Tweet
AMCA Everglades Chapter
Organizational Meeting and First Ride
January 17, 2004
By Roy (the “Original” Nightrider) Wasson
Chapter Instigator/President
Breakfast on Belvedere:
The Organizational Meeting and Inaugural Ride of the AMCA Everglades Chapter took place on a beautiful, cool but sunny Saturday not long ago. While our brothers and sisters up North can only look at their bikes stored away for the winter, we took full advantage of great weather to meet each other and take care of basic business on January 17, 2004. A good time was had by all.
Our day started with hearty breakfast favorites at IHOP on Belvedere Road in West Palm Beach, just a couple of miles from the Intracoastal Waterway bridge to elegant Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. As coffee poured from bottomless pots in the IHOP meeting room reserved for our group, the parking lot filled with ancient iron and classic chrome. Old friends exchanged warm greetings and new friendships began.
Attendance:
Our fledgling chapter (yet to be formally approved by the AMCA national board, but already thriving) boasts forty-eight members, six times the size needed to start a new chapter! Twenty-eight of our members and their guests took part in our first meeting and ride. We came from the Keys and as far southwest as Marco Island; up the Gulf Coast to Port Charlotte; across the I-4 corridor through Winter Haven, over to the Melbourne area; back inland to Pahokee, and of course from the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Palm Beach megalopolis. The turnout was spectacular in terms of our total numbers, in our geographical diversity, and as a percentage of our members. Thank you for making the effort to attend.
ByLaws and Chapter Name:
We approved ByLaws and voted overwhelmingly to name our new chapter the Everglades Chapter. Other names getting votes were the Southern Cross, the Sea Level Chapter, Gator Chapter, Gold Coast, and Seminole.
Our ByLaws establish a governing board of nine members: four officers, four directors, and the newsletter editor. We agreed to publish our newsletter (already shown to be a highly professional publication with editor Bob Anderson’s first issue) six times a year. Dues were set at a realistic $15 per year to enable us to keep the quality of our programs high.
Officers & Directors:
We followed the usual election technique of nonprofit and volunteer organizations: vote for the guy who is in the bathroom . Howard Cole from LaBelle is our Vice President. Miami resident David Porter was able to figure out how much to tip the waitress without counting on his fingers and toes, so we “volunteered” him to be Treasurer. (Seriously, David talks like he was the Comptroller of some Fortune 500 corporation, using financial terms like “audit committee,” and “co-signers”as he stashed our dues payments into his riding jacket.) Club Secretary is Jim Buttaccio, who hails from Lake Worth (no jokes about the secretary taking stenography in a tight skirt, you biker brutes).
Our four directors are David Fisher, of Punta Gorda; Jack McManus, Boca Raton; Mike Pruszynski, a Miamian, and our West Coast representative: Jack Stauffer of North Fort Myers. Our northernmost member, Bob Anderson, was elected to continue holding the office of Editor, which we decided to make a board position in light of the hard work it takes to publish a high-quality newsletter. I must have had too much coffee and made too many trips to the potty, and learned I was made President after returning from one of those visits.
Committees:
Eustis Liaison: Our members include people active in our sister Florida chapter: the Sunshiners, so when the time came to approve creation of committees and projects to work on, the first thing we decided was to provide volunteer help for the AMCA Winter Meet in Eustis. Jim Dingess gave a report on the areas where help is needed, and Jim Ballou agreed to head-up a Eustis Liaison Committee to coordinate that effort. Call Jim if you are willing to help at Eustis.
Poker Run: Art Delor had the idea for a Poker Run as one of our regular rides, and he is now the Chairman of that committee. Art also agreed to work on a logo for our chapter. Please let Art know if you would like to join his committee.
Website: Mike Pruszynski, an accomplished photographer (whose own picture graces page 45 of the Winter 2003 issue of Antique Motorcycle) has set up a website for our chapter, and will chair our committee to keep that site growing and serving our needs. If you are one of those guys who understands that “boot up” means something different than getting dressed for a ride, let Mike know and he will find a job for you on the “Dot Com” Mittee. Check out the site at: http://amca_southflorida.tripod.com/
Membership: Jack Stauffer, along with his lovely and talented assistant Kelli, have been appointed to run the Membership Committee. Jack took mugshots (I mean portraits) of our members for inclusion in our Chapter Directory. A photo directory is a member benefit, and Kelli agreed to keep track of our membership by creating a computer database, so a Membership Committee is the perfect title for our members heading-up those projects.
Long-Term Project—Motorcycle Museum:
Interspersed among our pranks and jokes and “war stories” about biker-stuff, we worked in some serious discussion of our goals for the Chapter, from short term, to intermediate, to long term projects. Just as the Sunshine Chapter has its trademark Winter Meet, it would be great for the Everglades Chapter to become known for a contribution to our sport that attracts AMCA members nationally.
Many members agreed that a worthwhile long-term project for us would be to sponsor an Antique Motorcycle Museum somewhere in the Southern half of Florida. We could start out small, with some donated or loaned bikes and related memorabilia from our own members, but the project could eventually be one of the “must do” stops on the antique motorcycle circuit. We would need capital to start (either donated real estate to house our collection or a trust fund to grow until would could buy some property) and volunteers to build up and operate the museum. If you would like to serve on this committee, let me know how you can help and what ideas you have for this project.
Ride and Riders:
Eighteen bikes and a few four-wheelers took place in some or all of our Inaugural Ride. No greater variety of two-wheel machines has ever been seen, as our members rode everything from Chiefs from the 1940’s, to several Fifties Harleys, to Sixties British classics, to a couple of Suzukis and Hondas as new as a ‘99. (I invited our members to ride anything that would start for this first ride, on the theory that it is better on such a beautiful day to tool down A1A on a future classic, than to stay home and polish a non-running museum piece.) But even with a few “newer” bikes (I was on a ’78 Bonneville 750), the average age of our rides was more than forty years old! It was unmistakable that we were an antique club.
The tourists and children in the sidewalk cafes along the route smiled, waved, and pointed approvingly, as our pack of bikes snaked down the coastal highway toward lunch, at a comfortable pace for all. Blue Atlantic rolling onto white sand dunes on the left of us; million dollar mega-yachts docked behind waterway mansions on the right, the scenery was gorgeous, the traffic was light, and our First Ride was a success by any measure.
Lunch in Lauderdale:
We rumbled through the long parking lot of the suburban shopping center on Commercial Boulevard in the Oakland Park area of North Fort Lauderdale, toward our lunchtime destination of the North Ridge Raw Bar. Our tables were ready “Still ready,” I should say, after delays for a drawbridge closed by an accident)(not one of us) and an unplanned detour for refueling for some, while the rest of us waited. We munched on oysters and crab and burgers, and a few pints of ale were quaffed.
Some newcomers who could not make the morning meeting caught up with us at the restaurant, where our voting and other business continued. Awards in the form of “First Ride” trophies were given for “Longest Ride” (Bob Anderson: did more than 300 miles round trip), “Oldest Bike”(Jim Buttaccio: ’42 HD WLC); “Oldest Biker” (Dave Fisher, age about 150), “Hard Luck” (given prematurely to Chuck Brougham (I think) for losing a mirror, before needing to be reassigned to be shared by Jim Buttaccio (transmission requiring tow halfway home) and a new member who never made it to start the ride (’61 Tiger Cub piston seized)
Three more “First Ride” trophies were awarded to winners of a drawing. And in a special drawing open only to those who had nominated the winning chapter name of Everglades, Jim Dingess won a 44-year-old copy of Motorcycling Magazine donated by Robert Anderson.
Jack Stauffer took pictures of bikes and of our faces for the Chapter membership directory. Dave Porter relentlessly pursued more dues money from those who had dodged him in West Palm and those who met up with us later on. Some tourists from Quebec sitting at a nearby table quickly wrote their dues checks, hands trembling, as our herd of biker dudes and chicks started getting somewhat silly, laughing loudly at each other’s antics. (Refund the Canadian family’s money, Dave, or we’ll have to get the “audit committee” to appoint someone to “co-sign” with you.)
We wrapped-up our business, and went on our separate ways, with groups of two or three or four ancient cycles. We will have many more rides together on sunny Winter days. But our First Ride was something special. Thanks for making it a day I’ll never forget.
Organizational Meeting and First Ride
January 17, 2004
By Roy (the “Original” Nightrider) Wasson
Chapter Instigator/President
Breakfast on Belvedere:
The Organizational Meeting and Inaugural Ride of the AMCA Everglades Chapter took place on a beautiful, cool but sunny Saturday not long ago. While our brothers and sisters up North can only look at their bikes stored away for the winter, we took full advantage of great weather to meet each other and take care of basic business on January 17, 2004. A good time was had by all.
Our day started with hearty breakfast favorites at IHOP on Belvedere Road in West Palm Beach, just a couple of miles from the Intracoastal Waterway bridge to elegant Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. As coffee poured from bottomless pots in the IHOP meeting room reserved for our group, the parking lot filled with ancient iron and classic chrome. Old friends exchanged warm greetings and new friendships began.
Attendance:
Our fledgling chapter (yet to be formally approved by the AMCA national board, but already thriving) boasts forty-eight members, six times the size needed to start a new chapter! Twenty-eight of our members and their guests took part in our first meeting and ride. We came from the Keys and as far southwest as Marco Island; up the Gulf Coast to Port Charlotte; across the I-4 corridor through Winter Haven, over to the Melbourne area; back inland to Pahokee, and of course from the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Palm Beach megalopolis. The turnout was spectacular in terms of our total numbers, in our geographical diversity, and as a percentage of our members. Thank you for making the effort to attend.
ByLaws and Chapter Name:
We approved ByLaws and voted overwhelmingly to name our new chapter the Everglades Chapter. Other names getting votes were the Southern Cross, the Sea Level Chapter, Gator Chapter, Gold Coast, and Seminole.
Our ByLaws establish a governing board of nine members: four officers, four directors, and the newsletter editor. We agreed to publish our newsletter (already shown to be a highly professional publication with editor Bob Anderson’s first issue) six times a year. Dues were set at a realistic $15 per year to enable us to keep the quality of our programs high.
Officers & Directors:
We followed the usual election technique of nonprofit and volunteer organizations: vote for the guy who is in the bathroom . Howard Cole from LaBelle is our Vice President. Miami resident David Porter was able to figure out how much to tip the waitress without counting on his fingers and toes, so we “volunteered” him to be Treasurer. (Seriously, David talks like he was the Comptroller of some Fortune 500 corporation, using financial terms like “audit committee,” and “co-signers”as he stashed our dues payments into his riding jacket.) Club Secretary is Jim Buttaccio, who hails from Lake Worth (no jokes about the secretary taking stenography in a tight skirt, you biker brutes).
Our four directors are David Fisher, of Punta Gorda; Jack McManus, Boca Raton; Mike Pruszynski, a Miamian, and our West Coast representative: Jack Stauffer of North Fort Myers. Our northernmost member, Bob Anderson, was elected to continue holding the office of Editor, which we decided to make a board position in light of the hard work it takes to publish a high-quality newsletter. I must have had too much coffee and made too many trips to the potty, and learned I was made President after returning from one of those visits.
Committees:
Eustis Liaison: Our members include people active in our sister Florida chapter: the Sunshiners, so when the time came to approve creation of committees and projects to work on, the first thing we decided was to provide volunteer help for the AMCA Winter Meet in Eustis. Jim Dingess gave a report on the areas where help is needed, and Jim Ballou agreed to head-up a Eustis Liaison Committee to coordinate that effort. Call Jim if you are willing to help at Eustis.
Poker Run: Art Delor had the idea for a Poker Run as one of our regular rides, and he is now the Chairman of that committee. Art also agreed to work on a logo for our chapter. Please let Art know if you would like to join his committee.
Website: Mike Pruszynski, an accomplished photographer (whose own picture graces page 45 of the Winter 2003 issue of Antique Motorcycle) has set up a website for our chapter, and will chair our committee to keep that site growing and serving our needs. If you are one of those guys who understands that “boot up” means something different than getting dressed for a ride, let Mike know and he will find a job for you on the “Dot Com” Mittee. Check out the site at: http://amca_southflorida.tripod.com/
Membership: Jack Stauffer, along with his lovely and talented assistant Kelli, have been appointed to run the Membership Committee. Jack took mugshots (I mean portraits) of our members for inclusion in our Chapter Directory. A photo directory is a member benefit, and Kelli agreed to keep track of our membership by creating a computer database, so a Membership Committee is the perfect title for our members heading-up those projects.
Long-Term Project—Motorcycle Museum:
Interspersed among our pranks and jokes and “war stories” about biker-stuff, we worked in some serious discussion of our goals for the Chapter, from short term, to intermediate, to long term projects. Just as the Sunshine Chapter has its trademark Winter Meet, it would be great for the Everglades Chapter to become known for a contribution to our sport that attracts AMCA members nationally.
Many members agreed that a worthwhile long-term project for us would be to sponsor an Antique Motorcycle Museum somewhere in the Southern half of Florida. We could start out small, with some donated or loaned bikes and related memorabilia from our own members, but the project could eventually be one of the “must do” stops on the antique motorcycle circuit. We would need capital to start (either donated real estate to house our collection or a trust fund to grow until would could buy some property) and volunteers to build up and operate the museum. If you would like to serve on this committee, let me know how you can help and what ideas you have for this project.
Ride and Riders:
Eighteen bikes and a few four-wheelers took place in some or all of our Inaugural Ride. No greater variety of two-wheel machines has ever been seen, as our members rode everything from Chiefs from the 1940’s, to several Fifties Harleys, to Sixties British classics, to a couple of Suzukis and Hondas as new as a ‘99. (I invited our members to ride anything that would start for this first ride, on the theory that it is better on such a beautiful day to tool down A1A on a future classic, than to stay home and polish a non-running museum piece.) But even with a few “newer” bikes (I was on a ’78 Bonneville 750), the average age of our rides was more than forty years old! It was unmistakable that we were an antique club.
The tourists and children in the sidewalk cafes along the route smiled, waved, and pointed approvingly, as our pack of bikes snaked down the coastal highway toward lunch, at a comfortable pace for all. Blue Atlantic rolling onto white sand dunes on the left of us; million dollar mega-yachts docked behind waterway mansions on the right, the scenery was gorgeous, the traffic was light, and our First Ride was a success by any measure.
Lunch in Lauderdale:
We rumbled through the long parking lot of the suburban shopping center on Commercial Boulevard in the Oakland Park area of North Fort Lauderdale, toward our lunchtime destination of the North Ridge Raw Bar. Our tables were ready “Still ready,” I should say, after delays for a drawbridge closed by an accident)(not one of us) and an unplanned detour for refueling for some, while the rest of us waited. We munched on oysters and crab and burgers, and a few pints of ale were quaffed.
Some newcomers who could not make the morning meeting caught up with us at the restaurant, where our voting and other business continued. Awards in the form of “First Ride” trophies were given for “Longest Ride” (Bob Anderson: did more than 300 miles round trip), “Oldest Bike”(Jim Buttaccio: ’42 HD WLC); “Oldest Biker” (Dave Fisher, age about 150), “Hard Luck” (given prematurely to Chuck Brougham (I think) for losing a mirror, before needing to be reassigned to be shared by Jim Buttaccio (transmission requiring tow halfway home) and a new member who never made it to start the ride (’61 Tiger Cub piston seized)
Three more “First Ride” trophies were awarded to winners of a drawing. And in a special drawing open only to those who had nominated the winning chapter name of Everglades, Jim Dingess won a 44-year-old copy of Motorcycling Magazine donated by Robert Anderson.
Jack Stauffer took pictures of bikes and of our faces for the Chapter membership directory. Dave Porter relentlessly pursued more dues money from those who had dodged him in West Palm and those who met up with us later on. Some tourists from Quebec sitting at a nearby table quickly wrote their dues checks, hands trembling, as our herd of biker dudes and chicks started getting somewhat silly, laughing loudly at each other’s antics. (Refund the Canadian family’s money, Dave, or we’ll have to get the “audit committee” to appoint someone to “co-sign” with you.)
We wrapped-up our business, and went on our separate ways, with groups of two or three or four ancient cycles. We will have many more rides together on sunny Winter days. But our First Ride was something special. Thanks for making it a day I’ll never forget.