2nd Annual Tender Buns Ride

Lets Get Ready To Rumble!!!!! I want to remind everyone about our 2nd Annual Tender Buns Ride. This coming Saturday this great event is going to happen. I hope we have a great turnout. If the weather is bad, I am hoping that everyone will come out for this event on 4 wheels. I will be there on 4 wheels. I want to personally invite everyone from Billings, Helena and Missoula Chapters to come out and enjoy our first ride of the season. We will stage from Oddfellows Park which is located next to Extended Stay Hotel on Broadwater Bay road, just down the road from Applebees. We will have concessions, coffee, water, soda, homemade cookies, muffins and other goodies for a nominal fee. The cost of the registration is $5.00. This will get you a Tender Buns 2010 Pin and helps cover operating costs. For another $5.00, you can join our poker run. Should you end up with the high or low hand you could win cold hard cash!! We will be going to Fort Benton, then Highwood and then Armington Junction. After that, back to Great Falls. While we wait for everyone to get back you can have more concessions. Once everyone is back then we will announce the winners!! See you all on Saturday!!

Have a blessed day!!

Linda Mitcham

Chapter Director, MT-G

Newsletter... finally...

It's been a while since I put out a newsletter. Last summer I was pre-occupied with a whole host of other things that I didn't really think about GWRRA stuff too much. I'm going to try and do better this summer. I need help though. I hope you all can participate and help by offering ideas and joining together to help make us a great chapter!

I hope you check out the Tender Bottom Ride and the Teddy Bear Ride. The more the better on both of these rides. I am going and would love some company! See you there.

Bill.

Gathering Saturday

I'd like for as many of us to get together this weekend and have a little gathering. I have all kinds of things to talk about including the OCP Training I just completed, along with a couple of great rides coming up including a Tender Buns Ride and a Teddy Bear ride. We'd like to do a mall show with as many bikes as possible. This years state rally will be in Laurel ... next year's rally could be in HELENA! (I really need ideas on a place that could accomodate this... HELP!) Imagine a glorious light parade going down Prospect, Montana, Euclid one evening next summer! Could be a great one!

Also, if you're interested in ANY officer position in our chapter, including director, let me know. Some fresh blood would do us all good.

Anyway, it would be nice to just get together. How about Saturday at 8:30 at J.B.s Restaurant? RSVP if you can... but show up anyway if you can. If you can't feel free to email suggestions and ideas.

Thanks.

Bill.

T-Shirt Design Contest

Don’t forget the design the T-Shirt contest for the "Montana Rally in the Ravalli Valley" for Montana District Members. The winner gets a free, yes, a free ride to the Montana Rally! All registration fees paid, the meal on Saturday night, and you get a free T-Shirt. Tell you what we’ll do! Since we are doing a migration rally, the District will pay your registration to the Washington Rally! Now is that incentive enough? I’ll even bring you up to the front and introduce you at the Rally! What a DEAL! Get busy! We need all designs in by May 15th so the CD’s can pick the winner. Get busy and design away!

Some new news

By now, I hope everyone has heard of Lue's passing. She will be missed by all of us.

I must apologize for not updating our site in a while and missing some newsletters. I'll have a February issue out soon after our next gathering, which will be at Perkins on January 27th at 5:30 pm. I hope we get a good turnout and can plan some rides for the summer.

It is also a good time to think about becoming an officer of Vigilante Wings. Would you like to serve in some capacity to help make our group better? Please let me know. I'd appreciate any help and suggestions.

Richard Rumsey

I received this email regarding the passing of Sidney, MT Chapter MT-C Director Richard Rumsey Passing away. --- Bill

It is with deep sadness that I have to write this message-our friend and director Dick Rumsey passed away this past Friday while vacationing with family in South Dakota...With visiting with Eileen, she requests if at all possible for you to have your motorcycle or 4 wheeler at the service.

The funeral will be this Friday, Sept. 19th at 10:00am at the Methodist Church there in Culbertson...I'm sure Eileen would appreciate cards from members of the chapter...

Her address is:
Eileen Rumsey
P.O. Box 67
Culbertson, Montana 59218

I will miss Dick and his always talking about the "road kill" on our rides!!!!!!

Sheila M. Hartl

"Gone with the Wing"

Wanna see "cute?"

I'll show you cute!

On the left we have Caty Barnhart as the "District Cutie Pie" and on the right we have the "Future District Director" Caleb Barnhart. Caleb won the award for youngest co-rider.

Both attended the Region I Rally in Powell WY over the weekend along with their mother, Renee Barnhart, and thier grandparents, Jim and Joy Fleming, all of Casper, WY.

Now tell me you didn't say "Awwwww..."

Gold Book Update Time.

Having the Gold Book Service Directory at your fingertips is just one of the many great benefits of being a GWRRA Member.  When you travel, you’re never more than a phone call away from a fellow Member who is willing to offer you assistance should you ever need it. The following is a list of the codes with the services you may be willing to provide:

1. Truck or trailer available to transport a disabled bike
2. Will accept phone calls (No collect calls, please!)
3. Tent space available
4. Sheltered sleeping space or lodging available
5. Tools available
6. Tour guide (local area)

Please make sure you’re not left out of the Gold Book by checking the codes you have listed in your membership record.  You must have at least one code checked to be listed in the Gold Book. You can check your membership record at www.gwrra.org, and then click on Manage Your Membership.  Or if you prefer, you can contact Customer Service at 800-843-9460, Mon.- Thurs., 6:30 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. MST, and one of our friendly agents will be happy to assist you.  Don’t be left out. The deadline to register or make changes to your selections for the Gold Book Service Directory is October 31, 2008.  The 2009 Gold Book will be delivered with the March 2009 issue of Wing World magazine.

Letter from Roy and Pearl.

Greetings to all,

With the Region Rally just around the corner I hope that the feeling of expectancy is beginning to build throughout all of your Districts. It is going to be a fun time for all of us.

I received a call today that made me very excited. The call came from Cruiser Works, Tim & Eunice the helmet people. They are excited about coming to Powell to serve you again. They have taken on more lines of electronic stuff including GPS's, satellite radios, J&M headsets and other items for your pleasure along with their usual lines including Nolan helmets.

Cruiser works has been a vendor at several of our District rallys in the past and always well received.

Start preparing your shopping lists early. Tim & Eunice will be there to help you with it.

See ya soon

Roy & Pearl

Dean's Limited Edition for sale.

SOLD

Now that Dean has his GL1800 all fixed up and on the road, he is ready to sell his 1985 GL1200 LE. Dean bought this one much like his new Wing - as a project. Lots of newer parts.

Contact information is in the July newsletter.

New Sponsor.

We have a new sponsor: Metzger's Cycles and Accessories. Thanks to Dennis Smrdel for talking to them about it and thanks to Metzger's Cycles and Accessories!

Ovando Breakfast Ride.

Unfortunately I didn't get out some good advance notice on this but I posted on the board Friday about the Missoula Chapter's breakfast ride to Ovando. Every spring they plan a breakfast ride to the Stray Bullet Cafe. There you can get an excellent breakfast for a decent price and Chapter MT-M always gets a great turnout there. And there are usually always people there interested in taking a longer ride afterwards so I had some company coming back

Pictured above are Virgil and Pat Winkler along with Dean and Sandy Pond at the top of Flecher pass. It was a perfect day for a ride - beautiful. I look forward to this one each year. I hope we can get a good MT-H Group next year!

Note from Russ.

Hi everyone, Well it's getting closer to Rally time. I would like to ask the Montana Chapters to come up with ten items each for door prizes and silent auction items for the District fund raiser at the Rally. We will also need people for the Registration, 50/50 sales, Bike Show Judges and crew to line them up, and someone to handle the light show and possibly a parade. Please talk to your Chapters and let me know what you can take on. Oh, forgot, anyone want to take on Stupid Human Tricks? We need something to keep everyone entertained. Let me know your thoughts and ideas, always looking for input . Russ

Note from Montana District Rider Educator.

Hello Friends for Fun, Safety and Knowledge,

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jay Burdette and I am your newly appointed District Rider Educator. I was appointed last fall and apparently the word hasn't gotten out too well. This is very new to me and please bare with me while I learn the position. I don't have the benefit of prior experience as a Chapter Educator and have jumped right into being a District Educator. I will help in any way I can to further the program, but I could use some help from the members too. If you have any question, comments or suggestions please fell free to contact me.

If you are waiting for any updates that you have submitted but not receive, please let me know. I have recently mailed out some items that have been refused by the recipient for lack of postage and the fact that they probably did not recognize whom it was from. Sorry.

We are experiencing some difficulties in swapping information and getting updates, pins and patches to members and I think that this will help get this straitened out.

I would like, if at all possible to have all updates handles as a chapter, either through the Chapter Educator, or in the absence of a Chapter Educator, the Chapter Director or an appointee that would like to assist in this endeavored. This will help with time and expenses for all parties and will allow for the presentation of awards and recognition at you chapter gatherings.

I will also be available at the Region Rally at Hebgen Lake as time allows, to assist and help members with their updates and I will also have the District Inventory of Pins and Patches with me. I will also have any undistributed recognitions at the Rally.

I am asking that you get this information to your members in your Newsletters and also at your Meetings.

Ride Safe and Like A Pro,

Jay Burdette
MT-District Rider Ed.
GWRRA MT-B
1738 Miles Ave.
Billings, MT 59102
Phone 406-652-1553
E-mail: Jaburd1 -at- msn -dot- om

Dean's Project Update.

Tuesday after work I went to Dean's Shop to watch the master at work! I got to help a little bit and see what a GL1800 looks like without the tupperware. Here are some pictures!

Above is what the fairing looks inside. As you can see, it's much easier to get to the bulbs this way. Below you can see the new instrument cluster casing mounted. (The picture of the broken part was in the April Newsletter.)

Above is the naked Wing. Not very pretty.

Here's another short video - remember that I'm no Steven Spielberg...:

New Gathering day and location: Perkins

In an effort to accomodate more people, we've changed the day and location of our monthly gatherings. From now on we will be at Perkins (Corner of Cedar street and I-15 across from K-Mart) on the last Tuesday of each month at 6:00 p.m. We'll try this for a while and see how it works out.

There are several reasons for this change. First, having a gathering in the middle of the day Saturday ends up making it impossible to go on a long ride that day or a two-day weekend ride. Initially, I picked that day and time to accomodate people who come in from out of town, however, for various reasons, we don't get too many people coming from out of town very often. This change should be more convenient for those who have been attending and hopefully we'll get more people to attend.

Secondly, with this change we can start scheduling more rides on weekends and attempt to accommodate people who live in elsewhere in those rides. We will have our traditional dinner rides to Bozeman, Butte and Deer Lodge again this summer too.

I chose Tuesday because Tuesday is pretty much open for reserving a room at Perkins. The reason for the last Tuesday of the month is to give me a little lead time to get the Newsletter out closer to the beginning of each month with timely information.

We have a great message board where we can keep in regular contact. It's a good place to look for someone to go on a ride or let people know you're coming through town and want to meet up with other Chapter Members for a coffee or something.

As always, I'm open to any feedback I get. I always pass along that feedback to others and try to reach a consensus and change things to everyone's satisfaction.

I hope to see a bunch of you on at Perkins on Tuesday, April 29 at 6:00 p.m.

Region I Rally Potluck

Good Morning

Here is a great opportunity for all Districts to work together on a great meal that Goldwingers are noted for.

I am e-mailing you because Idaho was put in charge of the Region I Potluck Dinner at the Region Rally that's on August 14 thru 17th. As a great leader that John Kester, Idaho District Director is, this was passed down to me. As a want-a-be great assistant Sharon and I were excited to accept. So Idaho will be bringing the Potato's again and asking each District in the Region to bring something to the table. Your own special food or something to go with the potatoes like at the last Region Rally in Powell,Wy. We need amenities, deserts, or extra great food to go with the Potato's or something different.

Please e-mail me back with your food that your bringing and then Sharon and I can coronate the food that's coming.

WHY!! YOU MIGHT SAY (POTATO)

IDAHO HAS SO MANY LAYING AROUND WE NEED TO PASS ALONG THE GREAT FOOD TO ALL.

Don and Sharon Weber
Idaho Assistant District Director

State District Directors Visit

You never know who's going to show up at our chapter gathering. In February, Russ and Laurie Parpart, our State District Directors, came to Helena. They are working hard on our Montana District Rally this July at Hebgen Lake. It's going to be a good time!

Bill, Marie (MT-H Treasurer), Russ and Laurie Parpart (MT District Directors)

Monthly Dinner Gatherings

Suggestions for our dinner gatherings, starting in May, have included Steffano's and Staggering Ox. Friday evening has been suggested. Feel free to email me with ideas or post on the message board.

Dean's GL1800 in progress...

Some of you may know that Dean and Kathleen Satterthwaite got a 2001 Yellow Gold Wing off Ebay last year. It was pretty beat up cosmetically. Dean took some time to fine used and new replacement parts and is now in the middle of fixing it up. I took a few pictures and also decided to try and make a short movie to post! It's my first attempt with YouTube - maybe we'll find it useful for other things too.

Lots of missing screws - it had been ripped apart before and not put back together correctly.

The back looks like a brand new Wing now. Nice job!

Individual of the Year

Greetings guys,

When at the Region I Rally in Powell in 2006, we said that even though National no longer recognizes the "Individual of the Year" program that we would continue to offer this program here in Region I up through the Region level.

While attending the Idaho Leadership workshop in Boise the question came up as to whether we could recognize Associate Members as Individual of The Year in the selection process beyond the Chapter level. Because we recognize the Associate member as valuable members of GWRRA and for the tremendous asset they are to the local chapters and beyond we are happy to announce to you that we can and will recognize Associate members who participate at the Chapter, District and Region levels. The same guidelines that are used for the Couple Of The Year selection do apply in the selection at all levels except for the inclusion of Associate members as Individuals of the Year.

Associate members are and provide a tremendous resource in our membership bringing talent, skills of all types and a desire to make friends, and have fun.

Many of these members already serve in one capacity or another within their local chapters. and we look forward to being able to honor these associate members along with all of our full members of GWRRA. In this way we want to recognize these valuable members as part of our family.

To all of you, If you do not have the Individual of the Year and Couple of the Year program already going in your District Chapters we want to encourage you to please actively promote both of them to your members. There is not better way to recognize these members who go above and beyond their call as members than to award them for their contributions before their peers so all will know.

If you have any questions in regard to either of these programs feel free to contact Mike and Suzanne, Region Couple of The Year, or Steve & Sandy, A/RD or Pearl and I.

Thank you for your support

Roy & Pearl, RD
Region I

T-Shirt Contest!

Hi Montana,

We are going to have a design the T-shirt contest for the District Rally! Send us a design you would like to see on our Rally T-shirts and if yours is selected we will reimburse your registration fee and your meal! What a deal!

You must be from the Montana District to enter. Age doesn’t matter. They must be in by April 15th. Mail to me at the address below. Send in more than one, I hope you have fun doing this. I will send all entries to the Chapter Directors (my staff) who will vote on the one they would like to see on the t-shirts. In case of tie I will vote.

Russ Parpart
1835 Pheasant Brook Drive
Laurel, Montana 59044

Gary Galetti's Birthday

My apologies - I missed putting Gary Galetti's birthday in the newsletter. His birthday is March 16. Have a good one Gary!

Knowledge Enhancement Program

I have to apologize for not updating this News page in so long. The intent of this page is to share news in a more timely manner instead of waiting for the next monthly newletter. A lot of what is here will probably end up in the newsletter too. My goal is to update this page more often. So I'll start now! The following is an email from Mike Briggs, Region I Leadership Trainer:

If you are interested, please let me (Bill) know.