Volume II Issue III

Trails End.......

The February 2003 meeting of the Memphis Tour Riders was officially gaveled to order at 7:00 PM.
ROLL CALL: Floyd Nunnelee, Rusty Higgins, Dick and Fran Salveson, Don and Marion Oller, Dan Randall, Mike Hopper, Brenda Hamilton, Jimmy and Margaret Rogers, Terry and Mary Carol Scott, B.J. and Hildia Max, Charley and Darnell Gibson, Robert and Judy Crawford, Gene and Kathy Dennie, Tim Hendrickson, Stan and Jean Viets and visitors, Jim Freeland and Jay Stapleton. Thanks folks for coming. All reported that they received their January newsletter.

This was our first meeting at Shoney's on Covington Pike and everyone seemed contented with the location, meeting room and the service. But, if we keep growing we will soon out grow this room too and as Dan Randall said, we might have to move to the Pyramid.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
We have filed our $20.00 Tennessee Corporation Annual Report and I'm working on the IRS report. The renewal of our annual web site hosting and domain name registration is due March 7th. The total cost of the www.mtrmc.com website hosting and name registration is $114.40 The Memphis Tour Riders will reimburse our webmaster, Eddie and Bonnie Garner since they have already received and paid the invoice. For those who don't know, Eddie and Bonnie donated the cost of the original setup, hosting and name registration of our website last year, to help us get started. We owe a special debt of thanks to this fine and talented couple who not only paid the cost of the site last year but also created and maintained it for us free of charge. A site as graphically pleasing and interesting as ours would cost a pretty penny for monthly maintenance alone if we had to go to an outside source. So the next time you log on, take a minute to send a message to the Garners and thank them. That's a small price to pay for such a professional job. (Note: Eddie and Bonnie have again volunteered to continue as Webmaster for another year.)
We have moved our bank account to AmSouth Bank, not the South Trust Bank, I reported last month. AmSouth offered a special non-profit corporate account without a monthly charge or minimum balance. You can check the member's only page on the web site for the bank statement? We will update the statement on a quarterly basis.

Continued On Page 3

"I pity the poor people who don't ride motorcycles."

Malcom Smith

"Kinky Business"

In case you haven’t heard, all three of the Memphis Tour Rider entrants into next year’s Iron Butt Rally, Joe Kilpatrick, Floyd Nunnelee and Der Furher, Stan Viets, missed the boat. No fault of theirs mind you, just simple luck of the draw. That’s a shame. It would have been fun to root for these guys. But to be perfectly honest, the chances of getting picked for the Iron Butt Rally these days are about as good as your chances of qualifying for the Daytona 500 in a Volkswagen Beetle. The odds against you are tremendous as I explained on these pages back in January. But hey guys, look on the bright side. You saved a fistful of dollars not to mention the very real possibility of escaping forced committal to the nut house. When your relatives learned that you were about to pay a thousand bucks for two weeks of continuous torture (sounds kinda' kinky when you think about it) they might have called up the boys in the white coats to come and get ‘ya..But don’t fret boys. Just keep in mind that, whether you deserve it or not, the Good Lord looks after those who don’t have enough sense to look after themselves.

Amen Brother!

MEMPHIS TOUR RIDERS
Tentative Ride Schedule 2003

March 15th-Mid-South Motorcycle Show and Taylor Grocery trip, Taylor, Mississippi
March 29th-Gambler's Run-Ride to Horseshoe Casino, eat and then ride to Tunica Arena and AMA Flat Track Race.
April 26th-World's Biggest Fish Fry-Paris Tennessee
May 24th-Son of Burnt Burger Cookout-Chickasaw State Park
June 7th-AGWA Mousetail Park Cookout on the banks of the Tennessee River-This ride is organized by Don and Marion Oller and is always a huge hit. Don't miss this one.
July 19th-Phillips Grocery-Holly Springs, Mississippi-Great Hamburgers/Atmosphere
July 26th-Tennessee River Catfish Ride-River Heights café- No rain this year though. Sorry.
Trail of Tears-Waterloo, Alabama-Sometime in September
October 18th-"Blazing Saddles Three-Fall Foliage Tour- Overnighter-McMinnville, Tennessee.

Look for details each month in this publication plus flyers will be available at monthly meetings….

NOTICE-NOTICE-NOTICE

MONTHLY MEETING:
Thursday, March 13th

The Memphis Tour Riders have changed meeting locations.

As of February 13th Our new location will be:
SHONEY'S

(click here for map)

3081 Covington Pike
Directions: Take exit 10 off I-40 and go North on Covington Pike for 2.8 miles. Shoney's will be on your left exactly 924 feet after crossing Stage Road (Man I do love this GPS)
Eat at Six-Meet at Seven

Happy Birthday!

Joe Kilpatrick - March 3rd
Danny Parker - March 4th
David Elston - March 13th

I would like to apologize to Bonnie Garner and Brenda Crawford for getting their birth dates wrong last month. I have no knowledge of why this happened. It was somebody else's fault, not mine. I am confident that I will be completely exonerated when all the facts are presented.….It was all Stan's fault. Yeah, that's it! Stan did it…..

Happy Anniversary!

Terry & Mary Carol Scott
March 23rd

WINNER

Congratulations to Toby Gordin for winning the "Judged Class" at the Memphis Easy Rider Motorcycle Show on February 8th. Along with a one thousand dollar prize, Toby automatically advanced to the $25,000.00 invitational in Columbus, Ohio held on February 14th. Unfortunately Toby didn't win anything at Columbus but Stan reports that he did enjoy the experience. Oh well, can't win 'em all can we. Maybe next time kid? Ehh, just how old is this kid anyway?

“God takes care of all the little birds, but even so, he doesn’t throw food in their nest”.

SATURDAY MARCH 15TH

On Saturday, March 15th, the Memphis Tour Riders will gather at the Mid-South Motorcycle Show at the Agricenter International for a day of chrome and leather shopping. Arrive at the show at your leisure. At 2:30 we will gather at the back parking lot of the Agricenter. We will depart for Taylor Grocery in Taylor, Mississippi at three PM sharp. For Yankee's and any other ignorant people that might belong to this club, Red Neck Sushi is nothing more than some good old fried catfish and hushpuppies. But only the best qualifies as red neck sushi and Taylor serves some of the best. Author's William Faulkner thought so and I'm told that John Grisham still frequents the Taylor Grocer every now and then for a plate of their golden fried fish...For you non fish eaters, and I pity you, there is also steak and 'taters. Saddle time for this ride, one hour and thirty eight minutes, one way. Mileage: 77

GAMBLER'S RUN

A FLAT OUT, FLAT TRACKING, NIGHT OF GAMBLING, RACING AND EATIN'!
SATURDAY, MARCH 29TH

As you may already know, we have a ride planned for March 29th to Sam's Town Casino for the buffet and then on to the Tunica Arena for some motorcycle racing. For those of you who want to gamble a little before eating, you can ride down on your own, gamble, then meet us at the Sam's Town dining room around 4:00PM. For the non-gamblers, we will depart Shoney's, Sycamore View and Summer around 2:00PM on motorcycles, weather permitting. If the weather is nasty as it can very well be in March, we will caravan down in cars.
Because we are an AMA chartered club, the promoters of the race, the Illinois Motorcycle Dealer's Association, held a block of tickets for the MTR until the first of March. Fifteen of you signed up for these tickets and they have been ordered. The remaining tickets reverted back to the I.M.D.A.. Now, for those of you who didn't order tickets, it's not to late. You can call The Illinois Motorcycle Dealers Association at 217-753-8866 and ask for Mary Ann or Tommra and they will try and seat you with us or as close as possible anyway. Tickets are twenty dollars if you order and twenty-five at the gate. Chris Carr, four time AMA Flat Track Champion (including the 2002 crown) is scheduled to compete at Tunica.
NOTE: The Tunica Arena is an enclosed facility. You will need earplugs. If you don't have any, see Dick Salverson.

SORRY, BUT NO CAMERA'S ARE ALLOWED IN THE TUNICA ARENA.

Trails End…………………Continued From Page One
Our first anniversary brings April Dues. As noted on our initial Membership Application at the April meeting our dues are payable annually and prorated at $2.00 per month. We have twenty-six Family membership. However, the renewal amount will vary, depending on the month you joined. Prior to our April meeting we will e-mail a reminder of the amount due at the April meeting, enabling all of our current members to have the same anniversary date in 2004. We have also added "Renewal" to our current Membership application. Please circle "renewal" and make any corrections needed when you pay/mail your dues.
NOTE: New Member Applications:
MTR yearly dues are $24.00 per year less a $2.00 per month deduction up to six months or through the month of September. In October the membership dues will be $2.00 per month plus twelve months. Examples; if a member joins in October the cost would be $12.00 plus $24.00 or $36.00 for the membership or joining in December dues would be $8.00 plus $24.00 or $32.00 for the membership.
Dan Randall read a letter dated January 23, 2003 addressed to the Memphis Tour Riders.

Dear Friends of Children,
Christmas is a very special time in the lives of children everywhere. For those here at the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home, Christmas is a time they will long remember, particularly because you and others like you have communicated love to them in a most meaningful and lasting way. On behalf of the children in our care, I thank you for expressing the real meaning of Christmas. Our prayer is that you have also been blessed through your participation here.
Sincerely,
Ray Moss
Regional Vice-President-West

Dan will also have details on the plan to build/rework the TBCH playground equipment, for the children, later this year.
As you know the February 23rd MSF Experienced Rider Course at Southwest Tennessee Community College was canceled and the new dates will be Saturday March 1st and Sunday March 2nd. Some of us have changed our reservation to the 2nd. Everything else remains the same. If they cancel again we will make alternate plans. Honda Riders Club will still pay up to $75 to their members that complete the course. Also the completion of the course makes you eligible for a discount on your auto liability insurance.
UPDATES, NEWS and COMMENTS:
Bill Jones was able to go home for a week the end of January but had to come back to the Methodist Hospital for a pacemaker procedure March 12th, he is now in room 714 in the Tower. Jim Ashe will be in room 222 at the Methodist Health South Rehab Hospital through February but will have to leave when his insurance runs out? We need to continue our prayers for all.
Our MTR patches are available for $3.00 each. Also the rockers "WHERE WE GO ONE, WE GO ALL" are in and they are available at a cost of $2.00 per set. We need to sell some more.
NEW BUSINESS:
B.J. Max and MTR are planning a "Redneck Sushi" Motorcycle Ride Saturday March 15th to the Taylor Grocery and Fish House, Taylor, MS. Ride will leave from the Mid-South Motorcycle show at the Agricenter.
Bikers for Barbara II Rally and Flea Market, Southaven, MS. May 17th.

Continued

June the 7th is the date for the Mousetail SP Picnic hosted by the Don Oller and Chapter F, AGWA. Also for those that don't know Don is now the S. E. Regional Director for AGWA. Congratulations, Don and Marion.
Blazing Saddles Three is scheduled for Saturday October 18, 2003 as well as other rides and events. If you have any suggestions for rides or events please let Billy know.
Please see web site and flyers for additional details on the above and a list of other planned events.
Our thanks and appreciation to all that brought door prizes win one bring one.
Quotation of the month: "Seven days without laughter makes one weak."………Joel Goodman
Our next meeting will be Thursday March 13, 2003.
Ride Safe.
Stan and Jean
The meeting was officially adjourned at 7:55 PM

50-50

DONATED BY:	PRIZE:	WINNER:
Dan Randall	Screwdriver	Hildia Max
Stan & Jean Viets	Popcorn	Marion Oller
Don & Marion Oller	Organizer	Jean Viets
Dan Raldall	Screwdriver	Hildia Max
B.J. & Hildia Max	Model Motorcycle	Jim Freeland
Charley & Darnell Gibson	Wax & Sponge	Dan Randall
James & Margaret Rogers	Candy/Ktchen Tool	Floyd Nunnelee
Robert & Judy Crawford	Oil/WD40	Floyd Nunnelee
Dan Randall	Pin & Key Chain	Brenda Hamilton
Charley & Darnell Gibson	Wax & Sponge	Mike Hopper
Dick & Fran Salverson	Steamer	Jay Stapleton
Floyd Nunnelee	Bike Wax	Charley Gibson
Dan Randall	Screwdriver	Hildia Max
Terry & Mary C. Scott	Photo’s	Mike Hopper
Gene & Kathy Dennie	Spot Mirrors	Terry Scott

Winner 50/50 Jackpot:

Mike Hopper-$53.00

"Dogs look up to us, cat's look down on us and pigs treat us as equal's."

Winston Churchill