Live from Sturgis SD

Good Times in the Badlands

First let me say the Darlene and I had an absolute blast hosting our first Full Timers Rally.  It was a great turnout and it was terrific to see and welcome so many first timers and new members to our ranks.  We hope that everyone who attended had as great a time as we did and that those who could not attend will realize what fun they missed and be at future rallies.

The first night wine and cheese party lasted a bit longer than planned as the chef (me) took longer to get the Hobo Soup pot up to temperature and ready to serve.  It appeared to be worth waiting for, however, as the pot was completely empty afterwards.  It is a fun concept and I can provide instructions for anyone is interested.  We also gave about 30 cans of soup to the local Crisis Intervention Center which they were very happy to get.

What an experience we had the next day when we were picked up at the park by “Alkali Ike”, aka Mike Kitzmiller, for a tour of Deadwood, including its famous historic cemetery, followed by lunch at the 4 Aces Casino.  Ike is a colorful native of the area and full of stories, jokes and local information.  It was interesting to learn of the misconceptions surrounding “Wild Bill” Hickok and “Calamity Jane” who are buried in the Deadwood Cemetery.  He got us safely back to Rush-No-More in time for happy hour.

Ed Miller, the owner of Rush-No-More, was terrific to work with.  He gave us the run of the facilities and provided some excellent meals.  He also donated some Bike Rally materials for a charity auction.

In true Full Timers tradition, the business meeting was concise and to the point.  We made a couple of rule changes and elected new officers.  Thank you Howie for your service as president, and we wish a warm welcome to Roy Holt as our new president.  Best wishes to all the other new officers as well.

The steak dinner and festivities the last night were a lot of fun.  “Sheriff” Sonny Gillespie was in his usual rare form.  He managed to zing most everyone in attendance at least once.  “That’s a quarter” will certainly go down as one of history’s famous quotations.  Thank you, Sonny, for another terrific performance.  Between the Sheriff’s quarters, the 50/50 drawing and Ed’s auction we presented a check to the local school lunch program for $215.00.  I ‘m not going to mention their name here, because I’m not sure they want  their good deed publicized, but a special thanks to the couple(who are new members as well) for donating their 50/50 winnings back to the charity fund.

A special shout out for Jim & Chris Guld, the “Geeks on Tour” for their interesting and informative seminars.  They actually held a couple of additional sessions during free time that were well received.  We are glad to have them as members.  Also thanks to new members, John & Diane Trujillo for helping to sponsor the wine and cheese event.

People started to leave the next day and more arrived for the Elk’s/Military Rally.  15 coaches, including yours truly, stayed for that rally as well before heading to Gillette.  It seemed to work well to schedule these rallies back to back so all who desired could participate.

Safe travels to you all and thanks once again for making our first hosting experience so terrific.

Mike & Darlene