KUDOS TO MASSACHUSETTS
Submitted by George Ramsey
This is a big THANK YOU and an ATTABOY to the good people of Massachusetts for a really fun time over Memorial Day weekend. There were over fifty people in attendance and I’m sure they all feel the same as we do.
Bob and Pat Dombrowski, Ron and Jan LeClerc, and Bob and Linda Comeau were the movers and shakers who found the Colonial Hotel in Gardner, MA. What a sweet deal this was. For
$109.00 plus tax per night, you got three dinners and three breakfasts, choice of the menu mind you.
Now let me say something about the rides on Saturday and Sunday. These rides were set up and of course led by Bob and Linda Comeau. Ruth and I had the privilege of riding drag or tailgunner for them. I’ve known Bob for almost twenty years and he has never had a bad ride. He has an uncanny memory and he believes in preriding his rides.
Saturday morning, 9:30 A.M. twenty bikes and two four wheelers departed under chilly conditions. Since we had a hot breakfast buffet we were ready for some nice leisurely touring. Since I made the mistake of not taking notes, I won’t be able to tell you all the towns we went through, but the one I especially remember is Sterling, MA. In the town square, in a little park, is a statue of a little lamb. This is Mary’s lamb from the poem “Mary Had A Little Lamb”. We had our picture taken with it for posterity. We had lunch (again I forgot where) then rode more back roads and arrived back at the hotel about five or so. A beautiful ride on what turned out to be a beautiful day. After dinner there was socializing in the hospitality room.
Sunday morning, 9:00 A.M. again a bit chilly, twenty three bikes (folks from Rhode Island came in Saturday evening) and two four wheelers left for what would be an even better ride. This time Bob took us westward to an awesome body of water known as the Quabbin Reservoir. People from three different towns had to leave their homes so that they could be flooded to create this reservoir. They say that on a clear day, if you flew over in a plane or chopper, you can see the shapes of the buildings. We climbed a lookout tower that afforded us a superb view of the reservoir and surrounding area. We then rode to a place with a hairpin curve and a restaurant. The restaurant had to be moved back because so many vehicles didn’t make the turn properly. As a matter of fact, while we were looking around, a young fella on a street and trail BMW entered the curve going uphill at too fast a speed, leaning way too far, and tried to accelerate in the curve and down he went. Macho dude that he was, he got up, hollered yahoo and picked his bike up. Scared the beejabbers out of us.
After having lunch in a town called Adams, we rode to the Yankee Candle Factory. The ladies really enjoyed this. It is a beautiful place. I think everyone bought something. Then it was back to the hotel.
Sunday evening we had our banquet. Bob and Pat Dombrowski and Ron thought of just about everything to show us a good time. They had door prizes for everyone, a fifty-fifty drawing with all the money going to the winner and they even negotiated strawberries with ice cream for dessert. Nice going.
I’ll end this by saying, it was great seeing all our old friends again and meeting quite a few new ones. Though I was under the weather all weekend, it was worth it to have enjoyed your company. I hope when we host next years get-together, we’ll see you all in PA. Thanks again Mass.
Your Friends In A.G.W.A.,
George and Ruth Ramsey