What a great Wing Ding it was!!  Nan and I had the pleasure of attending Wing Ding XXX in Greenville, SC and found it to be a complete success.  The venue (the Carolina First Center) was excellent and the nearby hotel accommodations were also good.  Attendance was up from Billings, MT last year to well over 11,000. 

       The trade show was as usual, a fantastic display of every kind of ware you could possibly want and in-doors as always.  Nan and I dropped a few dollars with the vendors for some highly necessary items.  From the looks of the crowd size in the vendor area, it appeared that most delegates were spending money.

       There were all of the events you’ve come to expect of Wing Ding such as a first class Bike Show, Lighted Bike Show and Parade and the Grand Parade.  Because of work responsibilities Nan and I only got to see the Lighted Bike Parade but it was awesome. 

       A new International Couple of the Year was selected; Ken and Rita Moffitt from Michigan in Region D.  They were presented the title by Jake and Joanne Jacob, the 2007-08 (out-going) International Couple of the Year.  There were nine (9) couples competing in the selection and they were all quite impressive.  It was a difficult choice for judges (the several Regional Directors).

       Gregg and Pat Harbison, our Region “A” Couple, did a fantastic job of representing the members of Region “A”.  They have been the embodiment of GWRRA since joining and we thank them for their continued commitment, dedication and friendship to us all.  Gregg and Pat will continue to serve GWRRA as Mississippi District Director.

       Region  “A” had the dual responsibilities of Ticket Sales and Poker Run.  The Region staff along with Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi handled the Ticket Sales while South Carolina took care of the Poker Runs.  It all seemed to work out well and all Districts had ample volunteers to perform their duties.  We can’t thank the District staffs and members who worked so hard to make the Ticket Sales and Poker Run the big success they both were.  A handsome volunteer badge and ticket to the ice cream social were given out to all those who worked at either of these two assignments.  We had the great fun of giving away lots of money each afternoon at 5:00 PM at the Daily 50-50 drawing.  It averaged over $2,000 each day.

       We’d like to extend a special “Thanks” to our Region “A” staff, all of whom attended Wing Ding and worked not only the Ticket Sales area but on additional assignments such as Motorist Awareness, Leadership Training and Membership Enhancement.

       And then there are the South Carolina folks working for Carl and Donna Blackston who did such a great job with the Poker Run and the ride to the Shrine Hospital.   Thanks for the outstanding job folks!  With Wing Ding being held in South Carolina, the SC District staff had many duties and responsibilities placed upon them.  Under the able leadership of Carl and Donna Blackston, then met ever goal and left no detail unattended.  A magnificent job, guys!

       The Florida District won the award for “Largest District” in attendance; congratulations to our Florida members on this accomplishment.  Florida also won this distinction the last time Wing Ding was held in Greenville.

       As you all know by now, Wing Ding XXXI will be held in Tulsa, OK at the Expo Square July 2^nd -5^th, 2009.  We’ll be looking forward to attending and hope that many of you will join us there next year for what promises to be a great time.  Further info will be forthcoming as we go through the year.

       We’d like to congratulate Chapter FL1-D (Pensacola) for winning the second quarter June Agee Memorial Newsletter Award which was presented by Ed and Linda Johnson, the National Directors of Membership Enhancement.  This is no small accomplishment and we acknowledge Loraine Cerna, the FL1-D Newsletter Editor for this important recognition.  We always enjoy reading your first class publication.

       While we’re mentioning chapters, we’d like to welcome the newly chartered Alabama Chapter W, Bay Wings to the Region “A” family.  We’re always to glad to see the number of active and successful chapters in the Region grow and we wish you folks all the best in your new endeavor!  

       We’d also like to welcome Ronald and Rosetta Alexander to the Alabama District staff as an Assistant District Director, just having been appointed by Roy and Anita Fosnight.  Congratulations, folks and thanks in advance for your commitment to GWRRA by accepting this appointment.

       The Region “A” Wanderer will be removed from play in mid-August so that we’ll have time to prepare it for presentation at the Region rally in Dothan in September.  If your chapter has plans for a capture attempt, keep an eye on the calendar.

       Lastly, please remember the upcoming Region “A” rally in Dothan, September 11^th-13^th at the Holiday Inn.  We’re looking forward to seeing you there for a great time.  There will be lots of food, vendors, prizes and seminars.  Come on out and rally with us.  

Bob & Nan

      Wing Ding in Greenville, SC was a hoot or is that Honda Hoot?  No, it was our real Wing Ding and it was fun meeting about 11,500 delegates even thought Sue and I did volunteer duties for most of the Rally at the Wing Ding Ticket Sales booth.  Just had a blast talking with folks and collecting their armband stubs for the door prizes and other prizes.  Ticket Sales is always exciting and fun to work with our Region ‘A’ Districts.  We had a mixture of Region ‘A’ Staff Members and other District folks volunteer for the Wednesday opening and ticket sales was brisk.  Alabama followed them on Thursday and another busy day.  Georgia covered the sales with us for Friday and sales were hot and cold.  Saturday Mississippi volunteers covered us up and we sold tickets until we got a break late in the evening.  Florida closed out the ticket sales on Sunday.  South Carolina worked right along side of us manning the Poker Run tables and what great Poker Runs they laid out for the delegates.  South Carolina acted as more of an Information Booth for local information than the regular Information Booth.  District Directors; please let everyone know how much the Region appreciates the time each one volunteered.  Region ‘A’ covered everything assigned to us with class and made some goodtimes that will not be forgotten for a while.

      Dang, it’s August and the Region ‘A’ Rally will be held Sep 11-13, at the Holiday Inn South in Dothan, Alabama.  Folks, Dothan, AL is what we call “down-home” and you will be welcome as a cool rain on a 100-degree day. 

      A couple of my favorite places in this area are…..…First, Larry’s BBQ on the East side of the Ross Clark Circle.  When you come out of the Holiday Inn on the Ross Clark Circle turn right and go about 3 miles.  The Honda Shop will be on your right and Larry’s will be on your left.  If you don’t eat BBQ, it has other amenities that will suit your taste buds I’m sure.  Try it and you will enjoy some great South BBQ.  Second, immediately across the street from the Holiday Inn (Host Hotel) is Dobbs BBQ.  Yep, some of the finest you will ever stick in your mouth.  Yes, they have other entries as well.  Third, is in Abbeville, AL North of Dothan on US431 perhaps 22 miles.  If you like the fifties atmosphere then you will absolutely love “Hugging Mollies.”  It has an original ice cream fountain-bar like many of us grew up around and they still have all the ice cream, sundaes, shakes and all the other concoctions of the past still alive and available.   By the way, this is a full service restaurant and has a variety of options to choose from.  This will be a nice ride and a great reward waiting for you at “Hugging Mollies.”  They can accommodate large crowds as well.  For you full buffet folks on the West side of the Ross Clark Circle is the Golden Corral where the local Chapter AL-U meets on the second Tuesday Sep 9, at 6:00 PM to eat and 7:00 to Meet.  I’m sure they would love to see some of you on Tuesday night if you get into town that early.

      If you are going to play in September, then come play with us and enjoy the Region ‘A’ Rally in Dothan.  We are small, but the fun is endless!  Hope to see you at the Region ‘A’ Rally.

Jim & Sue 

       It has been an exciting and busy time for Leadership Training in Region "A".  We had a great crowd at Georgia’s Rally in June and then the biggie, Wing Ding in July.  Greenville is such a great area to have a Wing Ding.  The city is so hospitable, the area is very pleasant, and the mountain riding is just a hop and a skip away.  The South Carolina district out did themselves with the Poker Runs they planned.  Everyone we talked to enjoyed the rides immensely.

       An extra special thanks and a job well done goes to Georgia Leadership Trainers, Dave and Sharon Aikens.  They set up all the seminars and spent most of their time making sure all the equipment was ready for each presenter.  Dave topped it off with a new seminar on Saturday, “The World of  GWRRA” which was very informative and fun.  The seminars were well attended and we thank all the presenters for taking the time to share their topics with the rest of their Gold Wing family.

       We also want to thank everyone who worked the Leadership Training booth at Wing Ding.  We had enough people sign up and show up and we appreciate their taking those four hours out of their time to help out.

       At the Leadership Training Meeting on Friday morning, it was the first time for our new National Directors, David and Kathy Orr, to meet everyone and give their slant on how they see the Leadership Training Division moving on.  They have made some changes in the Training Modules, and will be continuing to update the training to fit our growing and changing organization.  Region "A" received the Directors Award for outstanding training during the past year.  This could only have been accomplished with the excellent District Trainers in Region "A" and the great support they receive from both the Region "A" Directors and the District Directors.  Frank Teasley, Alabama District Director, was presented his Sr. Instructor certification and John Grisholm , Alabama District Web Master, received his instructor certification.

       It is with great pleasure we announce that the Mississippi District has new District Leadership Trainers.  Bobby and Lori Bryant have accepted this position and already are planning their first Horizons class for September.  We noticed this couple at the Horizons class we ran in Mississippi last year and have been watching for an opportunity to use their enthusiasm and fun attitude in Mississippi and in Region "A".  You will be hearing more about them as they get into the swing of things and get Mississippi rolling.

       The Region "A" rally is just around the corner.  Where has the time gone!  Dothan is a rapidly growing city and this will be a great location for the rally.  The city has a lot of amenities to offer and we are looking forward to seeing everyone.  We will have some new fun seminars to try out on the attendees so come and have fun with us Sept. 11-13 in Dothan.  See ya there!!

Dave & Ellen

Way to Go!!!

Kudos TO OUR recruiters

A new attendance record of 11,300 was set at Wing Ding 30 in Greenville, SC.  An even more amazing record breaking statistic was that 296 new members were recruited during the five day rally.  It was a great accomplishment for the Membership Enhancement Division of GWRRA.  Way to go!!  And a great big welcome to our new members and friends!

 We hope everyone who attended had as much FUN as we did.  After all, that’s what it is all about.  We were absolutely delighted to run into 32 members from our own home chapter, GA-A, attending Wing Ding 30.  Although no formal plans were made to attend as a chapter we had a lot of fun interaction doing things together in and around the rally.  The whole state of Alabama even let us join them for dinner one night.  John Paul’s Armadillo Oil Company will never be the same again.  How many women can you fit in their bathroom? (You had to be there.)

Seriously though, we must all be aware that without new members to replace the members that we loose through natural attrition such as: health, age, loss of interest, family priorities, etc. our total and overall GWRRA membership will decline.  With fewer and fewer in GWRRA, chapters will close and chapters’ average participant counts will decrease.  We must all do our part to recruit.  We must all do our part to contact members whose memberships are about to expire.  Let’s find out why they are dissatisfied and see if we can be a part of the solution.  Let’s make sure that all new members are contacted and shown how to get involved in a Chapter. 

Karla has written several articles about recruiting but the best one simply stated, “Recruiting is as simple as ABC”.  Just talk to other riders and tell them what you like to do.  Ask them to participate with your local Chapter.  But…. You have to ask them to join. Carry a GWRRA application and other recruiting materials (Gold Wing Magazine, Rescue Plus brochure, Gold Book, etc.) Share your stories of all the FUN you have had and invite them to come have FUN with you.  Simple as ABC…Ask, Be prepared with recruiting materials and say “Come have FUN with us”.

What have you done to recognize the members in your Chapter or District that recruit? We all love recognition.  Recruiters deserve it.  We discovered some amazing facts after reviewing the July 2008 FULL Area Report that was just released.  We have listed the TOP Current Membership and Year to Date Recruiters from each District on our Region “A” MEC Web Page.   Do you know who they are in your District?  Take a look at  http://www.gwrra-regiona.org/RAmed.shtml

Current Membership-Approximately 22.0% of all members have done all the recruiting.

Current Membership-Approximately 6.7% of all members have recruited 5 or more members.

2008 Year To Date – Approximately 5.0% of all members have done all the recruiting.

2008 Year To Date – Approx. 0.6% of all members have recruited 5 or more members.

Based on the above statistics, our overall recruiting efforts have been drastically reduced.  What can you do to get Region “A’s” recruiting on an upward trend?  Just imagine all the new friends your Chapter or District would have if every member recruited just one other person.

Kudos to those of you in the 22% of our membership that have recruited.  The rest of you…What are you waiting for?  I’ve got your Kudos waiting right here with your name on them.  

June Agee Memorial Newsletter Award

2^nd Quarter Winner

       A GREAT BIG congratulation goes out from us to Loraine Cerna, chapter newsletter editor, Tim & Genene Poppell, Chapter Directors, the FL1-D Staff and members for being selected as the 2^nd Quarter Winner of the June Agee Memorial Newsletter Award.  As the 2^nd Quarter winners, the FL1-D newsletter will automatically be entered into the pool of possible annual award winners.

       If you haven’t had a chance to look at one of this chapter’s newsletters, we would encourage you to do so.  They are fantastic.  http://www.fl1d.gwrra-regiona.org/

       We would also encourage others to participate in this contest. It is simple.  Chapters that wish to participate send (do not need to go through District or Region) one copy of their monthly newsletter to two different people each month for scoring.  Rules, where to send your newsletters, etc., can be found on the GWRRA National MED Web Page under the “GUIDES” tab. http://med.gwrra.org/   

       Once again, congratulations to chapter FL1-D, Pensacola, FL.  

Bob & Karla

The Region “A” Rally is coming up in September. We will soon have the resumes of the five District Couples of the Year and plan to mail the judging packet to the DDs in early August. That way they have ample time to read and score the resumes.

District Directors, please note that this year we will have Best Dressed contests as follows:  Parade for Couples and Parade for Chapters. As you know, participants in the Parade category do not have to prepare a skit or use music. Anyone who would like to use music or dance should enter the Chapter Pride.  The score sheet for the Best Dressed Parade events will be on the Region website so encourage your chapters to look at them.

We hope having only the Parade category for couples and chapters will encourage more participation! If any members feel we are not following GWRRA guidelines, please remind them that there were no Best Dressed competitions at all at Wing Ding.

Please also urge all your Chapter members to attend the Couple of the Year selection process Friday morning. We want to make these wonderful couples feel really special!

Jake & Joanne