| Dec 21st Newsletter , Shamokin, Pa. |
| Hi Folks, With the onset of the COLD weather, or ridership declines, but those who show up WANT to RIDE, regardless of the conditions! So with this in the back of my mind , the Speedball Express & I head north towards the mountains of Pa. wondering about the turnout for today's Great Adventure???? I am the first to ramble into Motel 6's parking lot in Frackville, Pa. early Saturday morning & head directly for Granny's to fill my belly with some good hot chow! Its COLD & WINDY , so I don't expect a large turn out , and inform the waitress that it may be just Speedy Racer for breakfeast this chilly winter morning. Halfway through feeding my face, Russ pushes aside the door & greets Speedy with a warm hug & handshake & orders his own grub. After filling our bellies , we amble over to the parking lot & NO ONE there, BUT I always promise to wait till 8:00am for folks who either show up unexpected or not sure how to get to K-mart in Shamokin, Pa. . So Russ & I fire up or trucks & let the heaters warm our AARP bones. At 7:58am , still no other Speedballs have showed up, but I wait patiently until 8:00 am before departing & at almost exactly 8:00am, Joe & Brian rattle into the parking lot with a BIG smile across thier faces! Joe's got his new exhaust & tires on his Yamaha Timberwolf & can't wait to try them out! Brian's Honda Recon had to be towed back to the trucks in the middle of the night on our last Great Adventure, but must have resolved the problem during the last two weeks. So at 8:00am the Speedballs head off up Rt. 61 north to meet our fellow Speedballs in Shamokin , Pa. for the beginning of todays Great Adventure! As we cruise into K-marts parking lot, I see more Speedballs unloading thier trusty quads & gearing up for this wintery jaunt across the mountains of Pa. While unloading my Grizzly, Earl saunters over to me & hands me a Christmas present that we had joked about in previous e-mails. Thinking it was a practical joke present, I began to unrwap it , anticipating something crazy or whatever???? WHAT I did get was a BEAUTUFUL engraven plaque from the " East Coast Speedballs ATV Club " , that among other things had OUR club motto engraven at the bottom. " Where friends come together to enjoy the Great Outdoors " !!! It really touched my heart! I now display it proudly on my computer desk, so that every time I sit down to answer e-mails or create more pages on our website, I'm reminded of WHY I started the " Speedballs " in the first place!!!! How else would I have met so many wonderful folks like Earl & the others who have brought joy into my life & made the future for our club look even brighter! THANKS for your thoughtfulness !!!! |