It is Election Season…

by Dave “Twit” Linberg

I’m sure you’ve all seen the ramp up of television and radio commercials about the upcoming national election. If you’re anything like me, by November if not sooner, we will all have had our fill of those and will be glad to just get on with it.

But what I’m talking about here, is our very own ABATE of Wisconsin elections. We are on a two-year election cycle and this is the year – 2020 an even year. Now is the time to think about stepping up and becoming more involved either at your local region or on a state level. The process is really easy, and the benefits are quite good. I’ve made some of my best friends from all over the state, by becoming involved with ABATE at the regional and state levels. Most of us are pretty fired up about motorcycling and our organization, so it is only natural that we try to pass our passion on to some newer members by keeping our meetings informative, interesting and fun. I’m sure many of you have your own way to do it.

This month we are announcing the candidacy for District Directors. There are 8 of them, if you didn’t know. Any person interested in becoming a District Director for their district should complete the candidacy forms (printed in the March and April newsletter) and send them in to the State Office. The deadline for District Director candidacy papers is April 15^th, 2020

The ABATE of Wisconsin State Election information for District Directors can be found on page 20 of this newsletter. Be sure to check it out so you know when and how to submit your candidacy papers if you are interested and good luck at the ABATE polls. So, there it is, the first step in our election cycle. Roll up your sleeves and throw your hat in if you have something to offer us. Then tell everyone in the state why you’re the best choice. That’s all there is to it.

On to Officer’s Training. I cannot tell you how much I enjoy this weekend. It is really a great time to re-connect with old friends, but an even better time to meet new ones that are just starting to get their feet wet as an officer within ABATE. A lot of ideas were thrown around regarding many topics in order to make it easier on our regional officers to conduct their meetings and keep us all on the same page. An “old member” like I am, enjoys taking a step back and watching just how this organization stays current, on-topic and mentors all these kids coming in. Fresh meat, so to speak. Just call me the Observer. We have something here that we can be proud of and believe me other ABATE organizations around the country are asking just how we do it. This training weekend is a big part of it. Is it cheap to put on this type of training? Heck no, but our state officers and Board Members know how important this type of training is and feel that the dollars are well spent in training our officers. The members attending help too and are very generous during the silent and the live auctions to help offset some of the costs. All in all, the weekend was a great success. I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the office staff for all of their hard work so thank you to Kelley, Betsy and our favorite retiree, Office Nancy, who comes out of retirement one weekend a year to help us out.

Again, I didn’t win the Sweetheart raffle. I was an observer there, too. I guess there’s always next year.

Twit