August 2002

Trails End.......

Welcome to the July 2002 meeting of the Memphis Tour Riders. We acknowledged our newest members Mike Hopper, Brenda Hamilton, (Gene and Kathy Dennie, although not present) and visitor Ken McCarver and thanked them for coming.

Roll Call: Larry Cole, Floyd Nunnelee, Rusty Higgins, Dan Randall, Bill Healy, Hubert Gross, Mike Hopper, Jean Viets, Brenda Hamilton, Don Oller, Dick and Fran Salveson, Charlie and Darnell Gibson, Terry and Mary Carole Scott, and Yours Truly, Stan Viets.

Name Tags: MTR nametags were given to the members that haven’t already received them. We appreciate and thank Airdusco, Inc. Manufactures Representatives for donating the MTR nametags. If you haven’t received yours yet, you will the next time we see you. I also pointed out it is not mandatory to wear them but it would be good public relations when we are in a group, also as a reminder do not wear them when riding. They won’t stay put.

 Unfinished business:

Progress report on the Corporation status:

We now have our Federal Identification number and I have mailed the letter of exemption for our non-profit Corporation along with a check for $150.00 for the user fee, to the Internal Revenue Service. Hopefully we will get it back soon and have all the paper work finally finished. Also, to correct a typographical error, our amended incorporation document was re-filed with the State and has been recorded with the office of the Shelby County Register. Incidentally it cost and additional $27.00 to correct this typo.

To date we have not had a response to our attorney’s letter to the GWTA State Director, mailed on June 13^th outlining our position and asking GWTA to delete the usage of the name of “Memphis Tour Riders” from their web site and no longer make any reference to this name.

New business, news and comments:

Bill Jones is out of ICU and in room 506, Thomas Wing at Methodist Central, 901-726-7506. Please send a get well card when you can, he has a long tough road ahead but is showing some improvement. Julia has been with him since he went in over 2 months ago. We need to continue our prayers for both. Danny Parker reported by email that Lori is still having a lot of trouble. She started physical therapy last week and they are saying now she won't be completely healed up until sometime in the fall.

Hubert Gross has safely returned from his 4-corner ride, arriving home on July 3^rd. He and his 3 friends rode 10,320 miles in 20 days. The mileage varied from 350 to 825 miles a day. The Honda riders had no problems, except for getting really wet in Florida, Arkansas and cold in Banff on the ride across Canada on Highway 1. The scenery was great and enjoyed the sites however he suggested if anyone else made this trip to take more time to see the country. Welcome home Hubert.

Charlie and Darnell Gibson and David and Wanda Rush went on a motorcycle excursion to Atlanta the forth of July, had an enjoyable trip and returned safely. Way to go folks.

Five MTR members, Floyd Nunnelee, Dorothy Shipman, B.J. and Hildia Max and I attended The Honda Hoot in Knoxville this past month. Part of the festivities included a day at the Bristol Motor Speedway where we were allowed three fast laps around the race track. We also made the trip over to Deal’s Gap while there. Now is the time to make your plans for next years Honda Hoot, hopefully we can all go next year. MTR also attended the Bikers for Barbara Rally at the Desoto Civic Center on June 29^th. Details were in the July newsletter. The benefit raised over $18,000.00, way to go fellow motorcyclists.

One of our Jackson members, Loco Joe is looking for a GL1500 for a Judge friend wanting to move up from his 1200. Must be in the six to eight thousand dollar range. If anyone knows of one for sale, please let Joe or me know?

Dan Randall has a new bike, a 2002 Yamaha Venture. He got a deal he couldn’t refuse. It is the same color as Charlie and Darnell’s bike. Twins?

Don Oller reported that the Freedom Wings are having a free Chile and hot dog dinner in Jackson, TN on Saturday September 21^st Be there at 12:00 noon. Location and details will follow. Also, we have a tentative lunch ride to Phillips Grocery, Holly Springs MS on July 27^th after a visit to the new Honda dealer in Batesville, MS then on to Oxford.

Now is the time to make your plans and motel reservations for the 2^nd Annual Blazing Saddles Fall Foliage Tour coming up Saturday, October 12th. This will be an overnighter. You can make reservations at the Best Western McMinnville Inn, McMinnville, TN. Check the website, mtrmc.com and  the newsletter for details. We do not have any special room rates but they do offer AAA and AARP discounts.

We also have flyers for the Trail of Tears ride to Waterloo, Alabama on Saturday September 21^st. I realize a lot of the rides are a long way off but we want y’all to know about them early and make plans. The events will be here before you know it.

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Grease is Good

 We thought it would probably be a super hot so we planned the thing with an early ending and as it turned out, a happy one. It all started with an e-mail a few weeks back from Charlie and Darnell Gibson suggesting a ride. Seems they had read a story somewhere about a hamburger touted to be one of the best. This super burger, rated #3 in the world no less, is served up at Phillips grocery, a little known burger joint next to the railroad tracks in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Number three huh?  Well, having consumed a few hundred thousand burgers ourselves, we decided that we would be the judge of that and ride down there and see what all the hubbub was.

Since we only had a couple of weeks to put this thing together and get the word out, we could only speculate as to the turnout. But, thanks to Bill Gates and the fact that every last member of the Memphis Tour Riders is on line, everybody got the word. All I had to do was send a notice via e-mail and instantly, every member had access to all the details. The ones that read their e-mail that is. Some folks, that are very close to me, hardly ever check their e-mail but don’t tell her I mentioned it. I check mine every day just like I check the US Mail. Mail is mail whether delivered by a gun totin’ postman with an attitude or by the miracle we call the Internet. And remember, log on to our website (mtrmc.com) often. Eddie and Bonnie Garner are doing a fantastic job with the site and they update it regularly with information and photos of recent events.

I told Hildia before we left the house that nobody was gonna’ show up. It was just to dadblasted hot. And, I declared, if the turnout was poor I was gonna’ send an e-mail informing everybody that due to the lack of interest during these hot and humid dog days there would be no more planned rides until this infernal heat wave broke. You can imagine my consternation when we pulled into Shoney’s and saw all those motorcycles. Hildia smirked into the intercom “Well Mr. smarty pants, looks like you’re gonna’  have to re-write your e-mail message.” And was she ever right. With a forecast of 92 degrees and thunderstorms, attendance for this ride was astounding. Eleven bikes were on hand and we made twelve plus#13, David Elston, would be waiting at the truck scales in Mississippi. Fourteen motorcycles and nineteen souls. Fantastic. Our creditably as a club that rides no matter what the weather was doubled.

We left in two groups roughly three minutes apart, picked up Elston at the scales in Mississippi then rode on to the new Honda Dealer in Batesville. The dealership just opened and when we walked in the whole building smelled like the interior of a new car. They had quite a few new motorcycles in the showroom plus a sprinkling of lawn mowers, weed whackers and some ATV’s…But, there were very few accessories on the wall. I don’t understand some of these dealers. Accessories, lots of accessories and especially touring gear, draws a lot of riders to a dealership but very few practice this marketing method…Honda dealers could take a lesson from Harley-Davidson on this point…Drive down to Bumpus’s some day and look at that place. It’s a customer friendly environment and an interesting place to prowl. The only Honda Dealer I know who’s even close is Jimmy Creasy in Lexington.

We arrived in Holly Springs around dinner time. On the way in we swung by Paul McLeod’s “Graceland Too”. Paul bills himself as the world’s biggest Elvis fan. There’s that “world” word again. The world’s biggest Elvis Fan. The world’s best Hamburger…The citizen’s of Holly Springs are not short on brass. A few years ago Paul’s wife had enough of this Elvis thing and gave Paul an ultimatum. He would have to choose between her and Elvis. He chose Elvis.

David Elston, who knew where Phillips Grocery was located, led the way into town and as we pulled up to the old depot and store, I took one look and wondered if this was some kind of silly joke Charlie and Darnell had dreamed up. The place looked like a New Orleans brothel that was about to fall down. Turned out, I wasn’t far off. The building dates from 1848 and began life as a saloon and whor…… brothel. One of its more prominent patrons during the War of Northern Aggression was none other than that great military tactician, Nathan Bedford Forrest. There were a couple of other minor officers, Ulessees Grant and Tecumseh Sherman, (pa-tooie) who visited there too but you probably ain’t never heard of them.

Inside, the store was just eat up with atmosphere. Some of the chairs were 1950’s era school desks and there were old signs and stuff hanging all over the place. As for vittles, there were the aforementioned worlds best hamburgers, fries, onion rings, fried green ‘maters and for desert you could have a homemade fried pie or the World famous Moon Pie. The hamburgers were good, but the world’s best? Well, that’s a bit of a stretch. As Larry Cole so succinctly put it, there’s only so much you can do with a hamburger. And he’s right but I think all agreed that Phillips Grocery does it well. We shall return. And three big wheelies to Charlie and Darnell Gibson for suggesting this ride. It was a winner.. 

HAPPY TRAILS

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