** In honor of GWRRA’s 35th Anniversary, each month in 2012 this page will either contain a Member-written article from
someone who has been instrumental in our Association or an article relaying some of the history of GWRRA. **

Webster’s Dictionary defines the often used word “Anniversary” as the annual recurrence of a date marking a “notable event” and, in the Wright Household, there are three of these annual recurrences to celebrate. First and foremost, my wife, Judy, and I will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary on June 2nd of this year, a happening of monumental importance as it is a giant milestone in our lives and that of our family. As a result of our marriage, Judy and I have a son, Kevin, living in Austin, Texas and a daughter, Regina, living in Avilla, Indiana. We are blessed with five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

The second milestone that we will celebrate in September of this year is our 30th anniversary as Members of the Gold Wing Road Riders Association. Our involvement in GWRRA began the first month we joined GWRRA as Assistant Area Representatives of Chapter G in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and evolved through the chain of active leadership roles to the position of Executive Director of the Association in 1995. During that period of time, I was given the honor of becoming President and Executive Director of the ssociation. In 2005, we retired from GWRRA and returned from Phoenix, Arizona to Indiana and now live near Columbia City, Indiana which is a bedroom community of our next Wing Ding site, Fort Wayne. We are proud to now hold the position of President Emeritus, with the knowledge that during our entire tenure we were completely dedicated to the Association and, more importantly, its membership. To this day most of the programs implemented under our tenure are still in place and are serving the membership in a variety of ways. While it is always tempting for any of us to toot our own horn, we will forego doing that and will, instead, thank the hundreds of Officers, Staff, Members and Home Office Employees who were involved in the implementation of those programs.

The third anniversary to be celebrated this year is the 35th year of operations of the Gold Wing Road Riders Association. It would be remiss not to congratulate Paul and Dottie Hildebrand, Shirley Stephens-Garcia and Benny Garcia and Ken and Rita Davis for having the passion and resilience to ensure that the membership was always first and foremost in their decision-making process while ensuring that the organization was on a strong financial footing and capable of providing the many benefits mentioned earlier. This included the educational aspects necessary to maximize safety and training to sharpen leadership skills. I don’t think anyone being on staff or holding an Officer position wouldn’t say that GWRRA was responsible for their further growth as an individual, both professionally and personally.

The 35th year of existence for GWRRA will be celebrated at Wing Ding 34 in Fort Wayne, Indiana at the beautiful Memorial Coliseum. The dates for Wing Ding 34 will be July 4th through July 7th. This will be the third Wing Ding in Fort Wayne and we are proud that we were able to ink contracts for the first and second Wing Dings held in this beautiful city. For those who have been there for either or both of these events, they know how wonderful and helpful the entire area was to our Members. Judy and I are looking forward to helping celebrate this historic and commemorative festivity. Another opportunity to celebrate GWRRA’s 35th Anniversary is a Caribbean cruise scheduled for November 4th through November 11th, 2012. Having been on many of the GWRRA cruises, we highly recommend this opportunity for all Members to be a part of the festivities with wonderful ports of call.

Long live GWRRA and long live the opportunity it presents to every Member to grow within themselves and to build everlasting friendships.

35 fun facts 1977, GWRRA was created with 7 members at the first meeting. 1977, the cost of a new Goldwing was $2,938. 1977, the cost of a gallon of gas was $.65 cents. 1977, the average cost of a gallon of milk was $1.50. 1977. The cost of a loaf of bread was $.36 cents. 1977, the average cost of a new home was $49K. 1977, the average yearly income was $15K. 1977, “Margaretville” by Jimmy Buffett was one of the billboard #1 songs. 1977, “Star Wars” opens 1977, Snow falls in Miami, FL for the only time in history. 1977, Jimmy Carter becomes 39th President of USA. 1977, the Oakland Raiders won Super Bowl XI. 1977, the Portland Trailblazers won the NBA championship. 1977, the New York Yankees won the World Series. 1977, the Montreal Canadians won the Stanley Cup. 1977, Tom Watson won the Master’s golf tournament. 1977, Rock n Roll legend Elvis Presley passed away. 1977, Apple Computers was incorporated. 1977, “The Fonz” jumped a motorcycle over a shark on TV’s “Happy Days” 1977, the “World Trade Center” is completed in New York. 2011, 35th Anniversary of GWRRA, currently with over 70,000 members. 2011, the average cost of a new Goldwing is $26K. 2011, the average cost of a gallon of gas is $3.42. 2011, the average cost of a gallon of milk is $3. 2011, the cost of a loaf of bread is $2.50. 2011, the average cost of a new home is $200K. 2011, the average yearly income is 47K. 2011, “If I Die Young” by Perry is one of the Billboard most played songs. 2011, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” tops the film box office. 2011, terrorist Osama Bin Laden is killed. 2011, co-founder of Apple Computers Steve Jobs passed away. 2011, Scotty McCreery wins TV’s American Idol. 2011, the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series. 2011, the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup. its 35 years as an association, GWRRA has grown from 7 members meeting at a Denny’s restaurant to over 72,000 members, with 800 chapters in over 53 countries. Here’s to another great 35 years with GWRRA!

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