Gotta start off by giving out a few thank you's. First, one goes to Alice & Dan Jacob and Don "Redneck" Wagner. They maintained the booth at Harley fest, sold some products and recruited quite a few new members for abate. Thank you for stepping up and helping out. Second thank you goes to Abe Lawson for doing the June meeting. Russ was trying to fix an electrical situation we had at home and Tiny was dealing with a personal issue and I myself had a bad sinus infection going on, so we all 3 missed the June meeting. As it's always stated, first comes family, then work, then abate. Thanks Abe for doing the June meeting, helping out and dealing with the situation. Third thank you goes to Al Copp and all the other volunteers who helped out at our Observation Run. It was a great day and the committee planned a nice route. Weather was perfect. Had a great turnout, heard everyone had fun and a bit of revenue was raised for the region. Thanks Al and all of you members for helping and donating your time to the region. Everyone's help in various areas is what keeps the region going forward. Teamwork is a powerful thing.

Yes, the helmet bill was vetoed. Most of us already knew it would be before she actually stamped it. We didn't like the bill, but it was worded in an effort to appeal to the reasons for her last veto. The good news is that the bill even got to her desk. That's the 2nd time in @ 30 years that abate was able to accomplish that. That in itself is to be rewarded. It's not an easy task for a grass roots organization to get a bill thru both chambers and on to the governor's desk. Those members who are involved legislatively will definitely understand the magnitude of this. Those who are not should be. Legislative and politics are what abate is about. Parties and rides are fun and needed, but are secondary to what abate really is and stands for. Kudos to all the members who wrote letters, called their legislators, called the governor, went to Lansing to lobby and made the difference of our bill moving anywhere. You're the reason the bill got to Granholm's desk.

There's a petition being reviewed that may end up on the ballot for voters to decide. It deals with reducing the number of judges, lowering wages for legislators, curbing their medical coverage and putting their job in line with what Michigan can afford and in line with wages for workers across the state. You may want to check it out. If approved, it will be listed on the secretary of states web page. I heard one senator state that if this were to pass, non qualified candidates would be our future legislators. I laughed my a-off. Currently, few of them have political experience before being voted in now. Prior to office, they were cops, doctors, housewives, construction workers, business men etc. What she meant to say in my opinion was they don't want to lose the gravy train they've been riding for so many years.

August 5th is the primary. Hopefully some of you did your homework so you'll know who to vote for in your district. Our LO Alice gathered some info but received very little help from any of our members for her to try to narrow things down. The primary list is filled with candidates due to the term limits of so many. It's totally unfair for us to expect Alice to handle it on her own. Maybe you could get her info from your area after the primary, which she can use in the general. Thank you Alice for researching and compiling what you did.

We may or may not be having a last minute event towards the end of September. I'm not going to go into the details of how, why etc. If the committee decides with the member's approval to go ahead, you'll possibly see a flier in this issue, but just in case, always check out the region website www.miabateregion11.info for the current news.

You will see a flier in this issue though for our 7th annual Bikes in the Park being held October 11th. All the usual suspects are helping and planning for another successful bike show. Entry is by donation. Most important is that all proceeds benefit our motorcycle awareness highway billboards for 2009.

Enjoy the Ride