June 11, 1999
It's about time I sat down and updated this rag! Just been busy, busy, busy! If you read The Keidel Update, my family newsletter, you'd know that I am feverishly trying to put together a mortgage deal so we can finally move out of this untenable apartment situation!
There now! To all of you who accuse me of just being an unkempt old fart; it isn't so! I do have my hair and beard trimmed professionally, especially before I have to make some sort of appearance. The lovely young woman is Kim, Hyung Ran. She toils at the local BoRic's haircutting place! Whenever I have an American Legion thing or some other engagement I seek her out and she makes me look more presentable; sometimes no mean feat! One of these occasions was a poetry meet at the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, Massachusetts. I wound up presenting my "The Soldier and the Iron Horse" and even Lizzard and Meg made it down from Manchester, New Hampshire.
Also present and presenting were our erstwhile Poet brother Peddler, who was along with his Pilgrims and Prophets MC brethren, and some others. We heard some good poetry AND music in a very interesting setting. The Higgins Armory Museum is not only stuffed full of all kinds of medieval armor; they had a special motorcycling exhibit. The link? You know, the mounted, helmeted knight astride his charger and flying his coat of arms and his identifying colors and the juxtaposition of his modern counterpart - the mounted, helmeted roadwarrior, astride his iron horse and, yes, flying his colors!
GONAS MC, Grand Order of North American Spartans Motorcycle Club is wholly incorporated into HPMCC as an independent chapter! All of their members have Associate Member status, with the exception of Splitfoot, who retains his Active Membership. This effectively extends the range of the HPMCC and gives us a broader base. All Associate Members may of course obtain their Active status by satisfying the membership requirements of publication.
Here, on the local front, the big news is
Laconia! It starts this weekend and plans are being made to
congregate at Uncle T's in Franklin and commute from there to
Laconia. Hopefully we won't be hit with a deluge like last year! One
logistical problem (for me) has already cropped up! School isn't out
until the week after Laconia; so youngest son Willy won't be going
with me! That also means that I have to juggle parental
responsibilities and won't hit Laconia until about mid-week
--
alone!
That topic is MONEY! As in we don't have any!
We need money to operate, publish the Highway Poet, come up with
enough scratch to have minimum runs made on the new patches, etc. Of
course we could consider dues, another very UGLY topic! Not all of us
have the wherewithal to afford even modest dues and we surely don't
want to exclude anyone! What is the answer? Voluntary donations to
the cause are always cheerfully accepted. Splitfoot just sent $70
from our GONAS MC Chapter, primarily for patches. Alas, it is not
enough for the minimum runs. New patches cost $35 for an Actice and
$10 for the smaller Associate. Press patches are but $5. Our
manufacturer won't give us a break unless we order them in batches of
a dozen. Suggestions are welcome. We don't really want to be into
money, but some is necessary to operate!
