Chapter U Christmas Party Saturday December 10, 2016 Montana Mike's New Braunfels, Texas What a wonderful time of the year! It s the holiday season and Tux and I are getting into it. We ve been sampling the goodies at all the stores and putting on unnecessary pounds; perusing the Black Friday sales and taking advantage of the pre to the pre Christmas shopping opportunities; updating our Christmas wish and address list to ensure our friends and family know what we want and where to send it; celebrating the reason for the season and pausing, for a moment, to reflect on what Christmas means beside the Merry part; riding on crispy days with searching for the white in Christmas; and welcoming the opportunity to be with our riding brothers and sisters for a lovely Christmas party. The Riders of Chapter U capped off 2016 with their annual Christmas Party at Montana Mike's in New Braunfels, Texas. Forty-four GWRRA Riders, Co-Riders and assorted spouses welcomed the Christmas season with their motorcycling GWRRA family. A special thanks are to be given to Montana Mike's for their hospitality, superb service, and allowing Chapter U to partake of another well-prepared meal in their establishment. They really set the stage for the rest of our activities.
Two of Santa s moose elves Prior to the start of the Christmas party activities Sheila Morris paused with us to Thank the Lord for a memorable and Safe year and for all the members and friends (new and old) that were in attendance. Chapter Director s, Steve and Donna Van Gilder, made administrative remarks and recognized the following members of the Chapter staff for their work in 2016: Court and Diane van Sickler - Assistant Chapter Directors Tom Hendricks - Membership Enhancement Coordinator Ken and Connie Jordan - Rider Educators Sal and Phylis Pesta - Chapter Couple of the Year/Assistant Chapter Directors Donna Van Gilder - Chapter of the Year Coordinator Phylis Pesta - Chapter Historian Helen Smith - Treasurer, Chapter Activities Coordinator and Photographer Ed Smith - Webmaster Pat and Rick Kendrick - Hospitality Ambassadors Scott Hay - Newsletter Editor/Assistant Chapter Photographer Steve introduced some of our newest members and guests and welcomed Clint and Michelle Carlton back from their journeys throughout the United States. The Chapter also honored Riders with birthdays and anniversaries in December. The monthly drawing of a GWRRA membership number was won by Clint Carlton. Tux stated that s $20.00 more for Michelle to spend on Christmas, LOL.
Clint and Michele Carlton One of the novelties of our Christmas party program was honoring the 2016 Chapter "U" Couple of the Year (COY) and presenting the 2017 COY. The COY program began as a way to honor couples at the local level, and to select enthusiastic duos to serve as ambassadors and spokespersons for GWRRA. It has evolved into a useful tool for identifying and helping prepare couples for leadership positions within the GWRRA organization. 2016 and 2017 Couples of the Year
Chapter U was well represented in 2016 by Sal and Phylis Pesta who received a certificate of appreciation and were recognized for their tenure as the 2016 COY. The Pesta s are two of the stalwarts of the Chapter U team and were seen throughout the year wherever FUN was found. Sal and Phylis will represent Chapter U in the Texas District COY competition in 2017. Great job Sal and Phylis! The 2017 COY are Rick and Pat Kendrick. Congratulations to the Kendrick's. Chapter "U" is looking forward to the representation you bring to the Chapter. Tux wants to be the first to congratulate the Kendrick s on being honored by our chapter for their efforts, support and representation in 2017 while focusing on Fun, safety and knowledge. A patriotic wreath was also given to the Kendrick s in honor of their becoming COY. The following activities were discussed and highlight the start of the 2017 Chapter U riding year: 1 January, Sunday 11:00 a.m. - 2017 Blessing of the Bikes at Javelina Harley in Boerne, TX. Following the Blessing of the Bikes, Rider s will have lunch in the area. Departure time from KPS will be forthcoming. 5, 12, 19 January, Thursday s Hooky Ride - Depart KPS at 9:30 a.m., destination to be determined. 14 January, Saturday Texas District Mid-Winter Round-up, Wichita Falls, TX. All new officers are expected to attend. Travel day is Friday, 13 January, time to be determined. 17 December, Saturday 11:00 Wreath s Across America, Ft Sam Houston National Cemetery. 17 December, Saturday - 4:00-5:30 p.m. - Kent Motorsports New Braunfels, (I35N) "Holiday Dinner," Jingle Jingle, Let s Mingle. 18 January, Wednesday - Chapter Gathering" for Chapter U will be at the La Cabana Restaurant, upstairs room, at 170 Buffalo Place Cibolo, TX.
Rider Educator s and new GWRRA Level 1 Riders Ken and Connie Jordan, Rider Educator s, made Level 1 presentations to Charlene Young and Michael Harris. Congratulations to our two newest additions to the Levels Program. Tearing up that wrapping paper Besides the food one of the highlights of the afternoon was the white elephant gift exchange, where each participant put a gift under the Christmas tree. Each present was given a number and the when the Master of Ceremonies called that number the person had the option to either take the present or exchange/ take/steal another person's gift. A gift could only be stolen two times and it then belonged to the third taker/stealer. Some gifts were more popular than others and the person who lost their original gift, in some cases, was able to open or steal a multitude of gifts. Some folks
were really disappointed when their gift was stolen for the third time without a way to get it back. At the end of the exchange the person who received the first gift from under the tree was able to steal/take any of the remaining gifts. Gene Barta elected to keep the final gift he had originally received. Some of the donated items This year the Chapter supported the Randolph Area Christian Assistance Program (RACAP) by participating in their food drive and contributed multiple items of food to help feed people in their program. Chapter U Riders also contributed with toy donations in coordination with one of our sponsors, Kent Powersports. Each member choosing to participate donated an unwrapped new toy to help make a child s Christmas more enjoyable. It was humbling to see the amount of food and toys contributed by this Chapter. Chapter U is making the holidays happier for many this holiday season!
Ugliest Sweater Contest winner Rick Kendrick The winner of the "Ugliest Christmas Sweater" was Rick Kendrick who will receive a $10.00 DQ gift certificate at the next Chapter Gathering.
Nothing like Christmas with riding friends Steve Van Gilder and Court van Sickler did an excellent job conducting the raffles and leading the activities for the day. Kudos to both of them! The Chapter presented numerous door prizes to the attendees. The winner of the $75.00 Kent PowerSports gift certificate was Charlene Young. Thanks to everyone who provided prizes for the raffle. Winner of $160.00 in the Christmas raffle was the Barta family. Thanks to Phylis Pesta, Diane van Sickler and their elves for selling tickets all year long so we could have this great payout as part of our festivities. A special thanks goes out to the worker bees who made this Christmas Party so successful. The Chapter U staff gets to share the December Penguin Award for doing so much with so little to please such a large number of people. Phylis Pesta also made the beautiful centerpieces for each of the tables, which were raffled off to lucky winners. Thanks Phylis. Tux and I wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas and happy, bountiful holidays. May the spirit of the season extend into your New Year.
Merry Christmas to all and Write up provided by Tom Hendricks and photos provided by Scott Hay.