WOW and what a Rally SIS had this year.  If you thought last year was great, I think I can safely say we had the pleasure of attending the RALLY to END ALL RALLIES!  There was so much fun and enjoyment you would not believe it.  I laughed until my face hurt.  You never know what will happen when the SISTERS are involved. 

The site of the rally was the Best Western in Van Buren, Arkansas.  The people of this community WELCOMED us with their arms wide open. The Mayor of Van Buren showed up to WELCOME us to his community.  The newspaper did a great article about SIS and made it clear we are “LADIES FIRST” and bikers second.  We had great food and lots of riding. 

We did some changing around this year; had two different poker runs, one for Friday and one for Saturday.  All the games, fashion show, etc was held in the evening after everyone came in from the poker runs.  By making these changes it allowed everyone who wanted to take part in the games, etc and go on the poker runs, to do so.  The participation in all the activities was great.  

Speaking of activities, there were many; but for me the best part was the tricycle races which was won by Karla Sherman out of Mississippi.  She rode that trike into the ground and never missed a beat, while the rest of us struggled with crashing, getting the wheels of two tricycles hung up and worst of all…running out of breath.  I might also add the referee was a little unfair, but I won’t go into that at this point.  I can tell you things will be different next year.  (There may be a new referee if things don’t change or she does not shape up).  I crashed in the tricycle races and did not even get the courtesy of a yellow flag!!

We had members from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Illinois, Colorado, Mississippi, and Iowa.  Nancy Jude-Stern from Parker, Colorado won the longest distance on a bike at 852 miles, and Karla Sherman won the longest distance by any means of transportation at approximately 400/500 miles.

The bike show was great, had very beautiful machines in the show. The categories were:

Touring Class 1^st place - Becky Jandebeur

Trike Class 1^st place - Penny Hosley

Trike Class  2^nd Place - Dianne Ramsey

Cruiser Class 1^st place - Becky Robertson

Cruiser Class  2^nd place - Mary Lowery

People’s Choice 1^st place - Becky Robertson

People’s Choice 2^nd place - Mary Lowry

Additional games and activities winners were:

Wet Tee Shirt Contest 1^st place - Becky Robertson

Tattoo Contest 1^st place - Sheila Steen

On Bike games, slow ride 1^st place - Karen Gutenkauf

Most Mature Rider - Sammye Shipman

Lowest SIS membership number - Dianne Ramsey #19

First to register for rally - Sheila Steen

Talent Show winner - Chapter A Tulsa, Oklahoma

We were blessed with the presents of Ms. Rain, editor of Biker Ally magazine and her staff of great people.  Rain was kind enough to give as a grand prize - newly designed riding apparel, for not only keeping your body cool in the heat but also apparel to keep you warm and toasty in the cold.  We appreciate Rain and her staff for taking time from their busy schedules to attend the SIS rally.

The seminar on changing oil in your bike was great.  I saw ladies lying all over the driveway to get a first hand view of what oil changing was all about.  The rider education seminar was fantastic; Ed Upchurch, MSF instructor from Arkansas, gave a wonder talk on group riding.  Ed, we appreciate your instructions and you coming to the rally.

We presented a NEW award that will be given every year. It is called the SPIRIT AWARD.  Since this was the first year for the award, I had the pleasure of selecting the first recipient of the SPIRIT AWARD.  This year’s winner was Becky Jandebeur.  Becky has been the RIGHT HAND for SIS.  She displays undying devotion and unlimited energy and guidance to the organization.  She has battled cancer and several illnesses and just keeps on giving.  From this point on in order to receive the SPIRIT AWARD a member must be nominated by a SIS member.  The person nominating an individual must submit in writing (e-mail is okay) why they feel this specific member is deserving of this high award.  Send in your nominations to the home office.  All nominations must be in the hands of the National Director no later than 30 days prior to the yearly rally.  The decision for the winner will be decided by the National Staff.  The winner will be announced and must be present at the yearly National Rally.  

We also want to say, THANK YOU to all of our sponsors for their contributions to the SIS RALLY.  But the BIGGEST THANK YOU GOES TO THE MEMBERS OF SIS for their support of the organization.  For those of you who could not attend you were with us in “SPIRIT” and we had fun for you.  Don’t forget, “CATCH THE SPIRIT”.

See ya next year,

Linda Blankenship

National Director

SIS                             

Submitted by Blondie

I have waited 3 YEARS to do what I got to do yesterday!!!  I went on a ride with 3 of the 4 (yes 4) SIS members from the OKC area !!!!!  There were several really cool things that happened on our ride.  The Lady who took our first picture (at Pops) gave us back our camera and walked away.  She got about 3-4 car lengths away from us, then turned back around and came back over to us.  She asked if she could pray with us.  So before we ever began our trip, our very first trip too, we held hands around our bikes and prayed.  I wish someone would have taken a picture of that!!!  While at Pops, I asked Julie if she had met some of the SIS ladies from either Tulsa or Stillwater.  She said she had not but was really wanting to. Then when we were in Stroud, we were just getting ready to leave and all these bikers rode up and they were wearing SIS shirts or patches.  I had my SIS shirt on so they recognized it too.  It was awesome!! And two of the three new OKC members got to meet some of the ladies from the Tulsa chapter.  I believe it takes 4 members to become your own chapter.  We now have our 4 SIS members in the OKC area!!! And I believer Julie Murray is going to step up and be the person in charge.  So Linda, it has been a long time coming, but it is finally here!!  And lady, it all started with meeting you in person 3 years ago.  Thank you!!  Hope we get to ride with you soon, Anne   PS- I do not know how to post things to the SIS home page, but this really is a great story of our ride, of the first ride of the OKC Chapter, and of perseverance--it did happen--there is now a chapter near me!!! 

Hi Sisters,

Hope everyone is enjoying the spring season; it makes you want to get out and RIDE!  It also makes you think about plans for the summer.  What and where will I ride this year?

I hope you are planning on attending the second annual Spirit Ride Rally held in Van Buren, Arkansas, June 13th and 14th.  We know the price of gasoline is much more than most can afford to pay when planning a trip in an automobile, but traveling by motorcycle is much cheaper and a lot more fun.  We also know some of you need to wait and see how things go before you register for the rally.  But for those of you who already know you will be attending, we need for you to register so we can determine several things for your enjoyment.  The rally is only FOUR (4) WEEKS away and will be here before we know it.

We appreciate your support of SIS and the Spirit Ride Rally 2008.  Look forward to seeing you on the road!

Linda Blankenship

National Director

SIS