Red knights

Issue 01 = &nb= sp; = November 21, 2007=

President &= nbsp; Jeremy Smith &n= bsp; (937) 238-= 8296

Vice President &nbs= p; Jack Hood &nb= sp; (937) 623-= 1817

Treasurer &= nbsp; Ju= lie Smith

Secretary &= nbsp; Fred Wilson &= nbsp; (937) 231-= 4926

Road Boss &nb= sp; &= nbsp; Brian Shaw &nb= sp; (937) 673-= 3975

The first m= eeting was held at Miami Township Fire Department Station 50 at 2700 Lyons Rd. As a group, we want to thank Chief = Dave Fulmer for letting us use the facility for this meeting. =

I want to g= ive a little history of how this all came to be.

Jeremy Smit= h and I, Fred Wilson, both have a hard core sickness for the love of motorcycles and anything that has to do with motorcycles to include riding. Jeremy started doing research on a riding club in Ohio that was not bike specific and was user friendly for members to belong to. = He came across the Red Knights and realized = it would be a perfect fit for him and all future members. I always wanted to organize a poker run for the simple fact of getting a lot of riders together showing off their bikes while raising money. This all came together when = I met one of the strongest, bravest individuals I had ever had the privilege of meeting. His name is Chris Bentlage. Chris was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident on August 6^th 2005 and has si= nce, with great help from family and friends, accomplished multiple tasks and go= als to include sitting on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexi= co as a certified handicapped diver exactly 365 days after he lost the use of = his legs. Jeremy and I put our ideas together and the rest is history. We both decided that our first ord= er of business every year, after the Dayton chapter is formed, would be a poker run in the name of Chris Bentlage and all proceeds would be donated to Chris a= nd his family.

To learn ab= out Chris, go to www.Three= SixtyFiveFoundation.org

I wanted to= give you all the highlights of the meeting. I will attempt to keep up with all t= he information given at the meetings and get it out to you all ASAP.

If any of t= his information is different than what you can confirm, please let me know by e= mail or cell.

Dues and Fees-<= /li>

Chapter Fee-$25.00

Classification Fee-$16.00

Active Association Member-$13.00

Social Member-$8.00

The Red Knights also recognize –

Junior Red Knights-siblings under 16 years of age

FORK-Friends of Red Knights

Patch-

No probationary period, the only requirement is to be a full member.

We were shown two styles of the patch, newer and older style. I think we all agreed on the newer style. We were shown the black vest with the patch on t= he back, where the patch is worn. We were advised what could and could not go = on the vest. The vest is black leather. As a group we decided that we would we= ar our patch with both rockers all touching each other for various reasons. The cost for the full setup of patches and rockers is $40.00 and the bottom roc= ker has to be purchased in lots of 20. A good online source for leather vests is www.allstateleather.co= m

Officers-

The above listed Officers volunteered on their own to get our Chapter formed. We were advised that Officer Election can be held at anytime. If any member sh= ows an interest for an Officer spot, please speak your voice.=

Active Members-=

At this time we have enough members to form our Chapter. We still need to be active recruiters to build this organization. Spread the word to every firefighter around that rides. We need the people and the support.

Meetings-

We need to start thinking of a place hold our meetings as our organization sta= rts to grow. Start your research on places that would welcome our club for meetings.

Fundraisers-

This is going to be the life blood of this organization. We were given some great ideas from Bill Snodgrass on fundraisers. We were advised of an Auction and Cruise voucher. They also advised us of the matching fund grant of $200.00.=

Side note

I was reading in the newsletter, as pa= rt of the 25^th anniversary of the Red Knights, they are going to be burying a time capsule at the memorial site to be opened at the 50^{th
anniversary. This would be a cool thing to start the club off with. Shout o=
ut
any ideas. We need to send our things to Ed Brouillet<=
/span>.}

= = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; =

Secretary

Fred Wilson=

Note from the President- I hope t= o have the next meeting the first week of February. At that time I hope to have t= he guys from Columbus come back down to present us with our official chapter. I also want to set up a regul= ar meeting and kick off our spring fundraising. We will have information on ordering patches and final cost for ordering our bottom rocker. Please contact Fred or me wit= h questions but keep in mind we are new to this also and may need time to get your answers. Have a safe and= Happy Holidays, all I want for Christmas is an early spring.

Jeremy M. Smith = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; President

= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp;