Dave Kott Update

Events planed:

- Paddle boat dinner cruise Aug. 22 [xxxxx] per person

- Silent auction in Fairbault

- Cambridge H/S concessions & gate fee will donated

Brett Grossman said to call him if you need any more info. Cell is 612-275-8620

Please Join Us For An Evening of Fun, Food, Laughter and Dancing Cruising the River!
Festivities Also Include Silent Auction and Raffle
Where: St. Croix Boat and Packet Co.
525 S Main Street, Stillwater, MN 651.430.1234
For best parking and ease of boarding, please arrive at boat site by 5pm.
Thank you! And be prepared to make a difference.
When: Tuesday, 22 August 2006, 6pm to 9pm
For More Info & Tickets ($xxxxx) Contact

Debra Samuelson 651.261.9621 3380 Pioneer Place, Stillwater, MN 55082
Send Donations To:
David Kott Benefit Fund
c/o First State Bank & Trust
Attention:: Chad Fett
950 N Highway 95
Bayport, MN 55003

Arrows,

It was agreed, at the meeting, that ALL of the proceeds from our fall moto (Sept. 23-24) will be donated to Dave Kott to assist with the transition to his new life. We also talked about doing several other things to raise money for this worthiest of causes. Things discussed were a silent auction, raffle, fun races, etc. In order for any of these things to happen, we will be needing "stuff" to auction, raffle, and give away. I am going to appoint myself as the lead guy in collecting "stuff" and organizing events. However, I am going to need some REAL help from all of you. YOU need to reach out to any contact you have at dealers, manufacturers, racers, etc. YOU need to ask for donations to this cause: any merchandise, gift certificates, memorabilia, etc. that we can use to auction off or give as prizes.

I am actually pleading with all of you, club participation in events has significantly dropped of in recent times. Please put yourself in Dave's shoes and wonder if you would like a little help. I want the Straight Arrows to be able to hand Dave, not a hundred, not a thousand, but several thousands of dollars. In order to meet that goal, we need to have "stuff" to put on a good event and raise $$$$$$$$.

When you secure "stuff", give me a call or send an e-mail and I will keep a list of the things we have. I want to get the list together prior to the event so we can do a bit of advertising.

I don't know enough people to do this on my own, I need help.

Thanks, Mike Murphy h(651) 462-4542 c(612) 845-5785

Holyoke Wrap-up

Now that the dust has settled on the 2006 Holyoke Enduro, I'm looking back at what it took to put it together this year. Being the Enduro Chair allows me to see most (but not all) of the bullets that needed dodging. I thought that I'd share some of the big ones so that you can get an idea of how big of a task we accomplished.

a. THE SCHEDULE - 3 Motos filled our April. Stone Lakeand the ATV MX filled May and June. That left July with about 4 weeks of trail work to make improvements and get 70 miles of trail ready to go. This included 54 feet of Boardwalk we needed to install. We usually start working the Nemadji in late April/early May. Panic ensued (at least for me). We had people working in the Nemadji (and west of Hiway 23) every weekend (and some week days) up to Enduro day.

b. THE POTLATCH - We had big plans for the west side of Hiway 23. New trail in the old A/B. New trail on the west side of County Rd 155. A new Hiway 23 crossing. All that we needed was permission from one key leaseholder so that we could get to that Hiway crossing. The guys said, "no, go away". More panic.

c. THE RAIN - Maybe you don't remember but, this spring was wetter than normal - alot wetter! When I did get a chance to go to the Nemadji for a day of deadfallclearing, it was so wet some of the trails were rivers. This caused some serious trail rutting in Greg's section. I talked to the DNR and they temporarily closed the trails.

d. THE DROUGHT - The rain ceased, the sky cleared. We approached record dry conditions. Could we get cancelled due to the fire danger?? The DNR says no, go for it!

e. THE ROUTE - How did we make an Enduro of it without the west side of Hiway 23?? Thank DNR Trails and Waterways. They agreed to quickly change the Permit to allow us to use sections of trail that are closed to the public (well, sort-of closed) AND to open up a trail connector that finally connects theHarlis Road to the Net Lake Road. It's a darn good thing that Ron, John and I found that connector last winter.

f. THE PARKING LOT - Every year it's the same. Rent a parking lot from Glenn Olson, figure out a way to get it mowed. Sounds simple but, when you don't live up there, it's nearly impossible. In 2005 I mowed it myself with my walk behind brush cutter and it took 6 hours. It was 2 1/2 feet tall. After lots of phone calls, I still couldn't find a solution. In July, Mike Dahl bought a 44" wide brush cutter that you pull behind an ATV and volunteered it for our use. Problem solved permanently!

g. THE DINNER - To make this one short and sweet, thanks to Mike Murphy (and Janelle) for stepping up to the plate the Monday before the Enduro. They did a darn fine job of it too.

h. THE MINI - Jessica Kight has taken care of signup including making sure we have the right envelopes and signup sheets since I can remember. She got busy, couldn't come and so we ended up trying to do it ourselves. There was disagreement in the ranks. Yikes! We figured it out but, in the course of it we used up too many Score Cards. See i.

i. SIGNUP - We always make up enough Enduro envelopes for 180 riders, knowing that the most we get will be around this year's total of 160 (140 is about average). Sure enough we had the backup envelopes standing by, but they didn't have scorecards in them. We were going to put scorecards in them if and only if we needed them. It's8:00 am (9:00is when the Enduro starts) and we are running out of entry envelopes and the backup envelopes aren't complete. Lots of people sign up at the last minute so the line is LONG. I'm freaking! Royto the rescue. He went into the garbage bag from the day before and got the scorecards out of the unused MINI envelopes. Crude but luckily effective.

j. THE WEATHER - Every radio and TV station that was predicting Saturday night's weather, right up to Saturday afternoon's prediction, was saying that there was an excellent chance that we would have violent thunderstorms, strong winds and hail. So, I'm sitting around the campfire Saturday night, having a beer and looking at the sky. The rain did not come.

k. THE DNR COPS - It's Saturday morning and I just get back from the woods where I put up the last check and reset sign. There's a bunch of SAER folks gathered around two DNR Conservation Officers (COs). I go to check it out and they inform me that, regardless of the DNR Permit, it is ILLEGAL to operate a dirt bike on a County Road (we use two of them) without a County Permit. I take over the schmoozing duties from the general SAER folks and work it until I get the word that they won't be writing any citations for this during our event.

l. THE COUNTY COPS - During Saturday signup I get the word that there are two Carlton County Sheriff cruisers driving aroundHolyoke. I spot them out the window and go to have a chat. Turns out that they have been looking for me (the officer I talked to knows my name). Seems that they have been talking with theCOsand they have the same issue. More schmoozing. No tickets will be issued.

m. TROPHY PRESENTATION - What can I say here. The Holyoke Bar, where we were planning on giving out the Trophies, burned on Saturday night. You should have seen the look on Patrick's (the Bar Owner) face when he came to the Town Hall Sunday morning to tell me the bad news. He was up all night watching his bar burn. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!

Alright, enough of the problems. What did the Riders think about the Enduro?? Well, let's guess. We had great trail conditions, great weather, great arrowing, great check crews, a good tough section for the A and B riders, a tough but rideable shortened trail for the Cs, good check placement, more than adequate Resets and Gas Stops, real nice Trophies, quick and fair scoring, we posted the Route Sheet on the web before the event (a first for any MN club!), great EMT support, a free breakfast, a beautiful signup area, adequate parking, John and Bob posted the Results on the District site two days after the event (another first!) and we're all good looking and above average. Heck, we don't even have to mention that every Rider that talked to any Club Member thanked us for putting on such a great event. When you get a chance, check the ARMCA Message Board. It seems that the riders posting comments do indicate that may have been somewhat pleased.

I personally want to thank all of the folks that helped pull it together. There's no way to name everyone who helped. Even if I tried my best, I'd almost certainly leave someone out. That said, my special thanks go to:

Ron Palm - section leader and Potlatch negotiator

Greg Nelson - section leader and trophies

John Otto - section leader and scoring

Roy Fleming - section leader, race day paperwork guy, bill pay guy, post race paperwork guy, and misc other stuff guy

Tim Kight - MINI Enduro trail boss

Mike Murphy - Club dinner and check bags

Mike Dahl - use of his property for MINI, use of his property for camping and staging

Joe Alberio - DNR Trails and Waterways

Kristin Jewell - website updates and postings

Your Humble Servant, Ken Fastner, Trail Boss-tard

P.S. Just a note on Jim Gibbons, who died on Monday, July 31st. He was cremated wearing a purple Straight Arrows' jersey. It was fitting as he will be remembered as one of our most dedicated Straight Arrow Enduro Riders. Past and present Straight Arrows made a great showing at the funeral on Friday. There were Enduro arrows posted directing folks at the Funeral Home.

Treasurer’s Report [section edited for website]

Balance is around xxxx with most bills paid except for the xxxx or so Ken F needs to turn in. All GIA for the year has been received.

Club Meeting Minutes, for June 28, 2006

Attendance

Club Members – Bob Chase, Ken Fastner, Scott Haraldson, Doug Less, Mike Murphy, Greg Nelson, John Otto

· Stone Lake remnants – Still waiting for our share of the proceeds from MOTR. Budget committee was going to try to organize the Stone Lake expenses to see just what it is costing us to assist in this event. Ken F sent a friendly “things that could improve” list to MOTR for next year’s work/ event.

· Member Vote – Doug Less, Casey Weist, and Taylor Currie we all voted in as fully vested members. Doug and his family have worked often at Stone Lake and Holyoke while Taylor and Casey do a lot of work at the Grantsburg MX events. Welcome to the club.

· Holyoke – Preparations were discussed. There was some concern about not having enough people to run all the planned checks.

· Grantsburg MX – The fence proceeds. There will need to be some repairs to the watering system prior to the September race.

· Dave Kott fund raising – There should be 8/22 Cruise tickets (see above) to buy at Holyoke. It was decided that the proceeds from the September MX should all go towards a fund for Dave. We will advertise it as such and may also have some sort of raffle going on.

· John Otto brought up several of his concerns about many club members not assisting in the events at all. Also brought up that anyone who has not paid his dues by February should not have track privileges. Made a motion, that was deferred until a better-attended meeting, that the dues be raised to $50 prior to March 1, $75 if in March. Members who have not paid by 4/1 would lose all privileges. Along these same lines, Mike Murphy suggested making every member show up at Holyoke at least once a year, but no motion was made.

Motocross Update

There are a few things that need to be fixed before our September race on the watering system. I know that the pipe under the first 65cc cut-off leaks and should be replaced. We should also plumb in the blue tank in the parking lot section with new yellow tank in the same area. We also need to look at getting some more permanent hoses for parking lot section.

It is never too early to start thinking about next year. I am not going to put my hat in the ring for moto-chair next season so if there is someone that really wants the job (office) for next year I’d like to pass the torch at our last race this year. I have enjoyed being moto-chair the last two years but I just don’t have the time to do it any more.

Tom Peterson, MX Chair

Member Lists

Probationary Members to be voted on:

None

Classifieds

FOR SALE: Ken’s former home. 1973 14’ x 70’ two bedroom, two bath mobile home. 10’ x 12’ shed. In a pretty darn nice mobile home park (Emerald Hills) in Inver Grove Heights. $425 lot rent. A little rough around the edges but everything works. Roof just sealed. New, insulated skirting. $6000. 952-402-369

FOR SALE: Brand-new piston, rings, gaskets etc. for 2003 YZ 250. Make offer. Bob at bobchase@pconline.com.

For Sale: 2006 YZ450F, many extras. $5000/OBO Contact Tom Peterson

MONTHLY MEETING NOTICE

Announcements

Meeting Agenda

Enduro

Dave Kott Update

Holyoke Wrap-up

Treasurer’s Report [section edited for website]

Member Lists