t 2008 August 2014 Alamo City Wings

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1 t 2008 August 2014 Alamo City Wings Volume 33 Friends for Fun, Safety, and Knowledge! Issue 8 Chapter H Officers Chapter Director Bruce MacMaster BAMac45@aol.com Assistant Chapter Director Vacant Chapter Educator William Stein w.stein@sbcglobal.net Membership Coordinator Phyllis Ellis Pcelde@swbell.net Secretary/Treasurer Charles Fleming txgoldwing00@att.net * From the Chapter Director * Another Wing Ding is in the books and everyone that went to it has returned safe and sound except Ralph who went on to Alaska and does not plan on being home until mid-september. Everyone that went enjoyed the trip in spite of the fact that we took many wrong turns on the way up and a few on the return. We saw some pretty country and not nearly as much rain as last year. Definitely enjoyed the cooler weather while in Madison. The first night at 9:00 PM it was 64 degrees while in San Antonio at the same time it was 84. Next morning when I walked outside I thought winter had returned since it was in the low 50s. I think only one day that it got into the low 80s. (Continued next page) Chapter H Staff Web Master Dean Davis dean@jeanniesherbs.com Newsletter Editor Bob Smith Bob_Smith98@hotmail.com Technical Advisor Len Ellis Pcelde@swbell.net Chapter Photographer Dean Davis dean@jeanniesherbs.co m Activity / Ride Coordinator Charles Fleming txgoldwing00@att.net District Directors David & Christina Vidrine Assistant District Directors Mike & Robin Thacker Assistant District Directors Tom & Dawn Sprague Membership Enhancement Coordinator Steve & Dona VanGilder District Treasurer Diane Shults District Educators Brad & Jill Severe District Trainer Jennifer & Johnny Ervin Chapter Of the Year Coordinators Robin Thacker COY Coordinator Steve & Dona VanGilder Entertainment Coordinator Kenny Shults Couple of the Year Steve & Donna VanGilder Activities Coordinator Phil & Annette Lockler Newsletter Editor Tom Sprague Vendor Coordinators Kenny Shults Webmaster Tom Sprague

2 Volume 33 Issue Continued *From the Chapter Director * We all participated in some informative seminars and saw some great team riding by three different drill teams. At least one if not more of us participated in the Bike Show, Poker Run, dinner and entertainment, tire check, trade show, welcome party and watched the Light Show, Top gun competition and Amazing Team Challenge. I won a door prize but nobody in our group won any of the major prizes. Next year Wing Ding will be in Huntsville, Alabama over the Labor Day weekend. There will be a new rally in Reno, Nevada in June next year so start making plans to go to either or both of them. Our August meeting will be back on our normal schedule of the first Wednesday of the month. It will be on the 6 th at 7:30 PM at Logan s Roadhouse. Come early for dinner and meet and greet time. Ride Safe, Ride Often Bruce MacMaster Congratulations to Dean Davis 2 nd Place Chapter Website TX District Convention

3 Volume 33 Issue Rider Education Chapter RIDER EDUCATOR Bill Stein There are several members in our chapter that are enrolled in the Rider Education Program. It is my sworn duty to assisting you to achieve the next level. I do need your help in organizing the First Aid Course and CPR Course. If you are interested in taking these courses between now and the end of the year please let me know at w.stein@sbcglobal.net. I am trying to get the First Aid Course set in September and CPR in October or November. I will try to schedule on Saturdays so that more folks can attend. Wouldn t you know it, last month I wrote about how our wildlife could be a problem. Well, it happened to me. We were on our usual ride thru the hill country, Elm Pass Road. Bruce was leading I was second and Bob Smith was third. Bruce didn t see the deer but I sure did and Bob got all the way up to Oh-My-Gosh. It was a fifty to seventy-five foot miss at 40 mph that got my attention quickly. Deer was scared as well. You just can t be too alert. There wasn t a deer crosswalk sign anywhere. I have been discussing tires and tire air pressure lately. I had a set that scalloped bad enough that the dealer decided to warranty them at less than 4K miles. This got me wondering as these tires were expected to last about 12-15K miles. What did the manufacturer do to achieve the miles rating that I didn t get. They hired this little guy to check the air pressure every day before the riders go to the test track. Hmmm, I wondered if it would work for me. The new tires have 4K and no signs of scalloping. Then there is the usual check list we should perform before we ride. Chances are all will be okay but that one time it won t it can be a killer or a severe inconvenience. Any fluids or air that are low can kill a bike or the operator. That is not a good thing. Only takes about five-ten minutes depending how fast you can scramble on the floor. Oops, the age thing just came up again.. As promised, my articles will stay short. Ride safe and sensible. Bill Stein, Chapter Educator

4 Volume 33 Issue GUYS RIDE By H. Stech I had a difficult decision to make for the title of this article/story, 4 GUYS RIDE or ONES THAT DID NOT GO TO WING DING or FINAL RIDE FOR JUNE 2014 so to make things easy I picked the shortest one. It was a dark and stormy night sorry that is the wrong start for this story that is the start to my fictional autobiography. Sunday morning, 4 GUYS, Bill, Carmen, Harold and Marvin met at our customary ride starting point and Marvin s knee surgery was discussed for a short time before the usual question Where are we going for breakfast was asked and Sammy s in Castroville was the location picked for breakfast. We went north on HWY 16 with our new chapter educator, Bill, in the lead and instead of the normal route of FM 1560 he took us to HWY 211 and then on to FM 471 and then into Castroville. There were a fair amount of bicyclist on the road and the The Corn is as high As an Elephant s Eye in the fields. We only saw one Medina County unit and he did a U-turn about a ¼ mile in front of us and it was discussed that it was either his turn to get the doughnuts and he forgot or that they were ready for sharing. For Bexar County dayshift or daylight darlings the saying was No crime before taco time. When we pulled into the parking lot of Sammy s the subject of how long Sammy s had been around came up and one number that was kicked around was 1925 but that was way off because on the front of their menu it states a family tradition since As we were shown to our table and menus past around and Carmen did not bring his glasses or Kathy with him so I had to read the breakfast options to him. As our waitress, Danny took our order the subject of Alsatian sausage came up and she said it was a little spicy and not bland.

5 Volume 33 Issue Conversation while we waited for our food was diverse and Marvin said he had to go to Bandera on Monday to pay his property tax on his property that he owned there and then local property taxes were discussed and then all conservation stopped as our food was delivered to our table. After breakfast and out appetites had been sated and we gathered back at the bikes the question that always comes up Where are we riding to and for how long and Marvin said Go West Young Man wait that quote belongs to Horace Greeley, I don t want to be accused of plagiarism, but we did go west on HWY 90 with Marvin leading into Hondo where we turned onto FM 462. While the corn going into Castroville looked good the corn crops that fronted FM 462 did not look as good with many sections blown down in strange patterns like aliens from the far side of our universe had been looking for a landing spot or Where no man has gone before which was the opening monologue of Star Trek. That they have not contacted us is proof there is intelligent life out there. We turned right on FM 470 and went back to Bandera and stopped at the Shell station for a water break and a stretching of the legs and more conversation. Leaving the Shell station I was in the lead and Marvin said he would catch up as he was going to try and find the location where he had to pay his taxes on Monday. He finally caught up with us down the road and he said that he had to do XX mph to catch up. I don t want to print the number he said in case some law enforcement officer might read this and want to send him a ticket after he made a Res Gestae statement which is Latin for things done. Upon arriving back in Helotes we said our goodbyes via CB and went our separate ways. While doing this article/story about what happened I also included some educational things (1) Historical quote, (2) Song lyrics, (3) Movie monologue and (4) Legal terms. Ride as much as possible and ride safe. H. Stech

6 Volume 33 Issue From TEXAS DISTRICT NEWSLETTER RIDER EDUCATOR Brad & Jill Severe It has been quite a first two months as your District Educators! We have chatted with many Chapter Educators either in person, on the phone, or via . We are still working on organizing things so we can best serve you, the members of Texas District. With that, we would like to say that our focus is on you, the individual members of Texas District! You will notice that the names of members are in Bold! This way we can highlight your successes and accomplishment to everyone. What the Texas District members are doing: New Educators: May: David & Shirley Strebbing, Chapter O in Austin June: Chapter H in San Antonio: June William Stein * Chapter A in Amarillo Bill & Betty Hisey * New Levels: May: Dorothy Thomson, Chapter J in Beaumont, Level 3 Co-Rider Stuart Bailey, Chapter E in Wichita Falls, Level 2 rider Glynda Roby, Chapter T in Killeen, Level 3 Rider Laurence Schmit, Chapter P in Granbury, Level 1 Rider Manie Schmit, Chapter P in Granbury, Level 1 Co-Rider Danny Thacker, Chapter T in Killeen, Level 1 Rider Margaret Thacker, Chapter T in Killeen, Level 1 Co-Rider June: Court VanSickler, Chapter U, Senior Mas-ter Rider Rider Ed Seminars: June: Tom Sprague, Assistant District Director & Rider Ed Seminar Presenter, Chapter O, Austin, gave a Motorist Awareness Seminar on 21 June 14. Fifteen were in attendance including two from Chapter T! Thanks Tom! Out and About as Your District Educators: We had the opportunity to visit 3 Chapters in June: Chapter H in San Antonio to present their new Educator; C in Baytown and M2 in spring, and of course attend the monthly gathering and ride with our own home chapter, Chapter U of San Antonio! Chapter C gathering visit: 5 June 14 Chapter C Educator, Phil Lockler, talked about the importance of TCLOCs and that it is easy to forget to do TCLOCs prior to hitting the road. Phil shared that he was going to put a copy of the TCLOCs Inspection sheet by his bike to remind him to do this important safety inspection. Jennifer Ervin, Texas District Leadership Trainer, used two chapter volunteers to demonstrate how important it is to know your objective and the importance of clear directions in order to achieve the desired result. We all learned how hard it is to create a cat s cradle with yarn and our fingers if directions are not clear and some of us need pictures! Everyone had wonderful snacks due to Kathy and David Sailer bringing an array of yummy sandwiches, chips, chocolate frosted brownies and drinks. Chapter C, meeting in a com-munity center, rotates who brings food for the rest of the chapter. Special thanks to all of Chapter C and Johnny & Jennifer Ervin, Chapter Directors, for making us feel so welcome! Chapter M2 gathering visit: 6 Jun 14 Chapter M2 Educator, Tim Bryan, brought in a projector and screen, allowing the chapter to see pictures of recent rides and future news during the meeting. Tim also provided a great

7 Volume 33 Issue orientation to the function and special features of the chapter web-site. Chapter Director, Scott Gresak, gave a talk about the problems riding in traffic. Great cookies were brought in by a Chapter Member! Special thanks to all of Chapter M2 and, Scott & Linda Gresak, Chapter Directors, for making us feel so welcome! Chapter H gathering visit: 4 Jun 14 Warm welcome to the new Chapter H Educators, Bill and Katherine Stein! They are highly motivated and ready to serve their chapter! Chapter technical advisor, Len Ellis, did a short talk about the importance of maintenance of the cooling system on the Goldwing and how it can affect the water pump. He even brought the problem pump to pass around! Chapter Director, Bruce MacMaster talked about the importance of staying hydrated. Special thanks to all of Chapter H and Bruce, for making us feel so welcome! We will be visiting Chapter Z2 in McKinney on 26 June, and Chapter P in Granbury on 10 July. We look forward to attending these chapter gatherings, and will include the highlights in next month s District newsletter. Chapter Educator Information: Reminder! The Motorist Awareness Seminar is a requirement to not only achieve Level 3 & above, but also stay current! We suggest everyone take the seminar. It really is a great seminar, and well worth the time! Everyone who drives a vehicle of any type should see it too! This is one of the few seminars GWRRA produces that can be given to the general public! Jill & I would like to take the training to you but we need to know what you want! We have lots of great trainers in Texas so tell us what you would like to have and when you would like to have it! We will do our best to make it happen! Feedback is always important, and we are always interested in how to make it better! via PDF file. Making the PDF is easy. You just need a free pro-gram such as PDF995 ( It is set up as a printer and instead of actually printing, it will create the pdf file! Just make sure you remember where you saved the file to! This month s Rider Education report will be a tough one for all of us! Like many of you, Jill & I will be on the road. The monthly reports are very important. If reports are a few days late, it is not a problem but please us to let us know you will be submitting the report a bit late. Even if you have nothing to report, please send in one anyway. The process is fairly easy. If you have lost your password or need help, just let us know. If you made an error such as not using the correct date or chapter (happens often so don t feel bad!), we can fix that easily, just let us know. Can t access the data base? Just let us know what information you have and we will take care of it. We are here to work with you. Just call or ! It appears our complete contact info is not on the website! So we added our address below. Our motto is Ride Safe & Have Fun! We look forward to seeing you on the back roads. Our contact information is: Brad & Jill Severe usedphoto@aol.com Brad Cell: Evening Home: Address: Hornet Creek, San Antonio, TX *edited from original article to correct names ing most levels and other paperwork to us is just fine. Some items like level IV, we would still like to Receive hard copy. Any questions, just ask! Of course you still need to send a check for items that require payment. For those of you who are not so tech savvy, the easiest way to send the paperwork as an attachment is

8 Volume 33 Issue AUGUST 2014: UPCOMING EVENTS IN REGION H 9 MOONLIGHT 12th Annual FUN RUN CHAPTER M GWRRA s Weekend at the Opry - Nashville, TN SEPTEMBER 2014: Texas Ride and Relax in the Hill Country-Bandera TX KS District Convention - Abilene, KS Where The Rails Meet the Trails 21 KS Fall Ride to Wamego, KS OK District Convention - Shawnee, OK Oklahoma Wing Rush October 2014: 11 TX Chapter T (TFest) Harker Heights, TX MARCH 2015: LA District Convention - Lafayette, LA Mardi Gras Madness APRIL 2015: 9-11 Region H Convention - Marshall, TX Catch the H Train

9 Volume 33 Issue TX-H 2014 Ride Schedule Plan Ahead 08/02/2014 Saturday 08/06/2014 Wednesday 08/10/2014 Sunday 08/16/2014 Saturday 08/24/2014 Sunday 08:00-14:00 Breakfast Ride - pick a place and go. 18:30-20:30 Chapter Meeting/Gathering at Logan's Road House on IH 10, Meet around 6:30pm for dinner, meeting starts at 7:30pm. 08:00-14:00 Breakfast Ride - pick a place and go. 08:00-14:00 Breakfast Ride - pick a place and go. 08:00-14:00 Meet at EL Chapparel Helotes at 8:00 AM for breakfast, or at 9:00 AM just to ride. 08/29/2014 Friday thru 08/31/2014 Sunday WEEK END AT THE OPRY Nashville, TN 09/01/2014 Monday - LABOR DAY. 09/03/2014 Wednesday 18:30-20:30 Chapter Meeting/Gathering at Logan's Road House on IH 10, Meet around 6:30pm for dinner, meeting starts at 7:30pm. 09/07/ :00-14:00 Breakfast Ride - pick a place and go. Sunday 09/12/2014 Friday thru 09/14/2014 Sunday Kansas District Convention 09/13/2014 Saturday 09/21/2014 Sunday 08:00-14:00 Breakfast Ride - pick a place and go. 10:00-15:00 09/25/2014 Thursday Thru 09/27/2014 Saturday 09/27/2014 Saturday LUNCH RIDE DESTINATION TO BE DETERMINED === We will meet at 10:00 am and go for a ride in the hill country and make our way for lunch around 1 to 2 pm. OKLAHOMA DISTRICT CONVENTION District-2014.pdf 08:00-14:00 Breakfast Ride - pick a place and go. Note: Unless otherwise indicated all Chapter "H" rides start at the parking lot behind the Exxon and Whataburger located at Bandera Rd. & 1604 (Northwest San Antonio.) Rides are subject to change. Changes will be communicated via the website, Newsletter, and/or . If there is a discrepancy between the newsletter and what is published on the web site, the web site will take precedence.

10 Volume 33 Issue Mark was passing by the bar on the way home from work when he sees his good friend Tom gulping down one shot after another. Fearing the worst, Mark charged into the bar and confronted Tom. Tom what s going on? Mark asked. It s my wife Beckie, Tom replied. She ran off with my best friend! Hey wait a second! Said Mark Aren t I your best friend? Not any more, Tom said with a happy smile. He is! From a Child's Mouth... Several years ago, when I lived in New York and flew to customer sites often, my wife would usually drop me off at Newark (N.J.) airport and pick me up when I returned. On one trip, I was only going to be gone for a few days, so I drove myself, and parked the car at Newark. When I returned, the weather was lousy, and it was late at night. I wanted nothing more than to get home to the comfort of my wife and my own bed. When I arrived, the storm was very loud, with crashing thunder and severe lightning. As I came into my bedroom about 2 a.m., I found my two children, Alex (3) and Cindy (12), in bed with my wife, Carolyn, apparently scared by the loud storm. I resigned myself to sleeping in the guest bedroom that night. The next day, I talked to the children, and explained that it was okay to sleep with Mom when the storm was bad, but when I was expected home, please don't sleep with Mom that night. They said okay. After my next trip several weeks later, Carolyn and the children picked me up in the terminal at the appointed time. Since the plane was late, everyone had come into the terminal to wait for my plane's arrival, along with hundreds of other folks waiting for their arriving passengers. As I entered the waiting area, Alex saw me, and came running shouting "Hi, Dad! I've got some good news!" As I waved back, I said loudly, "Hi, Alex! And what is the good news?" "The good news is that nobody slept with Mommy while you were away this time!" Alex shouted. The airport became very quiet, as everyone in the waiting area looked at Alex, then turned to me, and then searched the rest of the area to see if they could figure out exactly who his Mom was.

11 Volume 33 Issue Region H News Jack Wagner Region H Director director@gwrra-h.org Region H Directors Corner Can you believe this year is half over? The riding season is in full swing for everyone in Region H and there have been lots of opportunities to attend Chapter, District and Region events. So, how many have you attended? As you might imagine, I've been to quite a few and with very few exceptions, attendance has been down substantially. It can't be because the events are boring or not fun, because everyone there is having a good time! I keep hearing that attendance is down because the membership is declining. Yes, we are losing members. However, just this year, Region H has almost 300 new GWRRA members 295 to be exact. Do you know where they are? How many first timers' are showing up at your Chapter gatherings or rides? What do you do when you encounter them? More importantly, do you see them again? If not, why not? If you're not seeing these new members, why not? They're out there! Where are these 300 new people? They're in every District throughout the Region. WE need to reach out, make each of them feel welcome and encourage them to participate. I'm not talking about the MEC making that one call based on the monthly new member list. We shouldn't 'hound' these new folks, but make more than just the one attempt of inviting them to a gathering. What do your gatherings consist of? Are they more than eat, draw 50/50, belch, then go home? If that's the case, I'm not sure it would draw my interest either. Continue to extend Invitations to join in rides. Use these new folks as a way to possibly invigorate your Chapter try something new. Maybe attending events at other Chapters or District conventions isn't 'their thing'. Maybe they want to do more than just ride minutes to a location for dinner. Find out what these new members DO like to do. There was some reason they joined GWRRA. Find out what it was and see if it can be incorporated into what your Chapter is doing. It doesn't have to be the primary focus of the Chapter just try to have something for everyone. If some like to do it, you can bet others probably will too. After the activity, make sure to spread the word who was there and how much fun it was let folks know what they missed out on. Next time I'll bet even more show up. You know the old saying the more the merrier! Each of us CAN make a deference. Until next month ride like your life depends on it!! Jack Wagner Region H Director

12 Volume 33 Issue Our First Wing Ding Barb and I are excited it s Saturday 6/28 and we re off to our first Wing Ding 36 in Madison WI. We meet at Valero 35 N at Bruce, Otis, Lydia, Bob, and Barb are off to our first stop, Hope Ark to meet up with Ralph and Brick. Trip up was overcast and sprinkles here and there. Only problem was 11 miles before our exit to the hotel, the traffic came to a dead stop. Flowers were on both side of roads which attracted bees, thousands of bees all around us. Luckily no one got stung. Arrived Hotel and meet up with Ralph and Brick. 2 nd Day off to ride through lots of back roads through Arkansas, a couple of wrong turns, visiting Mammoth Springs and ending our day in Eminence, Mo. Day 3 off at 0800 to tackle more back roads, some rain showers. For lunch we stopped at a White Castle. Also stopped at Niehauscycle very nice spent night in Litchfield IL. Day 4 leave 0800 all highway and interstate, arrived in Madison WI around 3 PM. Picked up packet and checked into hotel. Dinner we went to the welcome party lots of Gold Wings, Music, and food. That s where we saw the side car accident (see picture last page). Back to the hotel 8 PM. Time to wash clothes and relax. Day 1 7/2 Wing Ding we attended the opening ceremonies, seminars on trailering, co-rider, newsletter, and watched the Top Gun event, tradeshow, attended Taste of Wisconsin which had food and music. Back to the hotel 8PM after a DQ stop. Day 2 7/3 Wing Ding We took a ride to Oshkosh EAA miles arrive back to the Alliant Energy Center around 1PM. Had Tire inspection done, attended the Motorcycle Show, Looked at trailers. Brick had a bad trailer tire, so we took some time to locate one. Back in the room 9:30PM Day 3 7/4 Wing Ding did some more shopping purchased GWRRA jackets and had extra key made. Watch the Drill team. Attended more seminars on History of GWRRA, Co-Rider 2, GW Tech Q&A. Attended a BBQ dinner and show, watched the light parade. Back to the hotel 10 PM. Day 4 7/5 Wing Ding Participate in the Grand Parade 256 riders, watch the Amazing team challenge and go to the closing ceremonies. It was said that attendance was 8873 people. Sunday 7/6 check out and head back to San Antonio, arrived home around 5 PM Monday. Facts; 3100 miles 8 states, going up TX, AR, MO, IL WI, coming home WI, IA, KS, OK, TX I know for us we had a great/safe time meeting people, enjoying the ride and Wing Ding36. Bob and Barb Newsletter Editor Bob Smith Bob_Smith98@hotmail.com Thanks for any articles and inputs you night have to the newsletter.

13 Volume 33 Issue Niehaus Cycle

14 Volume 33 Issue The 2015 Texas District Convention Theme is Egyptian The Convention will be held in Temple Texas at the Frank W. Mayborn Convention Center 3303 N 3 rd St., Temple TX Apr 30 to May 2, 2015 June 2015 The Reno Rendezvous will be held at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino convention center, and we could not have been more fortunate to find this location. With all of our other events, it has been difficult to find locations that will create an all-in-one environment, but the Grand Sierra does just that. With enough hotel rooms to host all of our attendees, trade show space to host the countless vendors and exhibitors GWRRA continuously brings to its shows, a 50-lane bowling alley, large entertainment theater/venue, this location will redefine the term "stay and play" for all the attendees that join us at the Reno Rendezvous. Wing Ding 37 September 3rd - September 6th 2015 Registration Information: Print & Mail Application Online Registration or Call

15 Chapter Director 6419 Red Jacket Dr. San Antonio, TX Wing Ding 36 Welcome Party not what you want to see.