Scooters of Bellingham

A few hardy souls rode to the meeting!

GREAT TURNOUT!

In attendance; Orin, Jeff, Mary, Rudy, Craig, Tom, Dorcie, Todd, Bill, Judy, Sheila, Coll, Larry, Louise, Dan, Rob, Sandy, Fred, Brooksana and Jason.

We had THREE hard-core riders who showed up on scooters with the temp hovering around 40°F.

THE CLUB’S ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY will be held in two weeks, on Saturday, 12/3 @ 6PM – Jana and Skyler’s home again this year. Please bring a food item – hot or cold, not complicated, easy to nosh on. There will be an optional gift exchange which must be a scooter- and/or Italian-related item, NOT TO EXCEED 15.00 IN VALUE. The club will provide beer and wine.

JASON IS OPEN FOR SCOOTER REPAIR BUSINESS and you should contact him directly for an appointment, He will also have a selection of tires on hand.

Sandy suggested we should have a SCOOTER/PROJECT BIKE TO RAFFLE for HAMSTER RUN SEVEN.

Dorcie gave our FINANCIAL STATUS and we’re in good shape going into next season.

We discussed and decided NOT TO HAVE A CLUB MEETING IN DECEMBER, and will resume monthly meetings in January.

WINTER SCOOT REPAIR CLASSES were discussed and we will try to put together a couple after the holidays.

Respectfully submitted,
Tom Smith – SOB Secretary

Attending: Orin, Rob, Sandy, Jason, new member Bonnie

Tood and Dorcie were in Seattle visiting their new grandchild. Congratulations!

Bonnie recently arrived from Ketchikan, Alaska and rides a Bajaj Chetak.

As the club has lost several members over the last year (Jen, Jeff &
Taira and Alison have moved away), the need to raise our profile and recruit new members was discussed briefly. Plans are being made to participate in the 2012 St. Patrick’s Day parade; printing a card of flyer for distribution to members to place on scooters or give to riders would be a possibility. Lots of scooters are running around Bellingham.

Jason has left Motorscooters NW in Tacoma and is now living in Bellingham; he has a day job at Avenue Bakery, and looks to formally launch his scooter maintenance/repair business in the spring. In the meantime he still works out of Todd’s garage. He’s open to the possibility of doing scooter maintenance classes as was done last year, but Tom organized those… he or the club would need to make those arrangements.

Attendance at Sunday bowling has fallen off lately; it was suggested Sunday might not be a good day for people. Lots of clubs have successful weekly social gatherings on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so Orin will check with 20th Century regarding potential conflicts with league play. One is not required to bowl, and 20th Century serves beer and food.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,
Orin O’Neill
for Tom Smith
Club Secretary

Attending: Todd, Dorcie, Orin, new member Leslie, Coll, Sheila, Kathy (Tom could not attend due to personal reasons)

Rally wrap-up: Sold 63 rally packs (approximately 80 attended). Bank account ending balance slightly more than beginning balance after all bills were paid and monies received deposited (there will be a nice Xmas party this year). SOS Club donated $300, Solo Ninos SC donated $250, garage sale netted $500. Vespa Lynnwood donated LOTS of AWESOME RAFFLE PRIZES (buy stuff from them if you can!), which were a huge hit with all. So was letting people distribute their raffle tickets among the prizes they actually wanted. Promoting the rally early on Facebook was very successful, creating considerable buzz; lots of first-time attendees from Seattle and a big group from Victoria. Rides were universally praised, and the weather gods were especially kind. Bottom line: another smash hit.

Next year will see the 7th Hamster Run. A gambling/Vegas theme seems mandatory. Working title – Hamster Run 7: Hamster Royale (or Casino Hamster?). Making the big ride a Poker Run seemed a popular idea. We have until next year to work out the details.

Vancouver Rally: Worst SC Ever presents Royal Canadian Motor Scooter Portage 25, Sept. 2-5, 2011 (i.e., next weekend). Todd will lead a ride up on Saturday, Sept. 3, departing from the Bakerview Starbucks, 1031 W Bakerview Rd, @ 8:30 am and returning that evening. (Please remember, crossing the U.S.-Canadian border will require a passport, passport card or Enhanced Driver’s License) The Canadian dollar is worth $1.01 U.S. as this is written.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,
Orin O’Neill for
Tom Smith
SOB Club secretary

Meeting focused on the Rally – Only four weeks away!

Rally pack bags have been ordered.

T-Shirts are done and ready to go. Any club members who want a shirt e-mail me with your size, cost is 7.00 each.

Rally pins are done and will be picked up soon.

Bottle beer won over a keg for the rally, the selection will be local microbrew.

Raffle prizes are being collected by Dorcie and myself.

Rally Pack sales will be run by Fred and Sandy, Saturday morning at the meet ‘n greet.

Food servers @ Jeff and Mary’s Saturday evening—Rob, Rochelle, Orin, Collin, and Brooksana.

Saturday food set up and clean up crew—Jeff W., Taira, need a few more to sign up.

Todd F. is scouting out and mapping the long Saturday ride.

Jana and Skyler will be stuffing the rally bags.

-Tom Smith, SOB Club Secretary

Hamster Run VI was the main agenda item:

Rally Packs are still in the making, Brooksanna presented a couple of options. This year we will have 75 rally packs, still looking for some fillers. As usual a few folks take on too much for the rally duties, myself included, l need someone to help with the running of the games (Friday evening).

Meet and greet Friday 7/29 @ Chuckanut Brewery will be outside with beer, $4.00 pints and a variety of pizza slices, with a donation box. A brief ride will end up at Jeff and Mary’s for games and a bonfire.

Saturday meet and greet @ Zuanich Waterfront Park 9:00-10:30 am. Rally pack sales, donuts and coffee provided.

First ride will depart @ 10:30 – led by Tom and ending in Fairhaven. 12:00-1:30: Break at Hot Dog Stand (12th and Harris), lunch on your own.

Long ride will depart @ 1:30 pm – led by Todd and ending @ Jeff and Mary’s around 5:00 pm. Chill out and salmon feast will begin around 6:00 pm, hosted and sponsored by The SOB and SOS clubs.

Evening bonfire, raffle, awards, and possibly a few more games and sunset ride.

Sunday morning, breakfast provided “camp style” 9-10:30am @ Jeff and Mary’s.

Last but not least, CLUB YARD SALE is Saturday June 11th 8:00 am-12 noon at my house. Sale crew: Todd, Dorcie, Sandy, Craig, Jeff, Taira, and Orin. Any items you have to donate for the sale please drop off with me the prior weekend, June 4th and 5th between 4:00-7:00 pm, Grove St. & Broadway via the alley garage. I will mark items, just drop off clean please.

Mid-month ride will be Thursday June 16th. Meet up at Chuckanut Brewery, 6:00 pm
for social hour, ride will depart 7:00 pm.

Attending: Orin, Todd F., Jeff W., Taira, Larry, Fred and Sandy

Victoria Rally – If you’re planning on going and need a room, get in touch with Todd ASAP. A block of rooms has been reserved, and commitments need to be made.

Hamster Run VI – Info has been posted on the club Web site, and a Facebook event has been created (20 confirmed attendees so far). Please invite anyone you know on Facebook (even yourself!) who rides a scooter.

April Monthly Ride – It’s Sandy’s turn, she has selected Sunday, April 17. Stay tuned for time, meetup location and route.

Open house/BBQ – Scooter Barn/Vespa Lynnwood is having a scooter open house on Saturday, April 23 from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. Orin will lead a ride down if there’s sufficient interest; meetup @ Sehome Village Starbucks in time for a 10:00 am departure.

Respectfully submitted,
Orin O’Neill for
Tom Smith, club secretary

Good turn out for the meeting today, and a few faces we haven’t seen in a while.

Dorcie collected dues to add to the rally kitty, and an unexpected, generous check was presented to the club from the S.O.S. (Scooters of Skagit) club by Sheila and Coll, which will go towards rally expenses.

The Hamster Run VI Rally theme tittle was discussed and “Pirates of the Chuckanut” / “Hex of the Hamster” was approved for our rally July 29-31, 2011.

Assigned duties to date for the Rally are; Jeff R., and Tom (food committee), Sheila and Coll (rally pack sales), Todd F (ride planning). Dorcie is the Rally Chair this year and may contact you for duty, as it takes help from everyone to pull off a successful rally.

Mid month rides kick off in March – Rob B. is planning, announcing and leading the first ride of the season – look for his email for date and time.

Sandy will plan and lead the April mid month ride / Jeff W. will be backup if needed.

A two-stroke class will take place on a Sunday evening in March (date TBA) and we have room for one more, if interested contact me directly (tomsobvespa@gmail.com).

Spring cleaning – save items for our annual S.O.B. yard sale, which will be the first weekend in June 25% of funds raised will be donated to a local charity. The club members will nominate a charity of their choice and we’ll have a vote to choose a recipient of the donated funds at our club meeting in April.

Thanks to those who attended the meeting, and lets hope for some warmer riding weather.

Tom Smith – club secretary