Confirmed Missions:

Dustin J. Knapp, SPC, Army - Manitowoc, WI   August 19 - 20, 2010 Details

Pending Missions:

None At This Time

PGR Events:

National Gathering of the Guard - Killeen, TX   September 9 - 12, 2010 Details

Supported Events:

PLATOON RUN XXIV BENEFIT SHOW - Tomah, WI   August 22, 2010 Details

Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans - Superior WI   August 28, 2010 Details

Nick's Ride To Remember (1st Annual) - Little Chute, WI   September 11, 2010 Details

Memorial Ride LCpl Andrew Matus - Weyerhaeuser, WI   September 25, 2010 Details

General News Speaking of Events and such… I get dozens of requests every year for PGR participation in various events. In the past year we’ve had requests for rodeos, baseball games, car races, waterfront festivals, a number of festival honoring various fruits and vegetables, and rides for some very worthy causes such as cancer awareness and abused children. These are all interesting community events but they are unrelated to the Patriot Guard Riders Mission. I checked with our Regional Captain again this year as national was quite busy with the servers being down. He confirmed the guidelines I’ve used and his summary is, if the main purpose of the event does not directly support the Mission Statement, then we shouldn’t be involved. That means, if they are simply saying The Pledge of Allegiance at the Hot Air Balloon launch, it’s NOT applicable but if the Hot Air Balloon Association is getting $100 a ride with 100% going to a valid veterans support facility or a 501(c) 3 organization such as Homes for Heroes or Operation Homefront, that’s valid. I also have requests every year from non-qualified groups who claim association with national organizations that are valid so I double check the relationship of every such statement. I have in 3 years gotten a number of responses of “we’ve never heard of them, we’re not connected with anyone in Wisconsin, etc...” Some members think we need to be in the public eye, “do PR”, and expand OUR image. We're not here to draw attention to us but to the active military and veterans that we serve. When people see the PGR, they should associate it with the loss of a hero or aid needed by those who have served us. Anything else makes our appearance at a mission less significant. While the PGR prevailing attitude is that we are insignificant compared to the loss a family has suffered, we have plenty of opportunities to get a little PR in our regular "line of duty" like HOTH and visitations. There’s a good book, many of you might have read and a section that basically says “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men…. So when you do good works, do not announce it with trumpets, to be honored by men. But when you do good works, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your work may be in secret.” Speaking of Visitations.. I have a request to visit a Korean War Vet in Madison by his family in Colorado who cannot travel at this time. He’s a Marine who got our member interested in bikes by taking him on an old panhead when he was young. Contact me for the vet’s info. I’ll drive in tomorrow (Thursday). Computer Crash After national being down almost a month, my mail server got a bug and unfortunately did an automatic backup of my mail with the bug in it. I had to remove it all and use a manual backup almost a month old (do your backups often boys and girls!!) and had to reload, read and process over 1,400 e-mails. If you sent me something and got no response, try again and put “Lost mail” in the subject matter. RCs Needed Everywhere OK, if I could get on my hands and knees and still type… We really need RCs everywhere. We’ve always had the overuse problem when at the end of the summer RCs have no more vacation days left for daytime missions (but they DO have irritated family members who wanted to go to the beach!). In this economy, we have a lot of people who had retired going back to work. If we had more RCs we could all get away with doing, maybe, 2-3 missions a year. As I’ve said before, everyone on earth needs times in their lives to say, at the end of the day, “I made a difference today.” If you think you have what it takes to be an RC, talk with your SRC or Gene or myself. To clarify the basics requires some background: Qualifications of a Ride Captain A Ride Captain is a member who has experienced a number of missions and has a desire, the ability and skills to serve the family, the community, and the organization. If you want, read the mission statement again – no age, height, color, weight, service background, religious, or motorcycle experience required. The only requirement is Respect. To go beyond that, a member must communicate well, have passion, an attitude of service for everyone, and a willingness to go “above and beyond”. Members who believe they have these qualifications receive additional training and “an internship” under the guidance of a Senior Ride Captain until ready for independent duty. Duties are described in the Mission Guidelines but the final definition of an RC’s duties is “to serve the family”. More People Stuff Due to personal reasons, Laurie is no longer our Treasurer. If you’d like to help, it’s all computerized, only about a dozen entries to be classified per month. Complete training. Contact me directly. Even More People Stuff We have had some much needed downtime but even better than that is time where we can get together and have a refreshing beverage and a burger and a brat and some chicken and ice cream and…. Sorry, I haven’t had dinner yet. If you have a spot where we can have a Meet and Greet and folks interested in the PGR can stop in, lets get the good times a rollin’ before it gets TOO cool. I hope to have one soon at Quaker Steak Bike Night in Madison (perhaps a week from next Wednesday). LZ Lambeau Fantastic. Lots of people who hadn’t seen each other in years got together for fellowship and healing. Thanks Mike Weaver for a number of 20 hour days and to all who made it possible. Personal note: No great experiences at Rhe Wall in the wee hours but I LOVED the fact that EVERYONE sang the Star Spangled Banner!!! Inventory One more request, then I’ll have to send out about 30 individual mailings….. Over the years, we have purchased significant materials and equipment. People have simply given it to someone who needed it more or many times it changed hands for missions and never found its way “home”. A number of people have personally bought and donated flags (and you can deduct your costs as a donation). We have to determine where all the stuff went. As defined in the Financial Policy, purchases must be approved by the State Captain or Treasurer. Many of us buy lots of things that we use for the PGR (coolers, etc) but those remain our property. If you have these types of items you can keep it or donate it to the PGR with the understanding that it can then be sent and used anywhere anytime in the state. You get the tax write-off but then it's not yours to control. If people have flags or other things they personally bought and are not donating to the PGR, they should keep them at home. We have some inventory information we will be checking but if you have PGR material in your possession, please e-mail your SRC and me with quantity, description and location.

Tango

John Curran
State Captain
Patriot Guard Riders - Wisconsin
www.patriotguard-wi.org