MAY

It feels soooo good being back out on the bike and the open road. The group met at Gardiner Hannaford, (Ed & Barb & Rita) then met Dennis & I in Belfast. We rode to the rest area just this side of the Bucksport Bridge and met up with some members of Chapter D. We ended up with 10 bikes riding to Stonington. It was an overcast day and breezy. We had a very nice lunch in Stonington at the Harbor Cafe. The restaruant did very well accommodating us all. After lunch we rode back to Bucksport and stopped in to the Dunkin Donuts and had a quick impromptu meeting before parting with the Bangor Chapter. Those who joined us from Chapter D, were Kevin Baker, Bruce Harvey, Reggie & Mary Moors, Jim Roderick, Scott Crockett. Justin & Ben also rode
with us part of the way, although they are not members of Chapter D they sometimes ride with them. We had a great ride with everyone. Happy Birthday to Mary Moors.  We would like to thank them all for riding with us. It is nice meeting up with other chapters. Riding with old friends and meeting new ones.

A reminder that Central Maine Powersports open house is this Saturday. Craig would like us to be there by 9:00 am to help set up for the games and rodeo. Please come and help and show your support to Central Maine Powersports, as they support us with our annual poker run.  Phil Baker has some LL Bean shirts that are our chapter color. We have a list of the different sizes. If interested, let us know. The price is right, (FREE) 

The Memorial Weekend ride to the Amish Country has been canceled. We are up for suggestions for either a day ride or overnighter is anyone is interested.  It is had to believe that Americade is next month in Lake George, NY. June 1st-6th

June 19-21 is the Blessing of the bikes

Don't forget to register for the NE Rally July 16th -19th

Happy May Birthday to:  Art Lane – 4, Terry Belanger – 15

Happy Anniversary to:  John & Micki Poor- 18

Maine District May 2009 Newsletter: 

It's finally spring and the riding season is off to a great beginning for the year. We attended the Rhode Island kick off breakfast last weekend with record attendance and record warmth. We also attended another N.E.Districts rally planning meeting while there. Plans are in place for a really fun time July 16-19. Please get your registrations and reservations in as soon as possible.

Another key date to add to your calendar is the annual District picnic to be held at our home in Monmouth on Saturday,August 22nd at noon. (rain date 23rd).

Jim and Linda Cyr (Chapter A) will be hosting their annual picnic at their home on the lake in St.David on August 8th this year.

There are a couple of positions open if anyone is considering becoming more active in the GWRRA. We need an Assistant District Director and a District Rider Education Director. Please contact me if you think it is something that you may be interested in. I will be happy to answer any questions about either position.

All the chapters have full ride schedules planned. Please check the websites or contact the directors for ride and activities dates.

Till next time, ride safe and have FUN, Ed & Barb Mushlit. GWRRA Maine District Directors

Safety tip is T-CLOCS, it is very important to keep your ride safe for you and everyone around you.

Please check the website for changes made to the ride schedule.

We ended our ride by stopping for an ice cream at John's in Liberty.

Next meeting will June 7th on a ride.  Till next time.  Ride Safe.  

Dennis & Sandra Wright, Director's Chapter C

                                         APRIL

The newsletter this month is somewhat short because we ended up not having a meeting at the Green Granite. Everyone devoted the entire weekend to making the event a successful one.

We would like to thank everyone that helped with the Winter Bash this past weekend. It was because of you and the time that you generously gave to help, another successful event has come to a close.

We had on Saturday afternoon the social hour before we all went out to
supper at the Muddy Moose. The winner of the gift certificate from the
Muddy Moose was Allen Cyr. We came back to the hotel and had the ice cream social, followed by the auction and games.

Something a little different this year was a virutal reality bowling
tournament with the Nintendo Wii. The prize for the high scoring couple was a free night's stay at the Green Granite. The winners were Roger & Marty Cruzan from NH Chapter A. High scoring single was a wooden clothes drying rack won by Kim Sherburne from Maine Chapter D.

Thank you to all who donated to the auction. Thank you to New Hampshire Chapter A for donating their 50% of their auction profits.

Congratulations to Nancy King who won the 50/50 of $110.00.  The door prize for the 2nd free night stay was won by Mary Tarbell, Chapter Director of NH Chapter A.  We also wish to thank all the other chapters that came and supported us and hope they had a great time as we all did.

We have a change of date on the Open House for Central Maine Powersports,  The date has changed from May 16th to May 9th so please be sure to change your calendar. We have committed to helping Craig with this event and the games that they are planning. They support us for our poker run, so we are now supporting them. We need all the bodys that we can get, so please come and enjoy the day and help out. We will get a flyer out to you as soon as Craig get the flyer to us. We know that this day conflicts with the annual Venco Wings ride, but at the time we committed to helping out, the two events were not on the same day.

A donation was sent to the American Heart Association in memory of Annette Crozier, we received a thank you note from her family, thanking the chapter for support in their time  of grief.

Birthdays:  John Honas – 23   Happy Birthday to you

Anniversaries:  Terry & Julia Belanger – 30  Happy Anniversary to you both

FOR SALE FOR SALE FOR SALE FOR SALE

2002 Honda Goldwing 1800, Illusion Blue, many extras, 55,000 miles, excellent condition.  Asking $12,500.00 or B.O.  Phone 207-346-3358

FOR SALE FOR SALE FOR SALE FOR SALE

1992 Gold Wing Champion Trike.  Kit Installed in March 2006 at 63,000 miles.  Present Miles, 92,300  4 ½ degree rake, Color Blue  New front tire and brakes in August of 2008.  Well maintained.  Asking $15,000  Call Art Lane 207-729-4730  or e-mail [email protected]

We don't want to forget our outing of bowling ( with the BIG balls) those suckers are heavy, and I mean heavy!  We had a great time even though some of us cannot bowl worth anything.Others can bowl quite well!

Safety Tip:

Riding season is here, watch out for sand on the roads until Mother Nature washes it off and the pot holes that the State might fill in. With these recents rains there has been a lot of washed out areas filled in with gravel, these areas are unstable as well as the shoulders of the roads.

The Memorial Weekend ride to the Amish Country has been cancelled. Therefore, that weekend is now open if anyone wants to get together to do an overnight or two. Any suggestions, give the ride coordinators a call.

Our May meeting is falling on a weekend that we have no ride scheduled.  We will be in touch about scheduling a meeting/ ride on Saturday May 2nd with a rain date of Sunday May 3rd. At a time and place to be determined.

See you then.   Dennis & Sandra Wright, Directors Chapter C

MARCH  

What's with all of this SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Enough already.........
Are you tired of shoveling and plowing???
Spring is just around the corner, whose corner we have not figured that one out yet.

We held our meeting March 1st at Sully's. (Last one there till fall)
Those present were John & Micki, Art & Mel, Larry & Rita, Richard & Nancy, Ed & Barb, Cheryl, Allen, & Dennis & Sandra.

Dennis welcomed everyone. Dennis opened the meeting by having a
moment of silence for chapter member Annette Crozier who passed away February 24th. Visiting hours will be March 10th from 2-4 & 6-8 at Jones, Rich & Hutchins Funeral home at 199 Woodford St. Portland. Mass of Christian Burial will be March 11th at 10:00 am at St. Joseph's Church, 673 Stevens Ave. Portland, & Interment will be on March 12th at 1:00 pm in Calvary Cemetery, South Portland.  Chapter members who are going to the visiting hours on March 10th will be meeting at the funeral home at 7:00 pm in Chapter vests and shirts for those who have them.  In lieu of flowers, we will be sending a memorial donation to the American Heart Association in memory of Annette.

The winter bash was briefly discussed for any last minute concerns or
suggestions. Remember to mark your calendar and make your reservations for a fun filled weekend. April 3rd, 4th, & 5th and come join in. We are looking for items for the silent auction. If anyone has anything bring it with them or contact us at [email protected] to make arrangements for pickup.

May 16th Central Maine Powersports will be having an open house. Chapter C will be helping out that day. There will be food, door prizes, bike rodeo and other activities throughout the day. We will be sending out a flyer in the near future. We will be setting up a table with GWRRA membership forms. We will be asking everyone to bring in a non perishable item. The food items will be given to the food pantry, Hope Haven in Lewiston. Please come and help out, this is a great way to show Central Maine Powersports support and to thank them for all they do for the chapter when we have our poker runs.
The poker run this year will be held on September 12th.. The ride schedule that weekend it set for a ride to Rangeley, but will be switched and Rangeley will be on the 19th. Nancy will be changing that on the web site.

March Birthdays: Richard King – 5, Jeff Doucette – 15, Duncan Saunders – 21
Happy Birthday to all of you.
There were no anniversaries noted for this month.    

We would like to thank Allen & Claudette Cyr for hosting a pot luck get
together with the theme of Food of Nations on February 21st. There was a great variety of food. We had a very nice surprise when NH Chapter A directors, Andy & Mary Tarbell showed up at the door along with Glenn & Laura Daniels. They brought delicious desserts to share.
Everyone had a great time playing with the Nintendo Wii, we had a bowling tournament and NH beat ME.  We didn't get a handicap( they bowl every month) looks like we need to practice and have a rematch at Green Granite.                     

Director's Corner:  MARCH 2009 DISTRICT NEWSLETTER

It' been a very long winter for most of you. I just flipped my calendar to March and realized that next week we can set our clocks ahead. Spring can't be far behind.
As most of you know, Barbara and I spent nearly six weeks in sunny Florida this winter. We were able to get in some fantastic riding while there. We visited and rode with some of the snowbirds and got to see some beautiful sites. We also met some new goldwing folks. One of the highlights of our stay was travelling on the bike down to Key West. If anyone plans to go there, we stayed at a wonderful little family run motel that was clean, comfortable and inexpensive. We found it thanks to Ed & Carol Barski's suggestion. It was close to everything just a block away from Duval St. where all the action is yet at the quiet end of town. It's called Spanish Gardens Motel.
Thank you to all the CD's and treasurers for getting the year end reports in. I will try and make the process easier next year by sending you copies of the required documents ahead of time. I will also plan to make time to update everyone on the newest guidelines from National.
The chapters have been busy during the off season planning their ride schedules and events. I hope that even through this tough economic period that folks can find ways to enjoy as much as possible. I think perhaps a little less emphasis on fundraising beyond what is
necessary may help alleviate some burden. We seem to always want to
invent new ideas to pick our own pockets. Don't get me wrong, it is still necessary to raise operational expenses and support some very worthwhile charities. Bottom line is that we still need to have some fun without breaking the bank.
Please be sure and check the district and chapter websites for the latest activity and events.
KEEP WARM AND STAY SAFE
Ed & Barb Mushlit, GWRRA Maine District Directors

Be sure to get your reservations and registrations in for the New
England Rally in July. The sooner you get them in, the better it is for the
ones that are coordinating the rally on knowing how many Wingers to plan for.
Don't forget bowling on March 21st. 1:00 at Spare Time Bowling in Lewiston and having supper at Mac's Grill for 4:00 PM. If you need directions, contact Allen at [email protected]

                                        FEBRUARY 

Here we are into February already. Ground hog day has come and gone
and we will have another 6 weeks of winter. (Did you really think it
would be any different?)

We had our February meeting at Sully's. Those present were Phil &
Elaine, John & Micki, Art & Mel, Bob & Cheryl, Richard & Nancy,
Allen & Claudette, Bonnie, Larry & Rita, and Dennis & Sandra.
Dennis welcomed everyone and then we all got right down to business
and started the meeting with discussion of the End of Winter Bash
coming up April 3rd - 5th . Thank you to all of you that have volunteered to make it another successful event.
● Allen has taken care of contacting the Green Granite and Muddy
   Moose and the contract for the weekend.
● Claudette will be in charge of games.
● We will be doing the ice cream social.
● Phil will be in charge of the silent auction.
● Bob & Cheryl will do the 50/50.
● Nancy & Micki will host the social hour.

Even though all of these activites have someone that is taking the responsibility of overseeing that portion of the event, we still need more volunteers to help throughout the weekend.

It is looking like the Poker Run will tentatively be held on September 12th. That weekend, the ride schedule is set for Rangeley . If it gets confirmed for that date, then the Rangeley ride will be bumped to the following weekend on September 19th. Confirmation will be in a future newsletter.

Allen is making arrangements for the afternoon of bowling. We will be meeting at Sparetime Bowling Lane in Lewiston on March 21st at 1 PM. Then we will go out to eat after. More info by next newsletter for directions to bowling lane and restaurant.

Don't forget to mark your calendars for a get together at the Cyr's on February 21st. The theme is Food of Nations. If you are planning on attending, call Claudette to let her know what you are bringing for a food dish. 207-375-4811

We have been hearing from the snowbirds and the wannabees. They are enjoying the riding.

Few dates to remember:

April 25th & 26th Rhode Island kick off breakfast

July 16th -19th New England Rally Seekonk, MA  The flyer was sent with last month's newsletter, if you need another copy, you can go to www.gwrra-maine.org this is the new website that replaces www.geocities.com/gwrramaine if you go to geocities one, it will redirect you to the new website.

February's Birthday's:  Kim Couture-23; Joanne Legere- 28  Happy Birthday to you both

Anniversaries:  Jack & Mariette Carey- 11; Maurice & Pat Daigle – 20; Earl & Dotty Weaver – 21    Happy Anniversary to you all.

Send us your birthdays and anniversaries so that we may share your special day.

Safety tip: keep snow cleaned off your roof, it will save you a lot of trouble from ice build up and water damage

Next meeting: March 1st at Sully's at 1 PM

Till next time    Dennis & Sandra Wright, Directors Chapter C

                                         JANUARY

Happy New Year to Everyone!

Wow!

Here we are at the beginning of a new year. Don't know where 2008 went, but it sure went fast. Let's hope that 2009 goes better even though it is off to a shaky start.

We had our first meeting of the year on Sunday January 4th at Sully's in Winthrop.

Dennis opened the meeting and welcomed everyone and wished everyone a Happy New Year. We welcomed newcomers to the chapter, Paul & Sue King from Oakland. Also present were John & Micki Poor; Art & Mel Lane; Phil Baker; Richard & Nancy King; Bob & Cheryl Norcross; Allen & Claudette Cyr; Ed & Barb Mushlit; Rita Moffatt & friend Larry; Dennis & Sandra Wright. We also had a brief visit from John Deblois who stopped in to say hi.         

First thing on the agenda was the upcoming End of Winter Bash the first weekend in April. (Doesn't that sound gooood! End of Winter.) Anyway, mark your calendars and make your reservations to have a fun filled weekend. April 3-5 2009 is the date. Just mention GWRRA or Maine Chapter C when you reserve your room. A flyer is attached
to this newsletter with information regarding the End of Winter Bash. Claudette made a detailed list of things that need to be done to make it another successful event. As we have mentioned in previous newsletters, we need everyone to help make this successful without putting everything on one couple. We are asking for your help. If someone can
be in charge of a certain portion of the weekend, please let us know. You will have help, you will not be expected to do it alone. All we are asking is for someone to be in charge of the activity. As of right now, Allen has already negotiated the contract with the Green Granite Inn, Set up the reservation for the restaurant. Claudette is going to be in
charge of the games, Dennis & I will take care of the ice cream social.
We need someone to step forward and be in charge of the silent auction, (you will have plenty of help), someone to be in charge of the Saturday afternoon social hour. (again, you will have help preparing the food items and getting everything ready. Someone for the 50/50. Then we all have the clean up afterwards.  If you can take charge of an activity, please contact us so that we may get the detailed list to you which will be of great help, knowing how much food and of what items to get. Etc. The cost of items bought comes out of the chapter money. Either email us or call us at 763-3862 if you can help us.

Treasurer's report was given by Cheryl. 

Fredericton, New Brunswick Canada is having a wingless weekend at the Ramada Inn, on January 23 – 25. for those of you who are interested in going. The telephone number is 506-460-5500. Be sure to mention GWRRA. Sure to be a fun time.           

A date needs to be set for the poker run this fall. Dennis & Allen will be talking to Craig from Central Maine Motor Sports to find out the date of the annual Toy Run and then the poker run will be the following weekend. The date will be in a future newsletter.

On February 21st. Allen & Claudette will be hosting a pot luck at 1:00 PM at their home in Sabattus. The theme will be Food of Nations. Everyone that comes will bring a food from a different nation. By next meeting please let Claudette know what you will be bringing for a dish. Claudette brought some suggestions and recipes if anyone would
like some ideas. The majority of the recipe ideas came from our very own GWRRA New England Yankee Style Cooking cook book.

The bowling get together will be sometime is March instead of February. The date will be discussed at the February meeting.

The ride schedule was discussed and is attached. It was decided back in the fall when the rides ended, that this year we would schedule rides on a Saturday and have Sunday as a rain date. Last summer we lost a lot of rides due to inclement weather. Hopefully this summer's riding season will be a lot better. We do have some overnights listed in the schedule this year besides the New England Rally in Seekonk, MA with Rhode
Island as the host state. Mark your calendars for July 16-19 2009. The New England Rally Flyer is on Chapter C website, www.geocities.com/gwrramainec Remember this is a tentative ride schedule and these are your rides and they are not carved in stone. If on an off ride weekend you are planning your own ride and want some company, let us know and we will send out a message to everyone.

Different chapter members have heard for all the snowbirds either directly talking to them or thru email. The weather has been great, riding is good. Everyone is doing ok.  We know when Jack and Mariette left for Florida, Jack was recovering from some medical issues and has been trying to take it easy so far this winter. We hope by the time they return in the spring, he will be back 100%

We had a 50/50 raffle which was won by Mel Lane. She got to take home $25.00.Congratulations Mel.

There is no Director's blurb this month as Ed & Barb have headed south for a few weeks 

January Birthdays and Anniversaries

Birthdays
Annette Crozier- 6
Barry Geddis-6`
Earl Weaver- 12
Judy Saunders- 16
Polly Trepanier-23
Julia Belanger-26
Happy Birthday to you all.

We have no anniversaries listed this month. If you would like your special day noticed, please let us know, We would love to share it with everyone.

Safety Tip: Mother Nature has given us quite a bit of snow and ice so far this winter.  With the temperatures all over the place, watch out for black ice on the roads from the melting snow as it refreezes when the temperatures drop.

Next meeting will be on Feb. 1st at 1:00 at Sully's.  Hope to see you all there.
Dennis & Sandra Wright, Directors Chapter C