Friends for Fun, Safety & Knowledge

GOLD WING ROAD RIDERS ASSOCIATION MINNESOTA DISTRICT • REGION E • AMERICA’S HEARTLAND

CHAPTER R NEWS Chapter R Team Directors Robin Pettit & Fred Rennpferd 507-236-1436—Robin 507-327-3098—Fred robin.pettit01@gmail.com

Assistant Director Vicki Holst 507-421-2575 turncrest@kmtel.com

Rider Education Dean Plank 507- 250-0711 cdplank@yahoo.com

Motorist Awareness Ricky & Bonnie Johnson 651-341-8337 johnkren4fun@hotmail.com

Membership Enchancement Wade & Carolyn Nelson 507-438-5774 kc0aku@msn.com

Treasurer Al Horejsi 507-775-6488 achorejsi@live.com

Sunshine Coordinator Barb Beeman 507-440-8092 bbbeeman@charter.net

Historian Open

Editor Open

From your Chapter R Directors Robin Pettit & Fred Rennpferd

Hello Chapter R Friends! As I’m writing this article, we’ve set up for the mall show. Our HOG chapter friends have joined us again this year. Saturday will be a full day of seminars with enough time in between to visit with our friends and finally having supper together at The Plaza Moreno. Sunday we are there again from 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm. Hopefully the rain will stay away so we can get our bikes home. If not, we’ve all ridden in the rain before or if it’s raining too much, the mall will most likely allow us to put our bikes in an empty room for a day or two. The month of March flew by and here we are at April. As the old saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers”. For motorcycle riders, it means the rain washes away the salt and sand on the roads, making it safer for us to ride. If you’re a Facebook member, be sure to follow Chapter R’s Facebook page. Ricky & Bonnie Johnson are the chapter’s Motorist Awareness Coordinators and they do a great job of adding motor awareness posts. Please share these posts to your own Facebook page to help spread the word about - Continued on Page 2

Monthly Newsletter April 2017 www.gwrramnchapterR.com

Socials are held at the Pizza Ranch in Austin, MN, on the third Saturday of the month begin-

ning at 6:00 pm for the months February-July, September & October. January Social at Dick

& Barb Ochs’ home.

August—BS Session—New Richland City Hall, New Richland, MN 11:00 am

November—Chili Dump/Calendar Planning—Dick & Barb Ochs’ home 3:00 pm

December—Christmas Party TBD 12:00 pm

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GWRRA Anniversaries

- Continued from page 1 motorcycles to other drivers on the road. You can find Chapter R’s Facebook page by searching on GWR-RA MN Chapter R. There is a calendar change for July. Bruce Beeman’s ride scheduled for July 29

th to Waterville has been

moved forward a week to July 22nd

. This is to accommodate a cherry picking adventure to Door County. If

picking cherries directly from a tree is something that you’d like to do, please contact Don & Cheri Walloch

at buckybadger@charter.net or call 715-459-2449. Don & Cheri are GWRRA friends from Wisconsin who

have been cherry picking for years and they have invited their Region E family to share in the fun. This

event is scheduled for July 28th & 29

th.

Monday, April 10th we will be gathering at Applebee’s in Austin for supper. Plan to meet there at 6:00 pm.

Saturday, April 15th is the April Social at the Austin Pizza Ranch beginning at 6:00 pm.

Sunday, April 23rd

is the annual Walter’s Ultimate Feast breakfast. Plan to meet at the Walter’s fire hall at

9:00 am.

Finally, April 29th is the MN/ND District Ops meeting. This meeting is open to all GWRRA members. One

of the items on the agenda is awarding the 2016 Chapter of the Year and Chapter R submitted our applica-

tion. They will also be discussing the MN/ND District Rally

held in Owatonna in July. With the rally right in our backyard

this year, we hope that many Chapter R participants can at-

tend.

If the weather cooperates this month and you’d like to put to-

gether an impromptu ride, let us know and we will get the

word out. Have a great month!

Robin & Fred Chapter Directors

Karen Bangert

Mark Bangert

Martin Jensen

Darlene Jensen

Brad Harig

Gayle Harig

Joe Marek

Janet Marek

Larry Kluender

Roxanne Kluender

Ben Kluender

Todd Newkirk

Gale Heidecker

Carmen Heidecker

Dean Plank

April 01, 1995

April 01, 1995

April 01, 1996

April 01, 1998

April 12, 2002

April 12, 2002

April 12, 2004

April 12, 2004

April 21, 2005

April 21, 2005

April 21, 2005

April 18, 2007

April 01, 2010

April 01, 2010

April 10, 2013

Dave Jensen

Ira Lucas

Todd Newkirk

Dick Ochs

Ron Schmidt

April 01

April 08

April 12

April 14

April 16

None for April

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From your Chapter R Educator Dean Plank As motorcyclists, we’ve all had a few close calls in traf-

fic. They serve as a reminder to our occasional lapse in

vigilance and impart a lasting cognitive reminder from

which we can avoid such circumstances in the future.

Some are easy to recognize, whereas others may not be

as obvious. Here are some places we need to avoid when

on our motorcycle.

The first place we need to avoid are blind spots. We already take it for granted that we

are invisible to motorist. But then add in the blinds spots that are on all vehicles, arti-

cles hanging from the rear-view mirror whether it is a handicap parking to beads or whatever else the driver think is

cool to hang from their mirror. We also need to watch that we don’t make to common mistake of changing lanes into

another cars blind spot. I saw a sign on Highway 52 the other day that I really liked. Going into Rochester one of the

illuminated signs had a statement. Prior to changing lanes look twice as motorcycles are now on the road.

Another place to avoid is the center of the lane while stopped at stop lights. I personally don’t stop with my bike in

the center of the lane at stop lights. I always pull to one side or the other and leave my bike in gear so I have an es-

cape route if needed. Be careful being the first one across the intersection when a light changes. No matter how pow-

erful the urge to enjoy that surge of first gear when the light turns green, I always hold back to ensure that nobody was

pushing the yellow light that changes to red when they are just a few feet from the intersection. So here they come

barreling down the road when you take off. We all know that isn’t going to end well.

We need to take care when passing on country roads. With the riding season getting into full swing, we will be riding

those scenic country roads. With that comes the extra danger that you need to be aware of like the extra sand the

county highway department puts on the scenic curvy roads through the hills. Even though we are on a scenic road,

we are still traveling between 50-60 MPH; however farm equipment travel at a lot slower speeds and we will gain on

them quickly. Plus, as we come upon that equipment, we don’t want to assume that they are going to continue

straight on down the road. With size of tractors and other equipment, we can’t always assume they can see behind

and they could decide to make a left turn as we are passing them, so when passing, always take extra precautions

Chapter R has an Experience Riders Course set up for May 12, 2017 at the Albert Lea Riverland Campus. As of to-

day, I have eight empty slots. If I don’t fill up the class by April 15, I will be force to cancel this year’s class. If in-

terested, please email me at cdeanplank@yahoo.com with your information ASAP.

GWRRA Directors Ray & Sandy Garris www.gwrrra.org

Region E Directors Bob & Nicki Fowkes www.gwrra-region-e.org/gw/

MN District Directors Joe & Jan Marek

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Upcoming Chapter R Events

April 01 Northbridge Mall Bike Show in Albert Lea - 10 - 5

April 01 Supper at Plaza Morena (Northbridge Mall) at 5:00

April 02 Northbridge Mall Bike Show in Albert Lea - 12 - 3

April 10 Supper at Applebee's in Austin - meet there at 6:00

April 15 April Social - Pizza Ranch in Austin at 6:00

April 23 Walter’s Ultimate Feast - meet there at 9:00

April 29 MN/ND Spring Ops Meeting - Owatonna

May 03 Supper at Whistle Binkies on the Lake - meet there at 6:30

May 06 Trimble’s Open House - bring bars 10-2

May 13 Basic Rider Course II - Riverland Comm College Albert Lea

May 14 Dean’s Spring Ride - leave Stewartville Kwik Trip at 9:30

May 17 Ed’s Supper Ride to R & R Roadhouse, Walters - leave Albert

Lea Hy-Vee at 6:00 pm

May 20 May Social - Pizza Ranch in Austin at 6:00

May 21 Chapter Q Roundup 11-2 Hanover City Hall

May 28 Potluck at Kluender Camper near Rushford at noon

May 29 Memorial Day

June 06 Ed’s Supper Ride to Geneva Bar & Grill - leave Albert Lea Hy-

Vee at 6:00 pm

June 10 Chapter O Bug Run - Dr. Mudspringers

June 11 Dick’s Mitchell Dam Bar Ride - leave Albert Lea Hy-Vee at

Noon

June 13 Roy’s Supper Ride to Uncle Alberts in Eagle Lake - leave Al-

bert Lea Hy-Vee at 5:30

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Spotlight on Members

Vicki Holst

Our member Spotlight for this month is Vicki Holst from Kasson, MN. Vicki is a horse riding Instructor and started riding motorcycle in 2009, and has been a member since then.

She riders a 2001 White 1800 she calls “Whitie” and pulls a big trailer behind!! Never know what you might need.

Vicki has been very active in Chapter R holding the following offices, Assistant Director, Membership Enhancement Coordinator and Rider Education. She was the Individual of the Year for the Region E, MN District and Chapter R.

Thank you Vicki for being a member of Chapter R.

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2009 Honda Gold Wing

Blue Metallic

Heated seats and grips

$12,500 OBO

Contact Ben Kluender

507-383-9398

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