Got all the grads and dads celebrations finished up? Summer’s here (and has been with a vengeance around my place), so let the festivities begin! Fourth of July is always a huge event around my family and made even bigger this year with the marriage of my nephew Jim and his sweet bride Kristine. We figured, what the heck, let’s have a wedding while we’ve got everyone in town for the 4th celebration. Congrats, you two; wishing you the best! The 4th seems to be a cool time for families, and for our biker families too! There are the parades, and then there are the rides that coincide with parades. Take the La Verne 4th of July Parade. Every year Tim Morrison and Jeff Bassler head a cast of hundreds—of motorcycles, that is. This 4th of July brings another dandy pre-ride parade courtesy of Jeff, Tim and over 150 of their closest friends. Once again they’ve organized the kickoff to the city of La Verne’s 4th parade. This is an RSVP-only event, and space is limited. Please confirm that you are on the list with Tim before planning on including yourself in the ride by calling him at 909.596.4009. If you’re already in, have fun on your pre-4th parade. And if you miss the riding in the parade, it’s still really cool to go and watch it… And once again from Amy Broich, just in time for the 4th of July and all things American, comes something nifty: a website to find American-made products! Save this to your favorites, and use it as a reference when you’re making purchases! It’s www.americansworking.com. Thanks, Amy; pretty cool… Bob and Kathy Salerno, once again, thank you so much for planning a great ride to the Santa Barbara Polo Club and polo match. I enjoyed it a bunch!… Brenda Gibson—I appreciate the great info on the jackets from www.leatherup.com. There’s some neat stuff on their site and I hope to be the proud possessor of some of it soon… Papa Joe’s Motorcycle Service out in Sun City is having a Hot Summer Day party on July 15 and we’re all invited. Joe’s is located at 27271 Ethanac Rd. Enjoy a day of food and beverage, music and raffles! Joe is a great guy; come on out and meet him!… I have a ton of birthday wishes this month so let’s get these parties started! Happy birthday to longtime ABATE 19 and PV H.O.G. member Sam Peterson on July 2. Sam has been a hard worker for ABATE 19 for a number of years (I’m not counting, Sam!)… And Sharron Berry from the CREW; I know you celebrated your July 7 birthday with a trip to Hawaii. Looked like you had a fabulous time!… Sandi Dubois, Tangles Salon owner and awesome weightlifter, hope your July 14 birthday is a special day! Bill Balas, hope your July 15 birthday is super! Tammy Farber, haven’t seen you in way too long, honey! Have a perfect July 16 birthday. My first friends that I met in a motorcycling group were Mike Gott and his wife Janie. Mike is having a birthday in July as well, so happy birthday to my longtime friend Mike Gott! I know the grandkids will make it all the more sweeter, Mike! Can we please go for a ride one of these days?… Halle and George Fetty’s son Andrew Fetty turns 30 in July! Wowzers, Halle, you don’t look like you could have a 30-year-old kid. What’s in the water out in the desert?… And speaking of the desert, here are a few birthdays from the low desert area. George Humphrey, Mike Balloy, Danny Cota, Leanne Bonesteel, hope your July birthdays are fabulous!… Lee and Jacqui Chandrasena celebrate their 29th wedding anniversary in July—hope it’s a wonderful one, you two!… This is pretty funny: George and Halle Fetty celebrate the 19th anniversary of their first date! Cute, Halle!… Thank you, Rose Stevens, for the invite to the 2nd annual Cycle & Hot Rod Show for Hwy 66 Choppers’ Summer Madness on July 21. Owners Clint and Bernadette LeGrant are sponsoring this fundraiser for the There is Hope Foster Family Agency. Look for live music, vendors, bike and car show, raffles, a 50/50 and lots more. For more info, give Rose a call at 909.932.2123… For you Brad Wilson fans, here are some SoCal appearances for you: July 6, he’ll be at the Hyatt Hotel Concert in Huntington Beach; on the 8th, up in Anderson at the Mosquito Concert; and on July 20–21 he’ll be at the West Hollywood House of Blues… Hi ya to my friend and past Thunder in the House coordinator “Wild” Bill Hartley—try Fact Check or Snopes before you forward silly stuff to this girl, Bill, because I will look it up for you! That I can promise!… The nicest guys come in to buy parts from me—I met Jim Montgomery from Wright Brothers Customs in Yucaipa. He stopped by to get a compressor for his wife’s car. I love it when a guy stops by on his bike to pick up parts for the Alero! I’ve heard nice things about Wright Brothers from several of their customers, and if you’d like to return the parts-buying favor, stop by 31789 Outer Highway 10 in Redlands or give them a call at 909.794.1593… Speaking of parts, most of you know my other job is selling parts in a wrecking yard—always have, and I love it! Recently I’ve been made coordinator of our really old car parts section. So if you need vintage car parts, by all means give me a call at 909.913.5227… Speaking of selling stuff, Valley V-Twin in Indio at 760.342.1199 is having a summer sale on cooling-off stuff. They have lots of hot weather goodies—TechNiche evaporative vests (like your own personal swamp cooler) and Phase Change vests (frozen gel packs—more like air conditioning!) and since they’re a direct dealer for them, they can get vests in custom sizes. They also carry Electrolyte tablets (easier to take with you on the bike—one or two tablets with some water replaces chugging down salty Gatorade)… On that note—you all stay cool on your summer rides. Drink lots of water, take your electrolyte tablets and dress accordingly for your ride… That’s it for me this month. As always, you know the routine—send me your stuff! Have a great July and enjoy your ride!
