RIDERS CLUB

by Bob Frazee, President

The Riders Club kicked off the 2023 season with a ride on January 6th. Rider members Bob Russell, Ray Noyes and Bob Frazee, along with guest rider, Bob Ebaugh, headed out on I-275 S. on a beautiful, sunny winter day for a ride into Manatee, Desoto and Sarasota counties. Our route took us thru Parish and then on to Myakka City, where we had lunch at the recently reopened Myakka City Grill. This route to Myakka City was along several county and local roads, with lots of scenic open country and an abundance of cattle grazing in pastures along the way.

After a good lunch, we continued our ride south and east thru more open country and cattle and then back toward Sarasota. After a brief rest stop, we headed along a northerly route on a series of roads that ran along the eastern edge of Sarasota County and back into Manatee, where we picked up I-275 N. back into St. Petersburg. Our group usually has a weekly ride to a destination for lunch.

We basically take turns planning the routes and the restaurant for lunch, as well as fuel and rest stops along the way. Our rides are generally about 150-200 miles and take 4-5 hours, from start to finish. Our challenge is to find roads not previously traveled for at least part of every ride. We also plan a few multi-day destination rides throughout the year. For 2023, we have a 3 day trip planned in March to Daytona for Bike Week, and a 3 week trip to the Canadian Maritimes in July. We are looking at a third multi -day trip for the fall season.

Anyone who likes to ride motorcycles is welcome to join us for any ride. We also have a group email set up and will add anyone who is interested. If you would like more information, please contact Bob Frazee at bfrazee50@gmail.com or by phone at (315) 420-7114.

by Rich Treinen

The Wing Shooters Society wild game dinner is an annual event where the proceeds of previous hunts, extracted from home freezers, are pooled for our annual group dinner. This year’s event was originally scheduled for November 10th but the weather, you’ll remember a vicious storm blew through that Thursday, pushed the dinner to January 12th. Our host was Sandy Schoenberg. New to this year’s event was coordination of the volume. This was Wayne Andrews’ responsibility. It was not clear if he volunteered or was coerced to take the task.

The need for volume control has been identified at previous wild game dinners. There had always been control over the wild game part of the feed, the cooks controlled that. It was all the other stuff that walked through the door that created a problem. It was a free-for-all. Every Wing Shooter brought something to share and every horizontal square inch of the host’s home was covered with sides and a wide variety of the distiller's best. Thirty some hearty eaters were tasked with consuming enough food for 200. With all the leftovers none of us needed to cook for a week. Wayne fixed that problem this year.

We had 5 assigned sides to go with our assortment of prepared game. There were still a couple of unauthorized sides that snuck in the back door, however everything was delicious, the leftovers were minimal and a great time was had by all.

There was one concern raised a bit later in the evening in the midst of the cigar smoke. The issue was about the wild game part of the meal. Our organized quail hunts to various places in Georgia have been going on for over 5 years. We all bag 20 some birds each and bring them home. Over time those bags tend to pile up at the bottom of the freezer. But the bags are not marked. 2021? 2019? 2015! They all look the same. No one seemed to know how long you can safely keep quail in your freezer.

Those wishing to join the Wing Shooters are encouraged to contact Grand Marshall, Frank Robinson at fhr506@ gmail.com.