went into Stuart and ate lunch and then took a leisurely ride home. It was about a 400 mile weekend and it was a very good time. A tad warmer would have been nice but it wasn't too bad.
Last Sunday, Donna and I took a trip, albeit in the car, out along the white pole road to see some of the sights. We took in the 500,000 pound rock near Casey and saw a number of other historic sites in Adair, Stuart, and Menlo. It was a lot of fun. I hope to organize a group ride to do some of this sometime this summer. We also revisited the freedom rock and he had made a lot of progress. By now it has been finished for Memorial Weekend. We also stopped at the aviation museum in Greenfield and I would recommend that for anyone that has any interest in aviation at all. It was very interesting.
I am going to finish my novella here by saying that I hope to see you all soon out on the open roads with our knees in the breeze. Some of you we see pretty regularly and others we don't see as often. Others we haven't seen in quite some time. I hope that all of you will make time to come out and meet up with us at some point in time this riding season. Keep an eye in the newsletter and on the website for events that you might like to go to. Above all, get out and get in some good riding time.
Take care. Be safe.
Dennis and Donna
CHAPTER DONATIONS – Please get Pam Guenther $10 per person donation if you can do this for the year. If you have already done this, the Chapter appreciates this! If not, see what you can do. It is voluntary, but it is what we use to help pay different expenses for the chapter.
CHAPTER SHIRTS AND LOGO: A BIG Thank you to Pam, Louise, and Donna for volunteering last November to be on a committee to come up with a logo for Chapter I and locate a place to produce our Chapter Shirts. They have worked hard and done lots of searching to try to come up with something that worked for the majority of the chapter. We also want to thank Norman James who shared an idea that was incorporated to the design. Norman is a new member and it was great to have his input. There is one set of shirt orders in at this time and we will be doing another order soon. Those going to Region C were wanting to get their orders in so they would have shirts for the rally. The new logo is on the heading of our newsletter and our chapter color is “gold”. If you would like an order form, please let Dennis or Donna or Pam know and they will get you one. The committee worked hard to get varied styles and sizes of shirts, hoping to meet everyone’s need.
FEBRUARY THAW 2010: This is already in the planning stages. There was a request to take ideas for a new charity for 2010 instead of Amanda the Panda. Members were asked to bring their ideas to the April meeting and it was voted to continue to support Amanda the Panda.
During our discussion on charities, another charity was brought up to purchase something for Blank Children’s Hospital. Blank and their staff were very important to Palmer’s during Zach’s birth and beginning of his life. They all became very close to the department and staff and realized the need for some things. The chapter did vote to purchase a rocking chair for them. Chris is looking into some possibilities and this will be purchased and presented. When we do this, we will announce this as they would like to have many of our motorcycles line up their by the door.
MEMORIAL DAY RIDE: Thanks to our Weekend/Special Ride planner, Dennis and Eilene Baber, for a wonderful trip to Hannibal, Missouri. This was attended by around 18 people. We were woke up to one person riding his motorcycle up and down the side walk knocking on our doors, Sunday Morning, advertising a FREE BREAKFAST RIDE! That was a good time, and then we took the same route for a POST BREAKFAST RIDE! People went many directions during the day, so many things to see and do. There really wasn’t enough time and this will possibly be a destination again. One person has suggested it be an annual trip, we will see. We would all gather back at the motel at night for a sharing time of what we did, and some “stories”. We also had the usual BUFFET of food provided by everyone and shared. We don’t know how this group does it, but you always seem to have a large amount of some of the best food around! The weather was great, however, the day to come home…yup it rained! ALL DAY!
REGION C DIRECTOR: Region C Family Reunion is almost upon us. If you are planning to go and haven’t sent in your registration, please do so as soon as possible. If you need help at all, please give us a call and we will help you. The families we think are going at this time are Irvin’s, McCullough’s, Guenther’s, Thomason’s, Baber’s Busch’s, Green’s, Palmer’s, Cinnamon’s, and Purcell’s. If we don’t have you listed, please let us know…
IOWA STATE DIRECTOR NEWS: Don and Kathy would like to remind you to get Fun Fest 2009 on your calendar for the weekend of August 14 and 15. It will be held in Storm Lake, Iowa and should be a great time. Thomason’s are looking for some ideas in the central or southern part of the state to move the event to next year. History has the location change every two years. If you have ideas, please let them know. The email for Iowa State Directors is iowagwta@gmail.com and feel free to contact them with any ideas. You will find a registration form on our chapter website at www.gwtapolkcountywings.com
MEMBERSHIP/RENEWAL – If you want help with the renewal or to join GWTA, please contact Donna McCullough. She will help you to submit it. It is a simple way to do it and you will know it is received.
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FOR SALE and WANTED (Please submit items for this area)
Help Us Out…If you know of any event that “might” be of interest, please send it to us so that we may include it. Sometimes people can’t go to one thing, but they could another. Lets give our members all the information we possibly can. Thanks for helping with this information!
Note: Black lettering are general events, Red letter is GWTA events, Red BOLD are pertaining to Chapter I
May 30
