Region E held its first rally in many years on April 27-29, 2007. The rally was held at Shoals Bend RV Park in Forsyth, MO. The rally was a prime example of how you can hold a rally without planning a vast amount of activities, with only a few workers, a very limited budget, and still have fun for all in attendance.

We had 121 people attend. The rally fee was $15 for pre-registration and $20 for those that chose to not pre-register. A Saturday night all you can eat dinner of barbeque pork and catfish was included in the fee. The major activity was planned to be the guided rides through the area. For those that haven’t visited here, the area is blessed with truly great roads for motorcyclists. The curves, the views, the small amount of traffic, and the road surface condition all contribute to make the area some of the nation’s best riding roads according to some of the major bike magazines.

Friday we sold 50/25/25 tickets and ran the registration desk. We made maps of the rides available on request for anyone who might desire to get in a ride. Several took advantage of this. An additional benefit was to get a report on virtually every route as to road conditions, etc. prior to starting the guided rides on Saturday. Friday night we enjoyed a guided ride to Ozark to eat at Lambert’s Café. The home of thrown rolls is always an enjoyable experience, although a bit hard on those trying to lose weight. We had something over 60 people enjoy this experience. Others took in a show at Branson or visited each other at the rally site. Unfortunately, we were greeted with a bit of rain just as the group was arriving. It was still raining as we headed back to camp. The rain ended just outside Ozark so the ride back wasn’t too bad. It started raining in camp shortly after everyone made it back. There were no storms or high winds and most had time to get tucked in for the night before it started. It messed up our planned group campfire but it wasn’t too bad. The 50/25/25 drawing was held and the winning tickets posted. Linda Mendenhall from Chapter A in Kansas claimed a winning of $28.75. The other ticket went unclaimed and the funds were returned to the pot for the Saturday drawing.

On Saturday morning the group was served a breakfast of pancakes and sausage on a donation basis. This was prepared by the campground owners and served in the pavilion. They had set up tables just outside the pavilion to provide seating for all. Following breakfast, Kent Hott and Gerry Shively, MSF Instructors of long standing, provided some riding tips and instruction for riding the twisties. An opportunity was provided for anyone that desired to ride through a curve with the instructors observing and providing tips on an individual basis. Many learned more about how to set up for a curve and pick a line as well as how to maintain control. Immediately following the curve were some cones to practice the weave. Kent demonstrated the procedure. Gerry then demonstrated the desired riding techniques using his wife Kay as a passenger.

The guided rides then started. We had a guided ride to Eureka Springs for shopping in a unique setting. We offered an additional 5 rides for the group to choose what they desired. We offered a slow ride and we also offered a fast ride. The rest were ranked in order of speed to allow the riders to choose a ride that would travel at the pace they would like to ride. All rides had a fuel stop and a lunch stop somewhere along the route. Most of the rides went into Arkansas and used the free ferry to cross an arm of the Bull Shoals Lake. Riding the bike onto the ferry seemed to be a unique experience for some of our riders.

We had our Saturday night dinner at 5:00 p.m. at the campground. The meal was prepared and served by our campground hosts. Interviewing for the Regional Family of the Year took place just prior to and immediately following the meal. After a very enjoyable and delicious meal we had our awards ceremony. Chris Frazier from Clinton, Iowa won the longest distance rider. The longest distance two up went to Jack and Joyce May. The Youngest Rider award went to Bob Lister of Chapter C, Iowa. The Most Senior Rider award went to Charles Hickcock of Chapter H in Illinois. It was about this point that someone volunteered that we should note that the first four awards had all gone to Region C. We very much appreciate the fact that Region C was very well represented. They added a great deal to the fun at the rally. The greatest number attending from a state went to Kansas with 38 people present. The greatest chapter attendance award also went to Kansas for Chapter A with 21 in attendance from that chapter. Other attendance figures included AR with 6, IA, IL, OK, and TX each had 11 members present, while MO had 26 and NE had 7. This was a total of 8 states and 121 motorcyclists in attendance.

Following the awards, Carol and Mike Brush presented a GWTA Educational Seminar. They did a great job of presenting information about our beloved organization and how it is set up to serve the members. They entertained many questions from the group.

The Saturday night campfire was the location for the drawing of the 50/25/25 tickets. Bill Morris and Gloria Scholl, both from Kansas, won $82 each.

The next thing on the agenda was the announcement of the Region E Family of the Year. The judges were chosen as active GWTA members from outside the region. There was no indication that any of the judges had personal knowledge of any of the candidates. The Colorado State Family of the Year was not present for the interview and phone contact was unsuccessful so the judges considered them on the merits of the written material only. The sash this year went to Bill and Randy Simpson from Oklahoma.

Sunday morning the campground hosts served biscuits and gravy to everyone, again on a donation basis. Following breakfast Steve Short did an outstanding job of presenting a devotional. There were then lots of hugs and goodbyes as each packed up and left for their own individual destinations. The weather on Sunday was fabulous and by all reports so far everyone made it home safely.

We passed out a survey Saturday after the awards to gather information to help plan next year’s rally. We had 32 responses for a statistically significant 24% response rate. The group responded almost unanimously that they want the rally to remain in the same location at the same time of year. There was some desire for T-shirts to be made available. Keeping the price of registration affordable for all was big for several respondents. There was some desire for bike games and a very strong desire to keep the rider training. Two of the 32 thought the rally should be moved each year while 22 wanted it to remain in one location.

These results can now be used to propose plans for next year’s rally. By the time of Region E meeting at Gold Rush, we will plan to have some tentative plans developed. These plans will be presented to the membership for approval or modification as the members see fit. That only seems appropriate in a member ran organization.

The rally paid its own way and provided what is anticipated to be sufficient funds to allow the region to operate, albeit miserly, for another year. That allows the Regional Directors to continue with their goal of sending all raffle ticket commission back to the states that earned it. That commission will then be distributed by each state in accordance with the decisions made by the State Director. Those states without a state director will have all commissions earned sent to the chapters that earned it.

The rally was planned with the goal of having a good time. It was not about raising money, but rather about allowing everyone that wanted to attend. The end result is that the money issue will take care of itself, just as it did here. We are not about making money but about providing an opportunity for the members to gather and have a good time. We collected no money for charity, but that allows us to keep our registration low enough that everyone can attend. Those that wish to donate to charity can do so as they please. This philosophy is not necessarily one that everyone will agree to, but it works for us.

Region E hopes everyone is enjoying their summer and making memories for those times when conditions may not allow us to be as active as we are now.