DRAGON TALES GOLD WING ROAD RIDERS ASSOCIATION "Friends for Fun, Safety, and Knowledge" Chapter R2 Grand River Riders Michigan District Region D - The Great Lakes Region VOLUME 22 ISSUE 1 January 2018 Chapter Team Directors View GWRRA IONIA CHAPTER R2 OFFICERS Chapter Team Director Al n Merriann Lawson thespark46@gmail.com mdodgelawson67@ gmail.com 616-846-8793 Assistant Chapter Team Director Daryl Anderson daryljocharles@aol.com Rider Educators Brian n Becky Anderson 616-318-6881 Membership Enhancement Coordinator Glenn n Bonnie Anderson bonnieshade@live.com Chapter Team Treasurer Becky Anderson 616-318-6881 www.gwrra-mi.org/chapter/r2/ index.htlm 2018 COUPLE OF THE YEAR Brian n Becky Anderson GENERAL GATHERING R2 General Gathering At Blue Water Cafe, 323 West Main Street, Ionia at 6:30 the first Tuesday of each month. Come early for dinner. Where did 2017 go? Here it is the first of 2018. Have any of you sat and thought about 2017 and just what did you do as far as riding, traveling on your bike, got something new for your bike or just had some FUN with other biking friends? Did you enjoy your 2017 riding season? Did you get out and enjoy being with your friends and learn anything new this past year? We were able to leave and traveled to Missouri for a day and my trike was waiting for me there. Thank you very much Dan n Barb for taking it there. My cousins live there and they were so happy to have the pretty trike setting in their garage. I even had them sit on it so we could get a picture so their children could see they really did have one in there. We left there with temperature at 34F. Heated jacket, chaps, long johns and warm gloves on, I was just fine. For a couple of days, it got warmer by the time the sun was up for a while, but when it went down, I needed the warm things again. We had a good trip, rode 1,482 miles and everyone down here looked at me when we got here and said, I bet you don t want to ride for a long time? I said, Give me eight hours and I will be ready to go again. Well, with that being said, we did enjoy every bit of the riding season. Being with other biking friends and getting a little traveling on the bikes. We are looking forward to 2018 knowing there are rides being planned and events that will involve riding. We want to encourage everyone to plan to come join us this coming Spring and have some great FUN with us. But the ONLY way you will know what is going on is to READ your newsletter, check the calendar, and watch your emails. We hope everyone of you had a Wonderful Holiday Season and Happy New Years. We are looking forward to a better year this coming 2018. We finished the year out with Al being in the hospital down in Florida for four days in ICU and ended up having a pacemaker put in. He isn t able to ride his bike for a month; so yes, I told him If he behaves himself, I would let him ride with me for the time being. He has lots to learn with having the pacemaker, but he will do it and will feel so much better. We also want to WISH EVERYONE a Happy New Year and look forward to a GREAT YEAR. We want everyone to be SAFE and DRIVE CAREFUL while you are out and about. Tuesday evening dinners are still going on and hope everyone who can get out will join together and have FUN doing it. Al n Merriann Lawson GWRRA - MI-R2 Chapter Team Directors Couple of the Year 2012 R-2 BRAG BOOK winner 2016
CHAPTER R2 STAFF Membership Enhancement Coordinator Goodie Caretaker Glenn & Bonnie Anderson bonnieshade@live.com Sunshine Lady Sharon Johnson Web Master Mike Oligney Oligney.Mike@gmail.com 616-897-9114 Chapter Ride Educators Brian & Becky Anderson 616-897-9114 Chapter Team Directors Ticket Coordinator Al & Merriann Lawson thespark46@gmail.com 616-846-8793 Brag Book/Historian and Photographer Merriann Lawson mdodgelawson67@gmail.com Chapter Team Treasurer Becky Anderson 616-897-9114 Newsletter Editor Barb Nugent Hd_sportster1200@msn.com 616-897-7052 Assistant Chapter Team Director Ride Coordinator Daryl Anderson daryljocharles@aol.com 50/50 Ticket Sales Harold Irish Couple of the Year 2018 Brian n Becky Anderson http://www.gwrra-mi.org/chapter/r2/index.html Page 2
Chapter Ride Educations Where did the time go!!!!! Man, time fly s by so fast. It s the new year all ready. We hope you all had a safe one and the big guy got you lots of toys for your babies to install. So, time to talk some safety. Maybe we will talk about some start up tips, like make sure you do your T- GWRRA MICHIGAN DISTRICT District Director Ken & Patty Kintner gwrramiteam@gmail.com 517.902.9893 West Assistant District Director Randy & Cheryl Wiggnins cwiggi@comcast.net 231.557.4792 District Educators Dennis & Felicia Schulte michridered@gmail.com 989.415.7496 For a complete District Staff listing, go to: http://www.gwrra-mi.org/ clocks and I hope you have done all fluid checks. Just some things to think about; I hope this gets the wheels turning. Also, here are some more things to think about. Have you ever seen a driver fly down the left lane of an expressway, then at the last second, veer across all the lanes and onto an-ramp (usually cutting off a number of other vehicles in the process)? Driving instructors call that a kamikaze. Its probably the most extreme example of unpredictability, the kind of unexpected sudden movement that results in traffic deaths each year. Be predictable in all you do out on the road. Know where you are going at all time. If you find yourself lost or you re out of sorts, then find a good place to stop, out of harm s way, to figure out what to do next. Never stop in the roadway; always be mind full of other drivers, because they are more then likely not watching out for you. Here are some Motorist Awareness points: 1, Over half of all fatal motorcycle crashes involve another vehicle. Most of the time the motorcyclist is not at fault. 2. Because of its narrow profile, a motorcycle can be easily hidden in a cars blind spot or masked by objects or backgrounds outside the car. 3. Because of its small size, a motorcycle may look father away then it is. Hope this gets us all thinking for this year on how to be a little safer. So, we have tickets for the $10,000 raffle for the first 4 who come up to us and let us know they read this article in the newsletter. It s pretty easy way to maybe get a little extra spending money. Brian and Becky Anderson Safety Educators Chapter R2 Thanks for Riding Safe Brian and Becky Anderson Chapter R2 Safety Educators GWRRA National 623-581-2500 customerservice@gwrra.org This is how our Chapter Snowbirds spent Christmas. Looks like a nice spread and the sun seems to be shining. However, I don t see any of that Christmas snow that we received. Too bad they missed it. Page 3
Membership Enhancement Coordinators Hello again! I'm writing this before Christmas, but we hope you all had a grand Christmas and a Happy New Year. But really, our monthly gathering will be on the 2nd of January, so you will not have had much of the New Year to get started with! For the December meeting, we had 9 members since some of the snow birds have flown away already. Those of us here in the snow will continue on... and enjoy our gatherings. At the gathering, Daryl was a big winner! He won the raffle ticket for the membership card draw, then he won the 50/50 drawing too! He must have had his lucky shoes on that day! Then for the FUN drawing, JJ (Joyce Johnson) won the fun drawing! You never know what will come next! Hope to see you all at the next meeting January 2! Bonnie & Glenn GWRRA - MI-R2 Membership Enhancement Coordinators Now for the Good News Harold came to our December Gathering with some very good news regarding his trike. It seems he found a really good deal on a trike and matching trailer down in Indiana. The trike is fully loaded. Harold says it has almost everything he could want already on it. He is very happy and ready for the season to start. Birthdays for January 2 - Jan Snyder 3 - LaRain Irish 5 - Becky Anderson 8 - Ann Sowle 13 - Sharon Johnson 26 - Bill Dooley 27 - Mick Vandevelde Anniversaries for January 11 - Brian & Becky Anderson Page 4
Calendar Summer Ride Season is here! Tuesday night dinners will now be at 6:00 Unless otherwise mentioned, we ll leave the Mobile Station at 5:30 (corner of Lincoln Lake and Vergennes - north of Lowell) Tuesday, January 2, 6:30 - R2 Monthly Gathering, Blue Water Café, 323 West Main Street, Ionia. (Come early for dinner.) Tuesday, January 9, 6:00 - Halfway Restaurant, 10792 14 Mile Rd NE (M44), Rockford. We hope to see everyone there about 6:00. (616.754.9084) Tuesday, January 16, 6:00 - River Bend Bar & Grill, 8122 Fulton St E, Ada. We hope to see everyone there about 6:00. (616.676.9785) Tuesday, January 23, 6:00 - Classic Kelly s Family Restaurant, 356 North Main Street, Cedar Springs. We hope to see everyone there about 6:00. (616.696.6920) Friday/Saturday/Sunday, January 26, 27, 28 - International Motorcycle Show in Cleveland. Tuesday, January 30, 6:00 - Sneakers, Sneaker's, 211 E Main St, Lowell. We hope to see everyone there about 6:00. (616.897.6746) Tuesday, February 6, 6:30 - R2 Monthly Gathering, Blue Water Café, 323 West Main Street, Ionia. (Come early for dinner.) Don t forget to make your reservations for Wingless Weekend. This years theme Is Cartoon Characters. The event will be hosted at the Lakeside Resort I Houghton Lake on March 9 and 10, 2018. Go to http://www.gwrra-mi.org/2018%20flyers/2018%20wingless%20registration% 20Form.pdf to make your reservations. At the same time, make your reservations for the Michigan District Spring Officers Meeting to be held at the same place as Wingless Weekend on Sunday, March 11. Watch your email for additional pop-up FUN. Wingless Weekend: Will be held March 9-10, 2018 at the Lakeside Resort in Houghton, Michigan. See the link above for details. Michigan District Spring Officers Meeting: Will be held March 10 after Wingless Weekend. Michigan District Rally: Will be held July 19-21, 2017 at the Calhoun County Fairgrounds in Marshall, Michigan. Wing Ding 40: Will begin August 28, 2018, in Knoxville, Tennessee. For registration information go to: http://wing-ding.org/40/#pricing. For accommodation information go to: http://wing-ding.org/40/#details Please check our website for updates and changes. For more Chapter events, details and updates, visit the GWRRA Michigan webpage at http://www.gwrra-mi.org/chapterevents.htm Page 5
Barbara Nugent 1125 Fallasburg Park Drive, NE Lowell, MI 49331 GOLD WING ROAD RIDERS ASSOCIATION Ionia Chapter R2 District 2012, 2015, 2017 Brag Book Winner District 2010 Chapter of the Year for Outstanding Promotion of the Rider Education Program District 2010 Chapter of the Year