Greetings my fellow
ABATE members.
I am also pleased to be able to announce that Barry ’Double B’
Bell has agreed to step into the role of our interim Editor for
The MasterLink. Barry comes with an impressive resume.
Many of you may know Barry as he is the Coordinator of our
High Country Chapter. Barry also serves as the
Communications Officer for the Mountain Motorcycle
Association of Arizona (MMAA). I look forward to working with
Barry and I am excited to see what changes he may suggest. It
is always interesting to see what a new set of eyes can see.
Please welcome Barry and do whatever you can to assist him
in this transition by supplying articles, photos etc. and
suggestions for our newsletter. Welcome aboard Barry.
I am also pleased to be able to announce that Barry ’Double B’
Bell has agreed to step into the role of our interim Editor for
The MasterLink. Barry comes with an impressive resume.
Many of you may know Barry as he is the Coordinator of our
High Country Chapter. Barry also serves as the
Communications Officer for the Mountain Motorcycle
Association of Arizona (MMAA). I look forward to working with
Barry and I am excited to see what changes he may suggest. It
is always interesting to see what a new set of eyes can see.
Please welcome Barry and do whatever you can to assist him
in this transition by supplying articles, photos etc. and
suggestions for our newsletter. Welcome aboard Barry.
As we look forward to the month of July, I see several events
coming up by various groups. While you are out and about and
attending any of these events, please be sure to wear your
ABATE shirts or patches etc. so that the hosting organization
knows you are an ABATE member and are supporting their
event.
We also will be celebrating Independence Day. This year it falls
on a Tuesday and many will be making this a 4-day weekend.
Please be aware of your surroundings as you travel. Folks will
be distracted and many will have been imbibing so stay safe.
As many of you know we were not able to secure Mormon
Lake Lodge and Arena for our annual fundraiser event “TOO
BROKE FOR STURGIS”. We were able to secure the Winslow
Rodeo Grounds for our event. Lonny & Sharon Gose who are
the owners of the property contacted us and after a tour of
the facility and the area we decided to move our event to
their site.
The city officials and the locals are excited for us to be there.
They had plans on converting the site to an event location
and our involvement has helped them to get the process
moving. I am aware that most of us have been attending at
Mormon Lake for years and there is a comfort level with that
history. There will be changes due to the new location but
after meetings with the folks in Winslow, Mayor Cano, City
Manager Coolidge and Police Lt. Cano, I feel that this can be
a good move for ABATE. The city officials and the locals are
excited for us to be there and they are planning several
outside events for us. The local VFW, Elks and Mason Lodges
are also stepping up to help our event.
I know that many have questioned the distance to Winslow. I
did a Google maps search and from my home in Tucson to
the Winslow site is only 22 miles further than Mormon Lake.
That is not much of a change. I know it may be different
depending on where you are coming from. I have also
fielded questions about the weather and shade. Well there
are no trees on the property at this time so if you are coming
up bring some sort of shade maker, either a pop up or
something like that. The weather service shows that the
highs should be about low 90’s and lows in the mid to low
60’s. The average rain for the month of July is only 3 to 4
days when it rains.
When we were at Mormon Lake we rented about 12 acres of
land for the event. At the new location we have access to
over 20 acres. Because we will be renting private land and
not on the Lodge property we are able to get a liquor license
for the event so we will have a “Beer Garden” area near the
arena and will be able to have an additional income from
that. There will also be a dunk tank and a few new events.
We encourage folks to bring up squirt guns and kiddie pools
as there is water available.
The city is looking to close off the street in front of the
“Standing on the Corner” plaza for bike parking on Saturday
and to allow our attendees to have time to take photos etc.
and there will be a band etc. in the park area next to the plaza.
As always in the past, this is an over 18 event so leave the kids at home.
We are still in need of volunteers to man the various positions
such as merchandise sales, traffic control and various games, so
please if you can register with the site to volunteer for a few
hours while you are there. This is OUR event so all ABATE
members should be helping out.
We are still in need for raffle/door prizes and also for sponsors, so
if you know of any businesses of organizations that may be
interested please have them get in touch with the “TOO BROKE”
committee. Look to the web site and our face book pages for
updates and information on the local hotels and restaurants etc.
Winslow is a small historic city of about 10,000. There are several
areas that make for great riding. The meteor crater is just to the
west and the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest are to the east
near Holbrook. Old Route 66 runs right through Winslow.
I hope to see every ABATE member up at “TOO BROKE” along with their friends.
Remember you get a reduced admission for being a current member of ABATE.
Jim ButsbackState PresidentABATE of Arizona
