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Friends & Partners of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation:     Congressional summer recess is upon us!     From today thru September 5, the U.S. Senate and House have adjourned and completed their commitments to the political conventions. They now return to their home states and districts — making now the perfect time to schedule a meeting with your elected official!     Establishing and maintaining relationships with your elected officials and their staff in your home state is an important and effective way to further our mission. Right now, we have a legislative measure pending and we need to shore up additional co-sponsors. As you know, in July, House Resolution 831 was introduced before Congress by Reps. Ribble (Wisc.) and Walberg (Mich.). Now is the time to ask your elected officials to consider adding their name as a co-sponsor!     I have drafted talking points and attached them to this message for your use and reference. It contains all the pertinent information you will need when meeting with your elected official or their staff.     If you need ANY assistance getting in touch with your elected official, please reply directly to me and I can provide phone numbers, email addresses and any other information you might need to conduct your outreach.     Thank you for your support and keep me informed as to your progress! Megan Ekstrom Vice-President, Government Affairs & Public Relations Motorcycle Riders Foundation 1325 G Street N.W. Suite 500 Washington, D.C. 20005 Phone: (202) 725-5471 Fax: (202) 546-0986 www.mrf.org Talking Points

From the Chairman of the Board page Jim "SNAFU" Elgin  (9-6-16)     Membership, is reaching critical levels. We have made every cut possible in the State Office and still keep the doors open. We need to sell ourselves and gain more Members. We set up the State Products Trailer at many large Motorcycle Venues in the State of Ohio, each year to try to educate the Public as to who we are and what we do for the Motorcycle Community. Regions set up at bike nights around the State and a handful of Members do a remarkable job gaining new Members at these events but just think if each and every one of us did the same thing every time we encountered a fellow rider in our Dailey Travels. Make sure you always have a few applications on you so you can be the next “Top Member Getter”, Tina Levengood, Region 8, has held the Title for a few years, time for every Member to get after it and give her a run for the Tittle.................( Read more....)

From the Executive Director page Ed Schetter   (9-6-16)     I’m beginning to think the best about it being September is we are starting to see an end in sight to the political season. I have never seen it this goofy, as I touched on in my June article. To start with I am not endorsing any candidate. I don’t care who you vote for: the right or left side of the aisle, a third party candidate or Kermit the frog (yes, there is a puppet joke there but I’ll leave telling jokes to the comedians.) Do your research on their positions on the issues important to you. Do your research from credible sources. Then cast the educated vote your conscience tells you to. There is no such thing as a wasted vote that way....................( Read more....)

From the Legislative Page Kolman Fuzy   (7-22-16)     Hello all.     I am Kolman Fuzy, a 22 year member of Abate of Ohio, Inc. and I am writing this to introduce myself as the new Government Relations Director for the Organization. I have taken the necessary steps to register as a lobbyist, and I am reaching out to the various sponsors of our legislation and other pieces of legislation that pertain to motorcyclists. Introducing myself on a face to face basis, if possible is difficult, with the political conventions going on and up-coming recesses looming, but I feel that this is a better way to establishing myself as the face of the Organization on the legislative front. In the meantime, if anyone has any issues, questions,suggestions or concerns, please contact me at: legislativedirector@abate.com or 614-332-0198.     Ride Free,         Kolman ............ ( Read more )

From the Safety & Ed Page Mike Stock   (9-6-16)     We are in trouble with fatalities. At this rate we will surpass last year and we will be the center of attention to all who think they can fix it. We as Bikers can and need to fix it ourselves. In 2015 we had 2111 crashes and 84 fatalities and now in 2016 we have (as of 8/1/2016) 1948 crashes and 93 fatalities. At this time we can study 80 of these: 16 were trained and 11 of these were at fault, 10 were passengers and 1 was a 3-wheeler. Then we need to look at helmet use because the people that think they know what will fix things think helmets will, but 45% were wearing helmets. The last figure that we need to look at is in 54% of fatalities, the motorcyclist was in error. Now we have the facts but what will fix it?................ ( Read more )

Tired of sitting on your bike at Red Lights that won't turn GREEN ????     To enlist the help of Ohio’s motorcyclists, ODOT set up a special phone number & E-mail for motorcyclists for reporting problem intersections.     When reports come in, ODOT will notifiy signal owners ( often a city or county ) about the situation and offer recommendations for improvement.   Red Light Hotline 614-387-0722 Red Light E-mail bike.report@dot.state.oh.us

Help Wanted: E-Mail the State Office or call 1-800-252-4537 for details	State Legislative Director E-mail the State Office or Call 1-800-252-4537 for details
	State Products Director E-mail the State Office or call 1-800-252-4537 for details
	State Newsletter Crew Member Should be experenced in Magazine Publishing and/or Microsoft Publisher software. E-mail the Outspokin' Editor for details
	Web Crew Member Work on ABATE.com and/or Regional web pages.   Should have F.T.P. and HTML experence.   E-mail the State Webmaster for details.