By Joe Tatulli
So this September’s edition of the RUMBLE is Volume 24 Issue 9. I guess that means that this issue has been preceded by twenty-three years of twelve issues per year, and add to that (this being the ninth issue of this year) nine more issues, giving us a grand total of 285 issues of the RUMBLE in the books. Can that be right?
It’s a lot of work to make this happen every month and mega-kudos to Jimmy Carter for keeping the wheels rolling right along for all these years. Every month the club officers and a few other “charter” members and past presidents would get the call from Jim, a week before the digital publication date, to get their butts in gear and write their article. When Jim retired a month ago I got the call from President Dave Pelletier to see if I would be willing to help manage some of the website and RUMBLE responsibilities.
At first I said, “Sorry Dave. I have a lot on my plate right now, and it’s a lot of work.” He was very understanding (as he usually is). But then I thought about my ongoing experience with the club store and my business experience (I published a printed trade magazine in the home furnishings industry for 18 years) and just decided to try and make it happen. Dave was happy and thankful. (I love you too Dave.)
We quickly came up with a plan to convert the Club Storefront into a more wide ranging website to include some of what we have had in the past (thanks again Jimmy for your years of service). After meeting with Dave Pelletier, Steve Forand, and Bill Kenney we quickly formed a team to get the August RUMBLE published. This month you will see some of the progress we have made including not only the September PRE-RALLY edition of the RUMBLE, but several other pages in the About, Membership, Events, Shop (the club store), and Contact Us pages. Rally registration is still available here on the existing main club website. There are also a few sub pages with membership registration and renewals, event galleries (more from the existing Scrapbook links on the legacy site to follow), and other information about club events like our nomadic weekly breakfasts, monthly meetings, and annual rally, with lots more to follow soon.
A nice thing about the new format is the RUMBLE will now be archived each month going forward so you would be able to go back and see past articles. We are even hoping to reconstruct some RUMBLE editions from prior years as a legacy project.
Another part of the plan going forward is to attempt to engage any and all members to write moto articles and stories from their experiences on the road, or anything they want to share about themselves and their motorcycle lives. We all know that we love our bikes and riding far and wide, but from my experience it’s the people we ride with, eat with and associate with at club events, the camaraderie they call it, that makes it all meaningful and worthwhile.