Barry welcomed everyone to the April Chapter meeting and handed straight over to Charlotte Campbell. Charlotte gave a short talk about the Children’s Heart Unit Fund (CHUF) and the fantastic work that they do over at the Freeman Hospital. We have a ride-out to the Freeman in July to support CHUF. For more details on CHUF, click here.
Barry then whipped us through a quick commentary of a few events and activities that we convened recently, including two Road Crew-led rides from JH-DG and the First Aid training for our Road Crew. Thanks to James and Allen for the former and Dawn, Greg and Shaun for the latter. These activities are an essential part of getting everyone ready for our forthcoming riding season. Barry also talked us through a few events coming up, starting this weekend …
- If anyone wants to join a ride over to Gretna on Friday for CRAGG, meet at JH-DG at one o’clock
- Paul gave us an update on the Easter Egg ride, on 12 April. There’s an egg collection basket at JH-DG, so please contribute if you can.
- Easter is shaping up nicely with a proposed ride to West Coast H-D on Good Friday (meet at Todhills Services, between J44 and J45 of the M6) – see our Facebook group for times etc.
- The Normans are convening a ride to The Lakes on 16 April, starting from Hartside Café – see our Facebook group for times etc.
- Barry also suggested that there might be something else in the mix for Easter Monday too …
Helen handed out event sheets for everyone. It’s a very busy season ahead! Helen will update this as we go forward. We’ve got full details on the website too: www.geordiehog.com/events.
For those not going to CRAGG this weekend, the Sportster Sickness group are getting together at JH-DG. There is also a season-opener at JH-DG, with Bessie and the Zinc Buckets on stage entertaining everyone. There are more details on the JH-DG Facebook page. If anyone has something they’d like to add to the events listings, please contact Helen directly.
Ruth has arranged another Afternoon Tea event at Lumley Castle, with a murder, mystery flavour. It’s on 4 June with a £10 deposit required. There are more details within these hallowed pages and on Facebook. There’s also another Bowling Night planned for 17 June. If you’d like to go to either event, please contact Ruth directly.
The first monthly Chapter Ride is on 21 May, some six weeks away. Duncan will lead it and we’ll learn more at the next Chapter Meeting. James also advised that the recent ride-outs to Blanchland have proved extremely popular with everyone, so the Road Crew might convene another one on 6 May, depending on numbers and Road Crew availability. Keep an eye on our Facebook group for more details.
Mr Stand-In Membership Officer, Peter, said we now have 251 members, with some new members at tonight’s meeting. Hello to everyone! As an aside, it appears that there has been some issues with H.O.G. and membership renewals. We’ll be taking this into account with the membership deadline within Geordie Chapter. If anyone is experiencing any issues, please let Peter know sharpish.
Robin said that the website is fully up-to-date with all the events etc. for the riding season. We’ll add details of start times and locations when they are available. All news, stories and photos gratefully received! We‘re already getting some great coverage of the new items that are on there.
Ray led off with an emotional thank you to everyone who attended the last ride-out for Phil, Lesley’s brother, who passed away recently. They split donations, amounting to some £900, between Cancer Connections, Macmillan and Marie Curie.
There’s a whole host of events going on within the Coalition. Some of these are listed on our website, under News. Some new highlights include:
- Bellatorum MCC – pool night, Angels Place 29 April
- Drangonslayer MCC – rally, Percy Park 7 July
- Twisted Sprockets MCC – rally, 1 September
Dawn said that the rally organisation is going really well and we’ll resolve who’s going to do what, by way of help, at the next Chapter meeting. Hopefully, everyone can lend a hand! Ticket sales are going well too, and Barry encouraged everyone to get theirs soon!
Finally, a couple of last minute items:
- Rob thanked everyone for the fantastic turn-out to his daughter’s wedding recently, everyone had a great time
- The Three Horseshoes are offering a 25% discount to Geordie Chapter members and Barry has some vouchers if anyone is interested
- Some people do still attend the Social Night at The Tyne pub: it’s on the fourth Tuesday in the month, if you’d like to join in
- There was a stack of prizes in the raffle with Gary F, Judith, John L, Chuck, Greg, John B, Donna and Tony sharing the spoils
The next meeting is on 5 May, see you all there!
GeordieHOG Editor