The 2009 rally season is surely off to a great start!  The Florida District rally just concluded in Kissimmee, FL and it was quite a success.  If this is any indication of how the rest of the Region “A” District rallies are going to be, then we are going to have a fantastic season.

          Our congratulations to Ed and Jeanette Carr along with the entire Florida District staff for hosting an excellent rally!  There were some 42 vendors (which made for a great trade show), lots of food, a well-stocked hospitality suite, fun games, lots of prizes and of course the traditional GL 1800 raffle at closing ceremonies.  Total attendance was some 1,400 delegates, a great number under good circumstances and a fantastic number when the national economy is taken into account.

          There were a number of GWRRA dignitaries in attendance at the Florida rally; Ed and Linda Johnson, the National Directors of Membership Enhancement; David and Kathy Orr, National Directors of Leadership Training; Frank and Kathy Albert, Region N Directors; Ken and Rita Moffit, the 2008-2009 International Couple of the Year.  We also had the distinction of having 4 former International Couples of the Year, Tom and Cathy Peck, Bob and Juanee Barrington, Jim and Brenda Pennington and Jake and Joanne Jacob.  It was great to see all these folks seated together at closing ceremonies.

          We are now in receipt of the submission packages from each of the five Districts for the Region “A” Chapter of the Year.  The applications all looked good and it was a difficult decision as to who was the “best”.  After a thorough review of all the factors involved, we have selected a fine chapter from the District of Mississippi, MS-O (the Cheerios) as the winner.  Their submission demonstrated that MS-O is a chapter that exemplifies everything that we expect of an outstanding GWRRA chapter.  The formal announcement was made at closing ceremonies at the Alabama District rally in Pelham, AL on March 28^th.  Our “Congratulations” to the officers and members of MS-O and to the District of Mississippi on the occasion of this prestigious award!  See Bob and Karla Greer’s article in this edition for further details about the CHOY program.

          The Chapter of the Year program is something we’d like to encourage each District to participate in.  We are happy to say that each District in Region “A” submitted an application this year and as previously stated, all the applicants were fantastic, Unfortunately, only one chapter can be chosen to send forward to National, but we don’t want anyone to get discouraged because they weren’t selected.  Each chapter that submitted an application package is a true “WINNER”!  Thank you each for participating!

          We also had the pleasure of attending the Alabama District rally in lovely Pelham, AL over the weekend of 26^th-28^th of March.  Roy and Anita Fosnight along with the Alabama District staff hosted a great rally in a beautiful location in the hills of north central Alabama, just south of Birmingham.  The host hotel, the Comfort Suites was one of the nicest hotels we’ve stayed in lately.  There were lots of good restaurants in the immediate area and it was obvious that Pelham is an up-scale suburb of Birmingham. 

          The Alabama folks were up against a very threatening weather forecast for the entire time of their rally, with rain probabilities running at 100% for much of that time.  In fact, two nights of the rally experienced really nasty weather with strong thunderstorms, hail and high winds.  Nonetheless, Roy, Anita and their staff did not get discouraged, forging ahead with their rally in the face of it all.  Everyone had a good time in spite of the weather and attendance was very good.  The Pelham Civic Center was a nice facility with a great parking lot for the vendor show.

          They ran a nice hospitality suite at the nearby Holiday Inn and all the rally hotels were relatively new.  As noted above, we announced the Region “A” Chapter of the Year at the closing ceremonies (Mississippi Chapter “O”) and distributed lots of flyers for the Region rally in September at Dothan, AL.  We also had the pleasure of having Frank and Kathy Albert, the Region N Directors along with several members of their staff as guests.  There were many members of the Tennessee District in attendance as well.  Thanks to all who braved the bad weather and helped make the Alabama rally a success, and to Roy and Anita (and their staff) for pulling it off so well when the odds were against them.

          The next rally in Region “A” is South Carolina in Myrtle Beach, April 30^th-May 2^nd.  We know that Carl and Donna Blackston have a good one on tap and we are looking forward to it.

          Nan and I hope to see you at a GWRRA event soon,

Bob & Nan

        The "official" Region 'A' Rally season has busted out all over. That's about all I can say about the 2009 Florida District Rally tour. 1400 rally delegates. That's right 1400 which is about the average delegate number for this delightful rally. Vendors a plenty. There may me some economic difficulties in our country, but not at the Florida District Rally where delegates and vendors met with wild abandon. I think the vendors were waiting for the delegates and the delegates must have been waiting for the vendors because I saw some "serious" chrome-buying going on.  Delegates were swarming the vendor area and Florida provided them with about 42 primed vendors with anything you might want for your Wing or perhaps even riding attire. Congratulations to the District Directors Ed & Jeanette Carr and their very capable Florida Staff.  It's always nice to start out with a home run in the ole rally ball game. 

        On the Florida Tour home (Sunday) my co-rider Sue and Ray Erickson left the rally-site around 8:00 AM that morning with the weather in the seventies and clear blue skies. That lasted until we nooned in Perry, FL on US-19 at our favorite restaurant where we had a $5.00 sub.  Mighty tasty after a fun 4 hour ride.  As we left Perry the skies Northwest of us started to fill with clouds but the temp remained pleasant and the ride was just fantastic cause no body uses US-19 much in this area so we had the road almost to ourselves.  We stopped for fuel in Thomasville, GA on the GA/FL Parkway and filled up the Wings, which would take us on home without having to fuel again.  Not long after we rode the Albany, GA by-pass the clouds darken and we started taking a little liquid sunshine.  Man, we had ridden over 325 miles in very nice weather and the last 75 miles was very refreshing with "BIG" drops hitting on us from time to time.  We stopped and suited up because we didn't think Mother Nature was going to give us much of a break on the rest of the tour and that was about right.  The last 75 miles had some type of wetness to it but we were as dry as a bone on the inside of our rain gear, but mucho wet on the outside.  But hey what can one expect. After all what we ride are Gold Wings and there is wind and at times some wetness to enjoy.  I hope everyone made it home safely and we are already looking forward to seeing everyone again during the Region 'A' Rally circuit.

        Just arrived home today 03/29 from the Alabama District Rally Tour and what a super Southern Hospitality rally it turned out to be.  Many ladies dressed as Southern Belles and a few Gentlemen dressed as Confederate or Southern Gentlemen.  Fantastic rally.  Another home run by Roy and Anita Fosnight, Alabama District Directors, and their Southern Staff.  Yes, the weather forecasters really pitched gloom and doom on this rally, but Mother Nature blessed the rally days with no wetness and a lot of sunshine and a few clouds during the rally business days.  Sure there was a lot of Members that decided not to attend the rally because of the weather forecasters gloom and doom and even several vendors decided not to stay for the festivities, but the weather was very very nice and only rained during the night time hours.  You really can't ask for much more than that from the ole girl (Mother-Nature).

        As mentioned the rally delegate count was down, but the good times was certainly there and everyone I talked to had a great rally.  There was one couple that walked away with the $5,000 Grand Prize and I'm sure they are very glad they attended the rally.  Boy, I could have used some of that prize, but again I scored zero in that category.  I am sure one of the trike vendors is glad that he attended his very first Alabama rally.  He brought 5 trikes to sell and guess what.  He sold 4 of them right on the spot.  That was well over a $100,000 in sales for a rally that was supposes to be completely rained out.  Guess you just can't trust rumor mill, word of bad mouth and those dang weather forecasters.

        Next rally tour in Region 'A' is the South Carolina District Rally Tour and I hope to see many of you in Myrtle Beach.  Remember watch out for those darn weather forecasters.  After all they are just forecasters similar to fortunetellers perhaps.

Jim & Sue 

       What a great time we had at the Florida District Rally.  There was indeed something for everyone.  The only down-side was that I didn’t win the GoldWing they gave away.  Maybe next time.

       While Sharon was busy helping out here and there, I was observing new instructors presenting their first seminars for certification; nine in all.  This was a very ambitious seminar schedule for a district rally, but we accomplished all that we set out to do.  Doug & Sandy Gray deserve a hefty pat on the back for assembling such a highly qualified training team.

        We attended the Region Meeting on Friday morning and received a boatload of useful information.  Also present at the meeting were David & Kathy Orr, National Directors for Leadership Training; and Ed & Linda Johnson, National Directors for Membership Enhancement.  It seems that Region H is in high gear to take away Region “A”’s first place in total Leadership Training hours.  We’ll see about that!  I need to point out here that we (Region “A” District Trainers) are not putting on all these training programs just to rack up training hours.  We need to remain focused on our member’s needs and plan accordingly.  If we happen to accumulate some training hours and continue to show up on the top of the heap – good for us.  The other guys will just have to keep trying.  If they should ask, I’ll tell them how it’s done (a lot of hard work!).  With that I’ll just say “Thank you Trainers for all your hard work”.

       Next on the agenda is the AL District Rally.  Sharon and I are looking forward to another great time there.  If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and participate in another fantastic rally.

Dave & Sharon

2008 Region “A” Chapter Of The Year

is

Mississippi Chapter O, Picayune, MS

“CheeriO’s”

       Chapter Director, Patsy Kutcha, her staff and chapter members started preparing early in 2008 which paid off in their winning the 2008 Region “A” title. 

       This was the 2nd Year for this Chapter Of The Year Program which resulted in all five Region "A" Districts submitting their individual District winners.

    South Carolina  At the request of the SC DD, the 2008 SC Chapter Of The Year winner will be announced at the SC Rally.

       Congratulations to all of the above chapters for doing so much in 2008 and being selected as District Chapter Of The Year.  The packages were tremendously amazing and you are all winners. 

       We hope to see more and more chapters enter this competition each year as it continues to gain interest throughout Region “A”.  The Chapter Of The Year Competition is not intended to create extra work for the Chapter Director and Chapter Staff.  It is as simple as documenting all the fun & exciting Chapter activities that are already being done and submitting the Chapter Of The Year application.  There are several changes in the 2009 program from last year. The 2009 Chapter Of The Year Program and Score Sheet are available for viewing and download from the Region “A” Web Site under Membership Enhancement. Check with your District Chapter Of The Year Coordinator for more specific details or questions about this program.

       By the time this article is published we will have attended both the Florida and Alabama District Rallies for 2009.  So, we hope to see everyone in Myrtle Beach for the SC District Rally at the end of this month and in Hiawassee in June for the Georgia District Rally.  Let’s not forget to support Mississippi also this year as they move to Tupelo in October.

       And last, a bit of advertisement for Membership Enhancement Division, we would like to remind you that the 4 inch Membership Enhancement Division Patches are now available at GWRRA headquarters and can be ordered by calling Customer Service at (800) 843-9640.

Bob & Karla