Here’s a great video of a trucker helping out a stranded motorcyclist on a busy road. For some reason Facebook will not let me post the video on our page there?
I’ve always felt a little strange saying Happy Memorial Day. Is it really something to be happy about? Memorial Day is to honor and remember those men and women who gave their lives in military service to our country. Doing a Google search you’ll find arguments for and against using “happy.” I decided to go with it.
A little history – Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering the people who died while serving in the country’s armed forces. The holiday, which is observed every year on the last Monday of May, originated as Decoration Day after the American Civil War in 1868, when the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans founded in Decatur, Illinois, established it as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. By the 20th century, competing Union and Confederate holiday traditions, celebrated on different days, had merged, and Memorial Day eventually extended to honor all Americans who died while in the military service. It typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end.
In Vermont, Memorial Day weekend is the start of riding season. After a long winter it is great to get out and ride and enjoy our freedom, the freedom that so many have fought and died to protect. There’s noting wrong with celebrating the arrival of warm weather; we just need to remember and honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for us to enjoy it.
This is your Website. United Motorcyclists of Vermont is dedicated to motorcycle safety, education, awareness, pro-motorcyclist legislation and individual freedom. Those are proud and worthy things to be dedicated to. And, since democracy* is not a spectator sport, we should all be contributing to this site, this organization, this country and all motorcyclists – all citizens.
If you have anything to say, anything to share or question or comment on – do it here. Share it with other motorcyclists and be an active part of your organization.
UMV is a non-profit, 501 (c)(4) organization. We are charitable, educational and political. We’re fighting, well trying to fight, for your right to ride and all of your civil rights and freedoms. We can’t do it without you…
*The United States is not a democracy, the founding fathers considered democracy nothing more than mob rule. We are a democratically elected republic. We are all represented in our government by elected representatives. Our rights as bikers, even though we are a minority of drivers and of the general population, are protected and equal. It is only through our actions that we will keep our rights.
We’re working on getting our membership online. If you want to take an active part in updating and adding to our online presence, contact us and we’ll set you right up.
Remember, making suggestions to an all-volunteer organization without offering to do the work is just complaining.
On Wednesday, December 16, 2015 a few members visited the Veterans’ Place in Northfield, VT. Clarence, UMV’s treasurer made a motion at our last monthly meeting that we should make a donation during the holidays. The Veterans’ Place was suggested and all present agreed.
We first heard of the Veterans’ Place last summer when they asked if they could sell raffle tickets at the Annual Toy Run, we were glad to have them.
So on Wednesday Holly (president), Clarence (treasurer) and Joe (sgt. at arms) got the checkbook, some donated items and some home-baked goodies and went for a visit.
We were greeted by Karen Boyce (Administrative Manager/Case Manager), Phil Rowell (Facilities Manager/Case Manager), several residents and Patch the dog.
From the Veterans’ Place Website…
“Our purpose is to help Vermont’s Homeless Veterans by providing desperately needed resources in an all-in-one locale so these Veterans may regain their PRIDE, reach their full potential, and once again become contributing members of society.”
“The Veterans’ Place is a transitional housing facility combined with assistive services for Homeless Veterans in Central Vermont. Our goal is to help Homeless Veterans transition from the homeless population. We have more than twenty-five other dedicated partners helping us.”
United Motorcyclists of Vermont is dedicated to motorcycle safety, education, awareness, pro-motorcyclists legislation and individual freedom. Helping our Vets is an important part of supporting individual freedom. Our veterans have made sacrifices to protect our country, and world. There will always be aggression in the world and our Vets stood ready to defend our lives and liberty.
Supporting our troops and Vets is something that each and every one of us should do.
Karen Boyce, the administrative manager told us how some of the vets are overwhelmed during the holidays by the outpouring of donations and good will at Christmas. Maybe we could be a little more like Scrooge, after his reformation, and try to keep the spirit of Christmas in our hearts all the year?
Some of us have discussed this before and I would like to see if we can set up donation boxes at our meeting locations: the VFW in Hyde Park and the American Legion in Orleans to collect non-perishable food and other items that the Veteran’s place could really use. We can collect those items at our regular meetings, or more often if necessary, and get them to the vets.
Photos from our visit…
The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) reports that the Obama administration, along with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), last week raised the amount of ethanol and other renewable fuels that must be blended into the nation’s gas supply, announcing that 18.11 billion gallons of renewable fuels must now be blended into the nation’s gasoline supply in 2016.
The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF), as directed by our Sustaining State Motorcyclists’ Rights Organizations (SSMRO’s), does not support the use of ethanol fuels higher than E10 (10% ethanol) or any other newly developed fuel blends, including alternative renewable fuels, without further testing on motorcycle engines and obtaining specific recommendations from motorcycle manufacturers approving their use.
This increase comes as part of the Renewable Fuel Standard, a mandate that was meant to encourage the use of domestic ethanol in U.S. gasoline supplies, and supporters claim it helps reduce carbon pollution and cuts American dependence on foreign fuel. Higher ethanol blends, however, void new motorcycle warranties and have been reported to cause damage to motorcycle fuel systems and other engine components.
Interestingly, while the EPA announcement of the 18.11 billion-gallon figure is significantly above the 17.4 billion gallons initially proposed in May, it falls far below the 22.3 billion-gallon amount laid out by Congress in 2007 legislation and raises new questions about the viability of the controversial Renewable Fuel Standard moving forward.
As part of its 2016 Legislative Agenda, the MRF will continue to call for further motorcycle engine testing with these blends and seek manufacturer recommendations regarding their use, and as always, the MRF will continue to keep its members apprised of any actions regarding the ethanol issue.
All Information contained in this release is copyrighted. Reproduction permitted with attribution. Motorcycle Riders Foundation. All rights reserved. Ride With The Leaders ™ by joining the MRF at Join Today or call (202) 546-0983
Water, water everywhere…
No good deed goes unpunished
Remember the Toy Run back in 2014? It was a hot, sunny, August day and the new food vendor at Blue Cross ran out of water and soda. We remember. UMV decided to sell bottled water at the 2015 Toy Run to make sure that didn’t happen again. President Holly Wilkins contacted Vermont Pure (Crystal Rock) and told them what we were looking for. She said it was a fund raising charity event that was meeting at the Blue Cross parking lot in Berlin and we were expecting up to 800 people. We never sold water before and so depended on Vermont Pure’s expertise. After many phone calls back and forth the salesman at Vermont Pure suggested we get a pallet and a half of bottled water.
We were quoted $5.25 per case – 50 cases per pallet. It was suggested we order one and a half pallets. That comes to about 1800 bottles of water for up to 800 people. Sounds like a lot but on a hot August day people could easily drink 2 or 3 bottles and we didn’t want anyone going thirsty. We all know what it’s like being out on hot pavement with nothing to drink. Vermont Pure suggested we have the water delivered directly to Blue Cross as they are already a customer and it would make things easier. Of course we agreed. The maintenance manager at Blue Cross was happy to help us any way he could and received the delivery for us and stored it inside until the day of the Toy Run. We were pretty surprised when we saw the large pallets but having never done this before, didn’t know enough and we were too busy then to count.
Instead of the pallet and a half – 75 cases / 1800 bottles that we ordered, 144 cases / 3486 bottles had been delivered – that is a crazy amount of water for a crowd of up to 800. We contacted Vermont Pure / Crystal Rock to see if they would take back some of the water, it’s still in storage at Blue Cross and still wrapped just a they delivered it. They refused. We did not realize just how much they had delivered and charged us until we received the invoice over a month later – for double what we expected. We asked why 3486 bottles were delivered instead of the 1800 that we ordered and they said “didn’t you count it when it was delivered?” No, we did not count it as it was delivered to an third party, at their suggestion.
So, this is still not resolved. We really want to think this was a simple mistake and not some sort of bait-and-switch, but we’ll see.
It’s really sad that our biggest charity event of the year is subjected to something like this.
June 2, 2015
The United States House of Representatives will vote on a measure that could be detrimental to motorcyclists. H.R. 2577 is an appropriations bill that funds the Department of Transportation, among other things. Especially concerning is section 102. Section 102 would allow the Secretary of Transportation or his designee to engage in activities with States and State legislators to consider proposals related to the reduction of motorcycle fatalities. This seemingly innocent provision is a direct attack on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) lobby ban.
Congressman Tim Walberg (MI) and Jim Sensenbrenner (WI) have filed an amendment that would strike this language. Call your Congressman and ask that they support the Walberg/Sensenbrenner amendment to strike section 102 from H.R. 2577.
H.R. 2577, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) act will be voted on as early as Wednesday June 3rd. We need to call every Congressman immediately. The House floor schedules are hectic and subject to change so please make your calls soon.
You can find your Representative here: www.house.gov/representatives/find/
Find the full list of United States House of Representatives and their phone numbers at www.house.gov/representatives/
You can also use the Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
This is an urgent and important phone call. Remember, you are the guardians of motorcycling. Please answer the call to action.
All Information contained in this release is copyrighted. Reproduction permitted with attribution. Motorcycle Riders Foundation. All rights reserved. Ride With The LeadersTM by joining the MRF at
http://motorcycleridersfoundation.wildapricot.org/page-1654836 or call (202) 546-0983
We’ll have the minutes soon, here’s the pre-meeting agenda.
UMV March 5, 2014, Orleans
Agenda Pledge of Allegiance –
Introduction of guests –
Treasurer’s Report –
Secretary’s Report –
Read more →
