During the Saturday 03/04 last Gathering of our Home-Chapter AL-M, our Chapter Directors Dave and Linda Snyder told a story, several in fact……nothing new there…….the bottom line was: If you want to belong to an exciting Chapter, be an exciting Chapter Member. If you want to belong to a Chapter that is sold out to good-times and bodacious riding out on the roads……then become an active Chapter Member who is sold out to the Chapter life which is on fire making good-times and good-memories for you, your Chapter and GWRRA.

If you want to belong to an exciting GWRRA Chapter……..be an excited and active Member! If you want to belong to a thriving, outgoing, fabulous Chapter……then be a …..well, you get the picture. Your Chapter is a reflection of you and its Membership and their actions.

Have you recently attended any Chapter Gatherings? Touring/Lunch Rides? Date-Nites? District Rally? Region Rally? Wing Ding? Have you worn our super looking multi-color Chapter shirts lately and attended any other Chapter, District or Region events? Surely hope you have done something so you can say you are getting your money’s worth out of your GWRRA Membership. Hey don’t let that Membership grow stagnant, pull it out and use it until it is thread-bare; come check out your Chapter and see what you can stir-up. I’ll just bet you will cultivate and harvest more fun than you can store in your saddlebag. Become an Active-Member and enjoy your GWRRA Membership to the utmost! Hey, it’s all about you!

I thought the above information was excellent, right on time and many of us as Chapter-Members really should heed that message and become active or even more active in our Home-Chapters. After all, the Chapter-Member is the backbone of GWRRA and without good functioning Chapter-Members we are leaving a lot of chance on the table. The biggest chance is that Chapter will not be around long and then what. I can relate that if our little Home-Chapter died it would leave a huge hole in our lives and a very long way of 100 miles just to get to the closet Chapter in the area.

Our Southeast Region ‘A’ Membership Enhancement Coordinators, Rick and Madalena Buck are ready to announce our Southeast Region ‘A’ MEC of the Year and the Region Newsletter winner during the Florida District Rally. The 2016 Chapter of the Year will be announced March 29. These three prestigious awards represent a labor of love for the Chapter(s) and Chapter Members.  Congratulations to all participates.

Hope to see many of you during the 2017 38th Florida District Rally March 23-25, at the Hilton in Altamonte Springs, FL. There are many goodtimes to be harvested during this Rally, but you must attend and support the Rally to reap the benefits.

Gary and Patti Hamilton, Tennessee District Directors, asked me to remind everyone in Region ‘A’ that the 35th TN Spring-Fling Rally will be busting out all over Pigeon Forge, TN Apr 20-22. Check the TN Web-site for more details. The TN Rally is always filled with fun and you might get a chance to enter the watermelon seed spiting contest if Patti acquires watermelons with seeds this year unlike those she furnished last year that happened to be seed-less melons. Bet she will never live that one down! That’s okay Patti, if I recall we substituted your “snuff” for the melons. Luv ya girl!

Now back to the Southeast Region ‘A’ Rallies and the next one up after the Florida District Rally is The South Carolina District Rally or “Wingin it Southern Style” at a new Rally site in Beaufort, SC May 6-7, and yes you read that right - Saturday 5/6 and Sunday 5/7 with a Friday 5/5, night Welcome Party. This is a first time at this Rally site, but it looks really good and the hotel rates are right good. Check out the South Carolina web-site for additional information. Looking forward to being with the SC Family in Beaufort.

Ladies and Gentlemen our Southeast Region ‘A’ Trainers, Phil and Judy Stone, would like to keep the Instructor Training Certified Program (ITCP) in front of you and on your mind. As mentioned in the February newsletter the ITCP Program is moving through the Region albeit slowly with classes being scheduled as needed. There are a number of our best Instructors that have elected not to pursue the recertification program for their own personal reasons, and I wish they would take another look at that decision. We need all the experienced excellent Instructors available so our Region ‘A’ ITCP program will again be number “1” in GWRRA. Please contact Phil or Judy for details. Actually, the recertification is rather simple and just takes time and would be a snap for previous instructors.

By the way, Georgia and Mississippi continue to operate without District Instructors. Georgia and Mississippi Members please take a look around and encourage your favorite folks to perhaps step-up in the leadership position for your District. Hope to see many of you during the Florida District Rally or perhaps on the bodacious highways in the Southeast Region ‘A’. 

Jim & Sue  

What a way to start the Region “A” Rally season! We attended the Florida District Rally in a new location in Altamont Springs, Florida. The facility was great and there were a lot of people at the Rally. Before we get into the main part of our article we have an announcement.

At Closing Ceremonies of the Rally we along with Jim & Sue Jackson had the honor and pleasure of announcing the 2016 Region “A” Membership Enhancement Coordinator of the Year. This year we received outstanding packages from the Districts and it is great to see all the support the MECs are providing not only to New and Prospective Members but to their Home Chapters. The unfortunate part is the Region can only select one MEC. The 2016 Region “A” Membership Enhancement Coordinator of the Year is Jeanette Carr from Florida Chapter FL1-K (Palm Coast). Jeanette’s package has been forwarded onto the National Directors for possible selection as the International MEC of the Year.

Back to the Rally. The Florida Rally was different for us this year because we are no longer on the Florida District Team. Madalena assumed the position as Chapter Director for our home Chapter (FL1-L2 Wings of Wesley Chapel) in January so we were focused on the Chapter Fun instead of District responsibilities.

We have talked in the past that a Chapter attending a Rally should have a plan to have Fun while at the Rally. Our home Chapter did have a such a plan to have Fun and here are the things we did.

Thursday night after the dinner the District had a Costume Contest. Though the Chapter as a whole did not participate we had several participants take part. The Chapter was there to support them. After the contest, we assembled in our Chapter’s Hospitality Room for several hours of Fun. During the day on Friday the Chapter showed up in force to support our Chapter Couple of the Year who was participating in the District selection. After the selection, the Chapter had responsibilities in the District’s Game room. This is always Fun because we get to run the games along with interacting with people who play them. We also entered our banner in the Chapter Banner contest. We had several people volunteer to sell Couple of the Year basket tickets during the same timeframe.

After the Game Room the Chapter again assembled in the Hospitality Room to go over a last minute walk-through of our skit for the Talent Show. We had 15 people that were in the skit along with another 2 that helped set-up and 1 that recorded our presentation. The remaining Chapter participants we there to cheer us on. After the Talent Show we again assembled in our Chapter’s Hospitality Room for several hours of Fun.

Saturday was another Fun and busy day. We participated in the Chapter Shirt, Chapter Pride and Chapter Challenge competitions. At the same time our Chapter Collage and Mascot were being judged. A couple of hours prior to Closing Ceremonies the Chapter assembled in the Hospitality Room for a Chapter Dinner. The Chapter had purchased food while participants provided other sides dishes. We have found over the years it is better to eat prior to Closing Ceremonies. We attended Closing Ceremonies and afterwards assembled in the Hospitality Room for a few more hours of Fun prior to calling it a night.

What we described above is really a Reader’s Digest version of the Rally. The reason we wanted to put this out was as we have discussed in the past you must have a plan to help have Fun at a Rally. Everything our Chapter did took several months of planning. This include who would be attending the Rally, what events the Chapter would participate in and when things would be happening. Putting things together like the Chapter Mascot, Collage & Banner along with what shirts we would wear along with what skit would we do for the Talent Show and Chapter Pride. We had to figure out what food for a Chapter Dinner, snacks and drinks for the Hospitality Room. All this planning took several months but it was well worth it because it added to our Chapters Fun. We did not have any riding planned for this Rally as our Chapter rides all the areas around the state all year long.

For your own District Rally or other District or Region Rallies you should start planning now to maximize you Chapters Fun.

Until Next Month, Stay Safe Out There and have Fun!

Rick & Madalena  

 A status of ITCP in each District.

Alabama

There are no Certified Instructors in Alabama yet, but we have a confirmed location for June 10 in Huntsville.  There are 8 people on the waiting list (it requires 5 or 6 to begin the process of finding a date and location).  The next step will be to confirm 6 of the people on the list will attend the class.  If the debrief has not been finished, Clara Boldt will schedule one in time for the advance information to be sent to the attendees.

Since there are more than six on the list, we will attempt to do a double class for 10 to 12 people.  This process is conditional on a couple of things happening.  First, we need to determine if there are enough members from other states willing to join us in Huntsville on June 10.  I need to find another Certified Instructor Trainer willing to join us in Huntsville on that date.  If that comes together, the class will be held for 10, 11, or 12 candidates.  If not, only the original 6 will be able to attend.

Florida

There are 5 Certified Instructors as a result of the class in the Tampa area on March 4.  There are 4 names on the waiting list and I am aware of 1 who has decided to begin the process, and I know of at least one willing to travel to attend a class, so we will see how things playout here.

Georgia

There is one Certified Instructor as a result of travel to Florida for the class on March 4.  There are only 2 on the waiting list, so it is likely they will need to travel out of state to take the class.

Mississippi

There are no Certified Instructors in Mississippi yet, but there are 7 names on the waiting list.  Harry Schafer has assigned some members to find a location for a class in Jackson, but since there has been no success there, I opened up the city choices yesterday.  One of the members will likely have to travel out of state to take the class.

South Carolina

There are presently 9 Certified Instructors in South Carolina, and there are 4 names on the waiting list.  I am aware of 5 more who have indicated a desire to start the process.  If we get all 9 on the waiting list soon, we can try to find 1 to 3 members from other states who are willing to travel to South Carolina.

If you are still on the fence, why not contact your District Trainer, or me, and watch the videos to help you decide.  If after watching, you are not interested, you have spent a little time but have not made a commitment.  If you then want to learn more, complete the inquiry form and you will be put on the waiting list for a class.

Phil & Judy

Just got in from the Florida District Rally. This is the kickoff of the Southeast Region A rally season and it was a great time. The Florida District Staff did a great job of finding this place and getting it all together in such a short period of time. Good job and we did have FUN.

The Couple of the Year selection was held on Friday afternoon and they had four wonderful couples. After all was said and done Rick and Jan Meredith of FL1-L2 was chosen. Congratulations and we will be seeing you at the next rally.

Robert & Gail