A.B.A.T.E. (A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments)
A.B.A.T.E. (A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments) |
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JANUARY 5TH 1995, OUR FIRST NIGHT October 3rd 1994 was the last Springfield HOG 4114 Chapter Meeting at which time the Doyles’ had disbanded the Springfield Chapter, and at that time, they had 150 members. The Hog Chapter had been started approx. 5 years earlier under the Springfield “Eastside Motorcycle” by Frank Williams with help from Greg Coen who at that time was the head mechanic. After the disbanding of the Eastside HOG Chapter, two new Springfield / Eugene motorcycle groups were formed. One was an ABATE group and the others formed the Blackjacks. Some of us went with ABATE and others went with Blackjacks. The first meeting for our “New” ABATE Chapter was sometime in November of 1994. January 5th was the first meeting of 1995 for our local ABATE Chapter. We had named ourselves the Willamette Valley Chapter. The meeting focused on election of officers for the upcoming year. The following is a list of people that were elected (or is that railroaded) into positions available. See, some things never change. Position Officer’s for 1995 1st Casino Night was December 4, 1994 at the Time Out Sports Bar in Springfield. Purpose was to raise funds for our 1st Annual Toy Run to the Eugene Family Home Shelter in Eugene on Dec. 17th 1994. 1st Chapter Poker Run was pulled together by April Levasseur Event Coordinator and Rick Watkins as the Road Captain. It was “One Hell of a Rainy Day” It didn’t just rain, it flat poured!! We had run patches that didn’t show up on time for the run Check in points were scheduled for a longer ride, but with all of the rain they we decided to shorten the run and we had all check points moved to different buildings at the Saragosa (a relica of an old western town set in the hills above Cottage Grove) instead. The Red Rooster Restaurant in Eugene was our starting point. We had prizes for High hands 1st & 2nd and Low Hands 1st & 2nd and $1000 in door prizes to give away. To get us off to a good start a number of us even attended a Motorcycle Awareness Training Seminar at Chemeketa Community Collage on July 29th 1st Newsletter from the Willamette Valley ABATE debuted in April; we agreed to do 3 to 4 Newsletters a year until the chapter was more affluent and stable By the end of May 1995, we had a Chapter ride to the Rhododendron Festival and a chapter ride to Fossil. We had a large group; Lyn Maish supplied the “Support Explorer” with all of our supplies. We set up a group camp, cooked breakfasts, and even did a big dinner. This was also the first time some of us met Brian and Teresa, they talked a number of us into joining not only BikePAC of Oregon, but also the Motorcycle Riders Foundation…. What a trip. This was the Fossil Campout that took place at the Twickenham Ranch Campsite on the John Day River. June, some of the chapter attended the Iron Horse Rally. 2nd Annual Poker Run to Saragosa Sid Ingam started up a Blood Bank in the chapter’s name and we did a chapter ride to the blood bank We looked at adopting a highway for cleanup, but after reviewing all of the rules and regulations, we backed away from it. 7/3/95 Meeting Notes: we had 94 members and $185 to our name. By September, we were headed for our 1st Annual Special Olympics Fund-Raiser Sept. 16th, 1995 in conjunction with Emerald Valley Special Olympics. Starting point was Greg Coens Motor Company, then on to Check Point 2 at Gene’s Family Pioneer Market in Brownsville, and then to Corvallis and the Allan Brothers Coffee Company, the 4th stop was at Washburn Park Wayside on HWY 99 and finally the finish at Day Island Park in Springfield. We raised $579.00 for Emerald Valley Special Olympics. The winners of the poker hands were, 1st Place High Hand John Minor and 2nd Place Bob Avery with Bob Lowell getting the worst hand and Jackie Jacobson coming in second on the low hands. The weather was great for the poker run and the get together at the Day Island with some the Special Olympics Kids. In addition, that year, Motorcyclists united across the country with MRF and on November 28, 1995, President, Bill Clinton that repealed penalties (ISTEA) against all states that did not have helmet laws and freed states from federally imposed speed limits, signed S.440 (The National Highway System Bill). 2nd Annual Casino Night at the Time Out Tavern was November 19th. We made $600 and Bill Foster was our auctioneer. Again, the funds were for our annual Toy Run at the Eugene Family Shelter. 2nd Annual Toy Run was December 16th that started at Greg Coen’s Motor Company and ended at the Family Shelter in Eugene. We had toys for 58 kids at the shelter with Santa (John Olson, manager of Luckey’s) passing out the presents. We also had KEZI and KVAL News on hand for coverage of the event. Rick again took Poloroid Pictures of the kids with Santa and even gave up his Christmas Tree off the back of his bike for a teenage girl that wanted it rather than a present. December 7th, 1995 we had 105 Members and chapter funds were at $1,049.86. That was our first year as the Willamette Valley ABATE Chapter, and what a year it was. We were off to a great start and looking to the future. Correction’s and/or updates appreciated Rick Maish |
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