It seems like we just finished the June meeting and the July meeting has already come and gone. HOG has been very busy with several rides each month and other activities we can all enjoy.
If you haven’t been to a general meeting in the past few months, you’re missing a lot of fun. I’m trying to put some brevity in our meetings to make them enjoyable for all. At the July meeting, we “awarded” Owen Freeman a “beverage control device” (aka: Sippy Cup) for his recent spill at Eagle Mountain Casino…we gave new Road Captain Wes Coble a pink tool kit for his debacle at push starting his bike at Ethel’s (most motorcycles won’t push start in neutral!!!) and we picked on Steve Miller for his blue flames he had done in Laughlin. There were some good laughs for all and some great fun.
Our general meetings are also full of information. We pass along a lot if interesting “stuff” along with some the mundane “information” we’re required to cover. Believe me, the mundane information is covered quickly so it won’t “disturb” the flow of our meeting.
We also have a Member appreciation “sweepstakes” going on right now. Each time HOG does a 50/50 drawing, we take out $10 and put it into a kitty. At every general meeting, we choose a random National HOG number. If the member is present AND is in possession of his current National HOG card AND his current local Chapter 1580 card, he/she takes home the kitty. At the August meeting, the kitty should be around $130.00. If no HOG member claims the kitty, we roll it over for the next month’s general meeting. Last general meeting, Debbie Garret missed the opportunity to take home the cash.
We also place a National HOG number in each newsletter. (Unless I forget!!!) If you happen to come across your number in the Newsletter, come to the General Meeting and during our Brag session, announce your “brag” and you’ll receive a $25.00 gift certificate to our sponsor, Bakersfield Harley-Davidson. Hey, it’ll cost you a dollar to get a $25 gift certificate…what a deal!!!
HOG continues to grow with new members being added each month. We welcomed several new members to our group during the July meeting and we look forward to seeing them at upcoming HOG events.
Don’t forget to mark you calendar for October 4th’s MDA event at Bakersfield Harley-Davidson. The MDA committee is making many changes this year and opening up the bike drawing to a lot more people. We’re going to need a lot of volunteers for the day so get on board and come out to enjoy an worthwhile event to raise money for a great cause.
At the July meeting, HOG honored the first two recipients of the Pride Patch Award. Head Road Captain Hal Onsum and Road Captain John Cleveland earned the 20 points necessary to be awarded their Pride Patch. These two gentlemen worked at HOG events, volunteered and completed at least 10 HOG rides to earn their patch.
Since we kicked off the Pride Patch program in February, you can see these guys are out getting involved and most of all, having fun. I guess you can say that “working” a HOG event is really having a good time. It is for me and many others who get the opportunity to meet and greet many new HOG members when they attend our functions.
Steffo and I are on vacation as I write this article for the HOGLOG. We pulled into the Redwoods this afternoon at 4pm and it was 75 degrees. We can’t wait to get the bike out and explore some of Northern California where it still gets cool in the evenings.
We’re headed to Fort Bragg after this which is right on the coast. Sure glad we thought to pack some cool weather gear for the ride along the northern California coast. Hopefully, we’ll get some good pictures to make all you jealous. Look for us to return to town for the August Bike Night out at Don Perico’s in Shafter. We’ve eaten there before and it’s a great meal for a great price. Thanks to Hal and Tammi Onsum for setting that up. It’s about time we went somewhere other than Ethel’s. I hate the parking there and I’ve learned to never take a clean bike when Bike Night is at Ethel’s.
Remember our HOG motto…RIDE AND HAVE FUN. If that’s not happening for anyone in our group, please let me know personally so I can make it happen for you.
As ever…RIDE SAFE AND RIDE OFTEN.