November-December Events

Our next regular meeting is Saturday, November 7th at noon at Avanti’s in PekinEDIT: The November meeting has been cancelled.  As we do every November meeting, nominations for executive board positions will be opened (and closed).  The three board positions available this year are Vice President, Treasurer, and Safety Director.  Our Vice President is currently Larry Haas, who was elected by special election in 2017 to fill a vacancy, and he is therefore not eligible for re-election having served 1-1/2 terms.  Our Safety Director is Mike Peters, who was elected in 2016 and has served two terms.  He is also not eligible to be re-elected.  Fraser Yarker, elected in 2018, is our Treasurer and he is eligible to re-up for one more 2-year term, if he is willing to serve.

If you are interested in serving in one of these positions, have someone nominate you (or nominate yourself) at the November meeting.  The election will be held at our December 5th meeting, also held at noon at Avanti’s in Pekin.  All of this is laid out in our bylaws, and we don’t have much of a choice about the timing of it as we are required by our incorporation with the state to have our executive board in place by the start of the new year.  Even changing the bylaws takes multiple meetings.

Although the winter months are usually devoid of wheeling trips, our usual last-hurrah November trip to the Badlands will be on Saturday, November 14th.  November-trip-regular Justin Hartzell has already posted wondering aloud if anyone else wants to go.  Post in the forum if you’re interested.

August-September Events

Although the Hog Eat has been cancelled, there are other events coming up you can participate in coming up in September.  Labor Day weekend is the club’s annual trip to Land Between The Lakes, and plans are already underway for that in the forum.  If you want to go, post up.

Our next event after that is the final cruise-in for the summer at Cranwill’s in Pekin, Saturday September 12th at 6pm.  A week later on September 19th we have a day trip scheduled for Colchester Quarry, one of the closest off-road venues for us at around 90 minutes from the Peoria area.  The (former) quarry is privately owned by someone outside the club who generously invites us to wheel on their land.  If you’re interested in attending please post on the forum and we’ll make sure you get directions.  Please be respectful so we keep getting invited back!

February-March Events

Saturday, February 1st is our next regular meeting, which will be at noon at Avanti’s in Pekin.  Among the topics of discussion at that meeting will be some pre-production details for the inspection meeting in March, which should be at Sam Leman Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Morton at or around 12:30pm on Saturday, March 7th.  If you haven’t been to inspections in a couple years or more, this is a new location; we had it there last year as well.  However, this is unconfirmed.  This post will be updated when it is confirmed, and/or watch the forum.

On Saturday, March 21st we have our first wheeling event for 2020, at The Badlands in Attica, Indiana.  Watch the forum for travel details.

And if you haven’t renewed your membership, you really need to do it now.

October-November Events

Pumpkin spice-flavored everything is here, and that must mean that Fall is still 2 months away.  Here’s a rundown of the events coming up in October and November.  You can always look further ahead in the calendar (or behind, if you like) by heading to the Schedule Page.

  • Our regular meeting is replaced by a weenie roast, held at The Martin residence on October 5th.  Time TBD; watch the forum.
  • The weekend of October 19th there’s a club trip scheduled to Potawatomi in Fulton, Missouri.  See note below.
  • The annual Duke’s Off-Road Ranch Halloween Run is scheduled for the weekend of November 2nd.
  • Our normal first-Saturday-of-the-month meeting is pushed back to November 9th at 12pm at Avanti’s in Pekin, our regular winter meeting spot.  This meeting is when we will need to nominate officers for the following year.  The positions available this year are:
  • On November 23rd the club has a trip planned to The Badlands in Attica, Indiana.

All three officers were elected in 2017 and are eligible to serve a second two-year term if they agree to it.  In the event of multiple candidates nominated for a position, elections will be held at the December meeting.  Unopposed candidates will be approved for office at the December meeting.  All of these procedures, along with the duties of each officer position, can be found in our bylaws.

Due to a large part of the land at Potawatomi being sold off and no longer available for wheeling, there is talk of changing this trip to a new park, also in central Missouri.  See the forum for details.

August-September Events

We begin August with another summer cruise-in, this one to The Dream Hut in Bartonville.  It starts at 6pm on Saturday, August 3rd.  When it’s over, you should (shameless plug here) rush home, turn on your TV and watch the St. Jude Telethon, and give a few bucks if you can.  It’s on until midnight, and you should definitely watch THE ENTIRE THING.  Or fall asleep trying.

The 2019 Big Trip to Estes Park, Colorado starts that day as well.  If you want to make some last minute plans to go with the group, better announce your intentions now in the forum.  The trip lasts the entire week, returning the weekend of 8/10.  August 10th also has a tentative placeholder for something called the “Not So Far To Travel Trip”.  I don’t think we’ve made any specific plans for that.  If you’re interested in going on a day or weekend wheeling trip, post your idea in the forum and gauge interest.

Saturday, August 24th is our annual Picnic & Hog Eat at the Stearnes residence.  More concrete plans are forthcoming, but plan on bringing a dish to share.  We usually start the festivities in the late afternoon.  There will be swimming and games; very family-friendly.

At the end of the month and into September, Labor Day weekend will be a trip to Land Between The Lakes in Kentucky.  Watch the forum for travel plans, as usual.

In September, we have our final cruise-in for the summer on Saturday, September 7th at 6pm.  This one will be at Cranwill’s in Pekin.  EDIT: location changed to Abingdon.  See this post for details.  Saturday 9/21 we’ve got a trip to Moonlight Racing in Sullivan, Missouri.  Peeking into October, our regular meeting is replaced with a weenie roast at Jill & Jon’s house on Saturday, October 5th.

All these events and more can be viewed in calendar form on the Schedule page.  Always check the forum before showing up anywhere in case of rescheduling or outright cancellation.