Contents
Introduction
Meeting Recap
The updated picture scroll
Upcoming Events (2 months)
Members Birthday’s
Meet & Greet Update, (Portland, BC, & Seattle)
Club Business
Reader’s Corner
Day Rides
The latest news regarding rider skill enhancement classes
From the Handle Bars of the President
Road Captain Rumblings
Treasurer Ramblings
The BRMC 2020 Calendar of Events
Request for pictures & closing comments.
Welcome
Border Riders Motorcycle Club (BRMC) is an organized group of guys who like to ride and camp. Our membership spans the Pacific Northwest, with the greatest participation in Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver B.C. We have one of the largest memberships of gay clubs in North America. We welcome like-minded guests to come meet us at our monthly Meet & Greets and to join us at one of our club events and our local activities.
Check out our website. We are very proud of it. www.borderriders.com
Meeting Recap (December)
The annual Holiday party was hosted by Richard A. and Chris L. The evening started off midafternoon with lot’s of socialization, dinner and a lively White Elephant Gift Exchange.
An assortment of appetizers were out for everyone as they arrived and socialized followed by a wonderful meal of meatloaf, salad and steamed carrots provided by Chris & Richard. Scalloped potatoes were provided by Buck and Jeff provided an array of desserts. They’re helpers were Kas, Stan and Alan, Great job gentlemen and thank you very much.
A brief meeting was held to take attendance and Kas provided an update on us an update as to his last conversation with Portland Pride. See the minutes on our web-site for details.
The evening concluded with the traditional white elephant gift exchange. Gifts ranged from the coveted mini drone, to a Harley Davidson gift set, to a Potty Golf and a Potty fishing set, a collectable Hudson Bay Bear, and of course an ugly Christmas sweater. Of course one of the most outrageous gifts was the box of old underwear that Michael was the lucky recipient of.
Much fun was had by all.
BRMC Group Photo from the December Meeting
December Gallery
Photos from members and guests from last month’s rides and adventures.
Upcoming Events
January
Wednesday 1/1 - Portland Meet & Greet @ the Eagle from 7 to 8 pm.
Saturday 1/4 - Day Ride, see our FB page for regional details.
Wednesday 1/8 - BC Meet & Greet @ the Met Hotel New Westminster 4 to 6 pm.
Wednesday 1/15 - Seattle Meet & Greet @ the Cuff from 7 to 8 pm.
Saturday 1/18 - Annual General Meeting @ the Seattle Cuff from 4 to 8 pm.
Saturday 1/25 - PDX Motorcycle Film Festival. Visit our FB page for details.
February
Saturday 2/1 - Day Ride, see our FB page for regional details.
Wednesday 2/5- Portland Meet & Greet @ the Eagle from 7 to 8 pm.
Saturday 2/8 - The One Motorcycle Show in PDX. Visit our FB page for details.
Wednesday 2/12 - BC Meet & Greet @ the Met Hotel New Westminster 4 to 6 pm
Saturday 2/15 - Annual Banquet @ Best Western Space Needle from 4 to 8 pm.
Wednesday 2/19 - Seattle Meet & Greet @ the Cuff from 7 to 8 pm.
Upcoming Birthdays
No members have birthdays in January.
December Meet & Greet
Portland’s December M&G was attended by Member Stan C & Pat T. It was also attended by guest Blue B, Rudy V & Andrew G. Rudy, Blue and & met prior to the M&G for dinner at Tamale Boy on N.E. Dekum.
BC’s M&G continues to be held at the Met Hotel in New Westminster.
Seattle’s December M&G was attended by Chris, Jeff, Tim, Dale, Dennis, Marty, Ron. Most joined for dinner before at Bai Tong Thai Street Café. Watch for an email prior to the next M&G for a potential dinner location.
Club Business
AGM - Annual General Meeting
Each year the club holds the AGM at the Cuff Complex in Seattle in a closed, member only business meeting. At that time voting is completed for new officers, new prospective members, and changes to the bylaws or standing orders and other various administrative items. As such the meeting is closed to guests but guests are welcome for social and dinner time.
Social time will begin at 4:00 pm on the lower level of the Cuff on Saturday, January 19th with everyone encouraged to attend. The member only meeting will begin at 5:00 and guests will be asked to move to the upper level until the meeting is adjourned. Dinner and social time with members and guests will follow the meeting at approximately 6:00 pm. The group photo will be taken before dinner.
The Cuff is located at 1533 13th Ave, Seattle, WA.
2020 Board of Directors
The following members have been nominated and accepted the nomination to serve as board officers for the coming year:
President: Jeff C
Vice President: Alan H
Road Captain: Dennis H
Secretary: John D
Treasurer: Stan C
As only one person has been nominated for each position, a confirmation vote will be taken at the Annual General Meeting.
New Members
Two candidates have been nominated for club membership. Members please see their bios on the Members Area page of the club website. Elections will be conducted electronically by email. Members who are eligible to vote please be on the lookout for your ballot and vote prior to the Annual General Meeting.
50th Anniversary Banquet
It is not too early to start thinking about the 50th Anniversary Banquet to be held at the Executive Inn by the Space Needle in Seattle on February 15th. Chris L has taken on the task of helping plan and organize the banquet for the club. Dave J has been working on the video that will not only showcase 2019 BRMC activities but also much of the club’s history. Registration for the banquet will open February 1. Please invite former members, guests, and friends of the club to join us as we celebrate the completion of our 50th year!
Lodging – Executive Inn by the Space Needle - A block of rooms has been reserved for the club for February 14th and 15th at a special rate of $104.00 plus tax. Additional occupants above two is $15 per person. Parking is $19 per night plus tax. Reservations must be made by January 30th to obtain the group price. Call 206-448-9444 to reserve your room.
Annual Dues
As a reminder, the annual club membership dues are payable in advance of the Annual General Meeting in January. A link to pay dues is on the Members Area of the website. If you wish to pay in person you may do so at the AGM on January 18th.
Road Captain
Dennis H - I’m still finalizing for the 2020 summer rides. For planning purposes:
May is Victoria Day at Pine Flats as usual
June is Seattle area to coincide with Pride weekend
July is BC
August is Eastern Oregon
September is Washington, near the I-5 corridor
Treasurer
Stan C - Club finances are healthy. Account balances are where I expect them to be. Account Receivables & Liabilities are balanced. Briefly, everything is fine. See me privately at the next meeting or go to the “Members Only” section of our web-site if you want details.
Reader’s Corner
A place for you, the reader, member or guest, to contribute.
Tell us about your travels, adventures, mishaps, etc.
To contribute send your story & pictures to President@BorderRiders.com
Day Rides
Portland’s December Day Ride - There was no December day ride in Portland.. Watch our Face-Book page for the last minutes post regarding the Portland January Day Ride.
BC’s Day Ride -
Seattle’s Day Ride - We passed on doing a day ride in December. Weather looks doubtful for January 4th, but watch on Facebook or email if any change.
For details about this month’s day ride, please visit our Face-Book page and seek out details for your area.
Motorcycle Training Opportunities
One of the instructors showing Dale how the S curves are done!
For those of you who were not able to make it to the Advanced Motorcycle Training class we did as part of the Rally, not all is lost.
Team Oregon and I have worked out a deal whereby Team Oregon is going to bring the entire 8-hour class to Portland, and we just purchased the whole thing. No outsiders, just us.
To make the class less physically demanding, Team Oregon has agreed to break the (1) 8-hour class into (2) 4-hour classes. Both classes will happen the same weekend to make it easier on those who will travel into Portland to take the class. The classes will be held in North Portland on August 29th & 30th, 2020.
The 1st class will be held on August 29th from 12:30 to 5:30. This will be slow cornering, u-turns, and weaving. This is what you watch when you watch those police rodeos. I’d love to put together a team to challenge them someday.
The dreaded Cone Weave.
The 2nd class will be on Sunday, August 30th, from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm. Sunday will wrap up day 1 and move onto group riding and group parking. Yeah, finally we will be able to look like pros when we go out to dinner at the camp-outs.
There are 9 available spots for this class and all spots will go for $200 each. Registration for this event will only be available through the BRMC website. It’ll be just like any other BRMC event only with limited availability. There will be an announcement regarding registration at the meeting prior to any announcement in the newsletter. This will sell out fast so be ready to register as soon as it becomes available.
This class will be in additional to all the other events that will happen in 2020 including the camp out in August.
Also, due to the demand from Seattle and BC, I will try schedule a class of some type, likely a rider review class, to happen in the Seattle area earlier in the summer. I predict people from Portland & BC will converge on Seattle and I expect Seattle people to register en mass. The results, I expect this class in Seattle to fill up very fast as well. I will announce the date for this class in the same manner as I will the Advanced Motorcycle Training class.
BTW, these motorcycle training events I put together are normally not a BRMC sanctioned event. This is just me organizing these classes because I keep getting request for it, I love them, and I learn something every time I go.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions about these motorcycle training opportunities, please send me an e-mail and let us chat. Treasurer@BorderRiders.com
From the Handlebars of the President
As 2019 winds down and 2020 begins, it seems like only yesterday that we were all dealing with the Y2K scare and here we are a decade into the new century. I hope that everyone had a joyous Holiday season to end 2019. Tim and I made our annual trek to my parent place in Montana. We arrived on the evening of December 24th and returned home on December 29th. Fortunately the roads were good and we had a safe trip. My brother decided that he needed a vacation so he left the day after Christmas leaving Tim and I to do
the ranch chores and feed the cows. My parents still do wagon and carriage rides at their place and they had a family schedule a hayride on Friday after Christmas. Neither of my parents are able to harness the Belgian draft horses so I had to harness the horses for the ride. I haven’t harnessed horses for several years.
As the club winds down our 50th year and enters into our 51st year I would like to thank a few
members for their work this past year. Every member contributes in his own way but there are a few that I would like to recognize. These are listed in no particular order.
Joe C - webmaster for continuing to keep the website up to date and aiding the rest of us not so web savvy ones to do our jobs
Don W - hosting the March meeting
Dan S - hosting April meeting
Doug H - hosting the October meeting
Kas C - hosting the November meeting
Chris L & Richard A – for hosting the Holiday Party
I would like to thank my fellow board members Dan, John, Stan, and Dennis for all they have done for the club this past year. Without their help the club and its events would not have been as successful as they were.
And last but certainly not least I would like to thank all the members and guests for making the club what it is. It definitely takes everyone working together to keep the club alive and moving forward. Here’s to another great 50 years!
Happy New Year……and keep the shiny side up!
Road Captain Rumblings
My time in the club has been relatively short, but what I have found is that we are more than just a club. We are a group of friends that do things together both on and off the road and are the first to offer a hand with something if needed. I am proud to be a part of this club and consider the members of the club to be some of my best friends.
A Happy New Decade to all, and look where you want to go in the curves of life and the road.
Treasurer’s Ramblings
Another year has closed and I thank you all for participating and making it a great year. We had a very successful 50th Anniversary Rally and a 2019 camping season. A special thanks for Dennis H and Chris L for all your help to make it happen.
If anyone has a question, comments or suggestions about anything I am dealing with, please feel encouraged to contact me directly & let us chat.
2020 Calendar of Events
January 18th - Annual General Meeting - Seattle, WA
February 15th - Anniversary Banquet - Seattle, WA
March 21st - Hosted Club Meeting - TBD
April 18th - Hosted Club Meeting - TBD Location
May 15th thru 18th - Victoria Day Camp-out - Pine Flats Campground, Ardenvoir, WA
June 14th - BRMC rides in the Portland Pride Parade (tentatively).
June 26th thru 28th - Camp-out at TBD Campsite (Seattle Area)
June 27th - BRMC Booth at Capitol Hill Pride Festival in Seattle, WA (tentatively)
June 28th - BRMC rides in the Seattle Pride Parade (tentatively)
July 17th thru 19th - Camp-out at TBD Campsite (BC)
August 14th thru 16th - Camp-out at a TBD Campsite (Eastern OR)
August 29th & 30th - 2-day Advanced Motorcycle Training in Portland, OR
September 18th thru 20th - Camp-out at a TBD Campsite (Western WA)
October 17th - Hosted Club Meeting - TBD Location
November 14th - Hosted Club Meeting - TBD Location
December 12th - Holiday Party - TBD Location
Meet & Greets
BRMC members will be available for interested individuals to meet and learn more about the club and how to get involved. For locations and times, check out the cities listed below for your area. Also, in addition to the club's monthly events, local rides may be organized, weather permitting. To lean more about local event’s, check out our FB page or email the Road Captain at Captain@BorderRiders.com.
Portland: Meet & Greet - 1st Wednesday of the month, 7 pm at The Portland Eagle
Vancouver BC Meet & Greet - 2nd Wednesday of the month. 4 to 6 pm at The Met Hotel, New Westminster
Seattle: Meet & Greet - 3rd Wednesday of the month, 7 pm at The Cuff
Contributions of Photos & Stories
If you have photos and stories to share, please send to news@borderriders.com
