Escorting the Wall

The STAR Touring and Riding Association, Bremerton, Washington Chapter 403 members participating in this escort event plan to meet at Shari's by 7:30 AM (at the Highway 16 Sedgwick exit close to Port Orchard) for breakfast and/or coffee prior to leaving for Tacoma. We will depart Shari's around 8:30 AM for the thirty minute ride to Foss High School.

The following info is from the ABATE website:

July 8th.

There will be a motorcycle escort from Tacoma to Bremerton on Sunday.

DEPARTURE 10:00 am

FROM: FOSS HIGH SCHOOL/METRO PARKS PARKING LOT ON S. CHEYENNE ST. , IN TACOMA (S. CHEYENNE ST. IS THE NORTHERN ENTRANCE TO CHENEY STADIUM).

DESTINATION: MILLER-WOODLAND CEMETERY GROUNDS, KITSAP WAY, IN BREMERTON, WASHINGTON.

Then it will be on display the following weekend.

FRI-SUN July 13-15 2007

The Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall.
Created in 1990, this three-quarter-scale, 240-foot traveling replica of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in WA DC is coming to Bremerton to Miller-Woodlawn Funeral Home & Memorial Park (5505 Kitsap Way, Bremerton).

This faux-granite replica is dedicated to all Americans who served in Vietnam and honors all servicemen and women of the United States military forces.
Each year the replica criss-crosses the country, allowing millions of visitors to see and touch its black, mirror-like surface inscribed with the names of more than 58,000 Americans who died or are missing in Vietnam. Every exhibition is sponsored by a local Dignity Memorial provider, with the help and support of area veterans groups and civic organizations. The exhibit is not a commercial venture. Dignity Memorial network providers have been extremely sensitive to this issue. We provide our replica to communities at no cost. We do not solicit, nor do we record the names of those who visit the exhibit, and an admission fee is never charged.

Website To Volunteer to help set-up or for more information contact:

Susan Teale

360-377-7648 Or (Miller-Woodlawn)

Serious Update

President Pete and I managed to get together this week for a long overdue face-to-face, and the push is underway to get me back on track.

I found out that the Three Passes Ride scheduled for the May meeting day was cancelled due to weather, and we will be trying to come up with a good date to make that ride. It will consume an entire day, but it is undoubtedly one of the most scenic rides on our schedule.

The Steel Dreams ride went off as scheduled, and it was greatly enjoyed by those participating. Pete can’t stop slobbering when he talks about all the great food that was available at Skagit PowerSports (Chapter 154s sponsor), and how well received all the riders were.

The ride to Joseph, Oregon over the Memorial Day Week end had some chilly spots, but Pete indicated that it was a good ride.

The midnight ride around Mt. Rainier has dropped from the agenda because the roads are still closed from the devastating storm damage throughout the park.

There will be an event on Saturday, June 30 that promises to be an excellent make-up for some of the things we have missed. An invitation has gone out to Chapters 323, 350, and 403 to meet-up for a scenic ride through the Port Townsend end of the Olympic Peninsula with a hamburger feed at Marty Peterson’s.
Pete has asked us to meet-up at the Hilltop Market on highway 3 between Silverdale and the Hood Canal Bridge (much closer to the bridge) at 11:00 AM, and proceed as a group from there. If you have questions or comments, go to the Yahoo Group and join the discussion…or email/call one of the other members.

The Poker Run is still on for the 24th (this coming Sunday), and one or two more volunteers are needed to man a checkpoint for a few hours. You must be at Brothers PowerSports by 8:00AM.

I hope you are all enjoying the great weather we have had recently, and I hope it holds up for all our scheduled events.

Stay safe…

Richard Huff
Secretary, Chapter 403

Whispering into the dark

I guess it isn't difficult to see that I have been out of the loop for a while. After eye surgery in April, I spent a couple weeks recovering, and then made my annual trek to Eastern Washington to open up my place in Okanogan County. Two weeks over there to get some outdoor building done, and I am slowly working my way back into life on the west side.

I know there have been a lot of things going on with our club members, and Pete and Sue have been getting some info out via email and the Yahoo Group, so I will spend some time getting up to speed, and put up a post that is more informative on upcoming events.

Stay safe...

Richard

Not much of an update

I missed the April monthly meeting due to circumstances beyond my control, so I am struggling to get caught up.

Doug Mountjoy presided over the meeting, and asked one of the members to take notes so we would have minutes to record and send out, but he can't remember who he asked. If you were the lucky transcriber, please email what you ended up with to Doug so we can fill in the huge blank spot for April.

If anyone who attended the meet-up at Little Creek would like to write up a blurb about that, it would be greatly appreciated. That can be shared at the Yahoo Group, which is beginning to see more participation each week. Timm Gleason worked up some ideas for our logo, and posted the files in the group area for all to see and comment on. If you aren't in the habit of visiting the group, please make it a point to do so.

President Pete and WingNut (John Galle) made the trek from Port Townsend to Port Orchard on Wednesday past to visit, and I met them for dinner at Los Cabos. Doug showed up and invited us to check out his new home which is floating dockside at the marina. His garage isn't very big, but the sailboat is a beauty.

I noticed this morning (too late) that Chris Scott put out an invite on the group for anyone interested to join him in a ride to Tacoma for the Hot Rod and Bike Show today. I hope someone joined him as it has been an awesome day for riding.

That's it for now...stay safe.

The smell of leather...

Pete recently talked to the VP for Chapter 154, and some Dealership Visit Rides are in the works. This will give all of us an opportunity to get some face time with other Chapters, and show some support for the dealerships that are sponsoring our organization.

We are trying to figure out how to get some interaction on our Yahoo Group with members from all the other WA Chapters, and that will, hopefully, happen soon.

In the meantime, here are some links to visit often:

A ride list for the following chapters

NW CASCADESChapter 154
Burlington, WA

EASTSIDE Chapter 219
Woodinville, WA

PUGET SOUND Chapter 147
Lynnwood, WA

OLYMPIA Chapter 323
Olympia, WA

RENTON Chapter 350
Renton, WA

Note: The links to Chapter Websites are also on the side bar.

Are we having fun yet?

The meet-up at Clearwater was attended by Pete, Sue, Greg, Diana, and Richard who all banded together to enjoy the all-you-can-eat buffet. Greg and Diana were the only ones who cycled in, but we all enjoyed the meet-up.

We had one member who rode to the casino for the meet-up, but had the get there time as 1:00 PM. He arrived early and left before the rest of us set up camp at the front entrance. He was understandably upset that he missed the rest of us, and I also wish it had been otherwise. We do what we can to get the right info out there, but I doubt this will be the last cross-up we have. All I can say is…check the blog and the Yahoo Group a day or two in advance of each event to verify the times and places. It will ALWAYS be in writing at one or both places.

Each of us has to take some responsibility for knowing what is going on. There will be times when the verbal information given out at a meeting is incorrect, and the best venue we have to make corrections is the distribution list, as well as the blog and Yahoo Group. If you have any doubt about an issue or event, check with some of the other members until you are satisfied that you have the correct info.

In the meantime, keep the rubber on the road and the shiny side up.

Reminder

Meet-up at Clearwater Casino for lunch/coffee/whatever at 2:00PM.

Ride or drive (whatever the weather dictates), but we look forward to your wonderful company. Stay safe...