Peter was in the chair for last night’s Chapter Meeting and we fairly whipped through proceedings, with only a few updates from the Committee along the way. The Road Crew kindly put on Newbie Ride, round the local roads, for our new riders, riders who haven’t ridden in a group before and riders wanted to brush up on their group-riding skills. Everyone had a great time.
June and July are always busy months for Chapter events and Peter gave us a brief overview of what’s what. We’ve posted everything on the website Events Calendar and keep an eye out for updates etc. on our Facebook group or by text, directly from Peter.
Ray was away having a great time at Benelux, so Peter and Barry went along to the HA clubhouse for the North East Coalition of Motorcycle Clubs’ meeting. We’re hoping to get a new page on the website showing all these events. In the meantime, highlights for June and July include the Badlanders MCC Armed Forces Day (Bents Park, 25.6), Badlanders MCC Party (clubhouse, 29.6) and the Sober up the Dragon rally with the Dragonslayers MCC (Morpeth, 8-10.7). Get along if you can.
Mandy gave us a quick update on members and we now have 191 in the Geordie Chapter, which is great news!
Dawn is looking for some volunteers to look after the Registration Tent at the Heart & Soul Rally during the ride-out on Saturday. If you’re not going on the ride-out and would like to help, get in touch with Dawn.
James provided an update on the June Chapter Ride, which is this Sunday, starting from Washington Motorway Services, A1 (southbound). All the details are on the website and, as usual, Peter will keep everyone updated if there are last-minute changes. The weather is looking pretty good for this one, so fingers crossed!
Grant was at the meeting too, and it looks like the new dealership will definitely be open on 4.7. There’ll be more information in due course, but get along if you can. Hopefully, there’ll be a big opening PARTY soon!
Paul McPherson gave us some early details of an event in November 2016, much like the Stand up for Scarlet event that he organised last year. Everything will be pretty similar, with The Buckets and Charlotte Yanni providing the entertainment and The Fed (or Lancastrian Suite, if you prefer … !) providing the curry. The chosen beneficiaries are Harley Stallard (for a new summer house) and Gibside School. There’ll be more details closer to the time, with flyers on the way soon, and this year it will be a movie and TV fancy dress theme. This was a great event in 2015 and well-attended by the Chapter. You may all remember Shaun’s amazing Hallowe’en outfit too.
Rob, Dave, Mark and John all shared the spoils from the raffle. John was last seen trying to ram a box of Magners into the bags on his Sporty …
Finally, we held a collection for Northumbria Blood Bikes, who gave us an excellent presentation on what they do. Many of us didn’t realise that it’s funded completely by donations and everyone gives their time free. A very worthwhile cause. If you would like to read more about them, or get involved, have a look at their website, here.