PENGUIN SPLASH

(Remember to click on the photos to enlarge them)

The Club started arriving at Norms around 9:30am for breakfast. There was quite a-lot of members there but with the forecast of snow and the distance a few of them had to travel meant only 5 bikes showed up. These get togethers before the ride are one of the best times of the day with everyone feeling in a festive mood. One bike had to depart early (Dave A) due to a call from work but he would return and ride with us later in the day. With copious amounts of food eaten the group made ready to depart for Ocean Beach in New London to attend the Penguin Plunge Special Olympics benefit dive. Before leaving Tom and Dana were checking out Dana's new CB system on his Classic, to give it a test Tom called over to the group to key the mike on his bike so they could see how well Dana's was working. (Wrong thing to do) With Dana's speakers turned up about full blast, a hint from me and the entire area resonated with the transmission. "TOM LIKES SMALL BOYS". It is a good thing Tom has a sense of humor.

The Club headed out across the river on I-95 and down through Downtown New London out on Bank to Howard Street then down past Stashes to Ocean Beach with a little diversion up Montuak to Lower Boulevard and back to the shoreline before arriving at the Park.

Anyone ever see the movie "Funny Farm"?  In that movie Chevy Chase buys a new dog, they open the door and off goes the dog, never to be seen again. Well Harley was that dog today, Harley usually does as he is asked, I have never ever seen a dog that well behaved, but with this many people and with all the excitement Harley ran across the beach, Steve called, Harley ran, Steve whistled, Harley ran, and ran, disappearing into the distance... When he came back across the beach and saw his father, he did so with his head down and walking real slow, he knew he was going to get a talking to.

In Groton for the New Years day plunge the Fire Department was there, the Ambulance service was there, yup, they were there, sitting in their nice...warm...vehicles, In New London it was a different story, Men in Wet Suits, men in dry suits, flotation devices and medical equipment on the beach ready to go if needed. While the boys suited up weren't needed the ambulance did take one girl to the hospital.

Who can pay attention to a bunch of people on a beach when theres sand to play in?

The time is near, the runners move down the beach getting in position to go, and like any event there are always those who jump the gun.

The rest line up awaiting the signal...

Someone asked me, "Why would you want to go stand on a beach in February and watch a bunch of people run in the water...

Hmmmmm....let me see...why....well...theres a number of reasons,  1...2...3...

oh wait...let me start again....1...2...3....4...

oh I hate it when I lose count...1...2...

Oh...looky...moooooooore...

And they're off!!!

And out they come

Back on the boardwalk we collect our group and head up to Dunkin Donuts on Ocean Avenue

At Dunkin Donuts, Dana decided to be funny, he asked Linda, "Hey, do you know what the girl said to the guy after giving him her first BJ?" Dana turns his back to Linda, takes a bite out of his "creme filled" donut, spins back with the creme hanging out of his mouth, and says "Will you still love me?" Not a bad joke in itself, but Dana over did it a tad and instead of a little creme on his lips he spun around with the entire wad in his mouth and as he did so a large part of it flew out of his mouth and landed between Lindas legs, (A better shot he couldn't had made if he tried). Well lets just say it brought a few laughs.

While at Dunkin Donuts those of us on bikes decided it was a good day to ride, Ignore the snow flurries and go for it. Five of us departed New London and headed up to Home depot in Uncasville to meet two members who went to get their bikes.

While at Home depot one bike departs the ride as the other two arrive, So 6 bikes headed out. Six (6) because 5-1+2=6. Tom took us up 32 to 2A, across the River and through Poquetonock, to Route 117 to Ledyard. In Ledyard we picked up 214 east to rte 2 at Foxwoods and ran east on Route 2 to rte 201 towards Jewitt City. With only two of us plugged in and a check on those who weren't it was decided to head east on 165 to Voluntown for a stop at Dunkin Donuts for a warming session. After a bull session there we headed west on rte 138 to route 395 at Jewitt City. Upon leaving Voluntown I found that my left hand was toasty warm inside it's Gerbing glove, but there was no heat in the right hand, the throttle hand, the one you can't exercise to warm up. Heading south on 395 we lost Linda, Wolfie,and Dana as they turned off and headed home, Tom Steve and myself continued south and I broke off with them at the 32 connector, and headed to New London, getting the bike put away by 3:30pm and the start of some light rain. All in all another great day, great ride, great company and good laughs.

klay

More photos of the day were taken by Bubha and Rich W. along with video and stills by the Natales. Any photos forwarded to me will be posted here later

Penguin Ride

Breakfast at Norms 9:45-10 am Then to the beach and after a ride to coffee . Ride youur bikes if possable but use your own judgment if road are above your min. If weather is bad cars/trucks are fine.







See you there, dress for cold weather.






R/C

The first signs of spring

Spring is fast approaching, here it is the end of February and I have already seen some green budding on shrubs. The days are staying brighter longer, the weather seems to be leaning towards the warmer side of 40 on most days and I have seen the first warm Climate bird of the season. So the way I see it, there are two possibilites, Either is getting warmer here, or colder in Florida.

klay

Another E-mail: From the President

(Is it my imagination or does this guy write a lot of E-Mails? I was once in Jewett City on a sunny day with Bubha and Rick, Rick called Jim about something and told him who he was with and Jim asked "Doe's Beebe have a job?")  Jim must have one of those..."Goverment jobs".

Lake Placid:
Though continuously open to the membership until the rooms are gone at the Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort, most of you who said they were interested have booked their rooms. No termination date, 2 week cancellation policy. We have booked:
14 members - 9 rooms - Lakeside Deluxe
13 members - 3 suites - Village Side Rooms

6-8 members, singles/couples, not yet booked

 Laconia:
The block for rooms at the Naswa Resort at Weirs Beach has terminated. This doesn't mean all the rooms are gone, but it does mean New London Motorcycle Club has no futher hold on rooms. The Naswa has a no cancellation policy because they sell out every year for bike week even though it is a huge place. We have booked:

11 members - 8 rooms - 3 Lakeside 5 Parking Lot side
4 members (2) couples
4 members (4) single
to date have not booked a room

Steel Steed, Milton, Pa. June 4,5,
(committing now through RC Tom)
Cape Cod, Ma., June 26,27
(to be set up in March) Rooms $115 -125
Indian Head Resort, Lincoln, NH, Aug 6,7,
(to be set up in April) Rooms $169-179
? Captain Bounty, Rockport, Ma., Sep 17,18

(to be set up Apr/May) Rooms $ 140.00
 
klay

From The Security Officer

Friends, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen ... Thank you all for your generous sponsorships of my participation in the Penguin For Special Olympics 2010. With your help*, I was able to nearly double my sponsorship total from last year. Stop by Ocean Beach on 2/28 at noon for the actual plunge ... Jim Sullivan

* The club passed the hat at last nights meeting

Last nights meeting

Last night started off with the Thursday meal, not a bad turn out but we could do better, The meal was Shells stuffed with meat, garlic bread and pepperoni bread and salad.

Remember, if you come to the meeting earlier, you can join in on the socializing and eat until you burst.

A special note, Ron Duran is back in the Hospital so if you want to stop by I'm sure he'd love to see you.


The Meeting kicked off at 7pm, Jason Mentioned that he would not be attending the next meeting and he recieved a round of applause. Jim will also not be attending (More Applause). The E-Board met last week and discussed the Blessing. They are looking for more Volunteers and want to remind everyone that it is "Our Event" so lets put on a good showing. (More to follow on this in a bit). For the first time in quite a while we had no guests last night, the weather may have been a factor. there was no activity from any of the Recruiters, Steve Natale put in a reminder that we should all be actively seeking new members so if you see someone out there on a bike, talk to them, invite them in for a visit or a ride. The Hawg club will be putting on an event in the Mystic area and we have been asked to,and are looking into the specifics of  operating the beer tent.
Rich Woodhall stated that anyone looking into joining the Honor Guard should get in touch with him.


This weekend the Penguins are getting their feet wet at Ocean beach at noon, A kinder, Gentler Tom Lloret...has...a...plan. See Club E-mail below.


klay

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From the President




April 18th, NLMC Season Kick Off is quickly closing in on us. It is that time to solicit sponsors for our T-Shirt advertisers.


This year there will be 27 business card size spaces offered for $ 100.00 each to sponsors. Sponsors may purchase mulitiply spaces to enlarge their add. Sponsors who are also Vendors will be given a free vending space with the purchase of 2 or more spaces on the shirt. Placement on the shirt will be determined by the amount of spaces purchased or the size of the ad. Each sponsor will be given (2) t-shirts per each space purchased. Please make sure sizes are noted on the form. Attached is a sponsor application form, and there are others at the Clubhouse.

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From the President



We are still looking for volunteers for the NLMC Season Kick Off at Ocean Beach Park on April 18th.


Need Immediately:


T-Shirt Sponsor Solicitors
Selling business card size blocks for $ 100.00 per block. They can buy multiple blocks for larger adds. If they area also a vendor and buy at least 2 blocks they will get a free spot at the event. Sign up forms will be provided at the Clubhouse


Flyer Solicitors:
Need to get Flyers posted starting in March. Some places may want stacks for their countertops.


All Team Leader Positions will be filled by board members this year
If there is a specific function you would like to perform talk to the appropriate team leader.


Steve Malzone - Event Oversight


Dan Dunn - (12-16) Parking
Safety Vested Teams of Two

Jason Moran - Best Bike Contest
(3) Filled


Paul Neves - Registration


Four teams of three
- (4) waivers / t-shirt chips
- (4) money collectors
- (4) wrist bands / contest chips
- (2) Bike Counters clipboard one for each incoming lane
- Donations Collector (1) Filled


Tom Lloret - (8) Security Gate/Registration
(prefer taller guys for Security jobs)


Rich Woodhall - Set Up / Break Down
(volunteers can have dual roles)


Steve Natale - Recruitment Tent
(8) Filled

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From the President




Please support the completion of the Transitional Veteran Homeless Shelter by supporting the Fundraiser Dinner Dance at the Preston VFW on March 12th. Should be a good time and it is a great cause. Contact Paul Neves for tickets.
Paul has tickets to sell for this benefit. The tickets are $20.00 each. If you want to go and eat Please get a hold of Paul, the organizers need a head count for food supply resaons.
ALSO if you do not want to attend the meal but still wish to support this endevour Paul has donation tickets also.

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From the Road Captain:

Come and Support member Jim Sullivan as he takes a plunge for Charity into Long Island Sound from Ocean Beach Park, dressed as a Penquin, on:

Sunday, Feb. 28th, 2010
Meet: 10:00am for Breakfast at Norm's Diner,
Thames Street City of Groton


Ride your Bike
After the plunge there will be a Mystery Ride

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It's all in how you say it.

While we were sitting at Dunkin Donuts in Montville, Ct. getting ready to go on the ride to Bidwells last Sunday, it was mentioned that Linda Schwarz is looking to get her own bike. Now Linda hasn't been associated with "lingo" all that long and some of her statements do lead to a little confusion.

 Dave Adams, Jerry M., myself and Linda were sitting at a table and she said that, "If she gets her own bike, jerry said he'll ride on the back with her. At which point Jerry's face changed to the "What?" expression. Jerry told her he never said he would do that. At which point she said "Yes you did, and so did Mark".  Now it was my turn to have the puzzled look on my face, but I added a hint of denial with the eyebrows. She looked at me and said,"Both you and Jerry said you'd ride on the back of the rides. 

    Ah-ha!!!  Yes we told her, we would ride in the back of the formation with her til she felt comfortable riding in a group. We thought she was saying we would ride bitch with her and that is a distinct No No No.

     She laughed at the mis-understanding, realizing it was how she had said it, she then added that she didn't think she would feel comfortable riding in the "pile".

At this point Dave Adams told her, "It's only a pile if someone "F---s up.

Yet another climate shift

What should have happened