Another successful Missouri State Rally is in the books. It was held in Boonville, MO, at the Isle of Capri Casino and Hotel and ran from 3-5 Jun 2022. Heartland was the host of this year’s rally. As Heartland’s director, I am proud of the many members and support members who helped make it a success. 

Cris started off our “rally project” by presenting her proposal for considering Boonville as the rally site. The proposal included hotels in the area, considerations for other activities to do and possible sites to see on your own during your free time, and possible sites for a group photo. Jenean and Marie made the calls to six hotels getting info for comparison purposes, which they then presented to the chapter. We voted during a monthly meeting on which hotel was the best choice. The Isle of Capri Casino and Hotel was chosen. On Mother’s Day Jenean and Ron rode to Boonville to pre-ride routes for the rally. There were several members who returned to Boonville to pre-ride the Saturday group ride as they would be group ride leaders. 

Cris, Jenean, and Marie also helped out by making necessary copies for the rally.

We have Jenean to thank for one of the items in our goody bags. Her talent is folding dollar bills into hearts. She then created a card that had the Heartland logo and the phrase, “We put the ♥ in Heartland” and glued those dollar hearts on the card. Every goody bag had one included in it.

Speaking of goody bags, Donelson Cycles, a Missouri WOW Participating Dealer, donated the bags and keychains. At registration attendees signed a release/waiver, received a goody bag, which included a name tag, one raffle ticket, a WOW pen, WOW nail file, a MO official highway map, a brochure of scenic rides in MO, a keychain, and two small bottles of water. Each person received a printout of the rally agenda and a map of the proposed Saturday ride, and each person could choose one bag of assorted chips, one Nutrigrain bar (strawberry, apple cinnamon, or blueberry), and 3 pieces of assorted chocolate bars. (Thanks to Marie for shopping for these “goodies.”)  

We had 42 attendees—46 who registered early, 2 of whom had to cancel (goody bags to be delivered later), 5 no-shows (goody bags to be delivered to 4 later), and 3 registered at the event. We had registrants from CO, GA, IL, KS, MN, MO, and WI

Most people arrived sometime during Friday, 3 Jun. Registration was scheduled from 5-8pm. Dinner was on-your-own. Malcolm Wood of Missouri Law Tigers offered lots of pizzas (he bought enough to feed 80!) from Breadeaux Pizza in Boonville. All he asked was for just about 5 minutes of our attention as he explained how Law Tigers can work for you should you be injured in a motorcycle accident and can help you get the compensation you deserve. He also had freebies for anyone who was there. 

Our Saturday ride (4 Jun) went very well. We asked all riders to be ready by 9:30. We had a bike blessing given by Beth and 2022 Bike Blessing stickers were distributed. Afterwards Cris conducted a pre-ride safety meeting. At 9:45 we were led out of Boonville by a police escort. Several Boonville police officers/cruisers blocked streets so that we riders could proceed through lights and turns without traffic. There were 29 total motorcycles divided into four groups, led by four Heartland ride leaders.  

A scenic ride consisted of straight-aways, sweeping curves, and tight turns. Everyone rode her/his own ride and, fortunately, there were no incidents. We had a rest stop in California, MO, and then continued on with more twisties, heading back to Boonville to gas up. We then rode to our BBQ lunch where we were treated to pulled pork, 2 sides, and a beverage, all outside in a shaded area reserved just for us at Meriwether Café & Bike Shop in Rocheport. The food was delicious and reasonably priced.

Afterwards we had a long walk (many jokingly griped about the distance, but that was the only negative I heard the whole event) to a Katy Trail Tunnel in Rocheport for our group photo. Marie had her tripod and camera set up. After a short delay, so that she could join the group, the camera automatically took several photos. 

Then, for those interested, we rode 30+ miles to The Pinnacles, a beautiful rock formation in Sturgeon, MO. We spent some time there seeing the rock formations and enjoying a short break off of our bikes. Fortunately, no one had issues with the gravel parking lot. Then back to the Isle of Capri with a little time to get ready for dinner and awards scheduled for 6pm. 

Dinner and drinks were available from the casino’s The Brew Brothers restaurant, and they did not disappoint. We were set up in the covered patio area (we did not use the uncovered area as it had started to drizzle/rain). 

Heartland members (Sandy, Glow, Alice) collected and/or donated items for the raffle and as door prizes. We had 24 winners of door prizes. The door prizes were randomly stickered with a number, which corresponded to attendee’s registration number (found on their name tag). Door prizes included 8 small stuffed frogs, 9 small bath/pool rubber frogs, 2 ceramic frogs, a bar of soap with frog motif, a splat frog, a motorcycle themed coaster for a car’s cup holder, a frog wind chime, and a frog candle. 

After most people had finished eating I thanked everyone for coming and hoped everyone had a good time. I commented that there were many Heartland members who made the rally a success. “Teamwork makes the dream work.” I then had winners to announce. I had some Heartland mileage awards and certificates, but learned that Heartland was the only MO chapter who submitted both beginning and ending mileage readings to the former State Ambassador so only Heartland members were in the running for the State Mileage Contest. For that reason, I did not use my time to recognize Heartland mileage winners since Cris as our new Region Ambassador would be acknowledging the MO mileage winners and other contest winners later. I then announced the 50/50 and raffle winners. 

We sold $193 worth of 50/50 tickets. $96.50 was won by Irene.  

We had six items for raffle and several generated a lot of interest. Each attendee was given one free raffle ticket to use and extra raffle tickets were sold. Marie collected and had responsibility for holding monies collected. At this time I do not know how much was collected. There was, however, one attendee who was very interested in the large stuffed frog and purchased at least $30 (or more) worth of raffle tickets.  

The raffle winners were: 

Blanket – won by Stephanie

Cutting board (we only regret the rides we didn’t take) – won by Debi

Book “On the Perimeter: The Autobiography of Hazel Kolb Motorcyclin’ Gran’ma” – won by Marie

Frog night light – won by Alice

Cutting board (we ride not to escape life…) – won by Debi

Large stuffed frog – Gail (who would’ve guessed she would win? Lol) 

Then Cris had a few awards she handed out. She recognized the service of our previous State Ambassador, several women who have been WOW members for more than 30 years, chapters who had recent chapter anniversaries, the 2021 Support Member of the Year, 2021 mileage winners (members and support members), 2021 Touring Contest winners, each MO chapter and their participation points, and the MO chapter with the most participation points earned the traveling State Trophy. This year Heartland earned the traveling trophy with a total of 29 points! Yay!

Cris ended by wishing everyone a safe ride home. 

By Alice