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Friday thru Monday - May 28-31, 2010
For the seventh
annual event we decided to make a few changes. For the first time we
moved the Saturday activities to a dealership other than Capital Cycles
in Macon. This year we chose a new dealer a little further south. Yamaha
of Byron opened about a year ago and is a Yamaha/STAR exclusive dealer.
With the dealer being in Byron, we also moved the host hotel. A new
Quality Suites in Warner Robins opened about two months prior to the
event and was very happy to be our host hotel.
Attendance was
down a little this year. We only had 43 register prior to the event and
several of those had to drop out before the event started. But, even
with the lower registration we still had a good crowd. The new
dealership had several local riders attend the festivities there and we
had a few join us for the ride to Andersonville that were not
registered.
Much like last
year we had to deal with a "rainy weather forecast" that somehow never
really came to fruition. We enjoyed great weather all day Saturday and
as is the norm....it was HOT! Sunday's ride to Andersonville was dry and
the ceremony at Andersonville went off without a drop of rain. Again,
like last year we did encounter couple showers on the way back to the
hotel. The hardest rain was the last three or four miles to the hotel.
Most everyone got wet.
The forecast for
riding home Monday didn't look to good on Sunday night, but I think for
the most part everyone made it home with very little rain. We had a
couple light showers coming back to Atlanta. I'm not sure what our
visitors from Ohio, North Carolina and Florida encountered on their way
home.
We arrives shortly after noon on Friday and as usual the Ohio attendees
were already there. Upon arrival we opened the new Peach Room, got
the packets ready and did a little decorating. This year we also added
some tunes to the mix. Also this year's new Peach Room was much bigger
and allowed us to set out all the silent auction items. As participants arrived, they could come there to
pick up their packets, do a little visiting and view the auction items.. By dinner time we had a decent crowd checked in with many more
planning to arrive Saturday and Sunday. Around 6:00 we started getting
everyone together and headed to a nearby Buffalo's for dinner. We had
about 20 people participate. We had good food, good
service and a lot of fun. From there everyone headed back to the hotel and the Peach
Room for some socializing.
The Peach Room has always been the place to be in the evenings. This
year was not much different. It did seem a little quieter on this
Friday night. Most everyone who was there stopped by for a little while after
dinner before heading off to bed. It had been a long day for many of the
guest and a day of riding had taken its toll.
Saturday morning
we awoke to grey skies. On the plus side...it was not raining. We headed
over to Yamaha of Byron to set up. The dealership gave us the entire
front parking lot for our set up and the entire right side of the
building for bike games. As we erected our cover and easy ups and set up
the tables, the sun found its way through the clouds and the temperature
rose accordingly. Saturday's schedule was pretty much unchanged from
prior years.
First was a trivia ride.
The trivia ride was about a two hour ride and upon arrival back at the
dealership, the dealer had lunch ready. They provided Chick-Fil-A
sandwiches, chips, muffins and ice cold water for everyone. Immediately
after lunch was the the bike show. The silent auction items were
on display for bidding throughout the day. Once the voting for the bike
show closed we had our bike
games. By the time the bike games concluded it was time to do the 50/50 drawing,
the raffle items and announce the winners of the various days contests.
Awards were given and as we were finishing up we started getting some
BIG raindrops. Everyone pitched in and everything was broken down and
loaded up in a very short period of time. As everyone headed back to the
hotel, it rained for about 10 minutes and then it stopped. That was all.
Everyone seemed
to enjoy the trivia ride. It was nice and cool on some good roads
stopping first in Knoxville, GA. From there they headed over to the
grave of Benjamin Hawkins. From the grave on the river they headed to
Lane packing where they discovered some great peach ice cream and
cobbler. Much of the second half of the ride was through the peach
orchards and pecan groves of the area. This year the Trivia Ride was
included in registration and like in years past riders drew cards for
correct answers. We awarded $30 to the best hand winner and $20 to the
worst hand "winner".
Winner BEST HAND
- Tom McGowan
WORST HAND - Diane Hartman
The bike show
was also included in registration and as a result we had much better
participation this year. The Fayetteville chapter (304) headed up the
bike show again this year and did a great job. Awards were given for
first, second and third places in each class as well as for Best in Show
(Peoples Choice) and Dealers Choice. The awards this year were again
unique and followed the same theme as this year's shirts. A special
thanks to Jim Willing and Tom McGowan of Chapter 304 for running the
bike show.
Winners are listed below.
STOCK CLASS - FIRST PLACE - Mark Adams
SECOND PLACE - Jim Hartman
THIRD PLACE - Bill Thompson
SEMI-CUSTOM CLASS - FIRST PLACE - Henry Williams
SECOND PLACE - Preston Howard
THIRD
PLACE - Ralph Kafka
THEME BIKE
- FIRST PLACE - Rich "Mex" Gray
SECOND PLACE - Rick Campbell
PEOPLE'S CHOICE - WINNER - Henry Williams
DEALER'S CHOICE - WINNER - Henry Williams
Participation in the bike games was about the same as last
year with only three or four bikes in each game. Those who didn't
participate had a lot of run watching. First this year was the Slow
Race. More people tried this than any other game. Next up was the Ball Drop.
In the game four cones are set up and the passenger has to place a
tennis ball on each cone while the driver tries to stay close enough to
the cones and drive slow enough to allow the passenger to complete the
task. Last was the ring toss. This is also a game for a rider and
passenger. The passenger has to toss rings over cones that get further
and further away. Because we were running late and participation was low
we skipped the balloon toss this year. Engraved medals were given
for first, second and third places.
Winners were:
SLOW RACE -
FIRST PLACE - Doug Turco
SECOND PLACE - Preston Howard
THIRD PLACE - CHRIS
BALL DROP - FIRST PLACE - Mary Davis & Meilssa Davis
SECOND PLACE - Doug & Teresa Turco
THIRD PLACE - Bill Thopsom & Tim Lutz
RING TOSS - FIRST PLACE - Bill Thompson & Tim Lutz
SECOND PLACE - Doug & Teresa Turco
THIRD PLACE - Mary Davis & Melissa Davis
Barbara Campbell managed the 50/25/25 drawing, selling tickets all day long.
At the end of the day, when it was time to draw, she had sold $250 worth
or tickets. This resulting in two winner's shares of $62. Two tickets
were
drawn. The two winners were Harry Hyaduck and ??? (if you won the
second drawing let me know). Both winners
contributed most of the money back to Feed the Children. Thank you
Barbara for your time and effort and thank you winners for your
unselfish contribution to FTC.
The silent auction this year was our best ever. Rick and Barbara
Campbell collected items all year for this event. Barbara made signs,
voting cans and numbers to make bidding easy and eliminated all
confusion. The selection of items this year was outstanding. We had a
motorcycle wall sculpture, motorcycle wind chime, special veteran event
mugs, a motorcycle diorama, a framed military backpatch, a flag ring, a
custom framed photo of the winners bike, and the star of the items...a
flag flown in Afghanistan which was framed with a certificate. There
were other items as well. Each item was on display and you could bid by placing your name and bid
on a card and dropping it in the appropriate box. At the end of the day
we opened the boxes and the highest bidder got to purchase the item for
their bid amount. It is a fun way to do the silent auction because you
never know what the highest bid will be. All proceeds from the auction go to FTC.
All items were donated by Rick and Barbara Campbell, D&T Enterprises,
Maria Kohl and G1 Photography & Custom Picture Framing. Barbara put a
lot of work into getting all the items ready and displayed and did an
excellent job. THANK YOU Barbara (and Rick) and thanks to everyone who
bid on the items.
We also had
numerous items which were raffled. Raffle tickets were fifty cents each.
Many of the raffle items were donated by STAR Motorcycles and included
coffee mugs, coffee cups, shot glasses and tshirts. Doug and Teresa
Turco also contributed some motorcycle items. This was a lot better than
the koozies and valve stem covers we have had in the past.
The activities
at the dealership were now complete. Everyone headed back to the hotel
to freshen up before dinner. This year we had made
arrangements to dine at El Tapatio, a local Mexican restaurant. They had
a large meeting room for us...which we needed, as more than 40 people
showed up for dinner.
The food was good and the service was good as well. Food was a little
slow coming out for some, but getting forty orders out at once was
probably a little hard on the cooks. When dinner was completed we headed
back to the hotel and the infamous Peach Room.
Saturday night in the Peach Room this year was not as lively this year
as in years past. Still we had a great time. We
talked, got to know one another, told funny stories, and learned
funny things about each other. There was plenty of laughter. With an
early morning departure for Andersonville, many opted to hit the hay
early.
Sunday morning we assembled in front of the hotel for the ride to
Andersonville. When we pulled out we had about 35 bikes.
This day was like the previous day, as
we headed out. The skies were grey and the air was cool. Doug led
us again this year. Since we started from a new location the beginning
of the route was different, but we eventually ended up on the same route
we have ridden to Americus for the last six years. Other than one idiot
cage driver towards the back of the line, it
was a nice peaceful ride. A great time to think about the day and the
reason we were headed to Andersonville. Some say the ride is boring, and
granted, there is not much out
there. But if you just look around you see lakes and ponds,
farmland and fields. There really is a lot there if you look.
We arrived at
Ryan's for lunch a little after eleven. This allowed us plenty of time to have
our food and drink and still get to the park in plenty of time.
Several riders from the McDonough GA chapter met us there and increased
our numbers.
After lunch we
made a quick gas stop before lining up at the church for the
ride into the park.
At the 'staging
area' where we lined everyone up. As is our tradition, we put all our vets in front as a
position of honor. They are the men and women of STAR who have served
our country defending our freedom. This was their day and they should
lead us into the cemetery and the park that honors their fallen
brethren.
The feeling you get riding in to the cemetery is always one of awe. Nineteen
thousand graves are each marked with an identical headstone. The day
before a small American Flag was placed on each grave by the
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Just riding into the park and passing all those graves makes
you realize what Memorial Day is all about. After parking our bikes, we
made our traditional group picture and then headed over to the area where the ceremony
was to be held. Each year we preset a wreath in honor of our fallen
soldiers. We quickly found the wreath that our
Vets would present and made pictures with all our Star Vets around the
wreath. The band was already playing their music, so we hurried to
settle in and listen.
This year there were a large number of people there and by the time we
arrived there were very few chairs left. Most of us ended up standing in
the shade under nearby trees.
The ceremony is a little over an hour long. The ceremony started with a
selection of patriotic and spiritual music played by a military band.
This year the band was the Fort Benning Center of Excellence Band. After the
music, the ceremonies were opened by Brad Bennett, Superintendent
Andersonville NHS. There was an invocation, welcoming and recognition of
veterans and several short speeches by several dignitaries. The featured
speaker was Sergeant Major Patrick Henson, Retired Army. The speech this
year was very interesting and moving.
It was hot in the sun listening to the service, as it is every year.
This year the sun was beating down and the gnats were in abundance.
Again this year I write the same basic thing I write each year. But, each year I am even more convinced
how important our fallen soldiers are. As I sat there and listened I thought of the sacrifice
American soldiers have made and are still making on MY behalf and YOUR
behalf. It quickly becomes personal. I was so very aware that my endurance of a
hour of heat and humidity was nothing and could not compare to what our soldiers
endure. I was ashamed of the fact that most Americans see this weekend
not as a chance to honor these men and women, but as an opportunity for
self indulgence, forgetting that they are able to boat on the lake, have
a picnic and grill burgers, or
lay in the hammock sipping a cold beer, because somewhere a fellow
American was willing to lay down his life for our freedom. Yet, I was
proud, proud to be there, proud to be a part of a group that was willing
to give a little of our time to honor those men and women. As long as
our group attends this ceremony, I will sit in the hot sun or even the
pouring rain to honor the men and women who have died to let us be free.
Following
the speakers was the presentation of
wreaths. Each year we present a live wreath as STAR Vets. This year the
wreath was presented two of our Ohio vets, Bill Thompson, USAF and Rich
"Mex" Gray, USN. After the
wreaths, the ceremony was closed with a 21 gun salute and the playing of
taps. Taps always gets to me. I think of all the men and
women who have died fighting for freedom and defending our country over
the last 250 years. But beyond that, I think of all the parents,
husbands, wives and children who lost their children, spouses and
parents. We have to realize that the cost is even higher than the single
human life lost. The cost includes the loss to families, friends and
loved ones. How many times have taps been played? How many times has
someone wept as they heard taps played for their, child, husband, wife,
dad, mom, brother or sister? For us to remain free, it will never end.
We need to thank them all. They have all given so much.
With the ceremony ended, some needed to head back home, others
immediately headed back to the hotel and the remainder went over to the
POW museum to tour the facility. The museum provides a history of POW's
and their treatment throughout history. It really gives you an
appreciation for freedom and life. You get a really good idea of how war
prisoners loose all their freedom in an effort to preserve ours. With
the tours complete we decided to head back to the hotel. Skies were
darkening and the treat of rain became more real the later it got. We
hit a heavy shower about a third of the way home. It only lasted about
ten minutes but got us pretty wet. We never put on rainsuits. We had
mist and water from the road the rest of the way. About the time we were
kinda drying out it started looking bad. We were only about five miles
from the hotel. It started with a drizzle and the closer we got to the
hotel, the harder the rain got. By the time we arrived, it was a hard
downpour and we were soaked.
The event was now officially over. A few headed home that evening, Most waited until Monday morning. Those who hung around headed to
their room to dry off or freshen up. This year we decided to visit the
nearby Japanese restaurant for dinner. It was only a few steps from the
hotel. A few people stayed in and ordered a pizza but about 20 of us
headed over to Zen. After dinner we gathered in the Peach Room for the
last time. Things got a little rowdier this time and we hear some good
stories that had us laughing so hard we were crying.
Monday morning those of us who were left said our goodbyes. Some left
early and others later. Some trying to beat the predicted rain, others
trying to put off leaving as long as possible.
Each year, I look forward to this weekend. I anticipate it as much as
STAR Days and maybe more. It has a meaning that other events lack. And,
every year, I hate to see this weekend end. We always have a great time.
We make new friends, enjoy old friends and honor our Vets. We laugh, we
eat, we tell stories, we eat, and just simply enjoy life. It really is
all about friends. The riding of motorcycles is the conduit to making
friends...kind of a bonus. If I had to quit riding
tomorrow, I would hate it, but I know I will always have the friendships
and memories of these events. AND, in the process we honored those who
have served and are serving, those who have died and will continue to
die. To top it all off, we raised a little money for Feed the Children.
It was another win, win, win weekend.
Next year I suppose we will do it all again. We hope to make it even
better and we hope for a better turnout. I really wish the nearby STAR
members would participate more in this evenIt is as good as a Star-B-Q.
In fact I think it is better. As I said, it has meaning and a purpose,
but we still have fun. PLEASE, If you have ever been, plan on coming back.
If you have never been, plan now on being there. Go ahead and put it on
your calendar. Next year it will be May 27-30 (Friday through Monday). Make
it the one event you do on Memorial Day weekend. When something else
comes up...you have plans already. Don't miss it. You won't be sorry.
Chapter
Members Attending:
Doug & Teresa Turco
Gary & Maria Kohl
Rick & Barbara Campbell
Preston & Stephanie Howard
Rick Cothran
Rick Curtis
Henry Williams
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