"What a Hoot!" That is my new phrase that will forever bring to mind wonderful, laughter inducing memories of my first trip to Tulsa and time spent with some of our incredible sisters!

We are pleased to announce the addition of Penny Hosley to the National Staff.  Penny's new position as National Membership Coordinator became effective May 1, 2008.  She will be taking care of membership renewals for the organization. 

Ms. Penny has been a member of SIS for three (3) years and served as Chapter Director for Tulsa Chapter A.  She has been a great supporter of the organization from the first day she joined. Penny rides a beautiful Honda Gold Wing trike like the pro she is.  She placed her trike in a bike show and won first place (it still had the dealer’s tag on).

We want to Welcome her to the National Staff of Sisters in Spirit Motorcycle Association for Women.

"WELCOME ABOARD"

   I was sweating as I struggled into my boots, jacket, helmet, gloves, jeans.  And if the truth be told, swearing a little bit, too.   I told Jynnie, "I remember how much fun it used to be to ride before you had to dress for war before jumping on your bike."  Memories of the Sisters we'd met at the 2007 Rally passed through my head:  lovely long hair caught back by bandannas, fringed sleeveless vests flying in the wind, young ecstatic faces.   Well, I'm not young (65 in June), I don't have long hair, and I don't have a fringed vest.  But I do have good sense most of the time.

   I saddled up and prayed there would be no red stop lights on hills when I reached the small city (Columbus, MS) just across the Mississippi state line.   Just the thought of sitting on an steep incline causes me to break out in hot sweat and my stomach to contract.  This does not prevent  me going into hilly cities but I do have vivid visions of slowly rolling backward on my bike, trying to keep it upright, running, and God help me, not falling down.

   Ahhh, I made it and said an exuberant prayer of thanks, actually two of them, when I hit the flat, even streets near my appointment.  The kids were getting out of school so I obediently wobbled along at 15 MPH while watching carefully for some youngster to dash in front of me.  There were long lines of cars on both sides of the two-way, two lane street, parents waiting to pick up young'uns.  There was another line of cars on a side street, waiting at the stop sign for a break in the traffic.  I watched a young woman in a new Taurus approach the sign, ahead and on the right of me.  She stopped, looked conscientiously to her right, and still looking right, pulled in front of me.  Let me see now, should I just lay the bike down (that might hurt), swerve to the left (that'll hurt for sure as she will run over me), swerve to the right (I'll really get hurt as I'll be sandwiched).  So I did the correct thing and drove right into her.  (I DID do the correct thing, didn't I???).

   I sprang up from the hot asphalt , acting as though I did this trick on a routine basis, as I had quite an audience.   I hit the "kill" switch on my bike, remembering the only thing that came to mind from my Motorcycle Safety Course.   As I was performing for a crowd, I thought I'd really wow them by taking off my helmet and letting them see my gray hair and wrinkles.   As I stood around waiting for the cops to make their report, I sang tunelessly (of course) "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" to get sympathy and was rather amazed when one of the officers sang after me, "...by a Taurus!."

   I survived my hit with only bruises and a scraped up Yamaha Silverado 650 with 1, 143 miles on it.  And I did so because I had on all the apparatus that I had earlier fussed about.  My helmet was scratched, proving I would have hit my head if I had been wearing my wolf bandanna instead; my gloves were scuffed, having saved my hands, and I don't know about the injuries to my jacket (which has protective pads in all the right places) because I can't bring myself to look at it yet.

   The excellent article, "Survival Mode - The Human Element," by HogWoman says a lot about being especially careful in intersections:  I want to encourage my Sisters to do something that wasn't given much shrift in the article - please, please, please think about safety over beauty and the air through your hair.

WOW and what a Rally SIS had this year.  If you thought last year was great, I think I can safely say we had the pleasure of attending the RALLY to END ALL RALLIES!  There was so much fun and enjoyment you would not believe it.  I laughed until my face hurt.  You never know what will happen when the SISTERS are involved. 

The site of the rally was the Best Western in Van Buren, Arkansas.  The people of this community WELCOMED us with their arms wide open. The Mayor of Van Buren showed up to WELCOME us to his community.  The newspaper did a great article about SIS and made it clear we are “LADIES FIRST” and bikers second.  We had great food and lots of riding. 

We did some changing around this year; had two different poker runs, one for Friday and one for Saturday.  All the games, fashion show, etc was held in the evening after everyone came in from the poker runs.  By making these changes it allowed everyone who wanted to take part in the games, etc and go on the poker runs, to do so.  The participation in all the activities was great.  

Speaking of activities, there were many; but for me the best part was the tricycle races which was won by Karla Sherman out of Mississippi.  She rode that trike into the ground and never missed a beat, while the rest of us struggled with crashing, getting the wheels of two tricycles hung up and worst of all…running out of breath.  I might also add the referee was a little unfair, but I won’t go into that at this point.  I can tell you things will be different next year.  (There may be a new referee if things don’t change or she does not shape up).  I crashed in the tricycle races and did not even get the courtesy of a yellow flag!!

We had members from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Illinois, Colorado, Mississippi, and Iowa.  Nancy Jude-Stern from Parker, Colorado won the longest distance on a bike at 852 miles, and Karla Sherman won the longest distance by any means of transportation at approximately 400/500 miles.

The bike show was great, had very beautiful machines in the show. The categories were:

Touring Class 1^st place - Becky Jandebeur

Trike Class 1^st place - Penny Hosley

Trike Class  2^nd Place - Dianne Ramsey

Cruiser Class 1^st place - Becky Robertson

Cruiser Class  2^nd place - Mary Lowery

People’s Choice 1^st place - Becky Robertson

People’s Choice 2^nd place - Mary Lowry

 

Additional games and activities winners were:

Wet Tee Shirt Contest 1^st place - Becky Robertson

Tattoo Contest 1^st place - Sheila Steen

On Bike games, slow ride 1^st place - Karen Gutenkauf

Most Mature Rider - Sammye Shipman

Lowest SIS membership number - Dianne Ramsey #19

First to register for rally - Sheila Steen

Talent Show winner - Chapter A Tulsa, Oklahoma

We were blessed with the presents of Ms. Rain, editor of Biker Ally magazine and her staff of great people.  Rain was kind enough to give as a grand prize - newly designed riding apparel, for not only keeping your body cool in the heat but also apparel to keep you warm and toasty in the cold.  We appreciate Rain and her staff for taking time from their busy schedules to attend the SIS rally.

The seminar on changing oil in your bike was great.  I saw ladies lying all over the driveway to get a first hand view of what oil changing was all about.  The rider education seminar was fantastic; Ed Upchurch, MSF instructor from Arkansas, gave a wonder talk on group riding.  Ed, we appreciate your instructions and you coming to the rally.

We presented a NEW award that will be given every year. It is called the SRIRIT AWARD.  Since this was the first year for the award, I had the pleasure of selecting the first recipient of the SPIRIT AWARD.  This year’s winner was Becky Jandebeur.  Becky has been the RIGHT HAND for SIS.  She displays undying devotion and unlimited energy and guidance to the organization.  She has battled cancer and several illnesses and just keeps on giving.  From this point on in order to receive the SPIRIT AWARD a member must be nominated by a SIS member.  The person nominating an individual must submit in writing (e-mail is okay) why they feel this specific member is deserving of this high award.  Send in your nominations to the home office.  All nominations must be in the hands of the National Director no later than 30 days prior to the yearly rally.  The decision for the winner will be decided by the National Staff.  The winner will be announced and must be present at the yearly National Rally.  

We also want to say, THANK YOU to all of our sponsors for their contributions to the SIS RALLY.  But the BIGGEST THANK YOU GOES TO THE MEMBERS OF SIS for their support of the organization.  For those of you who could not attend you were with us in “SPIRIT” and we had fun for you.  Don’t forget, “CATCH THE SPIRIT”.

See ya next year,

Linda Blankenship

National Director

SIS