Membership Director

by Bill Roberge

Last weekend I attended the ABATE Family Campout at our land. It is one of my favorite events. I think the reason for that is seeing the young kids involved in ABATE. When they are riding around on their dirt bikes and bicycles, I see our future.

There were many organized activities for the kids. I had the privilege of working with some of them on motorcycle awareness. They drew signs to make the public aware that we need to Share The Road with motorcycles. I hope to have them on display at the 50^th Anniversary celebration in Madison. There were also many traditional activities going on such as marshmallow golf. We had a great pancake breakfast on Saturday as well as a potluck supper that evening. Roasted corn was provided to everyone by the Land Committee. Thanks for roasting, Worm. It takes many volunteers to make family campout a great event. I thank all of you that helped out. Why don’t you join us next year and see what happens for yourself. I can guarantee that those kids that were there will always remember ABATE and camping at ABATE Acres.

I am also looking forward to our 50^th, celebrating 50 years of grassroots lobbying. This is going to be a great event with guest speakers from around the country. It will also be the end of our election process, and we will seat the new board of directors and announce the winners of the executive officers during the board meeting on Sunday morning. Make sure you get your votes in the mail before the deadline of October 1st. Remember that you can cast your vote in person at the annual meeting in October up until 9 am on Sunday morning if you don’t mail in your ballot by the time it is due.

Winter is coming, so use the time we have left of this summer to spread the word about ABATE. Tell people who we are, what we do, and why we do it. See you at the 50^th.

Ride Safe, Ride Free, Ride with ABATE.

Bill