LA District NELAWINGS Chapter D - Monroe April, 2018 FROM YOUR CHAPTER DIRECTORS Jim and Carol Rodgers Chapter Team and Upcoming Events Inside this issue: District Director 3 At the Gathering 5 2 May we wish you a happy Spring and all the chocolate or other goodies that you wished the Easter Bunny to drop off at your place. We are proud to say five Chapter D riders completed the Louisiana Highway 1 Ride March 18. We had a great ride with the weather cooperating although Sunday we woke up to rain for a while. We enjoyed a great ride Thursday with Jim Berry leading us down through Vicksburg and Osaka MS (lunch at Burger Basket) to Grand Isle for the night. Mike Jastram had friends who cooked for us Thursday night at their camp on Grand Isle and we had a nice visit with them. There we met up with other chapters making the ride (mainly the group from Chapter J- Lake Charles) After a great breakfast, Mike headed us up Highway 1 taking some side trips to cover several places in south Louisiana (including Nottaway Plantation) winding around to Plaquemine for Friday night. We had some other chapters members join us for a day ride or for the completion of the trip. Saturday, we headed along Bayou Lafourche, stopping at the Swamp Shop to see the 13 foot alligator (yes it was stuffed) and learn some Acadian history. That night s stop was Natchitoches where we enjoyed strolling the Cane River with lots of St Patrick s Day décor. We had rain Saturday night, but it stopped just as we rode out for our final day to the true Ark-La-Tex. La Hwy 1 leads into Texas Hwy 77 at Rodessa, LA and you can step into Arkansas a few feet away. Rickey Brown from Chapter H (Houma) joined Fay Wainwright, Ron & Paulette Eubanks, and Jim & Carol Rodgers from our Chapter D as completing members of the trip. Great ride and many thanks go to Jim Berry, Mickey Searels, and Mike Jastram along with others for a well planned trip. Other fun activities on the agenda for April: LA Rally is April 12, 13 and 14 in Lafayette with a Swamp Tour to spot alligators Thursday morning before the Rally begins. Rally theme is Mardi Chapter MEC 6 Local Rides 7 Chapter Ride Coordinator 8 Gras, so everyone get your Mardi Gras costume out as we will be parading our Chapter D float with Dylan the Duck riding our float. The next Saturday, April 21, is our chapter D crawfish boil so mark your calendars and make your reservations and order your T-shirts quickly. Other activities for April and May will be discussed at April gathering. Jim & Carol Monthly Gathering The Piccadilly Cafeteria 1st Thursday of each Month 2203 Louisville Ave. 1
Upcoming Events Details at www.nelawings.org CHECK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THESE ITEMS! Apr 11-15 LA District Rally - Lafayette We will go down a day early to make the swamp tour on Thursday morning. Several are leaving on the preceding Saturday to make a Texas Bluebonnet ride beforehand April 21 Chapter D Crawfish Boil. The Rodgers home April 28 Supper Ride to 50 s Diner. May 5 Morehouse Parish May Madness Bike Show - Bastrop May 29 - Jun 3 MO District Rally - Branson, Mo. We will go 2 days early to ride some curvy roads and see some shows. Aug 25 - Morehouse Parish Ride For Hope Aug 26 - Sep 2 - Wing Ding, Knoxville, TN Chapter D Leadership Team Chapter Directors Jim and Carol Rodgers lad.cd@nelawings.org Chapter Motorist Awareness Lou Ann and Eugene Copeland Lad.mad@nelawings.org Treasurer Lou Ann Copeland lad.treasurer@nelawings.org Newsletter Editors Ride Coordinators Reba and Jim Berry lad.newsletter@nelawings.org lad.rc@nelawings.org Membership Enhancement Coord. Couple of the Year Jean and Eddie Peavy lad.mec@nelawings.org Check out the District Webpage for events going on throughout the state. Sep 2 - Sep 9 - Wing Ding Extension - TBD 2
District Directors Brenda and Red Roussel Hello Wingers Well, this is it, the last newsletter article that Brenda and I will write. It s been a short four years; we ve enjoyed all of it, spending time with our Louisiana District Members. We have had a great time at all the Rallies, Chapter gatherings, fun days and training with everyone. At this time, we have no idea who the next Directors will be. No info has been passed on to us. We re hoping any day now the new names will be given to us and we ll pass them on to you. We will not go away; we will still be active and continuing to make GWRRA events. We will be making 20 years with GWRRA in August of 2019. It seems like yesterday that we joined this great ride. We will see all of you great family members at the District Rally on April 12th, 13th and 14th. We hope all are planning to attend because it looks to be a good one as usual. We want to thank all the members and all of the Team members for helping make it easy for us to party with you. Hope to see everyone at the Rally. Until then have fun and ride safely. Red and Brenda Roussel La. Senior District Directors 3
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At the March Get-together Green Ball and 50/25/25 winners Mike and Billy and Alan (Didn t win) Happy Birthday to: Sandy and Billy Happy anniversary to: Faye and Steve Whoops! That s not Steve! 5
Chapter Membership Enhancement Coordinators Jean and Eddie Peavy Hello everyone, Well this year is marching right on. We surely hope everyone has had a chance to get out and ride. We had 6 bikes and thirteen people from Chapter D to go on the LA Highway 1 ride. We had good company and a good ride down to Grand Isle. We met up with people from Chapters A,H and J; really nice people. We only had a little rain on Friday but Sunday it was supposed to storm so some of us did not make it to the end. Carol and Jim, Ron and Paulette, and Fay made it all the way. We had 7 bikes and twelve people on the mystery lunch ride Tuesday when we rode to Arcadia for lunch at Sharon s café. The couple who bought Ron's 1500 joined us for lunch. We surely hope they will join GW. The food was really good and the company was great. So, come and join us. We always have a good time and catch up. Please be safe Jean and Eddie Jean Peavy Chapter MEC The starting gang from Chapters A, D, H and J. 6
Mystery lunch at Sharon s Tuesday, March 27. Our first mystery lunch ride of the spring was to Sharon s in Arcadia. There was great food and fun for all. We traveled a roundabout way to get there and took Highway 80 back. A lot of 80 has been resurfaced. If you have some ideas for mid-week lunch or breakfast rides let me know. Also we need some rides for Saturdays. You just can t beat the friends you make along the way! 7
Chapter Ride Coordinators Reba and Jim Berry KEEP AN EYE ON THE CALENDAR FOR SHORT RIDES! Here is the crew that participated in the LA Highway 1 Ride in March. This ride was written and directed by Mike Jastram of LA-A and the District Team. Kudos to Mike. He even got some friends to host us in Grand Isle for a jambalaya dinner! Bad weather was threatening the whole time, but we saw very little of it. Due to this weather threat, an illness in our family, one bike breakdown and almost one rogue elevator, only 6 made the entire trip. 5 from Chapter D. Grand Isle to the LA/TX/AR border on LA 1. What an event! Watch for more of these. 8
Our hosts in Grand Isle, Joe and Joan. Thanks for the evening. Our Hotel Lobby. Watch out for the elevator! 9
Day 2 included a tour of a museum on the Atchafalaya River Basin and at Nottingham Plantation. 10
Saturday got us to Natchitoches where we spent time walking the brick streets of this quaint old town. Then we had supper at the Cane River Bar and Grill, sitting on the patio. A nice relaxing evening. 11
AND THE WINNERS ARE: CONGRATULATIONS TO: FAY, RON, PAULETTE, JIM AND CAROL for completing the LA Highway 1 Ride 12