Future Fun

I am really stoked. I have started working on next year's scooter rally. As you may recall, our club hosted a scooter rally, this past May. It was the Tucson May Day Rally. I was a little disappointed at first, but I eventually realized that my expectations had been a bit too high. After a couple of weeks, I realized that it was a pretty darn good first effort. Not wanting to be a “flash in the pan,” we had an after action meeting and talked about what went well, what could have been better, etc, etc, in anticipation of another rally.I had wanted to do the rally as a fund raiser for a local charity, but started too late and couldn’t get it together.

I decided that I would started earlier this year and have actually been thinking about the 2011 rally quite a bit. I have already decided to change the name, but not the date. May Day doesn’t really mean anything anymore to most Americans and so, coming up with some kind of consistent theme for a “May Day Rally” is difficult. Since we are located in the southwest, some kind of western theme seems appropriate. This makes the choosing of venues, destinations, patch/logo designs, games etc, a lot easier. I’m fairly certain that is the direction we will be going.




Regarding charities, I had mentioned my search to the club and asked if anyone new of a local charity that might be interested in working with a rat-tag bunch of scooterists on a rally and raise a bit of money as well. Up steps Paul Tumarkin who mentions that he knows someone at Beads of Courage (hereafter referred to as BoC.), who just might be interested. BoC works with seriously ill children. As a nurse and father of five children myself, this organization appealed to me.

Long story, short, Paul contacted Jean Baruch, from BoC, who expressed interest in the concept and we had a meeting together, today, between the three of us. I think the other two are as excited about this project as am I. Jean and BoC have a network of contacts in southern Arizona that, I feel, complements mine. Our goals and values seem to be compatible. We all have big plans and high expectations from our respective organizaions.

Jean is new to the idea of scooters and scooter rallies, so I told her how the May rally went and why we did things the way we did. She was very receptive and seemed to agree with my ideas of having a family-friendly, community centered event. She asked appropriate questions and when it came time to speak of the 2011 rally, she and Paul, already had some great ideas!

I want to be able to raise money for a charity, but at the same time, I want to be able to host an exciting, quality rally for scooterists. Using BoC’s status as a charitable organization, I think we will be able really get a lot more business to donate goods, services and $$ to make this rally ROCK!

Another exciting idea that came out of this meeting are some ways to integrate artists, scooters and kids into this rally. This way, we will be able to reach people who would never have any interest in something that was aimed at just scooters.

I am very excited about this rally and about meeting and working with new people.