| I’m a baaaaad girl. I have fallen so far behind on keeping this page updated. I’m so sorry! Blame it on a new job, new and more duties as Chapter Secretary too, riding when I can, and just general exhaustion. But I’m back again, and just in time as we are about to enter our busiest time of year. Where did the summer go? Did we really have one? Seems like a big blur sometimes to me. But I know we did some great riding, had a couple of fun trips to Vermont in July at the Gray Ghost; and to the all new “rally”, the Iron Adventure Run in Ludlow in August. Both are among the many reasons why it can be so great to be a part of BVH.
First order of business, as usual, is to see who has special days coming up this month. Make sure to say Happy, Happy Birthday to Kim (if you are lucky enough to catch sight of her, lol) this month.
As you know, if you have read this page since my last update, we have changed the format of our LOH recently. We are (mostly) dropping the “business” end of it and concentrating on enjoying each other as a more social group. In September a few of us we went out for dinner by the water at The Whiskey Republic in downtown Providence, then walked over to see the Water-fire event that night. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s kind of a living art exhibit, where they light a series of bonfires down along the middle of the Providence River into the heart of the city. There’s always music, vendors, and other events going on at the same time. It was a seasonably warm and beautiful night, and a good time was had by all. Again, it makes me so glad for the friends I’ve made as part of this group!
October just flew by at warp speed and here we are, as I mentioned, heading into our busiest season for our families, and for us as a group. In the upcoming weeks we have a LOT going on! We are thrilled to be planning our second annual shopping day for the Greater Attleboro Council for children. On Sunday November 3rd the Chapter held its (20th?) annual Christmas is for Kids Ride to benefit this great charity. For the last 30 years, they have provided Christmas gifts for families in need who would not otherwise be able to afford gifts for their kids. Is there much better than lighting up a child’s face at Christmas? How about lighting up hundreds and hundreds of them? It gives me the chills just thinking about it.
At the toy run, people joined BVH for a short ride, it was only about 45 degrees and overcast after all, and a pasta dinner at the North Attleboro Elks, for the price of an unwrapped toy or $10 in cash to benefit the kids. For all the scary weather and cold, we ended up with somewhere in the vicinity of 170 people! It was our biggest turnout for this event to date. We collected 15+ bags of toys and some very generous cash donations. And once again LOH is honored to have been asked by the Council to take those donations and shop for specific children. They provide us with ages, sizes, favorite colors, and wish-lists, and off we go. We are working on setting the date for the shopping. As soon as we do, I will have it posted on the Chapter website and calendar. It is just an amazing, humbling, rewarding time.
Soon we’ll be talking about helping to organize and decorate for the annual Chapter Christmas / Holiday party, coming up on Saturday 12/7, and for a couple of weekends of gift-wrapping at our sponsoring dealership, Precision HD in Pawtucket RI. That’s always fun too. Hectic, tiring, and a lot of work, but lots of fun and laughs all the same. We are counting on some major chapter support for that too. Again, I’ll post dates when I have confirmed them with Precision.
Finally, we are all constantly keeping our brother and good friend Dave W, our sister Mary W, and all of their family in our thoughts and prayers. He is doing a little better thank God, but is still only at the beginning of a long, hard road. With the winter coming, and the holidays, I’m sure they’ll be facing some difficult times. We all hope and pray for better times ahead for them all. I am in touch with Mary fairly often and please be assured that I always, always tell her how often we think of them and ask her for ways in which we can help. She, and Gail, and Dave, and all of the family are so very grateful for the showing of love and support. That’s our family! We may have individual disputes and spats as in any group, but they’re short-lived, and when the chips are down, you always know that someone has your back!
That feels like an appropriate place to stop for now. Stay tuned for updates on all of these and any other activities as we think of them. And as always ride safe, we can still crank out a few more good days if we’re lucky!
Kathy |
