There is much, much more on both the economic struggle this country faced during the 1980s, and the efforts put into ending the Cold War by bankrupting the Soviet Union.  The Bible used in both inaugurations is on display, and there are numerous interactive exhibits.

Although somewhat out of time – there is a 1,200 lb piece of one of the steel beams from the North Tower of the World Trade Center on display.  Seeing and touching it is enough to sent a chill down your spine.

The weather cooperated for the ride, even if it was a little cool on top of the ridge, and the tour and lunch arranged by Jolyn Cleveland were both excellent once again.

If you were unable to make the ride last Saturday, I can wholeheartedly recommend making the trip to see the Library when you can.

Don Oldaker – Director

Thanks to everyone who came out for February’s bike night at Jersey Mike’s on Coffee Road.  About 15 – 20 bikes and nearly 30 members turned up with their families.   The food was great, as usual, and Jersey Mike’s donated a portion of their receipts for the evening to MDA. 

Remember to check the weekly calendar and this website for information about future bike nights.

Bakersfield H.O.G. holds its bike nights on the second Thursday of every monthat local restaurants who are willing to support MDA.

I did not get an exact count, but I would estimate that HOG members accounted for at least 50 of the more than 200 bikes that showed up at Valley Plaza for the short ride to the American Legion to remember and honor Budd Ray.  Everyone who attended was able to reconnect with old friends, and listen to and share stories which reminded us what a great individual we have lost.

The outpouring of sympathy, support and friendship was a fitting tribute to the larger than life journey of a larger than life individual.

He will be missed – but he will never be forgotten.

Everyone has been asked to bring a dish for people to share.  You can drop them off at the Legion Post before the ride, or have someone take them.

Carol Ray and her family have requested that donations be made to the Legion Post in Budd’s name in lieu of flowers.

There are sympathy cards available at the dealership for you to sign.  The cards will also be available Thursday evening at Jersey Mike’s on Coffee Road.

Budd and Carol contributed greatly to our group and remained members even after focusing their considerable energies on the ALR. No one who was fortunate enough to know Budd could help but feel comfortable in his presence.  I am still in shock to think that he is gone.

Please do whatever you can to make this ride to provide support and sympathy for Carol and her family, and to honor the life of a fine individual.

Don Oldaker

Budd will be missed . . . .

Don Oldaker

Sunday morning, I woke up bright and early and treated myself to a good omlet breakfast before suiting up. I had told some HOG members of my plans but nobody met me at the 7am departure time so off I went. I didn’t head back on Hwy 15…instead, I rode into Las Vegas and took Hwy 160 over towards Pahrump. Once there, I stopped for fuel and headed for Shoshone on Hwy 352. From there, I hit Hwy 190 and rode north to Death Valley Junction. Although it was a little cool when I took off, the sun soon rose and the temperature evened out at a comfortable 80+ so I dumped my chaps and coat and rode on. I stopped at Furnace Creek in Death Valley and toured around a little before heading to Stovepipe Wells. There I bought a souvenir and had a soda before heading up the grade towards Panamint Springs. Just before Panamint Springs, I turned off on Hwy 178…yep, you guessed it, and rode towards Ridgecrest.

Another stop in Ridgecrest for lunch and fuel and up over Walker Pass and through the canyon into B-town. I got home about 4pm after a 431 mile ride on a beautiful day. The bike ran great and it was rather pleasant to be lead and sweep in my own little world. Although group riding is a blast, sometimes it’s fun to get out alone and savor the reasons we ride. This was one of those days!!!

Next year, I’m going to advertise this ride a little more and get some others to join me. It’s a great run and done right, not too awful long. Hope you can join me because this may become a yearly thing for the Calico run.

Dave Fisher
Director

Speaking of the State Rally, Stephanie and I are heading up next Wednesday so we can be there when everyone arrives.  We also want to get some pointers on setting up the rally even though we helped in Victorville.  Our presentation will be made on Saturday morning and from what I hear, there are some other chapters competing for the event.

I did finish our written proposal and sent it off to J.T. Hasley, our Regional HOG Director.  J.T.  has begun his review and let me know that we look pretty good to him. Hopefully we’ll look better than the rest.  I know one thing for sure; the other chapters will have to work pretty hard to top our DVD that will start the presentation.  If you’re making the trek to the State Rally, we’ll be camping somewhere in the fairgrounds…just look for our HOG banner!!!

Our annual Christmas party is shaping up to be another great evening.  I would like to thank John and Katie Houchin who stepped up and offered to cater our dinner.  John and Katie were at the party last year when we had the “snafu” regarding the meal and promised a better meal this year.  (The Houchin’s own a large catering business here in Bakersfield and have a lot of experience into this area.)  For dinner this year, we’ll be treated to Prime Rib and Montreal Chicken with a host of other great sounding side dishes.  We’ll be meeting at the Heritage Dante Hall on Wilson Road and once again, HOG will be buying the price down for each HOG member and their guest to $20.00.  We’ll have a short program and the same DJ will be playing music for our entertainment again this year.  He did a great job last year and kept the dance floor rockin’ so we decided to leave that part alone.

If you’re interested in doing some riding, October will be a great month.  Val and Gary Crawford will be hosting the Fun Run to Porterville.  I think we’re headed to the Black Bear Diner!!!  That’s always a great ride and good meal.  I haven’t heard where the Dinner Ride will go but Gary is also working on that.  If that isn’t enough, the Crawfords are planning the annual Calico/Stateline Run on Halloween.  HOG will depart BHD at 9:00am and head to Peggy Sue’s in Barstow for breakfast.  We’ll visit Calico Ghost Town and then make a dash for Stateline to spend the night.  This was a helluva party last year so come join us and have some fun this year.  Make your reservations at Buffalo Bill’s and spend the night laughing and doing that other part of our HOG motto…HAVING FUN!!!

Speaking of riding, HOG will also have a Hot Dog Run on October 24th.  Again, this will be an open ride so invite any of your “non-Harley” riding friends to come along.  We’re going to head over to Morro Bay and enjoy a day on the coast.  There is a small hot dog vendor on Harbor Avenue so I’m going to hold true to the run and have a hot dog.  Don’t worry, if you want to go down to the harbor and have fish and chips or clam chowder, I’m sure nobody will mind.  We’re not sure how we’re coming home but who really cares?  Hope to see you there.

We did recognize our Member(s) of the Quarter at the last meeting.  HOG felt the Crawfords had been working to make our chapter one of the best and awarded them our 3rd Quarter Member of the Quarter award.  Val and Gary really deserved our recognition and will enjoy our annual Christmas Party on us.

Lastly, I want to again let you know that we’ll be having our first ever November General Meeting.  I’m working on some special plans for this meeting as it’ll be our last meeting of 2009 and we deserve to have a great time.  HOG will be giving back to our chapter by awarding 3 gift certificates to HOG members who just show up.  Nothing to buy, just show us your current local HOG card (your annual membership must also be current and we’ll have an up to the minute list) and you’ll receive a raffle ticket.  During the meeting, we’ll draw tickets to win the gift certificates.  Oh, by the way, each gift certificate will be worth $400.00.  Mark the date on your calendar…NOVEMBER 19th…the week before Thanksgiving.

We’re quickly running out of great riding weather so get out and ride while you can.  Pretty soon you’ll be wishing it was warmer so you didn’t have to wear all the leather!!!

Gotta run…

Ride Safe…
Dave Fisher

I got there about 6:15 and checked the area out with Mike Long. As we stood there, more and more bikes began pulling into the parking lot and before we knew it, we have over 55 motorcycles there for the picture. Bakersfield Police was nice enough to block the intersection and in a short ten minutes, HOG moved all 55 riders into position under the sign, filmed our presentation, and had all the bikes pull out. ALL IN UNDER 10 MINUTES.

The HOG members that came were very quick to line up, more than 3 deep, and left the gathering safely and orderly with no mishaps. Quite a feat when you have so many bikes in such a small area.

The enthusiasm of the crowd was contagious. Everyone had a great time and we didn’t hear one complaint about how early the shoot was. Some of our members came from Frazier Park to make it into the picture.

This activity is indicative of our HOG organization. We have a great group of quality people willing to take a few moments out of their morning to make our presentation to the State Rally Committee great.

I want to thank everyone who showed up for this event. I also want to thank HRC John Clevelend, HRC Wes Coble, and RC Mike Coble for creating and working on the film. From what I’ve seen, it’s great and should go over well.

See you on the road…
RIDE SAFE

DAVE FISHER
DIRECTOR

HOG has recently purchased some tables and chairs to be stored at Bakersfield Harley-Davidson. We have 6 nice tables and currently, 36 chairs. We’re shooting for 48 chairs but we want them all to match so we decided to wait on another shipment. HRC Wes Coble researched the tables and chairs and Assistant Director Don Oldaker made the purchase.

Now I’m sure some of our members are wondering why we needed chairs. Have you been to a HOG BBQ lately??? There’s generally a whole bunch of people and nowhere to sit except on the planters in the sun. (Remember that stifling heat I mentioned earlier?) We also host some events where it would be nice to have a table and some chairs for whatever we’re doing.

HOG picked up the chairs on July 11th just before our monthly BBQ. We had some volunteers set them up even before the BBQ started and within 5 minutes, two tables were full of HOG members sitting around talking with their coffee and donuts. When I saw that, I knew the tables and chairs were a good idea and doing what we’d planned.

So, if you’ve been avoiding the monthly HOG BBQ cuz there was no place to sit…come on out and sit a spell and join us. We may even set some up on Saturday mornings just to sit and chew the fat (or donuts) for a while with HOG friends.

Y’all ride safe and I’ll see you when I get back…

Dave Fisher
Director

As most of you know, I’ve been involved in police work for many years.  In fact, I began my career in 1974 in the U.S. Air Force at Edwards AFB assigned to the first SWAT team in military history.   Our primary mission was to protect the Space Shuttle and the B-1 Bomber.  What a great opportunity for a young 20 year old!!!

After leaving Edwards, I began working here in Bakersfield “temporarily.”  I guess I’m still temporary until I decide to leave!!!  I’ve worked for the Sheriff’s Department, the Police Department and now as a Schools Resource Office for the High School District.

Throughout my involvement in law enforcement, I’ve done many things for many people and will remember those specific events for the rest of my life.  However, I’ve never been involved in such a rewarding position as Director of Bakersfield HOG.

When I was asked to take over HOG, I was a bit skeptical at first.  I thought I wasn’t “good enough” to be leading our group.  After spending the weekend thinking about the offer, I felt truly honored to be thought competent enough to lead our HOG group.  Little did I know, it would be a life changing decision that I would treasure for the rest of my life.

This past 18 months has been some of the best of my entire life.  I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know many people who, had it not been for Harley-Davidson and Bakersfield HOG, would have slipped through my fingers.  I have many more friends than I ever thought possible and each and every one of them are some of the highest “quality” people I’ve ever had the pleasure of associating with.

I attend HOG events and spend time riding and laughing…some of my most favorite things in life.  I will never think of “Casa De Fruta”  the same nor will I pass a veteran without thinking of the support HOG provides for veterans of all types.  Some of my future income will be spent on those little daisies sold by the VFW several times each year and, of course, my American Legion dues.

Las Vegas will forever be embedded in my mind…not for what most people think but instead for being set up for a lap dance by a portly gentleman wearing low cut levis and a red “G” string with “TACO” tattooed across his belly.  (Thank you Gary Crawford…I owe you one!)

I’ll never pass through State Line without thinking of the Diet Coke at McDonalds with Ken and Jim.  I’ll also never forget the ride home with a touch of the flu…I never had a hangover!!!

Baja Fresh, Rubios, Sequoia Sandwich Shop and Jersey Mikes will never be the same for me…they’ll be better because I’ll know they supported our efforts to raise money for our annual MDA Rockin’ Ride for Life.

Whenever I see a lady on a Harley, I’ll wonder if it’s Val or one of our other LOH members riding somewhere to do something else good for the community!!!

I’ll never ride through the country and see a black sheep in a herd and not think of Doc, Jimbo, Leonard, Jimmer, Tiny, and all of the other Black Sheep members that contribute to HOG and support us in every step of our journey.  These folks have touched me in ways I can’t put into words.  I’m honored to have the first ever HOG Chapter Chaplain serve during my tenure as Director.

Our HOG group has left its shell and blossomed for the better.  We are now more involved in the community than ever before because of the efforts of each and every one of our members.  It is you, the members of Bakersfield HOG Chapter 1580 that have stepped up and made our chapter one of the elite in the HOG organization.

I want to take this opportunity to personally thank Scott Irvin for giving me the opportunity to hold this position.  Scott is the catalyst of our organization and each and every one of you need to stop in and thank him for the opportunity to have a HOG group.

As we move toward a transition of HOG officers, remember, we are moving in the right direction.  We’ll continue our momentum and continue to become a premier chapter that HOG can be proud of.  Our chapter is what others strive to be…I know…I’ve heard it at Primary Officer’s Training and it’s because of our general membership.  The best leaders in the world are ineffective unless there is someone willing to help.  Currently, we have about 280 people willing to help and I’m thankful I happen to be in that group.

I hope to see each and every one of you on our next ride.  Remember, our HOG motto is to “RIDE AND HAVE FUN.”  If we are not fulfilling that for you, let me know and we’ll see if we can make it happen.

As always, ride safe and ride often…

Dave Fisher

Proud to be your Director…