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STAR Touring and Riding Chapter 239

12/19/2009

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

"Oh the weather outside is frightful,
but the fire is so delightful.
But since all have to vote,
Let it snow, let it snow let it snow.

There's really no sign of stopping,
so in our cars we're hopping.
Unless Rosie say's the meeting's no-go
Let it snow, let it snow let it snow.

When we finally cast our votes
how we'll hate going out in the storm.
But if we all eat our fill,
all the way home we'll be warm!

Now the fire is slowly dying
and my friends we're still goodbye'ing
Is the meeting still really a go?
Let it snow, let it snow let it snow."

(Apologies to lyricist Sammy Cahn and the composer Jule Styne)

11/11/2009

Veterans Day 2009

QuickImage I met up with Munds and Doreen just as they were getting ready to leave the DD parking lot and we headed over to the Cushing Memorial.  We met up with Don and Judy MacNeill and the rest of the Framingham Veterans.  The weather was surprisingly mild - we were all pretty comfortable riding.  Thankfully, no rain/drizzle or biting wind.

After the first ceremony of the day we were joined by Peter Richardson who rode along to make up the three bike escort.  At one of the later ceremonies, we met Pete's wife, State Rep Pam Richardson.  

Don, Munds and I made up the firing squad at each of the ceremonies at each of Framingham's memorials.  It was nice firing the new M1's - almost no misfires.  Some of the volleys were so well executed, you'd thing we had trained for them.  At the Courthouse (the imfamous 'shoot the parrot' stop), Doreen was asked to lay the wreath at the memorial.

Because of the construction at Framingham's Memorial Hall, the day's ceremonies started and ended at Cushing.  Munds, Doreen, Don, Judy and I decided to call it a day and skip the speeches in the Cushing Chapel.  It was great supporting the Framingham Veterans on their day, though it would have been nicer if we had more bikes attending.

11/07/2009

Toys For Tots

A few brave souls ventured out in the cold for one of the last rides of the season, and Jack Mooney was there to catch it all.


09/28/2009

Steaming Tender

What a terrific turnout for the Ride to Anywhere on Saturday.  The Steaming Tender Restaurant in Palmer MA, noted by Bob Bolandrina as the "often ill-fated" ride which "holds the record for the most rescheduled ride in Chapter history", had once again been canceled in August due to rain! So this was the perfect opportunity to make it our destination for this day. We gathered at RedStreak Motors on what was a brisk, but clear morning and most of us wore layer upon layer of clothing to keep warm. We departed at 10:30 AM. Our ride captain, Ray led us from Marlboro on a very nice route that took us through Shrewsbury, W. Boylston, Sterling and Princeton to our first stop at the DD on Rte 122A in Rutland for coffee, snacks and warmth. From there, we traveled many more scenic roads to Barre and into Ware (where?) where we made a rest stop at the Friendly's in the center of town for a quick stretch. We arrived at The Steaming Tender about 30 minutes later. After checking out some of the train cars on display in the parking lot, our group of 15 were seated in the indoor dining area where we had a very nice, relaxing lunch. Through the windows we could see several trains, some passenger and some freight, pass by during our meal. And the food was delicious as usual. We left the station and began our journey back, traveling Rte 20 most of the way, until we got to a gas station at the intersection of Rtes 20 and 56 in Oxford. A few of us gassed up and we all chatted for a while, the weather still nice. Some said their good-byes at that point and others made a stop at MotorSports International in Auburn before heading for home. From start to finish, Jack Mooney took video, both during the ride using his handlebar cam, as well as at all of our stops. The video came out great and is really fun to watch. Thanks, Jack!

Although a bit chillier than we would have liked, it did turn out to be the better (and drier) of the 2 weekend days giving Chapter 239 members another good day of riding.


09/22/2009

Myricks Fly-In

The EAA Chapter 196 annual Myricks fly-in this past Sunday was yet again a BEAUTIFUL day for riding and flying.  Since I flew in instead of riding I can't comment on that part of it, but here is a great video that Jack took once they got there:


09/13/2009

Vanilla Bean

We had great weather for a great ride today.  Jerry showed up at our house to take Alyssa so Cida could go with me, then we headed over to the Marlborough VFW.  From there we met more people, including some Worcester folks, at Dunkin' Donuts in Mendon, then headed down to Vanilla Bean for a fun lunch.  After lunch we headed over to Rendevous Leather for some leather and ice cream.  Alyssa rode with Munds on the way home since Jerry was so close to home.  Within an hour of getting home it rained a bit but it was perfect weather up until then.  If anyone has anything to add or pictures let me know so I can update this.

See Jack's video:


08/23/2009

NorthEast Star-B-Que


 We're home safe and sound with tons of new memories of this years NorthEast Star-B-Que.  We all had the honor of having our Italian counterparts join us for the fun.  There were 9 Italian STAR members who joined us this year.  Although it was very rainy for most of the event, we did manage to get a bit of riding in and pull off the Bike Rodeo, a STAR B QUE staple.  The food was great and the company was even better.  There was me and JD, Donna and Jerry, and Jack and Jeanne who represented Chapter 239.  We partied till midnight and had a great time.

Awards were handed out for the Bike Rodeo and I got 2nd place; a huge red trophy.  I was also honored with a stunner; The Order of the Star Award.  Jody also received this award.  Alan and Ginger Cease, Debbie and Ron Greene were there from National.  Mike Mullen presented me with this award as his last official act as NorthEast Regional Director.  He is stepping down, rather sideways into a State Directors' role which he is looking forward to with great anticipation.

There were many photos and tons of laughs with great friends, new and old.  This is an event that no one should miss.  It was a blast!!!

I will be gathering more information about the Star Days for next year.  This will be the first one we've ever attended and we are looking forward to attending.  Nearly everyone in attendance at the Star B Que was talking about how much they were anticipating the Star Days event, practically in our back yards.  Very do-able with about an 8 hour drive.  Our initial planning is to take week for vacation.  By the looks of the calendar for 2010, our Veteran's Ride will fall somewhere around the 17th leaving plenty of time to head down after the event for Star Days on July 21 - 23.  But they are just that...initial plans.  Things do change.

So, that's it for now!  I had a long nap when I got home and now we have to head out to the store for some errands.

Talk to you all real soon!

08/16/2009

Ride For Kids


 A rain or shine ride is always nicer in the shine!    And this year, that is exactly what we had for The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation's "Ride for Kids".
Today's event was attended by approximately 130 motorcycles. Among the riders were Chapter 239 members Bob B, who brought with him an impressive $700+ in donations, Munds & Doreen, Fran & Ray and Stan. Joe Girard was also on board as was Pickle from Chapter 291. We found out later that Bob's friend, Scott took part in the ride with his passenger, Savi.

This was another fundraising success and the donations totaled more than $40,000! All this money will be used to help find the cause of, and a cure for, brain tumors in children. Not only was this certainly a worthy cause, this was also a terrific ride. The police from several Worcester County towns did a magnificent job escorting the ride. Bob B and Pickle assisted as volunteer blockers at a couple of intersections. Nice work, guys.   The very scenic route which took about 1 1/2 hours, was a great one. We ended up back at the staging location, the Walmart in Oxford, where lunch awaited. It was followed by the Celebration of Life. We heard from some of the very special kids that have been helped by all the money raised by riders over the last 10 years. And hearing from the families of these kids never fails to pull at one's heart strings. They are so grateful for what we all do and we are very happy to do it for them.

All in all, this was a great day for everyone.

Next year, this ride will be at a new location: Tantasqua Regional HS in Fiskdale MA.

08/15/2009

Hopkinton State Park


Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day for a bunch of us to show up in cages and boats at Hopkinton State Park.  We had plenty of food, grills, kids, and fun.  Lots of pictures around too.  And hey, it was way too hot to ride anyway!

After spending the day at Hopkinton everyone came back to Bill & Cida's where we did Brazilian BBQ right.  With beer.  Tori and Olivia slept over with Alyssa and they and Jared continued the fun until late on Sunday evening (all without breaking anything major or burning the house down.)

08/08/2009

Pepperel Airport and Joeys Diner

What a great day for a ride.  Ray thanks for being our road captain again for this ride.

Bob B. surprised everyone by showing up at RedStreak this morning to show off his new bike. I must say it is a very good looking ride and it should bring him years of pleasure.

After checking out Bob B's new ride and saying our good-byes, Fran, Ray, Doug, CC, Donna, Jerry, JB, Rhonda, Jerry's brother, Jack, Jeane, and I headed out for the Pepperel Airport to watch the sky divers in action. CC and Jeane want to go back and sign up for a tandem jump. Doug now knows what he can get CC for her birthday. DOug, hint, hint. One of the sky divers went a little off course and landed in some brush near the woods but with a little assistance he was able to free himself from the brush. He appeared to be OK but his pride was a little bruised from the incident.

After watching the sky divers for a while we all mounted up and headed for Joey's dinner for a late lunch. The food at Joey's was good a usual and we all enjoyed a few laughs while eating lunch. After lunch we headed back home with a couple of stops for cigars and gas. JB, I hope you enjoy the cigars.

We stopped on Rte. 70 in Lancaster to say our good byes before splitting up and heading for home. Jack and Jeane headed home via Rte 117 while the rest of use headed home via Rte. 70. Fran and RAy peeled off and headed for home, Jerry, Donna, Jerry's brother, JB, and Rhonda kept going on Rte 70 towards Worcester, while Doug, C, and I turned off on Rte 62 towards home.

All in all it was another good day of riding with good friends. I believe everyone had a good time and everyone enjoyed watching the sky divers. CC and Jeanee, let us know when you want to go for your jump and we will all be there to support you. Bob, good luck with the new ride and I look forward to riding with you again.

08/01/2009

Saturday Ride

What a great ride today with good friends (Jerry, Donna, JB, Ronda, Stan, Fran, Ray, Munds and Doreen). We decided to forgo the trip to Kimbals Ice Cream in NH for the Hartford Chapter's open house. Thye were very excited to see us and they thanked us for coming to the open house. Jerry, thank you for volunteering to be our road captian today. You did an awesome job without any circles:))  Thanks also to Munds for filling in a tail gunner. We had a few stops on our tip there and back and had a lot of laughs during those stops. We showed Munds where we were going to tak him for his birthday had he not been kidnapped and dragged to the concert.

Again thanks to everyone who rode to the open house today for making todays ride fun and enjoyable.

Wayne

________________________________
 
"Ditto" what Wayne said.    The day was just as good as he described.  Jerry, you certainly did do a terrific job leading us to our destination and back. A very nice route at a very nice, leisurely pace. And Munds, great job tail gunning.

It was a fine day for a ride and a very good idea to attend the Chapter 168 Open House at Columbia Motorsports. And we did manage to find ice-cream not only at the end, but shortly after our arrival when the ice-cream man stopped by at the Open House. So some of us had ice-cream twice yesterday!  We really enjoyed the day and each other's company. And from the looks of it, not only did we pick the better of the 2 weekend days to ride, but the Hartford Chapter picked a good day for their event. Just checked the radar and the rain is headed this way.


Fran

07/26/2009

Sunday Riding


We decided to throw caution to the wind and head for Curtis'. Munds, Mark, Stan, Lilian, Jerry and I rode up with Rosie and JD following in there car because JD had a problem with his medication. Torri and Abby rode with Jerry and I. As we pulled out of the VFW and headed up the road, Fred and his son passed us so we pulled over and waited for them to join us. It was great to see Fred and his son.

Before we headed out, we had breakfast at the VFW. Today was Munds birthday so the waitress, Shelia, made Munds a birthday crown out of a paper plate which he wore during breakfast and then again during lunch a Curtis' We also sang Happy Birthday to him before we headed out.

The ride to Curtis was great and the weather was even better. We has sun most of the way up with a few clouds here and there. Rte 62 has been almost completely repaved however there was on section that was torn up and it was all dirt but other than that the trip was good.

Lunch was good and the weather was hot and sunny. After lunch we headed over to Rte 12 for the ride home. Again the weather cooperated most of the way home. We rode in sun until somewhere around Princeton, MA where it started to cloud up. Somewhere after Gardner and before Sterling the Sky opened up like last years ride for probably 15 to 20 minutes. We eventually out ran the rain and stopped at Sterling Ice Cream to say our goodbyes. The rain started to catch up with us but it never did and we had sun the rest of the way home.

All and all it was a great day of riding with the exception of the 15 - 20 minuets of rain on the way home. Again, I am sorry that I did not call you back.

07/20/2009

BVQ Ride


 
The 3rd Annual BVQ Ride has come and gone, but it will be remembered as a very successful event. A forecast of morning showers for Saturday forced us to reschedule to our rain date of Sunday, July 19th (the following day) and we got the word out as best we could. Even with the change, we had a very respectable turnout of 41 bikes. And the great weather we ended up with was an added bonus.

The morning preparation at the staging area went very smoothly. Chapter members came early to get things set up. Each person did their part to contribute to the effort "behind the scenes". We are getting better and better at this every year.

Bikes began arriving right on schedule at about 9AM. It was so nice to see some faces that have been greatly missed by the chapter as many of our rides may conflict with personal calendars and family & work time. Lancaster John was there and so was Pankey. Members of several STAR chapters came in support. We had some very interesting machines roll in, including a Boss Hog and a custom trike.

A sincere Thank You to Chapter 239s sponsor RedStreak Motors, particularly Charlie, who gave us the use of the parking lot as well as the area at the rear of the building which we used as an entrance. It really made a big difference from last year by keeping the arriving bikes more in line. After a safety briefing by Ray, our Road Captain, riders took to their bikes. The departure was picture perfect.

Our Thanks go out to the Middlesex County Sheriff's Motorcycle Unit. They really made this riding experience a pleasure. We appreciate all the help they provided to keep us safe and to keep the group moving at a very comfortable pace. There was no rubber banding to speak of. We rode tight and in good formation and left no room for any vehicles to infiltrate. Bob & Sue followed behind in their 4 wheeled vehicle, and the police cruiser with blue lights flashing, brought up the rear. The line of bikes was impressive. Full size American flags were mounted on the first few bikes at the front, as well as on the last few at the back. Many people waved as we went through their towns. Yes, there were a couple of minor hiccups & a few miscommunications enroute, but no "heckawe" turns were needed to get us back on track. Whew!

The festivities at the VFW were enjoyed by all and included raffles, giveaways, good food and even a brief visit by the ice cream man.

Thank You
to VFW Post #638 in Marlborough for letting us use their facility as our ride destination this year. Burgers and dogs on the grill, including other assorted fixins' made the BBQ just great. "Props" to both the set up and cooking crews that arrived at the VFW in the morning to make sure everything was ready for the riders as they pulled in after the 1½ hour ride. A superb job of grilling, once again.

The donations from the day of the ride along with the money that had been previously donated, comes to over $2,300, ALL of which will go directly to aid our military veterans. Our slogan for this year was "Give Something Back, Support our Veterans". Everyone who was there on Sunday did just that.
And of this, we can all be proud.

The members of Chapter 239 would like to thank all those who participated in this event. Together, we were all able to make this day a complete success.
We hope to see you all at the 4th Annual BVQ Ride in 2010.

07/20/2009

BVQ Ride

To everyone that helped make yesterday's BVQ ride a success I want to personally thank each and every one of you. I would attempt to list everyone's names but I am sure I would miss someone and the last thing I want to do is offend someone.

To everyone who helped plan this ride over the course of the year and could not make the ride, thank you.

I would like to thank Bev and Charlie from RedStreak Motors in Marlboro for donating their facility and the food for the BVQ ride. I would also like to than the Italian American War Veterans (ITAM) Post 45 of Marlboro for their donation of $1,000.00 dollars. Thank you to the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Post from Marlboro for their donation of $500.00. Thank you to Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) post 638 of Marlboro for donating their facility and drinks for the bar-b-que following yesterdays BVQ ride. Finally a big thank you to the Middlesex County Sherrif's Department's motor unit for escorting our ride and ensuring that all the riders were safe during the ride.

To all the Star chapters and other riders that came out for our BVQ ride, thank you as well. Please note that through your participation in this years ride we were able to surpass last years total dollar amount by over $800.00. Rest assured that all this money will be used to support the Bedford Veteran's Quarters (BVQ) and other local veterans causes.

With eveyones helps again next year, Chapter 239 is looking forward to making next years ride even bigger and better than this this years ride.

Again, a huge THANK YOU to one and all. This way we are one of the best chapters in Star!

07/20/2009

3rd Annual Ride for Bedford Veterans Quarters

Again, another awesome event all due to the extraordinary efforts of this unbelievable chapter.  I'm kind of in a state of happy tiredness....like the day after Christmas when all the gifts have been opened and it's time to reflect.  Now it's clean up and reorganizing and back to business!  But I want to say a HUGE thank you again to everyone who made this event possible:

To all our chapter members...right down to our STAR KIDS.....EVERYONE's efforts were reflected in yesterdays success!!!!

To all the New England Chapters who drove the distances, both near and far....without them we would not have been as affective.

To Red Streak for all of their support, for giving us the use of the parking lots and for their finacial support to make this event the success that is has come to be.  I want to personally thank Charlie (and his daughter) for coming by and partying with us.  That was an unexpected pleasure.

Speaking of an unexpected pleasure....FRED!!!!!  What an awesome surprise!  And thank you for the presentation of that flag.  That will forever stay with this chapter.

To Ray and his contingent of Troopers - for organizing such an awesome route and ride.  Even with a few minor adjustments to the original ride route, without their direction and Ray's  "sence of direction", we would all be still wandering the back roads of Carlisle looking for the Chief of the "heckowee" tribe!  It was very well organized and coordinated and the timing couldn't have been any more perfect.

To the VFW hall for letting us take over their parking lot and bathrooms.  I heard back from quite a few people stating that seemed to be a much better place to hold the event.  Thank you Wayne!

To all the COOKS!!!!!!  Yikes!!!  the event would be NOTHING without all of you who took part in that effort.

To Bill and Cida for opening up their home for the "after party" so we can scare his neighbors once again!....thank you.

I know I'm probably missing someone or something....But for what it's worth Thank you again....EVERYONE!\

You ROCK!

07/12/2009

Brenton Point State Park

QuickImage
It was a very full day yesterday. Most of us gathered at the VFW in Marlboro, some arriving early for a pre-ride breakfast. We departed by 8:30AM. About 15 minutes into the ride, a mechanical situation developed. While waiting at a traffic light on Rt. 85 heading towards Milford, Wayne's bike decided it didn't want to make the trip. We limped him over to the corner gas station and hoped it was something minor, but the diagnosis was a dead battery. Fran called Jeanne with details of our delay and told her we would not be arriving at the pick-up point on schedule. Several members rode to find a store where they hoped to find a replacement battery. Not surprisingly, they came back empty handed as this was not an easy item to come by on a Sunday morning at a non-motorcyle supply facility. Wayne put his bike back together, then contacted Chapter 239s version of  AAA, Rosie & JD to request a rescue. The rest of us reluctantly took off with Wayne's blessing. We got a message later on that he made it home safe and sound. Good news.

We met our road captain, "Willie" Mooney and Jeanne, as well as Jerry & Donna and Danny Duda at the DD on Rt. 140 in Wrentham. Although we were going to have a much later start than originally planned, we decided to head for Newport anyway because, according to Jack, "it only takes an hour to get there from here, give or take 5 minutes"! Okay, Jack if you say so. We left Wrentham at 11:15AM and, after one 10 minute stop at DD in Barrington, arrived in Brenton Point State Park "one hour later".........at 2:30PM!?! :-O

The park was packed. Everyone and his brother was there as it was such a gorgeous day. Kites of all shapes and sizes were flying high. A beautiful and colorful sight. Doreen was loving it! We remained there for about an hour, then mounted up. We were 12 bikes and one trike. Ray noted earlier that Lillian was all smiles    on her 3 wheeler. We rode to The Topside on Bristol Bay for lunch, also packed, mostly with bikers. Our guys connected 3 tables and we all sat together outside in the sand with a view of the water and had a very nice meal.

Since it was pretty late in the day by then, it was decided before we left the parking lot that the quickest route would be to get on Rt. 95 to Rt. 495 and head to our homes that way. The weather was very cooperative for the whole day which is a good thing. We had a nice size group for the ride and that is always a plus.


Another successful annual Newport Ride with a great group of people.

Download File

06/20/2009

Connecticut State Ralley and Ride

QuickImage

Jeanne and I met up with Bob and Doreen on the ride out to Motorsports International. We arrived at about 9:00AM John and Rosie(1) were there with Dick Young and a few of the folks from the 291 chapter. After a few more riders showed up we had a total of eleven bikes. We left Motorsports at 9:30 heading south on Rt20, Rt169, Rt171, Rt198, Rt44,we picked up The Providence 353 chapter people about 10 more bikes and headed up Rt31, Rt84, Rt91 arriving at New England Cycle Center in Hartford at about 11:00 AM. They had an Ice Cream ride that started at 10:00AM and some of the chapters were already out doing it. We signed up for the BBQ and had few burgers and dogs and mingled around with the various chapters. Boston North was there Pioneer Valley and one of the guys we met at Americade Wild Willey the entertainer showed up for a few laughs. We also saw Bobcat from 449 and Mike from 387. Because of the threating weather conditions and the universal fear of getting wet we decided to bide our time and after saying all our goodbys we gathered up with the Providence folks again and headed home. After a quick tour of the Hartford area we jumped on Rt83, Rt140, Rt190, Rt197, this was an awesome ride with some nice down hill twisties through some of the most scenic parts of Connecticut I had never been before. Thank you Dick for an excellent choice of some fantastic roadways. We continued on RT197 and picked up Rt16 In Dudley and rode into the D&D in Mendon and after a quick stop we all went our seperate ways home. Jeanne and I logged about 257 miles and never saw a drop of rain and when we got home the sun was shining and there were patches of blue sky. What a great day and a great ride we all had. Till next time.....

06/13/2009

Ride to Anywhere, 6/13/2009

QuickImage
 Looks like we lucked out and got the better of the 2 weekend days for our "Ride to Anywhere" on Saturday. Many of us gathered at RedStreak around 10 AM where employees were setting up for a sidewalk sale. Rosie(1) would stay behind and lend her assistance for the day. The rest of us headed out to do a pre-ride of our BVQ Ride route so that members could become familiar with it. Ray led the way. At the halfway point, we made one stop in Acton at a DD for a coffee break, then continued the rest of the pre-ride. But instead of taking it all the way to what will be our destination, the VFW in Marlboro, we veered off and rode over to Sterling Airport where we watched the sailplanes. Hey, where'd Bill go? Did he leave without anyone noticing? Hmmmm.     After watching some of the flight activities, Bob B also had to leave us as he had a family commitment in the afternoon. Everyone really enjoyed watching the gliders taking off and landing. Look, here comes Bill.........in his airplane!! Seems he dropped out of the ride line earlier when we were on Rte 62, headed over to his airport in Stow and switched toys. Very cool!     After a nice time spent at the airport, Ray led those of us who were still on motorcycles out to Leicester for lunch at Hot Dog Annie's on Rte 56. Dogs and burgers all around and yummy cream soda. After lunch we headed back towards Sterling once again. In the center of town, Fran & Ray broke off and the other group riders continued on their way towards home. It was a terrific day, plenty of sunshine to go around and not one heckawee turn to speak of!

05/31/2009

Ride To Anywhere... and Everywhere

QuickImage  First, let me thank everyone for the chance to "excel" as your reluctant Road Captain for Sunday's Ride to Anywhere. After our breakfast at the Marlboro VFW, there was a lot of discussion on how to get to our destination, The Bridge of Flowers. I spoke up and suggested a route we have used before on our way to Curtis' in Putney, VT. Bill was right, don't say anything or volunteer, because the next thing I knew I was appointed ride captain.

The ride to the Bridge of Flowers was really nice and the sun was out all the way. We only had one slight "Where The Heck Are We" moments but quickly found our way to our destination. After walking the bridge, which had a lot of interesting plants and bushes growing all over it, we stopped and had lunch.

As we were eating lunch the rain started to fall but let up as we finished our lunch. We all headed over to our rides to wipe them down, all except for me. It seems that I parked my ride under a small tree which sheltered it form the rain. As everyone else was wiping down their rides, I gave mine a courtesy wipe down as an act of solidarity.

There was a lot of discussion on who was going to be road captain on the way home and what route we would take. Finally Munds stepped up and started out as road captain but after about a mile I took back over. We started our own " Where The Heck Are We" tribe on the way home and I was appointed "Chief". We finally made it home safe and sound after several wrong turns and rain showers. Oh did I forget to mention that we hit rain on the way back home. We would ride for a few miles in the sunshine and then a lot more miles in the rain. Those of use with fairing on our rides, Munds and I, stayed pretty dry and the others, well you know. Bill, JD, get a bike with a fairing.


I took one road just so that we could all see the rainbow, right Doreen?

All and all it was a great day of riding with an even better group of friends. We had a lot of laughs and traveled some roads that we probably could never find again. We also had a new member to our website and a potential new member, John Burns, ride with us for the first time. I hope that the rain and our antics did not frighten him away.

Ray, you have my vote to remain Ride Captain.

05/26/2009

Memorial Day Escort

QuickImage Riders met at the Dunkin' Donuts in Framingham around 7:30 AM. It was a very nice turnout for this year's Memorial Day Escort. After spending some time admiring each others' flag mounts [nice mounts, Fran!], we unfurled our flags, mounted up and headed over to the staging area at the rear of Memorial Hall where we met up with the veterans. We lead the escort to several area cemeteries where wreaths were placed, we heard words of praise & thanks and a eulogy was delivered. At each location, shooters performed their duty to honor those veterans that have passed. The sound of Taps filled the air followed by our national anthem. Our route ended at the Framingham Memorial Building where a crowd had gathered. Cub Scouts lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance and several state representatives & councilmen spoke to all who were there. Those who participated in the parade, as well as the many people who helped organize the events of the day, were recognized and thanked. As always, it was a humbling experience. Being a part of this yearly event is our small way of expressing great appreciation to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. I am sure I can speak for every one of us who attended when I say how very proud we all are to have been a part of this important day.

05/24/2009

Flags at IC Cemetery

QuickImage  I would just like to take a minute to thank everyone who turned out to help our post place flags on the graves of Marlboro's veteran's buried in the IC Cemetery. Your help was invaluable and very much appreciated by me and everyone at the post. I would especially like to thank Fred who took the time to come and help as well. It was really nice to have the opportunity to talk with Fred and to ride with him again.

Again, thank you Rosie, JD, Munds, Doreen, Rosie(2), Peter, Tori, Bill, Jerry, Bob B. and Fred for all your help. I think I got everyone but if I did miss someone I am sorry.

Wayne Stanley, MSgt, USAF (Ret)
Commander
VFW Post 638
Marlboro, MA

05/21/2009

May Meeting

QuickImage Tonight was our monthly meeting at Red Streak.  If you're a member of the chapter you can find the minutes in the usual place on our Yahoo Group.  Pretty much the same as usual but this time Red Streak ordered us some pizza.  A bunch of discussion about our BVQ ride which is coming up fast!  No riding tonight.

05/02/2009

Presidents Ride

QuickImage A great ride today, our first planned group ride of the season, the President's Ride. The day started out with early morning rain for some, and mist & clouds for others at their respective homes. But as the sun slowly peaked out from behind the clouds, roads began to dry up which helped many of us make the decision to head out and give it a shot. We met at RedStreak at the scheduled time of 10AM. There were 12 bikes in all and 15 riders. Unfortunately, Doug was unable to join us as his bike became disabled at a local gas station and even with the help of several chapter members, no luck getting it started. We hope Doug's bike will be back in action for the next group ride. Although the original plan was to head up north to Curtis' BBQ, the still iffy weather dictated and Rosie reverted to her Plan B. She lead us on a terrific route to Lester's Roadside BBQ in Billerica for some yummy ribs, chicken and much more, followed by a stop at Kimball Farm in Carlisle for ice cream. And there was plenty of ice cream. Most of us ordered a small which turned out to be a portion size that would choke a horse! We saddled up and headed out for the final leg. Riders pealed off as they approached their homebound routes. The weather, although gray and a bit chilly to start, turned bright and sunny. A beautiful day, a great ride, delicious food and all with a super group of people. We couldn't have asked for a better outcome.

04/20/2009

Nick Butler Ride

QuickImage  I wanted to say a special thanks to all how participated and assisted in yesterday's Nick's Run.  It was a wonderful day, a bit chilly to start but the day warmed up great.  There were a lot of bikes for one of the season's first open rides.  There was only two (that I know of) issues with bikes; one lost their shifter and one lost all transmission fluids.  Both had to be toted to safety by the Big Red Rescue Rig.  But all in all, we had a great day.  We started the day out by having breakfast at the VFW hall just down the road from the ride staging area and ended the day with sunny warm skies and a great ride through some awesome back roads.  We road by Nick's memorial on the corner of Horse Pond Rd. and Rte. 20 in Sudbury.  Most of us reved our bikes or beeped our horns as we rounded the corner past the memorial where Nick's family was standing and waving.

04/16/2009

April Meeting

QuickImage This was our first meeting of the year at Red Streak, absent our president.  Wayne(3) did a fine job of running a short meeting.  Jack did a great job designing a logo for the t-shirts we're going to print up.  We discussed a few more details about the BVQ ride and that was about it.  A few brave souls rode over but unfortunately it was just too cold and raw to ride for most of us.  Hopefully next month!

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