I am sure that many of you have heard
that I went down on my bike this past
Sunday, September 11th. I want to
thank all for the thoughts and prayers
etc., and I am doing fine as I write this.
I have some road rash, a sprained ankle
and 1 staple in my scalp which will be
removed tomorrow. As I have been told
that it could very well have been much
worse so I guess from now on I will
have to “dress for the slide not the
ride”.
The first item I need to bring up is
upcoming elections. This year is the off
year for state officers’ elections. State
officers were elected to a two year term
last year so there is no election this
year. We will be electing Board of
Director members this year. Each
Chapter will elect a BOD representative
for their Chapter.
Chapters should already be preparing
for the Chapter elections. Nominations
should be open and the elections should
take place by November.
The chapter secretary shall note the results
in the chapter minutes and submit them to
the State Secretary. If any chapter member
has any questions, or needs information,
on how to run the election please contact
me directly.
On the State level we have a few openings
for state offices. These have come up do to
officers having to step down do to work
and/or family issues etc.. The positions
that are open are Safety, Merchandise
and Run Coordinator. These are all
important jobs that need to be overseen for
our organization. If you or anyone in your
chapter may be interested or want more
information please contact me. We will
work with anyone to make sure that they
learn the position.
Well as I sit down to write this summer is
officially winding down. The days are getting a little shorter, the nights are cooler
and the humidity has dropped. The night
time low here in Tucson is finally back to
about 70 degrees. As the rest of the country prepares for winter we here in the
desert areas of Arizona are gearing up for
the best riding weather.
The Arizona Confederation of Motorcycle
Clubs is holding their annual fund raising
event THE RIOT ON THE RIVER! This
takes place the weekend of November 3rd
thru November at the Winkleman Gila
River Park. ABATE of Arizona is a charter
member of the ACMC and I encourage
everyone to attend. This year ABATE will
be handling the sale of 50/50 tickets so if
you are attending please lend a hand on
the selling of these tickets. I try to attend
every year and have always had a great
time. It is really a good time to meet riders
from all around the state and ABATE
members for other chapters. This event is
open to the public and if you have any
family or friends that would like to attend
please bring them along. I hope to see
you there.
The primaries are over and we are entering
into the final few weeks of the political
campaign season. I really want to encourage everyone to get out and vote! Mike
has been working very hard at trying to
get candidates from around the state to
answer our short questionnaire on how
they stand on issues affecting motorcyclists here in Arizona. The results will be
shared with you. Unfortunately not every
candidate or their staff responded. The
results are just one more resource for you
to use when determining who has earned
your vote. Please take this duty very seriously and make informed decisions. When
you do go to the polls remember to wear
your riding gear and also ride your bike to
let those who are working the polls know
you are a motorcyclist and you are
involved.
As many of may have heard the state of
Arizona has finally passed legislation to
make lane filtering legal. This is a big step
for all the other state looking into this. As
this moves forward and data is collected it
will make it easier to make a factual argument to bring to other legislatures around
the country. The Arizona lane filtering will
go into effect on Saturday September 24th,
2022. By the time you read this it will be
in effect. Please help us all by explaining
to those you know how this new law
works and why they should be happy that
it is now a law. This law is designed to
protect motorcyclists.
Next week a few of us will travel to Des
Moines, Iowa to attend the Meeting of the
Minds which is put on by our friends at
the Motorcycle Riders Foundation out of
Washington DC. This a conference of
motorcycle rights advocates from around
the country. There are seminars and meetings to exchange ideas and learn how others are dealing with issues facing the
motorcycling community in their states and maybe we can learn how to do it better here in Arizona. We will report back in
the next issue of The Masterlink on what
we learned and how it may affect us here
in AZ. If you are not a member of the
MRF I would like to encourage you to
join. They do for us on the national level
what we try and do here in Arizona on the
state level. The information on the MRF
and the MRF Awareness & Education can
be found here in the Masterlink or go to
www.mrf.org.
On a more personal note, October 1st my
wife and I will be celebrating our 40th
wedding anniversary. I would like to take
this opportunity to publicly thank my wife,
Mary Sue, for putting up with me for all
this time. Most of you have never met her
because she stays home and takes care of
things that I let slide as I go about doing
what we do. I travel to various conferences and attend meeting and events. I am
out camping at Too Broke or Riot on the
River or riding across our state for ACMC
meetings. I have missed many dinners and
family events and she has always been
there. Many of us have that special someone at home that puts up with us. Thanks
You my love.
Please as you go about your travels either
on your bike or in your cage, be aware of
what is around you. This time of year we
get a big influx of winter visitors and college students who are away from home for
the first time, and who may not be familiar
with the area etc. The weather can also be
very changeable especially in the higher
elevations. Watch those around you and
always be prepared for whatever you may
encounter. Ride safe out there folks.
Jim ButsbackState PresidentABATE of Arizona
