Look Twice – Save a Life

U-Tube video presents a “You didn’t see me” message

Black Nail Brigade Ride & Protest Oct 8th

October 8, 2009- Wauconda, Illinois Black Nail Brigade Awareness Ride & Protest
Meeting Point: 7AM to 8AM, behind Wauconda IL Walgreens in empty parking lot (west of rte 12/176 intersection). Awareness Ride: 8AM to 9AM. Proceed to crash site at Rte 12 & Old McHeny Rd. North on Midlothian Rd, Peterson Rd, Rte 45, Rte 120, to courthouse. Lake County Couthouse (Waukegan, IL) & Arraignment: 9AM to 12PM. We will circle the courthouse several times before parking. Park in spots on N County St or MLK Jr Ave (bring quarters). Please feel free to join us at the courthouse if you can’t make the ride. http://www.blacknailbrigade.org/ Please email greg at greg@blacknailbrigade.org if you can join us.

Patriot Guard

The Patriot Guard has been invited to provide an escort by the family of Charles “Raymond” Roberts on Friday Sept 11th. Dale Roberts Sr, is a long time friend of ours and one of the older members of Central IL ABATE. Our condolences go out to the entire family for their loss.

The family of Raymond Roberts has invited the Patriot Guard Riders to honor him
for his service to this Great Nation. He served in Okinawa during WWII. For his
time in the service he received the Good Conduct Medal, Campaign and Service Medal,
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Complete Medal, Campaign and Service Victory World War
II Medal, Campaign and Service Army of Occupation World War II Medal.

Raymond’s funeral service on this day is one way in which we can also reflect on
the anniversary of 9/11and what veterans of all eras have done to protect this
country.

Services will be held at Hurd-Hendricks Funeral Home, 120 South Public Square Knoxville,
Illinois.

At the conclusion of services we will escort Raymond to his final resting place
in Abingdon Cemetery, Abingdon, IL.

Staging Location: McDonalds at Exit 51 off I-74, Knoxville, IL
Staging Time: 9:00 am – 9:45 am Friday 11 SEP 09
PRB: 9:50 am
KSU: 9:55 am

Ride Captain: Cliff Clark cliff1508@hotmail.com [mailto:cliff1508@hotmail.com]
(309)368-8813
RC Support: Tom Godfrey

Below is the Obit as published in the Register-Mail:

KNOXVILLE – Charles “Raymond” Roberts, 83, rural Knoxville, passed away at 8:58 a.m. Monday (Sept. 7, 2009) at home.
Raymond was born west of Abingdon on April 1, 1926, the son of John Marion and Bertha Lucille Morris Roberts.
He married Beatrice L. Cooley on Sept. 17, 1998, in Las Vegas.
Raymond was raised in Abingdon and Bernadotte. He was a veteran of WWII, having served in 1778th Engineer Construction Battalion in the Pacific from 1944 to 1946. For his time in the service he received the Good Conduct Medal, Campaign and Service Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Complete Medal, Campaign and Service Victory World War II Medal, Campaign and Service Army of Occupation World War II Medal. Raymond has been a farmer in the surrounding area since 1949, having lived at the Knoxville address for the last 53 years. In his earlier years he drove for L.K. Bandy and worked a winter at Admiral. In Raymond’s earlier years he enjoyed hunting, fishing, his horses, coonhounds and his Indian and Triumph motorcycles. In his later years, Raymond and Bea traveled all over the U.S. in their motor home or their Goldwing motorcycle and they traveled to many countries.
He is survived by his wife, Beatrice Roberts; daughters, Barbara (Lee) Shook and Raylene J. Roberts of Knoxville; son, Dale E. Roberts Sr. of Gilson; stepdaughter, Tonia (Will) Morris of Gilson. Raymond’s grandchildren are Michael E. (Shelley) Roberts, Brad A. Roberts, Dale E. (Carrie) Roberts Jr., Travis L. (Jennette) Petty, Tara L. Petty, Amber L. Hunborg, Cory L. (Jade) Hunborg, Levi W. Morris, Savannah J. Morris and six great-grandchildren. Raymond is survived by a sister, Vivian (Lester) Combs of Herman; a brother, Ivan (Agnes) Roberts of Knoxville; a sister-in-law, Maudie Roberts of Galesburg; plus many nieces and nephews and their families and many cousins.
He was preceded in death by his parents, one stepdaughter, two great-grandsons and one brother.
Funeral will be at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 11, at Hurd-Hendricks Funeral Home and Crematory in Knoxville, the Rev. David Shreeves officiating. Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, at the funeral home in Knoxville. Burial will be in Abingdon Cemetery with military rites conducted by Ralph M. Noble American Legion Post 285 of Galesburg. Fellowship will follow the services at the cemetery at Hurd-Hendricks Fellowship Center, 126 S. Public Square, Knoxville.
Memorials may be made to Hospice of Galesburg or to any cancer research.
Online condolences may be made at www.hurd-hendricksfuneralhome.com.

Published in The Register-Mail on 9/9/2009

MRF Meets with Sec. of Transportation LaHood

MRF NEWS Motorcycle Riders Foundation
236 Massachusetts Ave. NE
Suite 510
Washington, DC 20002-4980
202-546-0983 (voice)
202-546-0986 (fax)
http://www.mrf.org (website)

For Immediate Release

27 April 2009

Contact: Jeff Hennie, MRF Vice President of Government Relations
Email: jeff@mrf.org

MRF MEETS WITH U.S. SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION RAY LAHOOD

On Thursday, April 23, 2009, Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF)
Vice President of Government Relations Jeff Hennie, along with
ABATE of Illinois Legislative Coordinator Bob Ward and ABATE
of Illinois Board Member Rick Olsen, sat down with newly seated
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to discuss the U.S. Depart-
ment of Transportation (USDOT) and its role with the motorcycle
community.

Secretary LaHood previously served in the U.S. House of Represent-
atives, where he was a strong champion of motorcycling on many
fronts.  He is a past recipient of the MRF's highest congressional
honor, the MRF Champion award.  The award is given to members
of the U.S. Congress who display extreme dedication to motorcyclists.
So it comes as no surprise that he pledged to continue that role in his
new position.

Discussion topics during the MRF and ABATE of Illinois' meeting
with Secretary LaHood included the recent National Transportation
Safety Board's activities lobbying state committees for helmet laws,
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's quarterly
meetings and 2010 funds, and the Federal Highway Administration's
Motorcycle Advisory Council.  The Secretary promised an open-door
policy for motorcyclists and invited us to contact him with any issues
with which he might be helpful.

We at the MRF look forward to working closely with Secretary
LaHood, and wish him the very best as he takes on the challenging
role of overseeing our nation's entire transportation system.

Technical Correction

Last week the MRF sent out a report about the Consumer Product
Safety Commission and the stay of enforcement offered to the
manufacturers and retailers of youth ATVs and motorcycles.
That 2 year stay will actually not begin until the commissioners
cast another ballot vote in favor of the stay. What that means is that
at this point it is still illegal to sell the youth ATVs and motorcycles
under US law. It is expected that the staff will follow the commissioner
recommendations to grant the stay and that the vote will occur in the
coming weeks.

ABATE Shakedown Run

ABATE of IL and MRF Mourn Death of Boz Kerr

For Immediate Release

20 April 2009

Contact: Kirk "Hardtail" Willard, MRF President
Email: hardtail@mrf.org

Motorcycle Riders Foundation Vice President
Michael "Boz" Kerr Passes Away

Early this morning we received the most sad
and unfortunate news that Michael "Boz" Kerr
passed away peacefully in his sleep overnight.
He had just returned from a very successful
Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF)
Beast of the East Motorcycle Rights Conference.
 At the time of his passing "Boz" was the current
Vice President of the MRF and Chairman of the
Legislative Committee.  Prior to his being elected
Vice President he served as an MRF Board Member
 in the capacity of MRF PAC Chairman. "Boz" was
instrumental in setting up the stand alone MRF
Awareness and Education Organization (MRFA&E)
and was the driving force behind the  upcoming
National Motorcycle Awareness day in Washington D.C.,
known as "Bikers Inside the Beltway".

"Boz" was also a past President of the Chicago Chapter
of ABATE of Illinois and recently retired as Chairman
of ABATE of Illinois FEDPAC.  In the past year he was
awarded the MRF Presidents Cup of Distinction and
ABATE of Illinois' highest honor, the Rich Neb Award.

"Boz" was the finest political operative I have ever
had the privilege to work with and his concern and
passion for motorcycle rights and his genuineness
will be greatly missed by the MRF and the entire
motorcycling rights community.  We have certainly
lost one of the great ones in our movement.  Words
cannot express the amount of sadness and the profound
impact that losing another one of our own will have.
Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to his wife and family,
his ABATE family, and his MRF family", said MRF
President Kirk "Hardtail" Willard.

"Boz" was well known for his speeches, such as the
"Greatest Generation", "Mr. Jones", and most recently
"Making Thunderbirds; long, low, lean, and fast".
Godspeed brother, you will be missed.

Details of the services can be found on the Chicago
Chapter's website at www.chicagoabate.com

SB1351 Illinois Mcy Helmet Bill Fails

4/1/2009 Senate Third Reading – Lost; 014-042-001

Went for a ride

Went for a ride last Thursday, on “Spotty”.   Went to the Galesburg Post Office to check the Mailbox for Illinois Mcy Rights Assoc.  Little windy but warm enough so took Main St west to 164 west of town and ended up at Jim & Cathy Hawk’s.  Shot the breeze awhile.  Cat loaned me a dvd of the Muppet’s Wizard of OZ.

Jim had other company come so I took off cross country to the Monmouth Farm King, went North on US 67 to Gerlaw blacktop and back to Galesburg and then took the Rt 34 bypass to get on I-74.  Little motor running nice.

I stopped at the shop and picked up my camera and headed for the place where Kevin Cain has killed by a 16 year-old driver passing a car and hit Kevin head-on.  Kevin was on his 2000 Heritage Softail with the Kansas City Painted Tins, a specialty option by H-D.  Hawk is drawing the flyer for Central IL ABATEs Just Because run on June 21st that will honor the loss of Kevin.  He was returning home from this run last year when he was killed.

It’s a lonely spot on US 150.  Just east of the Appleton/Oak Run Corner.  Only 4 Miles east of my location.  The crash happened right next to the lone tree.

After I took a couple pictures, I continued on to the Williamsfield Cemetary and took pictures of my ancestors headstones and then went on to French grove cemetary for more photos.   Spotty ran well all the way.  It was a good day for riding.

IL Helmet Bill Advances to Senate Floor

Senate Bill passes out of committee and House bill still sitting in committee

SB1351- VEHICLE CODE-MOTORCYCLE HELMETS-
3/5- Do Pass as Amended Public Health; 006-004-000
Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading March 6, 2009
Senate Sponsors
Sen. Donne E. Trotter - Heather Steans and Jeffrey M. Schoenberg

HB0925- VEHICLE CODE-MOTORCYCLE HELMETS-
Vehicles & Safety Committee Hearing Mar 11 2009 8:30AM
Capitol Building Room 115 Springfield, IL
Rep. Karen A. Yarbrough

Pictures from the past

Ed Brush of Galesburg, originally from Lewistown, arriving at Central IL ABATE’s Big River Campout. I don’t know what year it is, but its when he had the Yam XS1100 similar to mine that died in the fire last year. Wild and crazy guy. Had an accident on his Vulcan and doesn’t ride now that I know of, but he sends me jokes in emails. Miss riding with him.

This is Gene Newland at Big River year unknown, who grew up in Monmouth and was an early member of District 3, ABATE of Illinois in West Central IL and helped found the Blackhawk ABATE Chapter in Quad Cities in 1987. Gene and his wife Jean have moved to Arkansas to be with Gene’s brother Norm, who had earlier moved there from this area. He still has kids in the area.

This is Kevin Stormer at Big River year unknown, who is originally from Monmouth, and Kevin works in a truck  repair shop and I see him once in a while.  He also was a District 3 ABATE member.   He still has this bike and rides it once in a while.  He has picked up a side trade as a saddle maker/repairer as he is into the horse scene.