The Venture Voice

The Venture Voice
R M V TA . O R G
Volume 31
Issue 3
MAR 2015
Larry “Wild Card” Gutt
Gone, but not forgotten
Officers:
President:
Vice-Pres.:
Secretary:
Treasurer:
Floyd Thorne
fthorne_jr@msn.com
Bernie Spivak
aasa2elaines@yahoo.com
Steve Benko
cb4ever1014@comcast.net
Brian Boberick bboberick@yahoo.com
Officer’s Speak
Submitted by: Brian Boberick,
Treasurer
While it is only late
February, we have had so many
beautifully sunny and warm days in
both January and February that
these darn snow storms present as
such a nuisance – I want, I need to
take a ride! Oh well, as with last
year, the moisture is much
appreciated in the spring. It seems
like wild fires were not a big feature
of the news in Colorado this past
summer.
FYI, at our most recent club
meeting of February 12th the
membership approved increases in
both our Sponsorship rates ($170
full page/ $85 half page, up from
$150 & $75, respectively) and our
“family membership” rate (from
Board of Directors:
Chair:
Steve Benko cb4ever1014@comcast.net
Member: Ron Nardiello
roniello@aol.com
Member: Linda Thorne
fthorne_jr@msn.com
Member: Lisa McGee
gammagirl62@q.com
Member: Bill Gillespie bgtwice@msn.com
$30/yr to $40/yr). These increases
should allow us to cover an
anticipated increase in the Ride
Book printing costs and also
generate a modest surplus for 2015
reversing the trend of recent years
in which spending outpaced our
intake
from
Sponsorships,
Membership Dues, Bake Sale
proceeds and 50/50 drawings.
Unlike the folks back in
Washington, D.C. we cannot simply
print money to resolve our fiscal
issues – with these increases and
continued prudence in all things
“spending”, the RMVTA should
resume to a position of reasonable
financial health.
So, on behalf of your
officers, I wish to thank you all for
your support of the Club in general
and these actions in particular.
Persons of fun we should know:
Jim Murlowski
Member #: 723
Next Meeting: Thurs., Mar 12, 2015
7:00 p.m. Fay Myers Motorcycle World
9700 E. Arapahoe Road.
The Venture Voice is a monthly publication of the
Rocky Mountain Venture Touring Association,
dedicated to promoting the club and its members.
Editing Staff:
Paul Maynard - Steve Benko
were swapped along with comments about comparing
‘zippered scars,’ renaming the club (RM Surgery Tour
Assn?), erector sets, flying shrapnel and metal staples. No
February 12, 2015
really, Brian wanted to know, which is best: Bostich or
Swingline for the staples? Sherrie Broderson is going to be
Submitted by: Debbie ‘Lit’l Bit’ Maynard
a new grandma to a baby girl who is still ‘cooking in the
President Floyd Thorne called the meeting to order at 7:08 oven.’ We wish her daughter all the best and send an early
Congratulations! to the family. And on a more somber
p.m. We had no visitors.
note, our good friend, Larry Gutt passed on from his earthly journey on January 31, 2015. Floyd provided a history:
Officer’s Reports
He was diagnosed with bone cancer 4 years ago which had
Secretary: The minutes as submitted by Steve Benko were been in remission until a few months ago. Larry’s daughter
Tina (in WI) had asked the Thorns to check on her dad and
approved by all.
it was a good thing she did as they found him in a lot of
pain with very little food in the house. They talked him
Treasurer: Brian Boberick reported $1,179.55 in the Benevolent Fund and $1,334.49 in Checking for a grand total into going to Lutheran Hospital and he was eventually able
to make it to CA to be with his sister who had set up inof $2,514.04. This accounts for $750 in MAP expenses,
two early membership renewals and payment from Aurora home hospice care for him. Per Larry and his family’s request, the RMVTA will hold a memorial ride this season
Honda’s sponsorship.
where we will distribute his ashes at one of his favorite
places, Echo Lake. Floyd sold Larry’s beloved 2004 GoldCommittee Reports
wing to a couple in Cheyenne who fell in love with it at
first sight. They are very excited to pick it up over ValenActivities: Please submit and/or organize any ideas to
tine’s weekend and have assured Floyd that they will care
combat cabin fever.
for and love the bike as much as its previous owner had.
Floyd gave us the rundown on getting the bike to his house
Awards: Keep your eyes & ears open for funny incidents
from Larry’s: It had 9,500 miles and hadn’t really been
that we can nominate for the Missing Link and/or to
ridden for two years, it needed a new battery and the tires
acknowledge at the MAP (Member Appreciation Party).
had more than seen their better days. He rode the bike
Finance: Brian worked up a couple of Budgets to reflect a home and it was ‘pretty squirrely’ so he was only able to go
possible increase in dues vs keeping dues the same and de- about 60 mph. Once in his driveway he found that the front
termined that we are not getting anywhere with the current valve stem was dangling. Floyd exclaimed, “I’ve never
ridden a wing with a flat tire and I don’t care to ever
income/expense ratio. This will be especially true if we
lose our ride book printing connections. Discussion ensued again.” Linda clarified that she had (wisely) suggested borrowing a trailer to retrieve the bike to which the group said,
about ‘cutting the fat’ and it was determined that we are
running pretty lean as it is. A proposed Annual Budget will “Yeah, but it would have been a shorter story.” We will
miss our good friend Larry and please remember to keep
be submitted to the club in the next few months.
his family in your prayers.
Historical: “Mr. T” is still collectin’ stuff.
Newsletter: Steve and Paul are doing a great job getting
this published. Deadline for submissions on anything note
Member Relations: Paul provided an update on his dad
or joke worthy is the 23rd of the month.
who had an aortic valve replaced with a pig valve. Paul
spent two weeks in AZ to help his parents and ended up
had 20,121 hits in Janulearning more than he ever wanted to know about his dad. Webmaster: Paul reported that we
th
th
Paul is now under psychiatric care for the trauma. All kid- ary with the most being on the 8 and the 17 during the
times of 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. The News and the About
ding aside, Mr. Maynard is recovering well and has not
Us pages were the most popular. Germany was our #1 visbeen craving pork any more than usual. Lyle chimed in
itor, followed by the European Union and Brazil. The
with Nancy’s experience of receiving a bovine valve in
Russian Federation and the United States government
2013. She too recovered well until he found her outside
grazing this past summer. The upside is less mowing with seem to have given up on us with only 16 and 0 hits
the downside being that she refuses to graze on a rotational respectively. Given up or Gone Stealth?…hmmmm.
schedule. Thanks to Paul’s big mouth, we learned that Tom
Shumaker just had surgery 2½ weeks ago. They have been Website: Still up and running.
keeping watch on an aneurism since last April and deter723
mined it was time to take care of it. More surgery stories
Minutes
RMVTA Meeting
Pg 2
Rides: We still have some weekends open if you want to
lead a ride but we need your information ASAP. Floyd
went through the calendar of rides with the group who
made some date changes and tossed around a few new ideas. Tom let us know that Hwy 27 is now open to Hwy 14
which had been closed due to flooding. More discussion
regarding the cost of producing the ride book ensued.
Missing Link
Our beloved Missing Link is currently languishing in the
comfort of Lisa’s winter resort home.
Old Business
None.
New Business
The Executive Committee discussed increasing the
Sponsor Advertising Rates and because invoices
needed to be delivered, Floyd made the executive
decision to bump up the prices by approximately
13% to $170 for a full-page ad and $85 for a halfpage. This got a bit confusing as he kept saying
different rates but he defended himself that it WAS
a few weeks ago and he can’t remember what he
had today for breakfast. Lyle offered to check Facebook for him.
Bernie gave us a run-down about our new sponsor
Apex Sports located in the Springs. He is quite
impressed with this family-run business that really
seems to care about their work. Bernie took his
trike there for fork seals and brakes and it felt like
putting his baby in the hospital but the mechanic
came out and with much care told him that Debra
(Winger – get it?) was going to be fine. They have
a great accessory & apparel shop as well so we will
make a visit on one of our outings as the distance is
too great to fit into the Sponsor Ride.
Discussion and a unanimous vote for increasing Membership Rates resulted in keeping the single membership at $25 and increasing the family membership to $40 which is a more equal ratio and shouldn’t deter people from joining. Of course, we need
to gain and retain enthusiastic members.
Fund raising options were discussed including holding
a raffle for the general public, possibly during one
of the open houses. This was not deemed feasible
as we would need to put up something of value to
increase ticket sales as well as receive approval
from the host company.
Put your thinking caps on and submit a slogan for
2015. It was deemed necessary for the Newsletter
and the Ride Book cover but all agreed that it
doesn’t have to rhyme. Floyd will send an email
for submissions.
50/50
Lisa collected $45 with $23 going to the club. The winnings went to: Barb for 3rd place ($5), Deb M. for 2nd place
($7), and Jim for 1st place ($10). This put Jim & Barb up
$5 to which he said, “Happy Valentine’s Day honey!” Then
we reminded him that they volunteered for treats next
month which will put him back to even. Oh well, better
luck next time. Linda brought in a decorative towel for the
raffle which was won by Lisa. We think it’ll look great flying off the trunk of her bike!
The first attempt at adjourning was at 9:07 due to the glassy
eyes of Elaine but due to our collective Lotto Fever, the
meeting was reopened to complete the 50/50 raffle. Meeting adjourned without dispute at 9:22 p.m.
Thanks to Linda for bringing Valentine cookies and
chocolates! Jim & Barb volunteered for March.
Pg 3
<><><><><><><>
RIP
“WILD CARD”
FROM THE CRADLE
TO THE GRAVE!
Pg 4
The following people have BIRTHDAYS in March & April:
Kathy Bowker
Tim Kah
Barb Babbitt
Joyce Hindman
Mar 17
Mar 23
Apr 5
Apr 5
For Sale:
Please see our website also for this:
2004 Honda GoldWing:
Only 24,000 miles. Runs great & loaded with custom
accessories, (over $4,000.00 worth) Custom matching
trailer with chrome wheels & clear bra. Sell complete
for $16,000.00. Any Questions call Andy at (303) 359
-2639 or email to hicountry55@gmail.com
ANNIVERSARYS:
Tom & Brenda Shumaker Mar 24
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!
Pg 5
9700 E. Arapahoe Road
Next Meeting:
Thurs., Mar. 12, 2015
7:00 p.m.
Fay Myers Motorcycle World
COMPLEMENTARY COPY
RMVTA
P.O. Box 3736
Englewood, CO 80155-3736
2015 Season RMVTA Sponsors
Apex Motorsports ……………………………. (719) 475-2437
327 South Weber Street
Colorado Springs, CO. 80903 www.apexsportsinc.com
RPM Motorsports ……………….…..……….. (303) 232-7576
Aurora Honda .………………………...…….….(303) 341-7200
1251
Wadsworth
Ave.
200 South Potomac Street,
Denver, CO. 80214
www.rpmms.com
Aurora, CO. 80012
www.aurorahonda.hondamcdealers.com
Vickery Motorsports, Inc. …..………………. (303) 755-4387
2231 South Parker Road,
Denver, CO. 80231
www.vickerymotorsports.com
Life Harmony Counseling, pc ……..……… (303) 888-8617
Debbie Taylor
www.lifeharmonycounseling.com
Licensed Professional Counselor
Sun Honda/Kawasaki/Polaris/KTM ………... (303) 287-7566
8877 Washington Street
Denver, CO. 80229
www.sunent.com
Fay Myers Motorcycle World ………….….. (303) 744-6632
9700 E. Arapahoe Road
Greenwood Village, CO. 80112
www.faymyers.com