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Members of the JMA
community & guests, I officially welcome you.
Welcome to our 3rd Ride to Remember. It’s is truly a
great pleasure to see all of you.
Before I commence my address, I wish to acknowledge
everyone who has spent time (and in some cases their
own money) to bring us to this gathering and the
events to follow.
It's impossible for me to name everyone who
contributed if for no other reason than I was not
personally involved in all of the preparations.
However, there are several of our members that are
deserving of our special attention and the gratitude
of us all.
1st and foremost, the R2R event chairman - Mark
Olstein of the Atlanta area-based Sabra Riders.
Without his oversight, diligence, personal effort,
and with the assistance of many of the Sabra Riders,
we wouldn't be here.
2nd and with equal gratitude on behalf of us all,
I'd like to extend our sincere thanks to Lauren
Secular of the Chai Riders based here in the New
York/New Jersey/Connecticut metropolitan area, who
either made or assisted with the many arrangements
here in NJ and in NYC.
Lastly, I'd like to extend a final thank you to
everyone else who contributed to the success of this
event, with a special and recognition to all of you
who have made the commitment to be here to honor our
traditions and give respect to our brothers and
sisters in Israel.
Let me give you a brief history:
We formally came into being last year when ten clubs
adapted a charter, elected officers and created the
Council of representatives to engage in JMA
business, but we actually existed long before that.
The concept of an umbrella organization for Jewish
MCs was talked about many years before by various
people in different ways. It gelled into something
tangible when Scott Wynn of the Chai Riders
orchestrated a "Meet and Greet" in Delaware in
October, 2004. Five of our clubs were in attendance
at the meet.
From that meeting came the later adoption of the
name Jewish Motorcyclists Alliance, the birth of the
JBW (our WW forum), and the concept of the 1st Ride
to Remember. The orchestration of that ride was
undertaken by the King David Bikers of S. Florida
lead by its then president, Jeff Mustard. That ride,
and the accompanying media exposure, gave our
organization credibility and exposure. We
subsequently decided that the R2R would be the JMA's
"signature" event every year.
Last year we did the Paper Clip ride to TN
orchestrated by Steve Stein and his YOW team from
the Toronto, Canada area. That ride will represent
for years to come the Gold Standard of R2Rs. By the
time we did R2R 2006, there were ten clubs in the
JMA, including a club from Canada and Australia.
By the time of this
year's R2R, we have an amazing 19 clubs. Our
international presence has expanded to include clubs
from Israel, England, and an additional club from
Canada, as well as an expanding roster of US-based
clubs from Texas, Seattle, Pittsburgh, 2 in South
Florida, and Phoenix. There is at least one more
club that is ready, but is waiting on fulfilling one
of the criteria for joining and that is Sweden! I
guess NICE JEWISH BOYS AND GIRLS DO RIDE
MOTORCYCLES, HERE AND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
So, what has the JMA
accomplished in the two years of its existance
besides increasing its membership? If nothing else,
we've alerted the Jewish biking universe that there
are others with the same traditional background that
shares your passion for the road. I personally know
of MANY instances of riders from far away areas that
contact riders from other clubs and meet for drinks,
meals, or even share accommodations - and that NEVER
could have happened two years ago.
We are interconnected
by the JBW Yahoo Group's forum and our recently
updated website (that is still under construction)
and awaiting new infusions of content. We are
dependent upon all of you for help in that area.
Hopefully, this will further expose our presence and
promote additional growth. We have created a
brochure, a copy of which you all should have, that
was originally to be used at a stand at Rolling
Thunder later this month, however for various
reasons, this could not happen. But all was not lost
as we used them at the annual NYC motorcycle show
here at the Javits Convention Center. Yes, it
produced a few more members for many of the local
clubs, but it has also been extremely useful as an
informational document to give to new or prospective
members of our individual clubs. Some of the text
contained within it has already been transferred to
our website. As a side note, and before anyone makes
any comments, this was produced at the tail end of
last year. Some of our newer clubs are not shown or
mentioned in the document or the insert. This will
be corrected in the future when it is substantially
re-done because there is insufficient room for
expansion of the content.
So, what has happened
through the efforts of many people is that we are
growing, but that, in and of itself, has caused our
leadership to rethink our strategies. Simply growing
and boasting that we now have more and more members,
or that more people have joined the JBW is no longer
sufficient - in fact, without some new planning for
both now and the future, our very future is in
jeopardy.
No, the JMA will not
go away; it will always be meaningful, but what I am
alluding to is the VALUE that it brings to our
members that are far-flung around the globe. It was
easy when our membership was essentially five clubs
on the eastern seaboard of the U.S., with most of
them in an expanded northeast corridor. But now, we
are literally dispersed 1/2 way around the globe
from each other.
We recognize that it
is not possible to be inclusive of all clubs to
participate in U.S. or European or Pacific-based
events. So there are discussions going on within the
JMA's governing Council that are addressing the
concept of regionalizing, and of creating
independent JMA-sponsored events governed by
adherence to a revised charter that takes into
account those conditions and situations that were
never envisioned by the founders.
Last night we held a
Council meeting discussing and deliberating over
many items in a substantial agenda. Considering that
I wrote this speech before I left Florida, I need to
adlib the rest to give you just a brief overview of
the things that took place in our Council meeting.
We talked about:
1. Charter
amendments
2. Incorporation
3. Enhanced
participation from our members
4. Website
]
5. Public
relations ] ---> these 3 items could be in
one combined discussion
6. Merchandise
sales ]
7. Creation of
executive and long range planning committees - make
appointments or volunteers
8. Review of
R2R'07: what did we learn from the planning and
execution process?
9. Future
events: R2Rs 8 & 9, including Israel discussion,
Int'l motorcycle shows - appoint event chairman for
R2R'08 - yes we do have to start a year in advance!
I am not going to
delve into them as I've talked too long already, but
I hope that I have left you with the feeling that
belonging to the JMA is a good thing, and it will
only get better in the future. The key word is
"VALUE." How can we bring value to JMA membership?
We are working very hard to create that value for
every JMA member club, no matter where they may be
located.
It has been a pleasure nurturing our growth and
maturity. The bonus for me is achieving a great
sense of personal satisfaction in witnessing the
results of our combined efforts. Thank you to
everyone who has made the JMA what it is today and
is helping it to become what it will be in the
future. |