From:Hodge e-mail:hodge@engineeredmaintenance.com
Subject:April Meeting Minutes Date:Wed Apr 28 16:33:04 2010

Highlands Chapter Meeting Minutes
April 17, 2010


What: April’s Club Meeting

Where: Griffin Tavern – Flint Hill, VA

When: April 17 2010 @ 2:30 PM

Who: Hodge, Rollo, Richard, George, Long Shanks, Bob, Mike, Tim
and Doug

Why: Planning Our Upcoming Events, going for a ride, drinking some beer and B.S.ing with our brothers.


Greetings All:

I’m a bit remiss in getting out the meeting minutes from our April get-together. Things have been hectic, with the Oley Swap Meet and all.

Here’s what happened:

The guys met at the Safeway in Middleburg around 1:30 PM and rode over to Griffin Tavern in Flint Hill. It was a great day for a ride. Perfect sunny weather, I was heading out of town after the meeting, so arrived by truck at the Tavern right at 2:30. Our Club Brothers were just ordering their first beers when I arrived.

We discussed world events, motorcycles and other important subjects of the day before settling down for a quick bite to eat.

If you haven’t been to Griffin Tavern, you ought to. The food and service are very good. They have a nice outside deck where most of the bikers hang out. I’m sure we’ll meet there again. Hope to see the rest of you there.

We got down to business around 3:50. Here’s the gist of it.

SMOKE HOLE

Hodge gave props to Richard and Rollo for their work on the Smoke Hole trip. We think that our group has reserved about 15 cabins so far. Now’s the time to get your reservations in. Most of the guys had reserved the Honeymoon cabins (they house just one couple). Some of our brothers are reserving the Family cabins so they have room for multiple couples. The Family Cabins are about 2 miles up the road from the Honeymoon Cabins.

Tim O’Hara is very familiar with the roads around Smoke Hole Caverns. He confirmed that it’s great for motorcycle rides.

Richard had collected a packet of brochures detailing the various activities available at and nearby the resort. You’ve got everything from rock climbing to fly-fishing.

Rollo had made a visit to Smoke Hole and told us that the facility is very nice. He said that the cabins come with a little barbequing area, so meal prep should be easy. He also said that there is a large pavilion that may be available for the Highland’s use. It looks like we may not need the large tent for this year’s event. Richard told us that they would allow bonfires.

Hodge reiterated that we might make a late model bike run up to Smoke Hole just to check things out. We’ll wait until Rollo gets back from New Orleans. Richard suggested a weekday trip. We’ll keep you posted as the ride gets firmed up.

Hodge expressed his concern that we need the members and friends of the Highlands Chapter to get their rooms reserved as quickly as possible. Rollo told us that August was Smoke Hole’s high season and that rooms disappear pretty quickly. We started with 32 cabins being available. We’ve already signed up for about half of these. Hodge said he would contact Smoke Hole Resort to try to get them to hold the remaining cabins for a long as possible.

Rollo spoke with Opie and is hoping to get some of our southern friends signed up for the event. Richard is contacting the Massachusetts folks.

Richard suggested that we bring passing dishes for Friday and Saturday night. That way we can all share an informal meal together. It doesn’t look like we’ll be providing the club-organized cookouts this year. Everybody will cook for themselves (or if they prefer, eat at one of the local restaurants).


BIKE SHOWS

Hodge asked Richard about his idea to have the Highlands Chapter put on an antique bike show this year. Rollo had been in contact with Patriot Harley and Hodge was contacting Winchester Harley. Richard reiterated his idea that we should keep the event small this year. We decided that we did not want to host a show, but to be a part of another event. Both Patriot and Winchester H-D have open houses each year. We hope to join in on one or more of these open house events. Hodge and Rollo will keep in contact with the two H-D dealers and let us know what the available dates will be. We’ll need to determine how many of us can bring a bike to the shows. Hodge wants us to make a good showing, so we’ll need as many participants as we can. We hope to put out a bucket or have a raffle in order to gather some money for a charity. Rollo suggested that we give the proceeds to one of the military-based charities. I think everybody agreed that would be a great idea. We’ll provide updates as more information becomes available.


OLEY SWAP MEET

A number of the guys said they would be at Oley for the Swap Meet. Mike Mueller rode up with me on Friday. A number of the guys came up on Thursday. We were happy to see Dave Hennessey, Chip, Long Shanks, George, Choppa Rob, Tom Holter, Flat, King and Hodge. I missed Thursday’s meal (I think George was cooking) but I was there on Friday for Hodge’s famous barbequed chicken. It was great, as always. We sat around drinking beer and shooting the bull for a long time. It’s always good to be with the guys. Thanks to Flat for providing the morning coffee and keeping us supplied with other essentials.

Oley is always a great event and it’s enjoyed by all. I think everybody came home with a few new parts and a story or two. I did find out that a 9-dollar sleeping bag wasn’t the best thing to have when the nighttime temperature drops into the 30’s. Mike Mueller parked his sleeping bag near the remnants of the Saturday evening meal. He spent most of the night scaring away the raccoons that had a hankering for stuff in our garbage bags. Flat Head Ed had a space this year and was able to sell a lot of his excess parts. Now he has extra funds to complete the UA build. I think Hodge picked up a new transmission for his “67” Early Shovel, cheap, among other things. Tom Holter picked up a bunch of stuff, but I didn’t get to see his new treasure pile. Dave Hennessey manned a tent again this year and brought along his H-D Hummer. It’s a bad little bike, Very cool. Some of the guys hung around for the judging of the bikes. I’m not sure if anybody made it to the Oley Banquet on Saturday night. Most of us had hit the road by then.

Well, that’s it for the April meeting. We’ll keep you posted as to the time and place for May’s meeting. Looking forward to seen y’all.


Best Regards,



Bob Nicholas, Secretary – Highlands Chapter, AMCA