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 GWRRA Wingin' It e-Newsletter
"Friends for Fun, Safety and Knowledge" |
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| Executive Message |
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Melissa Eason
Executive Director, GWRRA
Hello Members,
What a fantastic time we had in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at our 31st Annual Family Reunion, Wing Ding! It was great meeting many of you for the first time and just as wonderful reminiscing with others I've known for years. I would like to express my deepest appreciation and thanks to all our Volunteers, Vendors, Sponsors, Event Management Group, and the great city of Tulsa for your contributions that made this a truly extraordinary event!
We have quite a few items in our Wing Ding Lost & Found box. If you lost an item while at Wing Ding, please give our Member Services Department a call at 800-843-9460. We might just have your treasured item waiting to be returned.
I'm sure most of you have heard by now that next year we are "Meeting in the Middle" in Des Moines, Iowa, for our 32nd Annual Wing Ding. What a great city! Last year I had the pleasure of touring Des Moines and the facility for Wing Ding 32, and I couldn't be more excited with all they have to offer.
Downtown Des Moines boasts a climate controlled 4-mile skywalk that connects shopping, restaurants, and entertainment all in a comfortable 72 degrees. The Farmers' Market, the Principal Riverwalk, and Historic Valley Junction are just a few of the sites you might want to make time to see.
We will once again have the ever popular BBQ dinner. This event sold out rapidly in Tulsa, so please remember to register early to reserve your tickets. Also, due to your comments on the Wing Ding Surveys that we received, we are moving the dates this year to Wednesday, June 30 - Saturday, July 3. We will be closing on Saturday this year, giving you that extra traveling day home.
Thank you again to all who attended Wing Ding 31, and I hope to see you all in Des Moines next year!
Always remember to ride safe and "Every Member Matters!"
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| Travel Now |
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Friendly REMINDER!!
Another one of GWRRA's Member benefits is your access to the extensive network of Travel Now. This Travel Site has over 44,000 hotels, airline reservations, tours (both for goups and individuals), cruises, and anything else you may want as far as travel is concerned. Check it out to see if the benefits are right for your needs. Click here Travel Now. |
| "Did You Know?" |
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Check your GWRRA history knowledge and see if you know the answers to these questions?
1-Tell us what the picture is and more importantly, what is the engine?
2-What was the year and the attendance at the Wing Ding in Tulsa, Oklahoma prior to 2009?
3-Who was the Executive Director of GWRRA from 1987 to 1989?
(Answers in coupon block below.)
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| Rescue PLUS! |
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Remember to sign up for Rescue PLUS! It will add more miles and more vehicles to your standard FREE Rescue towing package from GWRRA. PLUS, it only costs $25 per year to upgrade the entire family!! Sign up now by calling
800-843-9460.
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| Name the "Spirit
of GWRRA"
Contest |
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Time is running out to vote for the name of "The Spirit" of GWRRA.
Entries must be received by September 30, 2009.
To be eligible, you must be a current Member of GWRRA.
Please write us at [email protected] with your name ideas. Make sure you include your name, Member number and telephone number on your contest entry. $50 will be paid to the winner!
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Greetings!
Hello everyone. I hope you are all enjoying the summer and the riding season. For those that went to Wing Ding, I trust that you had a great time going and coming from there and meeting old and new friends...no pun intended! For those that did not or could not make it, there is always next year in Des Moines, Iowa. Remember to check the side column and link to all the articles and features of Wingin' It.
I'd like to ask for your suggestions and advice. You know, GWRRA has always been a Member driven Association and I have held many positions in our great organization since I was first introduced to it in 1979. Everything from Volunteer to CD to DD to Executive Director. And in every position I have held, I had a great time. I met incredible people and learned valuable skills. Now, I am looking around (and listening and watching the numbers) and I see our Association changing. Our Membership is declining slightly, and it seems to be harder to recruit Volunteers and Members.
Don't get me wrong, I am not being negative or saying anything bad against our Association... quite the opposite. For a motorcycle organization to be around for 32 years and still be going strong with 74,000 Members in 52 countries, that's incredible! I am just looking to always make it better, but we know we need your help, too!
Many people say it is the changing society, the economy, that people don't want to be involved any more, and a dozen other reasons. But I would like to hear directly from you. Both our Members and Officers. Anonymously, if you wish. Please write me here and tell me what you see and hear and more importantly, what you believe GWRRA can do to make it better!
I believe people are people, and the people that joined GWRRA back in the 70s, 80s and 90s had the same needs and reasons for joining as the people who join now. Yes, our membership is getting older. What can we do to attract the younger riders, families? I also know this is the dilemma of many associations. Many association executives I speak to say people are not "joiners" any more...I'm not sure I believe that. As I said, people have the same needs they had years ago. We are social animals by nature. If we make it attractive enough, FUN enough, they will join us.
Folks just need to GET INVOLVED and see how much FUN it can be!
There is just so much Facebook, Twitter and computer time you can stand without having a person to talk to or a group of Friends to hang with or someone to ride with! Please write me and tell us what is happening in your area and again, more importantly, what you think...will make GWRRA better!
Thanks & Ride safe, 
Ed Price
Marketing Director, GWRRA
"Every Member Matters"
PS-Send me your favorite, clean, joke and we'll start another new section of Wingin' It! |
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Featured Associate at Home Office 
Jennifer Stewart:
Member Services Support
Jennifer is a native of Phoenix, AZ. She is close with both her parents and younger brother.
She has worked for GWRRA for just over three years and loves her job. She enjoys all the different tasks involved with her job and also likes talking with the Members. She processes new and renewal memberships, takes care of new Masters paperwork, processes Evidence of Insurance paperwork, responds to emails and much more.
On a personal note, Jennifer is busy planning her upcoming wedding. She can't wait to be a wife and the stepmother to a beautiful daughter. She loves to bowl, scrapbook and read in her spare time, but there never seems to be enough of that! |
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New Feature:
How GWRRA Impacted My Life!
We received several submissions for our new feature, and I am pleased to publish one of those here this month. It is from Jack and Henny Hill who reside in Alberta, Canada, and attend Chapter AB-C. Here is their story on "How GWRRA Has Positively Impacted Their Lives!"
Remember, if you would like to write and possibly see your story here, write me HERE! 
In 1997 my wife Henny and I were in a coffee shop and I picked up a weekly news mag. I noticed a 1982 - 1100 Gold Wing for sale. I told my wife we should go look at it (my wife didn't know I had a motorcycle license). The next day we phoned a friend that had a 1200 Gold Wing, and Mike Schillenger came with us to look at the bike. We bought the bike.
I hadn't ridden a motorcycle for about 30 years (my first bike a Honda 50 cub). I was a little wobbly on the bike for the first week or so. Mike gave me a few pointers and asked me to come ride with the Gold Wing Group at Chapter AB-C. I went to a couple of their monthly get-togethers (meetings) and started to ride with the group but at the back. I joined GWRRA in 1999.
I wanted to know more about GWRRA so I went to a District Meeting and met some other Gold Wingers from other Chapters. The Gold Wing motto "Friends for Fun, Safety and Knowledge" is very true.
In 2000 we were at Wing Ding in Billings and could not believe how friendly all the Gold Wingers were.
My wife and I became Chapter Assistants for 2 years, became Chapter Directors for 3 years, COY for a year, and now Chapter Special Events Coordinators.
One day I said to Henny, we should have some of our Gold Wing friends camp out at our acreage for the weekend and go for rides from the acreage. We had about 5 campers show up. We had a BBQ and sat around a campfire and told stories. This was so much fun we decided to do it again. Being my last name is Hill, we decided to call the campout "Hillbilly Campout." The word was out to other Chapters, and we had 15-plus campers next time. This event went on for 5 more years; getting bigger and better every year, with a Hillbilly band and pig roast, 75 people showed up. In 2006 I sold my acreage and moved into Innisfail. The campout continued for another year at a local hall but was not the same.
I sold my 1982 Gold Wing and bought a Yellow 2005 - 1800 Gold Wing. In 2007 we went to Wing Ding again and met more Gold Wing Members. I have taken ARC, Trailering and Road Captain courses. I will take another ARC next year so I can continue to keep my motorcycle skills up-to-date.
Henny has a 2004 Honda Shadow and we try to ride every weekend with Members from Chapter AB-C. GWRRA has had a BIG impact our lives. We have an extended family with Gold Wings that we can ride with and enjoy life.
Jack / Henny Hill
Chapter AB-C
Innisfail, Alberta
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GWRRA Officer Profile: 
Illinois-District Director:
Steve & Sandy Schlager
Steve and his wife, Sandy, have been Members since 1988. Steve was born in Quincy, Ill. and grew up in Canton, MO. Steve used to date Sandy's roommate and their relationship drifted off. He called a few months later to speak with his ex-girlfriend, and Sandy told him she had moved. Well, Steve and Sandy ended up talking for hours on the phone. Two weeks later they were engaged, and three months later they were married and have been together for 35 years. They have one daughter, Beth, and one grandson, John Michael, who is 14 years old.
(Interesting side note: Steve worked in Phoenix at one time as a cameraman for Channel 10 News alongside Bill Close.)
Steve's first motorcycle was a Honda 50 which he used to deliver his newspapers. Later he purchased a Honda 250 that he rode, rather uncomfortably, across the U.S. to visit a friend in Phoenix. A few years went by and he didn't have a motorcycle at all. Then in 1988, he and Sandy saw an ad for a used Gold Wing in their local newspaper, and that was the beginning of his journey with GWRRA. One morning he was sitting in a small local coffee shop when a GWRRA Member, Bill Schaubel, a long time Member of GWRRA, came in and sat down at his booth. Bill said he was with the Gold Wing Road Riders Association, and he noticed Steve's Gold Wing out front of the coffee shop. He told him where and when the next Chapter meeting was and said he expected to see him there. Bill didn't leave any room for discussion about attending the meeting.
Steve and Sandy have served as Newsletter Editors for their Chapter and Public Relations for the District. He also served as Assistant District Director for 2-1/2 years. They are both Leadership Training Instructors and seminar presenters. When asked what he enjoys most about being a Member of GWRRA he replied, "Meeting the people is the best." They have made many friends within GWRRA over the years; and when they attend Wing Ding; it's like old home week. During the year, they try to visit as many Chapters as possible. Steve says it's a great way to make new friends.
Aside from their duties as District Directors, Steve is a pilot and buys and sells airplanes as a hobby. He owns 21 airplanes at this time. Sandy is a nurse working at the Veterans Administration in Marion, Ill, and rides her scooter to work each day that the weather permits.
Steve has owned a total of 5 Gold Wings over the years and his current Gold Wing is featured on the cover of the July issue of Wing World along with their mascot, Bandit, who Steve says is like a family member and always travels with them. |
| Wing Ding Sponsors & Vendors
GWRRA would like to say "Thank You" to all our Wing Ding Sponsors and Vendors who took time from their businesses and families to attend this year's event in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
From my reliable sources, the Vendors had a great show, and our Members who attended supported our Vendors and Sponsors very well. So, thanks to all the GWRRA Members and Guests who attended the 31st annual Wing Ding also!
If you have not signed up for next year's event in Des Moines, Iowa, click here or call Member Services at 800-843-9460 or 623-581-2500 in Phoenix to get registered. If you are interested in vending, please call Jodi Starr at 800-714-9277 x234 or 623-581-5900 in Phoenix. |
Home Office News & Reminders:
Reminders from Member Services
* Here is another "Did You Know?" Did you know that GWRRA sells Gift Certificates? So, if you would like to buy a gift membership for someone special or a gift of Official GWRRA Merchandise or even just give the gift of a Gift Certificate, call Member Services and ask them how! Just call 800-843-9460 or 623-581-2500 in Phoenix.
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* It is never too late or early to update your Gold Book listing. The deadline is always the beginning of November each year. But, if you have any changes you would like to make to your listing or you want to check on your listing, just call one of our friendly Member Sevice Representatives now and make those changes. This is especially true if you are a "snowbird". That way, next year all your Gold Book listings will be correct!
================================================== * When you change your address, be sure to update it in your online membership record or call Member Services. Failure to do so can delay the arrival of your Wing World magazine, sometimes as much as two months.
* When you change your address or renew your membership, your password for Wing World magazine and the Message Board will change. This is due to your password being based on the digits in your address and your expiration date. For help in determining your user name and password, just click on the following link
www.gwrra.org/members or contact Member Services at 800-843-9460 or 623-581-2500 in Phoenix. |
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GWRRA Discount Program Links!
Here are links to some other GWRRA Discount Programs.
If these Discount Programs may be of interest to you, just click on the link or call 800-843-9460 or 623-581-2500 (in Phoenix) for more information.
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Des Moines & IOWA Trivia:
Let's see how much you know about IOWA this month.
----WHAT IS THE STATE NICKNAME?
----WHAT IS IOWA'S CAPITAL CITY?
(Answers to be found in the coupon block below.) |
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GWRRA Recruiting Program Just a reminder, in case you never heard the news, RECRUIT two (2) new households and you will receive a $5 gift certificate from GWRRA.
The $5 gift certificate can be used for anything from Official Products to Membership Renewals to Wing Ding Registrations. For more information, call 800-843-9460 or 623-581-2500 in Phoenix. | |
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| Save 20% |
Featured Official GWRRA Product:
GWRRA RideHide Microfiber Long-sleeve Shirt
This popular GWRRA RideHide, long-sleeve shirt has been a very popular seller. This microfiber shirt wicks perspiration away from your body and has the GWRRA lettering on the chest. We have the shirts in silver and white. Click here for pictures. (All sizes now in stock, small to xxxl.) On sale now for 20% off the regular price of $25, now only $20, if you mention the special code on this coupon.
(Answers to "Did You Know?"--1-Ford 8-N Tractor w/Valkyrie 1500 engine
2-Wing Ding XIII, 6,337-Tulsa, Oklahoma
3-Chuck Westphal, May, 1987-March, 1989
(Answers to "IOWA Trivia-----IOWA'S NICKNAME = Hawkeye State
IOWA'S Capital City = Des Moines
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| Offer Expires: 8/31/09. Mention code e-news |
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