From:Bob Nicholas e-mail:bobheci-A-hotmail.com
Subject:Wauseon was a Blast Date:Fri Jul 25 17:45:51 2014
All,

The Highlands Chapter put in a good showing at Wauseon last week. We had at least 13 members attending the show. Here are the folks I can think of right off the top of my balding head:

Mike Wuss Mueller
Tom Rollo Hardy
General George Ogden
Sparky Nicholas (nicknamed by Rollo and Geoge Downes)
George Downes
King Troensegaard
Juan Sakata
Bobby Williams (Newest member in attendance)
Tom Holter
Rick Allen
Ramsey Allen
Gary Caporaletti (Flat Tracker Extraordinaire)

Kenny Kephart (Good Friend of the Chapter)

This year's event was even better than last year. The weather was perfect except for a few short showers the last day of the event. There were increased numbers of vendors and more used and new parts than you could shake a stick at.

Rollo and I sat in on Saturday's Presidents Meeting. We will go over the highlights during our upcoming meeting on August 9th.

A bunch of us attended a seminar on 3-D metal printing. They can now replicate almost any vintage motorcycle with a 3-D metal printer. Very Cool. It is the same machine they use to make custom metal hip, elbow and knee joints.

Wuss was in rare form all during the event. He shared jokes and libations with large numbers of the participants. Many thanks to Mike for providing transportation for General George, Rollo and me. Most of the time the General and I just sat back and let Wuss and Rollo go at it. It was a riot all the to Ohio and back. I really enjoyed the trip and the comradery. We had a total blast all four days.

This was Juan's and Bobby's first trip to Wauseon. From the smiles on their faces, they had a great time and they picked up some well needed parts. (FYI: Today was Juan's first day back at work after recovering from his shoulder surgery. I understand he got a new tool box and a battery powered ratchet wrench as a welcome back to work).

Gary was back in the flat-track saddle again this year. One of the bikes they brought to Wauseon developed a small hole in one the cylinders right before the race. They decided not to risk further damage and pulled the bike from the line-up. Luckily, one of the owners of a stable of three bikes needed one more rider. Gary to the rescue. There was a little trouble getting the 100 year old bike started, but once it did, it took off at break-neck speed. Gary had advanced to third place and was still moving towards the front of the pack, when he ran into a depression in the track and wiped out. The crash resulted in a few bruises and a dinged up vintage board-tracker. I checked with Gary right after the race to make sure he was OK. (He was) I heard Gary was pretty stiff the next day, though. We hope to see him next year in the winner's circle.

Six of us stayed at the show on Sunday morning to see the bikes being judged. There were some real jewels in the corral this year.

We were very happy to see so many of our Highlands brothers in attendance this year. It is a great event, with good deals, rare bikes, wild characters, fantastic flat-track action and great track food. Heck, where else are you going to get a pork-chop on a stick for dinner.

Hope we have even more Highlands members going to Wauseon next year.

See you at the Blast from the Past.

Bob