FEBRUARY HOGTIVITIES February 3rd, Sunday, is Superbowl Sunday. We will watch the game in the H.O.G. family room on the projection TV big screen. Bring your lawn chairs, snacks, and your choice of drink. You will receive an email as soon as the game time is known. February 8th, 9th,10th is Street Dreams Car and Bike Show at John Q. Hammonds. There is an entry fee at the door. Cycle Connection will have a fashion show on Saturday night. February 9th, Saturday, is the Ladies of Harley Annual Bakesale at Cycle Connection from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. The Ladies of Harley meeting will be at 1 p.m. in the H.O.G. family room. Ladies, please bring your sweets, baked goods to Cycle Connection before 10 a.m. If you want a particular price on your items, please mark the price yourself, otherwise, they will be priced by Jane or other ladies helping. Bring your spouses. Our best customers are our spouses and the employee's of Cycle Connection. Cycle Connection will also have a cook-out on this day. February 16th, Saturday is the February Joplin H.O.G. Meeting at Cycle Connection in the H.O.G. family room at 10 a.m. Note the time change!! There may be a ride after the meeting, weather permitting. February 17th, Sunday, is Breakfast at Ryan's at 9 a.m. Join us at the breakfast buffet. The same afternoon, we will watch the Daytona 500 on the big screen at Cycle Connection in the H.O.G. family room. Bring your lawn chairs, snacks and favorite drink. February 23rd, Saturday, is our Annual Wintertime Poker Walk from 10 a.m.- 1 p.m. You will purchase a poker sheet for $5 per hand. Then you will walk around Cycle Connection to the different departments to draw cards to make your poker hand. Prizes for best and worst hands. Cycle Connection will have a cook-out on this day also. The same night, February 23rd, is the Black and Blue Ball at John Q. Hammonds. The tickets are $100 each. The ticket will allow you to be apart of a Casino Night, entertainer Duke Mason, meal by Cheddars, and a chance to win a 2008 Dyna. Purchase your ticket at Cycle Connection. If you are not familiar with this event, Black stands for leather and Blue stands for jeans. That is the attire worn to this event. OUR BELOVED "BETTY" On January 6th, Betty Anderson passed away. Bill and Betty Anderson were the first people you saw every Saturday as you walked into Cycle Connection. Ritually there to sell chances on the MDA bike each year. Betty will be missed by all of us who knew her. Betty can never be replaced but our H.O.G. Chapter members are taking on the job of selling the bike tickets on Saturday's. If you can volunteer a few hours on a Saturday please contact Cinda Sweet at rcssweet@mchsi.com or contact Leila at 417-438-7649. There are lots of Saturday's to fill at this time. Ladies of Harley Chain Gang The Ladies of Harley have taken over the job of cleaning up the street in front of Cycle Connection. They will do this before any big event at Cycle Connection and/or once a quarter. The first date is Sunday, March 2nd. Of course, spouses are invited!!! THINGS TO KNOW ***The Joplin H.O.G. membership is from January to January. You have to fill out a new membership form each year. The membership fee is $20 per couple. If your spouse has a National H.O.G. number then a separate form has to be filled out by the spouse. Make sure your National H.O.G. Membership dues are paid. Your card will have an expiration date on it. You can renew your National Membership at www.hog.com. Ladies, if you don't ride your own bike, you can still get an National Associate Membership with your husband's Harley vin number. Then you will have your own H.O.G. card and don't forget to join National Ladies of Harley, that is free. If you don't have a computer, you can get a National H.O.G. Membership form from Paula at Cycle Connection. ***All Chapter rides end at the destination. That means that if we ride to Grove to eat, that is where the ride ends. If you are not sure how to get home, then please tell another member. We will make sure you ride with someone going your direction home. If you have any questions about this, please contact Butch Scott, Head Road Captain, at 417-438-7648. ***All non-members and minors must sign a waiver before each group ride. All the Officer's will have these waivers. This is so that our Chapter or National H.O.G. is not responsible in the event of a problem. We, as members, sign the waiver when we sign our membership form each year. ROAD CAPTAINS At the January Joplin H.O.G. Meeting, several volunteered to be Road Captains under the Head Road Captain, Butch Scott. Red H.O.G. bandana's have been ordered for these volunteer's. We will be able to recognize who the Road Captain's are by these bandana's, either around their necks or tied to handlebars. The rides will have a road captain leading the ride, a couple in between and a tail feather road captain. Some rides will be large enough to have two or more groups leave 10 minutes or so apart. We had 14 volunteer's, so we should be covered on every ride. Maps will be available to all riders on overnight rides. Also, if you are a newer rider with less experience, it is recommended that you ride in the front of the group so that the Head Road Captain can pace the ride with your speed. The further back in the group the faster you have to ride to keep up at times due to traffic or stop lights. QUESTIONS ?? If you are a new member and have any questions about the Chapter, please email any of the following Primary Officer's at any time. Don't feel like you have a dumb question, we will help you anyway we can. Director, Paula Boyd, pboyd@cycleconnectionh-d.com or call her at Cycle Connection Assitant Director, Lee Foster, computer crashed, cell # 417-439-7035 Secretary/Treasurer, Leila Scott, hdthunder2000@fastfreeman.net, cell # 417-438-7649 SAFETY MESSAGE MOTORCYCLE SAFETY PEARLS OF WISDOM Always assume other driver's can't or don't see you. Just because a driver is looking at you, doesn't mean that the driver see's you. Always assume other driver's are going to do something wrong or stupid. Try to avoid being one of the "other" drivers! Driver's making a left turn are the most dangerous. Rush hour driver's all feel that their time is more important than your life. All driver's think it is safe to pull out of their driveways without looking. The likelihood that a driver will make a sudden left turn or lane change increases dramatically as you prepare to pass. On one-way streets, it is the driver in the furthest right lane who will most need to make a left hand turn. Never let anyone convince, coerce, or shame you into riding without a helmet if that's your choice. There is no ride straight enough, short enough, or slow enough to be safe. Never argue with an 18-wheeler, especially around interstate on ramps. The longer you take to pass an 18-wheeler, the more likely it is that one of its tires will explode just as you pass along side. Never be too proud to unlearn an old habit. Never be too proud to take a motorcycle training course. Driver's talking on cell phones are just as dangerous as drunk drivers. Never outrun your headlight. Deer and other animal's will always insist on the right of way. Don't just dress for the ride; dress for the fall. Keep less experienced riders near the front and more experiences riders at the back of a group ride. The last rider in a group always has to drive 80 to keep up with a lead rider who is going 65. Never outrun your skill level. Drop out of the group and enjoy the peace and solidtude of a solo ride. Steve Mounce, Safety Officer smounce@stj.com Past Events The New Year's Day ride had 15 bikes with 19 brave riders. There were 8 van people and 2 who met us at the destination. We had dinner at Montana Mike's in Miami. We left Cycle Connection at 28 degree temperature and rode home at 31 degrees. This ride is only cancelled by wet roads, temperature doesn't matter. Normally, we only have a group ride when it is over 40 degrees. The January Ladies of Harley meeting gathered lots of ideas for rides in 2008. Officer, Jane Brewer is planning the L.O.H. calendar for the year to include some of the idea's. All ladies, whether they ride their own bike or the passenger seat are invited to the Ladies of Harley meetings each month. The Annual Chili Cookoff had 11 crockpots of fantastic aromatic chili. The contest was won by Greg Short's "Scorching Internal Combustion" chili. See Greg in the picture below. He's not proud!! Treasurer's Report It has been requested that a treasurer's report be given monthly. As I am writing this newsletter, I don't have the total number of 2008 member's tabulated. Paula has most of the forms at Cycle Connection. She copies them and then I get them. We have ordered 15 bandana's at $6 ea., 12 large rockers @$16 ea., 12 small rockers @$7 ea., and intend to order 24 black Chapter tee shirts soon @$18 ea. This is the cost from Norscott Group, we do not make any money off these items. I should have a report at the February meeting as to the number of members and dues collected and expenditures. The remainder of the 2007 Chapter funds are being spent on things we need for the H.O.G. Family Room and H.O.G. Office. We also purchased a new camera for the Chapter Photographer, Goldie Jones. She has worn out 2 of her own. We depleted the Hardship Fund to help Rod and Jane Brewer after his accident. We now have $250 in the Hardship Fund plus a check from Pizza Hut, and I don't know the amount of that check. It was a percentage of the receipts for the month we had Wednesday Night Warm Up there. We have a few events each year such as the L.O.H. bakesale, Poker Walk, etc. This money allows us to purchase H.O.G.merchandise, food for picnics, supplies such as printer ink and paper, pay for our Christmas party, door prizes at meetings and prizes for events, and donate to charities. If you have any questions about the Chapter Funds, you can contact an Officer at any time. Wednesday Night Warm Up In January the Wednesday Night Warm Up is at Sportsman's Park, 7th and St. Louis, Joplin at 6 p.m. We have dinner together and talk and have a few laughs. This is a great way to get to know other members. We are family. The last Wednesday in January, we will decide where to go in February. If you have idea's of good places to eat and room for around 20 people, please let us know. THE GOAL OF THE JOPLIN HARLEY OWNER'S GROUP IS "TO RIDE SAFE AND HAVE FUN!" MEMBERSHIP Please renew your 2008 membership soon! You can renew at the February meeting or at Cycle Connection through Paula Boyd. At this time she is off on Wednesday's. Also Cycle Connection is closing at 6 p.m. till March 1st. Cycle Connection Harley-Davidson/Buell 5014 Hearnes Blvd. Joplin, MO 64804 www.cycleconnectionh-d.com Click here for store hours and map. To subscribe to this newsletter, click here.

This newsletter is powered by PowerSports Network Inc.