Happy Anniversary!

By John Reblin

May 27th is the date: forty years ago the “little flower” and I got married. Wow. Forty years ago plus all the time we knew each other before then; our childhood homes just a “few blocks” away from each other. We were young and really did not know what to expect when we got married but we were both determined to make this thing called marriage work. Together we knew as the song goes, “this is love.” We both knew we were right for each other, able to give each other support, and able to work together to achieve that goal of staying married. We had good times, struggled though the tragedies that time brings, and raised a couple of, each in their own way, successful kids. We managed to keep the bills paid and had fun along the way. I think we were able to make it forty years because that was our focus. We wanted to be together for the rest of our lives and we worked toward that and we never wavered on that. We were both willing to sacrifice things we wanted to do on our own to do things together. If we didn’t go somewhere on a vacation or maybe see something along the way we were ok with that, we were together. Even now we do not need to go out at night to have a good time. We can sit back, relax, maybe watch some show on TV or read some book or newsletter, and call it a day. The important thing is we are doing it, almost always, together.

I was able to go to Heartland STEAM, A Seminar to Educate and Motivate, and was able to hear Lady Ninja speak. A woman active in the motorcycle community; she works both in the motorcycle drag and sport bike racing community along with a major motorcycle brand. She also runs a 501©3 Motorcyclists Who Care among many other things motorcycle related. And during her presentation she stressed the need for unity among the motorcycle community. She explained that all types of bikers need to come together for the mode of transportation that we all love. That we all need to be willing to fight for this thing that we all love, embracing the companionship of other riders to work together to fight the laws that will and are affecting us all. When talking to other riders we need to listen to the ideas of other riders. Whether they are new riders or grizzled veterans of the road, they may have an idea that will help us achieve the goals we are looking at. We need to be willing to share ideas, be willing to give our time and willing to sacrifice to keep our lifestyle on the road, free and safe.

I also attended a couple of other breakouts that were offered along with presenting a breakout with Marlene. The host organization ABATE of Minnesota did a nice job of having some presenters give their breakout twice. So, it opened up the selection process of which one do I go to?

Megan Eckstrom from the MRF talked of the relationship between the MRF and the SMRO’s and how they work together solving issues. I think many have in their mind that if there is an issue in your state the MRF will swoop in and solve it. That is not the case. They will make inquiries and check with those in charge, offering their help. But they don’t just swoop in and save the day. They deal with federal issues and they are good at it. They keep an eye on those huge bills in the federal landscape of bills watching for things that could affect motorcycles. Unfortunately, things move so slowly in that arena that things drag on and on.

Gary Biller of the National Motorists Association also gave a great breakout and examples of check points. The NMA based in Madison Wisconsin is a alliance of driver rights advocates. Gary explained your rights in a check point, what made a legal check point and what you should do and how to act while in the check point. He spoke of a case they were involved in where a Wisconsin man who was carrying a large sum of money, his life savings to buy a business, got pulled over and the money seized under forfeiture. He then spoke on how groups worked to together to sue the government getting the money back. All worked out here but how many other cases have not worked out this way, smaller amounts of property and cash that left our possession to go to the state or federal agencies funding tactics we don’t necessarily agree with. It was very interesting and I would suggest anyone interested to check out their website.

As usual it was great to socialize and talk with fellow Midwestern freedom fighters about things they are seeing and what they are doing in their state. Were there glitches in the conference? Sure, but they all do and everyone pitches in and solves the issues and it keeps it all moving on. It was a close conference so travel was minor and the content and attendees were great. I would recommend that anyone with any interest in the rights movement attend a STEAM Conference..

Hmm, so yes…. wedding anniversaries and motorcycle rights they go together. Both involve love, focus, communication and fighting for the future.