History
Annual Report 2009
Chapter Information
2009 was a year full of good rides and beautiful events. As every year we will take the time to have a look back and go over the most important events and adventures of 2009.

As it is in our tradition the year 2009 was started with the General Assembly (January 31, 2009), held in the newly opened "Tessin Grotto" (former "Jägerhaus"). Our favorite restaurant stays alive under a new slogan and in fresh shape.

The first event was the fourth Winter-HOG at Albisgüetli, a well-visited Sunday brunch. 30 people of the Pelican Chapter attended the event, 400 were there over all. The next event in our full agenda was the visit of the "Swiss-Moto" fair in Zurich (February 19 - 22, 2009). In addition with the "Open Days" at Harley-Davidson Zurich on March 28 and 29, 2009 (bad weather) we collected first impressions of Harley-Davidson and other suppliers before starting the biker-season.

The first spontaneous ride-out one happened on Good Friday (April 10, 2009) as many of us were hanging out for riding. (Route: Wildhaus - St. Luzisteig - Kerenzerberg), followed by the first regular ride-out on April 26, 2009. The motto was: "Ride into the blue or green distance". The end of the ride to the eastern part of Switzerland was the visit of the "Guwilmühle", the restaurant where we celebrated our fifth anniversary. Road-captains were Richi Schawalder and Michele Tornambé.

Also in 2009 the "Love Ride" (May 3, 2009) was one of the most important and traditionally well-visited appointments in our agenda. 36 participants with some 22 bikes attended this event. As usual the early birds met at the gas station at "Glattzentrum", where we started with coffee and cookies. Although the weather forecast wasn't good the sky cleared off and the "Love Ride" took place with beautiful weather. Some 17'000 visitors and 10'000 bikes (a new record!) were the spectacular basis for the event. The organizers cashed donation revenues of some CHF 520'000.00. The traditional afternoon ride-out to "Alp Scheidegg" was attended by 23 members (22 bikes).
The active participation was a full success and a very beautiful finish of the "Love Ride". Organized by our Security Officer Matthias Schwager on May 17, 2009"Premium Intensive Bike Training" was held in the Centre of TCS Betzholz. We freshened up our braking and side step knowledge and learnt a lot of theory about technique of curves. After this we improved our knowledge in practice. 18 members of the Pelican Chapter attended this event.

The "Ladies Days" took place on May 23 and 24, 2009. Erika, Ruth, Momo and Karin represented our Chapter there and reported it was a good weekend.

On May 31, 2009 the second Chapter ride-out took place. The motto: "Up, Down, Left and Right….". Beni Lamezan and Hansjörg Oechslin led through the picturesque and curvaceous land of Appenzell. The lunch in the event-restaurant "Waldegg" connected with a "lesson" in a classroom of the 30s with information about oxen was very interesting and special.

Besides the regular Chapter events there were also spontaneous ride-outs and external events. From June 12 to 14, 2009 there for example the 4*-weekend in Arosa where we spent a fantastic weekend in the extraordinary hospitable "Waldhotel". A highlight was the performance of the band Steve Lee (Gotthard) on Saturday afternoon.

7 members left for the "Toscana-Ride" organized by Bettina (June 21 to 28, 2009) andd directed by Jean-Claude "J.C." Cuttat. He knows the area very well and led us through curvaceous endless rides, magnificent views and fantastic food.

The European HOG Rally (June 26 to 28, 2009) took place in the far away Jurmala (Riga / Latvia). Despite the distance some Chapter members started to a ten days trip (outward and return) to Latvia. The travelers reported from an extraordinary and eventful 5'000 km trip. Although the event was not that big the riders were enthusiastic and enjoyed the event and the place. Where else it is possible to ride out one's Harley at the beach?

The third Chapter ride-out took place on June 28, 2009. Peter "Rainman" Dombon and Beni Lamezan were responsible for this one. We rode to the north-west part of the canton Aargau, further over the Rhine direction Southern Klettgau (Germany) with destination Albführen. Although there were some technical problems it was a very beautiful event. The lunch (including a menu created especially for us) as well as the guide through the yard will stay in our memory.

Another highlight were the 6th Swiss Harley Days (former "Swiss National HOG-Rally"), taking place from July 3 to July 5, 2009. Even the journey there was a special event. Peter "Rainman" Dombon led the first group on Friday, July 3, Richi Schawalder on Saturday, July 4 a second group via Entlebuch, Schallenberg to Interlaken. 33 members and some guests attended this event. The weather was quite sunny, sometimes hot and sticky, sometimes stormy. Nobody escaped the rain. Happy were those who rode back on Sunday.

After the Premium Bike-Training dated May 17, 2009 another safety training was offered on the "Stilfserjoch" from July 23 to 25, 2009. All 6 participants were enthusiastic and would strongly recommend this demanding training to everybody.

The fourth Chapter ride-out was again well organized by Jean-Claude "J.C." Cuttat and supported by Michele Tornambé. 16 Harleys with riders and passengers enjoyed the gorgeous changing landscapes and the small roads. The highlight was for sure the restaurant at a dreamy site with downfall at the river Doux. We felt like in another world and could really recreate.

On August 4, 2009 11 members with 10 bikes enjoyed an invitation of the MC "Razor Backs" to visit the open racecourse in Zurich-Oerlikon. Some 80 Harleys ran in at exactly 7:30. After a lap of honor the bikes were stopped in the middle of the racecourse. During the courses the riders enjoyed themselves and chatted to participants. A full moon rose in the east in a purple sky, while in the west we still watched the pink sunset.

On August 8, 2009 10 members with 9 bikes participated in another event organized by "Razor Backs". The "Summerbreak-Ride" where some 90 bikes attended led us on little roads around the lake of Zurich. The weather worsened during the ride, especially after the lunch. The evening in the "Milkhouse" (Stallikon) compensated for wet trousers, feet, hands and hair. The "Nashville Rebels" rocked us and the absolute highlight was a jam session with Steve Lee and Angie Burry.

The fifth ride-out was on August 22, 2009 followed by a grill party, all this with good weather. The ride-out led us to an unknown part of the canton of Aargau and surprised everybody. Matthias "Matze" Schwager discovered little roads in this canton that even wouldn't have been found by a GPS. The grill party accompanied with games and fun took place in the community center "Bachwiesen". A successful day found a perfect ending.

All over the year there was collected for the Children Hospital in Zurich, also on behalf of the "Circle 9 Festival" from August 28 to August 30, 2009. The Charity-Riders advertised the whole weekend for the "Charity-Ride" taking place at the "Bürkliplatz" and offer the guest-rides. There came off 181 rides via Triemli, New Waldegg and Old Waldegg. The revenue was CHF 1'773.40 corresponding CHF 9.80 as per each ride. Another important event was the traditional Christmas market in Albisrieden on November 28, 2009. Armella Schawalder runs there her legendary Raclette stand. The Pelicanos traditionally meet there to eat a Raclette, have a glass of wine and to chat.

All these little and big events, where we collect money for the Children Hospital Zurich lead finally to our yearly Charity Day at the Bürkliplatz in Zurich. Also this year, it was a great success. A new record were the collected amounts: more than CHF 10'000.00. On November 21, 2009 we could hand over a check to the Children Hospital Zurich in the amount of CHF 33'000.00. 28 people helped installing the stands, 25 Harley drivers made a fantastic job and 19 people organized the sale including the clothing of the guests. Besides the announced organizers there were also spontaneous helpers. A great Thank You to all participants!

The "Tessin-Highlight" (Ticino-Run) took place on September 12 to 13, 2009. With 22 participants this event was one more time much asked for. The participants were very happy about it and enjoyed the good weather. The organization and the locations were finely selected and special. Our special thanks go to Fiamma, René and Peter. We are looking forward to the 4th edition in 2010.

Richi Schawalder and Beni Lamezan organized the sixth ride-out on September 27, 2009. 15 participants on 13 bikes enjoyed a route via Sattel, Lake of Aegeri on an alp, where great plates with macaroni were served. On our ride back home we finally visited our sponsor dealer on behalf of the Open House Days (September 26 and 27, 2009) to have a drink, to talk shop or buy a bargain. The day was a full success.

The "CORE 2009" taking place October 3 to 4, 2009 was not so well visited as in the years before. Only some 90 officers with some 70 bikes attended this event. The tour led to the Jura (similar route as J.C. showed to us earlier this year) and ended in a beautiful hotel in Solothurn with a common dinner. The Pelican Chapter was represented with six members.

The seventh Chapter ride-out dated October 25, 2010 was the season-end tour. 12 members enjoyed a dry, mostly sunny ride-out in the old home region of Hansjörg Oechslin. It was quite similar as the "director tour". On the way back home the fall showed his nasty face after we passed the "Etzel". Fog followed by drizzle forced the participants to bid farewell and to get home as soon as possible.

A special mention is owed to our member Margrit Jutz who passed the big driving test for motorcycles. The Pelican Chapter congratulates Margrit cordially for this success. We are happy to have another new self-driver in our Chapter.

On behalf of the Directors' Meeting in Lugano (November 7 to 8, 2009) it was confirmed that the next Swiss HOG-Rally would take place there in cooperation with the European HOG-Rally. The event taking place from July 16 to 18, 2010 will be free of charge. In 2011 the events will be held in different places again. The European HOG-Rally will take place in Zedar (Croatia) end of May 2001. The Swiss Harley Days will take place either in Brunnen or Morges.

The last ride traditionally takes place on or around December 6. This year the event "Santa on a Harley" took place on December 5, 2009. It was an impressive adventure also because the weather was good. Many Santa Day sweets were given to kids. The last point of the Santa-Ride was again the main station of Zurich (Hauptbahnhof) where many interested people admired the Santa Clauses, the angels and their steely reindeers.

As every year the Pelicanos were active on behalf of many events as helpers, organizers and drivers. Our little statistic of the year shows also in 2009, that our members very well visited the events and the ride-outs. A cordial Thank You to Peter "Rainman" Dombon for the statistic:
2008 2009
Events 26 21
Participating Members 458 531
Number of bikes 309 280
Kilometers Driven 92345 70998

In the name of the Board I would like to express my sincerest thanks to all friends and members of the Pelican Chapters. Thanks to your engagement and your support the year 2009 was a wonderful and a super year, especially in the view of the donations. Not only do we appreciate your numerous appearances on behalf of our monthly meetings (Höcks), but also we have reached to become the best chapter in Switzerland. We have had a fantastic year with a lot of ride-outs. We are looking forward to the year 2010 with many old and some new members and wish you all the best for the coming year.

For the annual report 2009:
Frido Heer
Assistant Director

Translation: Daniel Bucklar (February 14, 2010)
 
Annual Report 2008
Chapter Information
Dear Pelicans,

A fantastic year full of events is over again and so it's time to look back and have a review of the most important events in 2008.

The year started with the Annual General Meeting in the restaurant "Trichtenhausermühle" when I was appointed as Assistant Director. 2008 was my first year in this function and it was very agreeable. I would like, therefore, to thank cordially all the Pelicans for the confidence and support I have experienced.

The prelude was the third Winter-HOG in the "Albisgüetli", where the first get-together of the year happens with other chapters. The Belamy Brothers Band played good music and we had a lot of fun. Our chapter attended with 24 members.

The next event in our busy agenda a visit of the Swiss-Moto exhibition. As usual we got the first impressions of new Harley-Davidsons before starting the biker season.

The first ride was only for the hard-core. Six of them visited the William Tell Chapter and its dealer, Bixe AG in Hünenberg on March 8th, 2008.

On March 29th and 30th various members of our chapter supported the Open Days at Harley Davidson Zurich. Also, chapter members were good customers and purchased some stuff.

On April 12th, a special rider training was organised by our Security-Officer Matthias Schwager who made it happen in cooperation with members of the Sun-Hill Chapter.

After the customised, informative and challenging training we enjoyed being together with our friends from the Sun-Hill Chapter. 14 Pelican-Chapter and 17 Sun-Hill-Chapter members attended that training.

Silvia Dombon represented our chapter on behalf of the "Ladies of Harley (LOH)" Spring Ride dated on April 26th and 27th. The ladies reported good weather, wonderful routes and a good discipline while driving in the convoy.

The same date the first Chapter ride-out happened. Richard Schawalder and Michele Tornambé surprised the bikers with a ride through a part of the Canton Aargau, unknown to most of us. This ride-out was successful, we had fun on the small roads, varied landscape and cool locations for lunch and coffee breaks. A good omen for the coming ride-outs.

A very important date was the Love Ride on May the 4th. The early birds met at the filling station "Glatt", where we started with coffee and croissants. Due to the fantastic weather situation the event was a great success. More than CHF 500'000.00 net proceeds were collected for charity. The traditional afternoon ride led us to the Alp Scheidegg where 19 members attended. The large attendance was again a great success and a beautiful completion of the Love Ride.

There were also spontaneous ride-outs. On May the 11th, 19 members and 12 bikes attended a spontaneous ride-out to the Black Forest. It was organised by Kurt Jutz. As always we found wonderful roads in the Southern part of the Black Forest and could fully enjoy the area. The destination of this ride-out was the Schluchsee where we had lunch. We finished the day with a further highlight: A barbecue organised by Margrit. The food as well as the dessert was heavenly and it stayed dry.

The first rides abroad were in May. Four to five Harleys with six to seven members attended the ride to St. Tropez from May the 19th to the 26th. Six Harleys with seven members started in the opposite direction towards Saalbach-Hinterglemm (May 23rd to 28th). In general our chapter was well represented at these events.

The next highlight happened on June the 1st. It was a ride-out to the Jura, organised and lead by Jean-Claude. Beautiful small roads, intact forests and canyons and wonderful weather made this trip unforgettable. 19 bikes and 23 members attended this happening.

The "Ladies Days" in Hinwil on June the 7th and 8th produced another highlight. Four members helped out and five members could make an "attempt at walking" on the Harley of their choice.

The 4 Star Weekend in Arosa was attended by nine members and 7 bikes from our Chapter (June 13th - 15th). 170 Harley-Drivers enjoyed a weekend full of good events, fine food, a good hotel with a wide variety of options regarding entertainment and fun. We would like to express again our sincerest thanks to the Razor Backs MC who organised this event.

Four brave members set off for Hamburg to discover the local event in this part of Germany (June 20th - 22th). Motto: "The longer the road the better it is".

Beni Lamezan was responsible for the third ride-out which happened on June 29th. He led us into the beautiful Appenzell area. The journey was the reward. The gorgeous ride led us over the hills and valleys for more than 200km. This all could be enjoyed in good weather with a stopover in a steakhouse. We were home on time to watch the final of the European Championship of Football.

Another highlight was the 5th Swiss National HOG Rally which took place in Brunnen from July 4th to the 6th. 32 members, 23 bikes and 3 guests met there. 13 members worked as volunteers during the event. Urs Thomann was one of the committee-members and worked with his colleagues non-stop for the 4 days doing a fantastic job. The weather was fine and brought wonderful summer days. The Chapter highlight was the dinner at the Lake of Lucerne where we enjoyed the food, the admirable view to the mountains and the thoughts to what happened that day. The dismantling of the facilities and ride home were quite wet as the weather broke down Sunday afternoon bringing rain over the country.

Achim Kiechle and his team organised an exhibit in cooperation with the COOP Center in Affoltern am Albis on July the 19th. The Pelican Chapter supported the event with ten riders and five assistants. Besides the rides and the service to interested people we could familiarise ourselves with the new Harley and Buell Models. We were also invited for lunch by HD-Zurich. A cordial "Thank You" to Achim and his team!

The fourth chapter ride-out was rather ill fated. Only eight members met on July 27 to enjoy a round trip through the Alps, organised by Director Hansjörg Oechslin. Paul Shadwell's 50th birthday party the night before may have led to the low number of attending members (Sorry about that. Paul Smile). We started when it was foggy. The trip led us over the Axen Street, Andermatt, Oberalp, Disentis, Lukmanier and Gotthard (via Tremola) over to Leventina. This all then happened with excellent weather and fine food. A stormy encounter between our Secretary Erika Coradi and our Director Hansjörg Oechslin caused some excitement and led to a small crash which luckily did not prevent us from continuing of our journey. One highlight led immediately to the next one. It would have been the best not to dismount from the bike...

27 members and 18 bikes attended the "Gotthard-Event" on August the 16th. The weather was fantastic. The source of some red heads may have been caused by the sun or the brilliant performance from the band "Gotthard", but we're not certain.

Unfortunately it rained on August the 23rd, when we had our fifth ride-out and the barbecue party. The show-jumping course had to be adjourned into an old factory. The dinner then was served in the restaurant "Sternen" in Albisrieden where also the American Auction happened. This auction was presented by Michele Tornambé and resulted in CHF 850.00 revenue.

Another collection for the Children's Hospital Zurich which is active throughout the year. Armella generated an additional revenue on behalf of the Christmas market in Albisrieden, where she organised a stand with raclette.

The annual highlight is the Charity Ride at the Bürkliplatz in Zurich. 60 people have a share in the success of this event:
  • 24 riders (18 from the Pelican Chapter; 5 from Sun-Hill and Grischa Chapter; 1 free biker
  • 16 Pelican Chapter members helped out.
  • 23 attended the Photo Stand, Food court or drove an Oldtimer.
The total proceeds resulting from the rides and the donations came to CHF 31'500 a fantastic result and new record for a good cause. I would like to express my sincerest thanks to all participants and especially to the board of the Charity-Riders for their outstanding commitment.

An extraordinary event was organised for Kurt Jutz's birthday party on September 6th. Despite the rain 11 members enjoyed the stay with a tasty paella and good wine. A repetition is desired.

Another highlight happened on September 13th to 14th: The "Ticino-Run". 35 participants with 16 bikes and some cars proved that this event is in demand. However, the weather conditions were adverse and nasty. René and Fiamma Schläpfer showed an outstanding performance regarding the organisation and execution especially because of the bad weather. We will remember the extraordinary locations, fine food and drinks as well as the company and care which is incomparable. Again: a huge "Thank you" to René and Fiamma.

The next event abroad was at the Lake Garda (September 21st to 29th). Some 14 members and 11 bikes attended the European HOG Rally. Organised by Jean-Claude and Bettina Cuttat the ride-outs were another highlight and even the weather was on the right side.

During the Open Days at Harley Davidson Zurich (Mullerstrasse, October 4th and 5th) it was rainy and cold. On Sunday the weather was much better and so more visitors attended the shop and led to enjoyable result. The members of the Pelican Chapter were present throughout the event and were good customers.

Although the season came slowly to an end there were still other events to celebrate. On October 11th and 12th the Chapter Officer Ride-Out Event (C.O.R.E) took place in the Appenzell area in good weather. Some 100 Harleys attended the ride-out to the nearby Montafon in Austria. The Pelican Chapter was represented with eleven members and seven bikes. They enjoyed a pleasant dinner and good company.

During the board meeting on October 21st we discussed the planning of the events 2009. It was not at all easy to find an alignment for all events and balance all dates.

The handing over of a cheque for CHF 31'500 on October 25th represented the end of the 2008 season. Mrs. Eva Lindenmann and a representative of the doctors' team of the Children's Hospital of Zurich accepted the cheque, handed over by Richard Schawalder, president of the "Charity Riders" association. Twelve Harleys and two Old-timers were there. More than CHF 90'000 has been collected over the years for the Children's Hospital. These donations are an important contribution to the realisation and continuation of the psychological care for children with heart problems.

One day later (October 26th) the seventh Chapter ride-out took place. The "season end trip" was again perfectly organised by Beni Lamezan and Richard Schawalder. 19 members and 16 Harleys attended. The trip home led us to Jonen (Canton Aargau) where Marlise invited us for coffee and a snack. I would like to say thank you to all participants.

The last event, "Santa on a Harley", was traditionally organised on December 6th. However, this time under changed conditions and a modified routing. "Gölä" and other VIPs such as Karin Lanz and Martin Rapold joined us on Harleys. This was the reason why the ride went to the television studio where we enjoyed a heavy rain shower. Although it wasn't dry over all, many interested people came to the Main Station Zurich and the Shopping Center Sihlcity to admire the Santa Clauses and their iron reindeers.

In General: Also in 2008 the members of the Pelican Chapter were active on behalf of different events as assistants, organisers or riders. Therefore, we would like to express again our sincerest and cordial thanks to all assistants and friends of the Pelican Chapter.

Thanks to our Head Road Captain Peter Dombon we are able to have a small statistical review comparing the years 2007 and 2008:
  2007
 2008
 Events Attended
 		 18  26
 Participating Members
 		 279  458
 Number of Bikes
 		 220  309
 Total kilometers
 		 60,665  92,345

Due to your commitment and your support, 2008 was a successful year. Not only is this apparent during our monthly meetings where always many members attend but also we acheived our goal: to be the best chapter in Switzerland and to have much fun with many ride-outs. In this spirit we will continue in 2009.

Frido Heer
(Translation: Daniel Bucklar)
 
Annual Report 2007
Chapter Information
The year 2007 will surely make history as a very eventful and enjoyable biker year. In this sense I will therefore now review the whole program of the year and try to highlight each month of the year.

The month of January was shaped by the well attended Annual General Meeting, organised at a high level as we are used to in our Pelican Chapter.

Unfortunately I was not able to attend the winter HOG event in February, but I heard only good things about it. Later in the month I was amused to look at so many exceptional and extremely expensive Custom Bikes. But I couldn't part with my 1996 Sporty.

I remember the Open House and Chapter Spring Aperitif in such a way that I almost became weak and almost bought the new Dyna CVO Screaming Eagle. But the bike had the wrong colour: Red as a fire truck!

In April I remember the visit to the car Schlumpf museum and the premiere of the very successful movie "Born to be Wild".

May started well with the traditional Love Ride. The negative thing was that it was damned cold and it rained heavily. Nevertheless a small group of tough guys dared to ride to Alp Scheidegg which is tradi-tional after the Love Ride.

Blood donation, Toblerone, Chili con Carne, Coupe Romanoff - that's for sure the ride in June to Glaubenberg and Lüderenalp.

The clear highlight in July was the 4th Swiss National Rally in Morges, favoured by wonderful weather - until Sunday morning. The beautiful ride under the direction of Rainman Peter to the Jura will remain a good memory.

In August I was fully abstinent from Harley, but there weren't many events unless somebody got lost to the Fat Tire.

In the beginning of September we seized again the Bürkliplatz in a peaceful way. We could carry out a Charity Ride with best weather and an absolute record performance regarding donations for children with heart problems. My compliment to the organisers of the event!

During the month of October the third CORE Ride-out was organised. It was a good thing, however, we remembered wistfully back to the days of Franky's. Well, the new team certainly needs time to warm-up. We were shown with the location of the 5th Swiss National HOG Rally in Brunnen. At the Directors Meeting in November the event team presented the organisation and the strategy.

This year I attended the Santa Claus on a Harley for the first time. The attendance was enormous, however, the organisation can still be improved. But it didn't matter at all: The main thing was the joy of the children in the Main Station and in the children's hospital.
But one thing is missing in this review: my personal Highlight of the year 2007 (and I'm sure that I'm not alone with my opinion) was the Ticino Run! What great weather! What a scenic tour! What wonder-ful food and drink! It will be difficult to better this one! One more time: A big thank you to the organis-ers! We are already looking forward to the run 2008!

Last but not least I would like to present an astonishing statistic about the Chapter Year 2007: we car-ried out 18 rides, covering a distance of 4'705 kilometres, a total of 220 bikes was on the road with all in all 279 drivers and co-drivers. The total Bike-kilometre reading summed up to fabulous 60'665 kilo-metres.

Urs, Assistant Director

(Translation: Daniel Bucklar).

 
Annual Report 2006
Chapter Information

Dear Easy Riders,

The most important stations of the very eventful year will be reviewed again hereafter, although the year is so perfectly documented on our homepage that this review has nearly become unnecessary.

This is at the same time an opportunity to pay a compliment to Erika and Paul who really care enthusiastically for our webpage under the friendly leadership of our president.

Thank you very much!

Nevertheless let's go over the most important issues:

We welcomed our new Sponsor-Dealer, Roger Lasta on behalf of the general meeting dated January 14th. Contrary to previous general meetings the situation then was peaceful and calm. We thank Roger for doing an outstanding job!

On January 31st the responsible team preparing the formation of the association "Charity Riders" met for the first time. The association was then established formally on March 21st.

On February 2nd we met in "Albisgüetli" for the HOG-Winter-Event. It was a successful overture in view of the culinary and the musical performance. But you remember: It was damned chilly!

A special event happened on February 26th: We visited the children hospital (KISPI), attended by 16 members and we suddenly were aware how thankful one has to be for the own health and the one of our children.

Further events in March: 4th and 5th Open Days at HD, Sunday, 26th: Chapter Aperitif which was well attended by the members. The first great Highlight was the Love Ride on May 7th. Good weather, 15'000 visitors, 8'500 bikes, more than half a million francs were raised!Saalbach took place between May 25th and 28th, dirty weather. But - I have to admit - I travelled there by car. I would like to express a special compliment again to the organisers.

On June 8th a very sad story started becoming true: the foreclosure proceedings against T.H. and S.C. which were already decided by the board on behalf of its meeting on April 28th. I don't want to tell more about this, you all know how the story ended. We all wish that such a nightmare will never happen again.

Then things were happening fast:
June 30th - July 2nd: Swiss National HOG Rally Lenzerheide, a great party again, in between blood donation on Glaubenberg.
June 17th to 29th: Ireland Rally with 9 members (6 bikes, 1 car)
August 5th to 6th: Jura ride, 14 members
August 18th: Marriage of Tanja and Pascal (20 bikes)
September 3rd: Charity, good weather, great success, collected amount: CHF 18'452.70
September 30th: short ride, snack at the new HD-store, then barbecue party.
October 7th to 8th: CORE, a mega-event overshadowed by the fact that we lost our way, an accident with no hard consequences and that I had to spend a night in the most catastrophic hotel of my life. But Franky, I forgive you definitively!
December 3rd: "Santa on a Harley", a well respected event, 80 Harley, 10 from our chapter. The event can be watched on "YouTube".

And then is there to report our extraordinary general meeting on December 13. Just one word: The dinner was fantastic, the rest: Let's forget it!

My personal highlight: I had to show my "Sporty" before the Technical Control Board and said to the repairmen that they just have to change the pipes. One of the repairman said that this would never be enough and bet he would eat his hat if they let the bike pass........ I hope he enjoyed the meal!!

So it's up to me to wish you all a great, accident-free 2007.

Uese

(Translation: Daniel Bucklar - January 23rd, 2007).

 
Annual Report 2005
Chapter Information

The Chapter started the year 2005 with a very exciting and eventful General Meeting which has become history and should not influence us any longer. However, these troubled times led to a resurrection of the Chapter. Based on an extraordinary General Meeting dated March 9th, 2005 our Chapter could restart having an authorised budget and - thanks to Paul - a new freshly designed homepage.

The effective Chapter activities already started in February 2005. Six members participated in the so-called EPOT (European Primary Officer Training) in Faro, Portugal. The feedback was very positive.

On March 23rd we attained special honours: Franky from HOG Switzerland was present as a special guest and handed us over the honour and trophy in recognition of the last year's Charity Ride. The Charity Ride of September 4th, 2005 was a great success in every respect.

On May 8th we celebrated the Love Ride Sunday. Our Chapter was among the first who arrived at the site. Due to this we had an advantageous position for the ride out. It was a pleasure that 31 members participated in the Love Ride and 18 members found time later for a snack at the Alp Scheidegg.

A very good happening were the road safety events excellently organised by Matthias. Many of the participants had genuine experiences which exceeded the limits while driving in angular position and other different manoeuvres even in flooded terrain.

Our sponsor dealer was very active too. After moving definitively to the site at Müllerstrasse we were invited on March 4th to an aperitif which was followed by 30 members. The following weekend the traditional Open House took place.

Other important dates: May 26th to May 29th: Saalbach; June 8th to June 12th St. Tropez; June 16th to June 19th Hungary-Rally; on June 26th heavy rain on the Glaubenberg, rain again at the Swiss National Rally dated July 8th to July 10th. Not too bad was the weather during the trip to Fernpass/Fernsteinsee dated July 2nd and
3rd.

The event "Fat Tire Laax" dated August 11th to 14th was dominated by rain too, only a small group of members visited this event. Faak was not well visited as only eight visitors were counted. Overall, most of the ride-outs officially organised by the Chapter were victim of bad weather. However, beyond these facts some spontaneous rides could be organised when the weather was fine.
The LOH under the competent direction of Erika was active too and realised a fine ride-out (but also in pouring rain).

A great highlight for the board was the CORE (Chapter Officer Rideout Event) 2-day-event, first time realised under the patronage of HOG Switzerland. Almost all board members of almost all Swiss Chapters participated in the fantastic ride-out which led to the Lake Geneva and to a party in Gstaad. The Director Meeting dated
November 19th and 20th on Lenzerheide was a great success too.
The Chapter closed its year with the traditional "Santa on a Harley" on December 4th.

Yeah, but haven't we forgotten a great happening of this year?

Sure! The absolute highlight, the ultimate event, was the celebration of the 5th anniversary of our Chapter. After an unforgettable, perfectly organised rally through the north of Switzerland, we met for a big party at a wonderful place, the "Guhwilmüli". Fantastic food, electrifying music, an unforgettable auction and dance and songs until dawn will remain in our memories.
Also, our guests from the Chapters of Basel and Luxembourg were enthusiastic and still enthuse about the event.

Urs Thomann (Assistant Director)    Translation: Daniel Bucklar

 
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