President's Report

Greetings to all of my fellow ABATE of Arizona members. Well first of all I want to thank all the members who attended our membership meeting/party on November 12th at one of our Business Members establishment. I also wish to thank Lucy and her staff at Jakes Corner Bar for hosting the event. The setting was great as was the food and especially good was the music supplied by Building 12.

I was very happy to see that most of the Chapters were represented at this event. I would like to congratulate East Valley Chapter for winning our new traveling trophy for having the most members in attendance. So all you other chapters should start planning for next year’s event to take that trophy away from them.

As I sit to write this report I am taking time to reflect on the last year that I have served you as President of this amazing organization. It has been a great experience and I thank all of you for your support and also for your patience as we went through some trying times. We have had a board of State Officers who were mostly new to serving at that level and we had a few who had to step away do to personal reasons. We are adapting and doing well. As I write this it is Mid-November and Thanksgiving is only two weeks away. By the time it is published Thanksgiving will be past and I hope everyone had a great holiday and were able to spend time with family and friends and enjoy the holiday and give thanks for all we have. I also hope that all those less fortunate were in your thoughts and prayers. There are many events during the holiday season to support our fellow man. There are many toy drives and parades, food drives, clothing drives and other outpourings of generosity that come from the motorcycling community. I see more of these types of events supported by motorcyclists than any other groups that I know of. It should make all of us proud to be involved with this community.

By the time this goes to publication all of our Chapters should have completed their elections. Our organization can only exist because of the dedication and hard work of volunteers. Without members to step up to officer positions our organization would fail to even exist. I wish to thank all of the newly elected officers in all of the Chapters around our state for all that you do and for stepping up to serve. I also would like to thank all of the outgoing officers for the time that they dedicated and all the hard work that it takes. I also want to thank the State Officers that have served with me and all the members of the Board of Directors; it takes a lot to run an organization like ours. At this time of year most of us are attending many different events. Whether you are attending with your Chapter members or with another group or your family, we would love to know who and what events you are supporting. Please take a few photos and write a short article about the event. Send those into the Masterlink so we may publish them. Not only do people like to see their pictures in the paper but the added publicity may help the event to grow.

Once again I would like to thank all the members of ABATE of Arizona for allowing me the honor to serve and represent you. I would like to wish all of you a very Happy Holiday season no matter how you personally choose to celebrate, may you and all of those you love and care about be happy and healthy. Happy New Year to all!

Jim Butsback
State President
ABATE of Arizona