ACMM Advisory Article Dec 2015

 

Atlantic Canada Motor Maids
Advisory Article by Elizabeth Pass

It’s a bittersweet time in Atlantic Canada for Motor Maids. During the long, and at times, bitter winter, our bikes hibernate and Parked Motorcycle Syndrome ravages our restless spirits. The bulk of our gatherings and riding adventures for the past year are still providing some sweetness, as we enjoy them again through chats with our sisters, occasional meetings and pictures. We’ve grown from 55 members in October, 2013, to 80 members in October, 2014 – sweet!

The last monthly meeting of 2014 was a two day extravaganza in Prince Edward Island. We crossed the Confederation Bridge to fly kites, attend a BBQ, have a lobster dinner and be scared or amused at the Kool Breeze Farms Scarecrow Festival. The winds became too strong for kites, so they stayed tethered to our bikes in their wrappers. We missed Joyce’s four newest kites she brought back from China (she has a collection of about 45), but there is always next year. Joyce provided an impressive spread for the BBQ at her house, with tastes enhanced by her special spices from Quebec.

Rides to The Bottle Houses and Kool Breeze Farms provided us with unique photo ops, gasps and laughs. A lobster dinner at the hotel was the culmination of the weekend event and filled us with Northumberland lobster and chowder. We gained two new members from PEI, now boasting three. We are hoping for an Island membership explosion during 2015.

Meet and Greets in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were very popular and well attended. Visitors came to check us out and must have liked what they saw. We have new members from each of those provinces as a result.

The year end meeting in Moncton was nothing short of FUN. Reports from all committees for Convention 2015 verified how much we have already accomplished and pinpointed how much we still have to do. The excitement ran high as we met at the convention hotel, the Delta Beausejour. The awards committee did a first-rate job of identifying appropriate and functional awards to honour the accomplishments of members this year. Who would have guessed toilet paper comes in Motor Maid blue and is such a prestigious award? Congratulations to Jo Miller and Peggy Dingle, our highest rollers this year. Cheryl MacLaggan, was the winner of the Gail Neilson Atlantic Canada Motor Maid of the Year Award, for her exceptional contributions to ACMM over the past year. Numerous other awards were bestowed upon members for fun and serious accomplishments. An evening dinner at the Old Triangle Irish Pub and the ever popular after hours suite party with games, stories and merriment, brought to a close another extraordinary year for Atlantic Canada Motor Maids.