Our April meeting was in conjunction with the British Car and Bike Show at the British Emporium in Grapevine. The weather was perfect, and the whole event was very successful. We put on a great show of British motorcycles with about twenty vintage machines on display, which very nicely complemented the fine selection of British cars in the rest of the show. Thanks to everyone who brought their British iron to show off! Thanks also to everyone who helped set up and break-down the canopies, tables, chairs etc.

There was great interest in the 2024 Raffle bike (1974 Norton Commando), and we did very well with ticket sales. Thank you to everyone who manned the desk and sold tickets!

At 2:00pm we had our usual club meeting, with Chris as the MC. Chris thanked Sheila at the British Emporium for hosting us, and thanked Steve Webster and Richard Asprey for buying pizza for all of us!

Chris welcomed new members and guests, and was happy to share the news that Jay Pope’s health continues to improve. On a sad note, we lost Jon Neuman last week, who succumbed to pancreatic cancer. Richard was able to share the good news that Jon’s benefit auction, held in conjunction with our last meeting at Crashedtoys, raised an amazing $580,000 for Jon’s wife and family!

Upcoming events:

• All British Car and Bike Day on Sunday May 7th, 2023 at White Rock Lake in Dallas. Please bring your British motorcycle. You’ll need to pre-register on-line to enter the event with your vehicle (www.allbritishcarday.com).

     o LATE BREAKING NEWS – exact location and times have changed. Check https://ntnoa.org for details. (it’s still on May 7th).

• The Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride is on May 21st in Dallas. Our very own Christian Davidson is one of the organizers for the Dallas DGR, and he explained that this is for a great cause (men’s mental health and prostate cancer research). Christian encouraged us to participate (our bikes are ideal). Please take part if you can, or make a donation. https://www.gentlemansride.com/rides/united+states/dallas+tx

• Next Monthly meeting is at Bobby Vaughn’s place in Streetman, TX - by Richland-Chambers lake. LATE BREAKING NEWS – the event is definitely over the Memorial Day weekend, but the exact date is in question. Please double check https://ntnoa.org to confirm the exact date.

     o Bobby will be doing a Crawfish Broil with Louisiana crawfish. An Evite will go out shortly – please RSVP so Bobby knows how much Crawfish to order. If you haven’t received the Evite by Monday May 8th, please send an email to ntnoa@ntnoa.org

• Richard Asprey gave us an update on the Vincents Across America ride which starts on August 24, 2023 in Portland Maine. The ride is to Portland Oregon, and then on to Ventura California for the VOC International Rally. Details on https://ntnoa.org

• This year’s LOP Rallye is at Yellow Rose Canyon, near Mount Enterprise, TX, September 29 – October 1.

     o We now have a completed contract with Yellow Rose Canyon, and the event is definitely on!

     o Pre-registration for the Rallye is already open via https://ntnoa.org. The capability to reserve RV sites will be coming soon.

     o Flyers for both the LOP Rallye and the Bike Show at the Back Nine on June 25th were distributed at the meeting so that members can take them to establishments (motorcycle dealers, repair shops etc) to be displayed. Chris asked that we send an email to ntnoa@ntnoa.org to let everyone know where we have taken flyers (to avoid duplication). Same request regarding door prizes for the Rallye – please email to let us know which vendors you have approached, so we only ask them once.

     o If you didn’t pick up flyers on Sunday, or like me, you couldn’t carry them on your motorbike without creasing them, there are links to pdfs you can print on https://ntnoa.org.

And finally….

We now have 5/10/15/20/25 year membership patches. Chris brought them to the meeting, and they should be at future meetings/events if you’re in need of one.

It was great to see Wendy Griffiths who stopped by at the start of the meeting on her way back to Arkansas!

Congratulations to Richard Asprey who won best bike in show for his 1915 Flat Tank Norton.

Thanks again to Richard A. and Steve W. for buying the pizza.

Thanks to Paul Valentine for some excellent photos of the meeting, currently linked from your favorite website, https://ntnoa.org.