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Bill first became involved with GWRRA in
April 2005 when he purchased a used 1990 Powder Blue Goldwing
bike from a fellow member. He attended a few meetings and got
to know many of the members very well. He met Beth Ann in May
of 2005 and after a whirlwind romance they were married on
August 25, 2005. She attended her first meeting with Bill in
September and was introduced to the GWRRA family. Since that
time they have both been very active in Chapter I activities and
events.
We sold the
powder blue bike for a 1995 Candy Apple Red trike when Bill fell
30 feet out of a tree and was having trouble holding up the
bike. We enjoyed riding the trike but since Beth Ann’s favorite
color was orange, Bill traded the 1995 trike for a beautiful
2003 Jupiter Orange Trike. You can see us riding all over the
state of West Virginia because we are one of the only ones in
the state to own a 2003 orange trike. Recently we have enhanced
their trike with murals of their hobby – winemaking. A
beautiful Italian vineyard, bottles and glasses of wine, and a
lot of purple and green grapes embellish their trike. The theme
is consistent throughout the trike and makes for a beautiful
picture as it is coming down the road.
Since 2005,
Bill and Beth Ann have been the Chapter Couple of the Year,
Newsletter Editors, Assistant Chapter Directors, Chapter
Directors, Chapter Treasurer, the District Couple of the Year,
and Bike Show Judges. We enrolled in the Rider Education
Seminar Presenters course and became Rider Education Seminar
Presenters for the District of West Virginia working under Don
Henrey, the District Educator. We have also enrolled in the
Leadership Training Seminar Presenters Program and were recently
certified as Leadership Training Division Seminar Presenters.
We currently serve as the West Virginia District Membership
Enhancement Division Coordinators.
We enjoy
working with the MED program because they are the “FUN” group!!
We get to meet and greet so many interesting and wonderful
friends as they travel throughout the district, region, and
nation. Since we served Chapter I-Morgantown, as the Chapter
Couple of the Year and served the District as the WV District
Couple of the Year, they chose to compete for the Region N
Couple of the Year. We have had a lot of experience with the
Couple of the Year program. It seems to be a lost program in
some chapters as many members do not know what an honor this
position holds. Sure, you may be asked to sell 50/50 tickets,
be meeting greeters, attend rallies, funday’s, and other events
throughout the chapter, district, and region. You will be
forced to meet a lot of happy and pleasant people that will call
you friend and hugs are always mandatory. To us these sound a
lot like pluses and not negatives, so why don’t more chapter
couples participate in this program? Your guess is as good as
ours because we had nothing but fun and enjoyment serving as the
Chapter and District Couple of the Year. We were very proud to
represent our Chapter and the State of West Virginia and it is
an experience we will never forget. It’s not hard to be happy
and have fun; this is all that is asked of you. As a Chapter
Couple it is your choice not to proceed any further in the
competition process. You can just serve as the Chapter Couple
and make all of those around you see how much fun you are
having. You get to say hello to everyone you meet and give them
a big hug – what other position do you know of that you can do
this and put a smile on someone’s face – I can’t think of any!!
We have enjoyed
attending rallies and funday’s within the district, region, and
nation because we also enjoy dressing up in themed costumes.
Beth Ann enjoys making the costumes even if it is Bill who wins
the prize. The themes are very inventive and range from
colonial times to the funky 80’s, we have a costume for every
event. We are currently preparing for this year’s rally
schedule and look forward to monkeying around at the West
Virginia Rally in June at Summersville where the theme is “It’s
a Jungle Out There!!” Come and see who is the monkey and who
will be tarzan – it may not be what you think!! Partaking in
the fun of dressing up is a great way to enjoy a rally. There
are themed competitions in the Best Dressed Competition and just
dressing up for the fun of it is a good reason in itself. We
all remember the comments of our children – just because, it’s
for the fun of it!!
Speaking of the
Best Dressed Competition, the MED Coordinators have the
opportunity to conduct Best Dressed Couple and Chapter
competitions at rally’s and events. There are areas for Show,
Parade, and Riding with both couples and chapters competing for
the top prizes. Two new areas have been added to the
competition and they are the Shirt Competition for Chapters and
the Jacket Competition for Chapters. At some rallies there are
even themed Best Dressed Competitions but that is optional per
event/rally. We have participated in several Best Dressed
Competitions, taking home first place several times. We bombed
terribly the first time we tried the competition because we just
didn’t know what we were doing. We wanted to try something new
as this is also a hard function to get people to participate
in. We looked awful but we didn’t leave with a sour taste in
our mouths, we left with a lot of helpful hints and guidance.
We were told not to give up and to keep trying, it gets to be
more fun as you go. We were given a lot of encouragement which
we try to pass on to others wanting to participate in this
competition. To us it really isn’t a competition, it’s another
way to enjoy a rally/event. We like getting involved because
not getting involved makes for a very boring event/rally and
when you have traveled a long distance to an event/rally you
shouldn’t just sit there – get involved and enjoy yourself!!
Being the
District MED Coordinators we also get to read all of the 10 West
Virginia Chapter Newsletters. We are lucky enough to get to
judge the newsletters for the District’s monthly competition and
send a quarterly newsletter to the Region in hopes one of the
West Virginia chapters will win that competition. We have
gotten to learn a lot about our fellow chapters within the state
and we know what’s going on all over the state. We know when
everyone’s birthday and anniversary is, know who all of the
officer’s are in each chapter, and get to see how each chapter’s
ride schedule is set up.
Another duty we
enjoy is that we get to help organize the Area Reports for the
West Virginia District. We can see who is a new member of a
chapter and who may need reminding that their membership is
due. We work with the Chapter Directors in keeping their
chapter membership roster current and up-to-date with
information sent to the National Office. The Area Reports were
scary at first but we have gotten used to them and find the
information very beneficial to both the Chapter Directors and
us. Membership retention is an important part of being a
Chapter Director and District MED because we do not want to lose
members, we want to make new friends and keep our family growing
while keeping those that are here still enjoying what GWRRA has
to offer.
GWRRA is a
large organization that benefits all of us as Goldwing Riders
and we want to make sure all of the members within the district
are well informed, safe, and enjoying themselves in the many
functions that are offered within the chapters, districts,
regions, and national. The organization was started because of
a love for a hobby that people enjoyed and has become an
organization to include many members from all over the world who
have this same love for their hobby. We promote the motto of
GWRRA – “Friends for Fun, Safety, and Knowledge” – and even
though we all want to ride safe and have a good knowledge of the
riding experience, we also want to have FUN and that’s where we
come in – MED are the FUN people!! Come and join us in the
experience and you will leave with a smile on your face,
promise!!
Bill & Beth Ann McCormick
WV District MED Coordinators
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