THE SUMMER OF LOVE

Ijust returned from L. A. where my family helped me celebrate my 75 trips around the sun. I thought I knew how to love… Then grandchildren arrived and with them, a whole new dimension of love! I’m not sure what I enjoyed more: getting all those hugs and affection from 18 kids and grands... or watching them share the same among themselves.

Yesterday, Valerie and I celebrated 50 years since our first date. There are lots of reasons I am the World’s Luckiest Man, but she will always be at the top of the list!

Speaking of summer loves, Sturgis is almost here, and the team making of a movie about Iron Lilly Farrow, the woman who co-founded my dealership as a 20-year-old in 1912, will be prominent at the Buffalo Chip and all around town. I’ll admit I love to tell Lilly’s story, but a major motion picture will tell it the way it deserves to be told…. and told in a way that will uplift and inspire our entire industry. Learn more at: www.ironlilly.com

Things are humming along at the newly formed National Powersports Dealer Association as well. By the time you read this, we will have Member Dealers from all 50 states. Better still, we are on track for 500 Members by year end. I love the wisdom and passion of our Board as they advocate for their fellow Dealers. Massive amounts of effort are being made to put our industry back on track. The ultimate goal being:

“Dealers being sustainably profitable and exceeding the expectations of a growing customer base.”

If you are not a Member or Supporting Partner, I urge you to join. See more at: www.npda.org

Dealernews is in a unique position in that it is not so much about the love of riding we all share; rather, it is about how all of us care about the business that supports and will sustain our sport. I love what Robin and his team do to be the glue that holds this industry together.

The legacy that you — and each of us individually and collectively — leave is indeed a labor of love.

Editor’s Note

By Robin Hartfiel