February, 2008

Cabin Fever plans are going full steam. Cindy Daley band to appear
MMR plans for our annual Cabin Fever Party are moving along. We have obtained the famous Cindy Daley band for the night and will also have fill-in music between sets. On Saturday night, March 22nd, MMR will hold its annual Cabin Fever Party, which is also our biggest fundraiser.

The solicitation letter from 2007 has been edited for 2008, and will be available shortly for those MMR members desirous of helping us obtain raffle prizes. The hall has been contracted and we will use the time between now and 3/22 to gather in the raffle prizes. Please help us by revisiting those businesses you solicited last year, and any new businesses to which you may have access (new members and those who may not have helped out previously).

Please also make sure you purchase your ticket(s) at the February meeting and take extras for any family or friends who may want to attend. For those of you who are new to MMR, or have not attended in previous years, this is a night of fun and high expectations as we begin to gather in the funds we need for 2008 charitable giving and other MMR needs.

Additionally, everyone, at that point, will be chomping at the bit to start riding again, and, consequently, spirits will be high, with Spring in the air and visions of the great rides to come dancing in our heads. See attached pictures of last year’s event to get an idea of what’s in store.

View from The Hawk’s Aerie (Nest) by Hawk
January 26th, Saturday, cold, snow flurries predicted, possible heavier snow on Sunday, no football this weekend. This is a tough time for the motorcycle community. March is still over a month away and even March arriving does not always guarantee decent riding weather. How does one beat the Winter-time blues other than maybe going skiing? What I did today is go into the storage garage, where I keep my trusty steed, and just gave the old Road King some love.

I started her up and let her run for about 5 minutes. It perked me up to hear her running, and she seemed to be saying, “Don’t worry, it will be Spring before you know it, and I will be ready to go”. The lady who owns the garage was also there fussing over her bike and so I had some company to share the fun.

It always ends so abruptly, the riding season. One day you are out all bundled up or plugged in with the sun out, and the temperature above 40, and the next day you are hunkered down inside, with a wind-chill outside of 10.

Thank goodness for the Patriots, Celtics, rental movies, fireplaces, cozy pubs with good bands, and friends and family.

Meanwhile, many of us are waiting to hook the new GPS up to the bike or the heated handle grips. Others are perusing the latest catalogs, trying to decide what to buy and what they can afford. Hang in there, 5 more weeks.

Hobnobbing with Politicians on Her Way to the White House by Paula McCallum
On January 17, 2008, our former President, Paula McCallum, represented the Manomet Mystery Riders when she joined several members of the Massachusetts Motorcycle Association, and Brian Mello's widow, Elisa Decker, at the Sons of Italy hall in Weymouth to show their support at a benefit dinner for Republican Senator Bob Hedlund.

This past August, many Mystery Riders attended the first Annual "Brian's Ride" in memory of Brian Mello, a motorcycle rider who was killed by a motorist on March 25, 2007 at the Middleboro rotary. Two other riders with Brian were hospitalized from the accident. Brian's Ride was sponsored by the Friends of Brian Mello, the Southeastern Massachusetts Motorcyclists' Survivors Fund.

Elisa Mello planned on taking the riding course to learn how to ride a motorcycle but never had the opportunity with all the turmoil that arose after her husband was killed. At Senator Hedlund's dinner, the MMA presented Elisa with a gift certificate so that she could finally take the course through Training Wheels.

A few hundred people turned out at Senator Hedlund's benefit to take part in various raffles and a pasta dinner to help raise money for operational costs of running Senator Hedlund’s headquarters. Senator Hedlund, represents the Plymouth and Norfolk districts, serves on the Transportation committee among others and, more importantly, rides a motorcycle.

It's important for motorcyclists to get involved in political fund raisers like these in order to raise public awareness of who bikers are and so that we can meet the politicians who represent us like Bob Hedlund and Senate President, Theresa Murray, in hopes that when it comes time for them to vote on important issues that concern us like safety, our voices will be heard.   

By Dennis Pierce (Editor’s Note-very moving article) MMR’S TAKE A BITE OUT OF HUNGER There’s a fine line between wealth and poverty. You can be born into poverty or fall upon hard times as easily as being born into a trust fund or handed a large inheritance. It’s a roll of the dice. We’re all in the same soup , and anyone can cross over to the other side of the stew pot at any time. But one things for sure , for those who have to endure poverty it leaves deep emotional wounds in its wake. How do I know this ? You’ll understand by the time you read this article.

Rewind ( New York 1927 ) My mom’s dad was from county Cork , Ireland her mom from Kent , England. They immigrated to New York like so many of that time to start a better life. My mother was the third born child, but the first born in The U.S. A. In 1928. My grandparents went on to have a brood of ten in all. They came up during hard times. The great depression started in 1929 and lasted many years. My grandfather was a hard working plumber, but with so many mouths to feed there was rarely enough to go around.

I grew up hearing the stories. When it rained outside it rained inside and the kids would run around with pots and pans to collect the rainwater. How they would heat stones on the wood burning stove to put at the foot of their beds to take the curse off the cold winter nights. My mother’s clothes were always tattered, torn and well worn. New clothing was unheard of. Going to bed hungry was not uncommon during the depression.

But despite the circumstances this family was able to keep their spirits high. They would gather around and sing. This is how families entertained themselves back then.

Fast forward ( My kitchen table 1994 ) My mother is terminally ill with cancer . She passes away the following year in Sept. 1995. She feels compelled to tell me the following story as I will relay to my fellow MMR’S through my eyes. So when this beautiful little girl with a voice like an angel was given the opportunity to join the school chorus, she eagerly volunteered. One of the fringe benefits of being part of the chorus was that you were issued a satin robe that was yours to keep as long as you participated.

It was the first piece of clothing she owned that wasn’t tattered or thread worn. When she put it on she felt like a princess, dancing and admiring herself in front of her mirror. She loved chorus. Well each time you showed up for chorus practice they did a roll call. When they called your name you were required to answer either “here with dues “ or “here without dues”, and of course my mothers reply was always the same, “here without dues“.

Well, this little girl’s darkest hour came when there was a knock on the door one night. It was someone from the school informing her mother that she would no longer be able to participate in chorus, due to non- payment of dues. My mother was becoming so emotional telling me this story, she could barely speak the words “they took back the robe“. My mother broke down and sobbed uncontrollably. I consoled the trembling little girl inside my mother that was so deeply hurt by this. It blew me away that after sixty years she still felt the pain as if it happened yesterday. It made me realize just how painful the impact of poverty can be. I also think it hurt my mother more now, as a mature woman, because she always gave so much of herself to others. I think it was hard for her to comprehend that no adult at that time stepped forward to prevent this from happening.

Fast forward ( Billy Ferguson’s house Nov. 18th 2007 )

Today there’s no place I’d rather be than at Billy’s house packing Thanksgiving baskets with my fellow MMRs. After Paula McCallum’s monumental task of food shopping for so many, we got right to the job at hand. It was obvious we were passionate about what we were doing. We worked together like a well oiled machine (Harley Springer Softail) until each Thanksgiving basket had just the right mix.