Page 1 of 8

Washington District Newsletter WWW.GWRRA-WA.ORG

JANUARY 2010

BBoobb aanndd PPaattttyy SSppeenncceerr

DDiissttrriicctt DDiirreeccttoorrss

OUR 30TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR Happy New Year and Happy 30th Anniversary to everyone in the Washington District! I wonder how many of you out there have been members since 1980 and had any idea back then that you would still be involved 30 years later. We’d like to hear from you! Please drop us a line or an e-mail and share some of your fondest memories with your GWRRA family over the last 30 years. We’d like to publish them in upcoming district newsletters throughout the year, in celebration of 30 years of “Friends for Fun, Safety and Knowledge”!

It seems that every year, January brings change and this year is no different. Due to the logistics of the year-end chapter financial paperwork, it seems an appropriate time for some chapters to also make their officer changes. This January we have several Chapter Director installations and they’re coming up quickly. They are as follows: (January 2

nd, Garry and Maxine Alexander for

Chapter “V”) - (January 3rd

, Jim and June Dutton for Chapter “B”) – (January 8th,

Dean and Christie Kalles for chapter “Q”). Please get out and show your support for these new officers and their staffs, and while you’re at it, don’t forget to thank the outgoing officers for all their hard work. It’s a great way to keep active during the slow riding season.

How many of you existing and former Chapter Directors and Assistants knew what you were getting into when you took on your positions? Based on my experience, I’d venture to say “None”. Something new for 2010 is the upcoming “Officer Training Series”. The Leadership Training Division has put together a one day training session designed to give current and new chapter, district and region officers the tools needed to guide their chapters, districts and regions. The dates for these sessions are now listed on the district calendar. Please check out the date for your area and plan to attend. You won’t be disappointed. Our District Trainer, Mike Briggs, will cover a lot of material in a one day session, while keeping it fun, and you will all walk away feeling a little more confident in your positions.

I know it’s been said before, but it bears worth repeating. As your District Directors, our goals for 2010 are to increase communications between chapters and district and to encourage and increase participation in each other’s events. I hope the weekly “What’s Happening” e-mails are helping to keep you informed, and I encourage all of you to stay involved and support your fellow chapters by attending their events. Last, don’t forget to mark your calendars for our 30th Anniversary District Rally in Port Townsend, “Cruising the Olympic Peninsula” on July 15th - 17th. It’s going to be a lot of fun!

Bob and Patty Spencer District Directors

AROUND THE DISTRICT

*** CHANGES ***

Chapters V, B & Q will have

new CDs installed at their

January meetings. The dates

are listed below.

*** EVENTS ***

January 2nd Chapter V will

install new officers at their

gathering, Federal Way Old

Country Buffet at 8:30 AM.

January 3rd Chapter B will

install new officers at their

gathering, Bremerton Eagles at

8:30 AM.

January 8th Chapter Q will

install new officers at their

gathering, Puyallup Hanger Inn at

7:00 PM.

January 15th–17th Chapter P will hold their Ocean Retreat at

Long Beach and y’all are invited

to join them.

January 23rd Chapter I will

host their annual Casino Night at

Fort Murray. This year’s theme

is “Back to the 50’s”.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

2010 District Rally

“Cruising the

Olympic Peninsula”

July 15th-17th Port Townsend

Rider Education

District Westside Workshop

February 20th Buckley

Region I ARC/TRC/TC

April 16th-18th & 24th-25th

Belfair and Bremerton

Page 2 of 8

JJoohhnn aanndd BBaarrbb SSmmiitthh

AAssssiissttaanntt DDiissttrriicctt DDiirreeccttoorrss

2010 – HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 2010 is finally here. Hard to believe it has now been a decade since the famous

Y2K. First and foremost, we want to wish you a Happy New Year!! With the start of

the New Year, there are a lot of people who are making their New Year’s resolutions.

Whether it’s losing weight, quitting smoking or some other vice you may have or want

to have, we wish you luck and success in your quest. This New Year also means that we get to prepare for many of the

great events planned in our district over the course of 2010. This being the Washington District 30th Anniversary, it will be

an exciting time to get to know and visit with folks at our District Rally in July - which is now only 7 months away...Woo

Hoo!! There are already many events on our ride calendar this year and more are coming in every day. So much to see

and do, we can hardly wait. Have you looked at the calendar and started preparing your list of events and rides for 2010?

We have and we’ve determined that we need to have more vacation time to be able to attend everything we want to

attend. We’re getting closer to riding season, which is something we are all look forward to. Most of us who don’t ride

year round are already tired of the car and the inclement weather, so as the days tick by, we get more and more excited to

join all of you on the different events and get to visit with you and relax and have fun. A new year is a new beginning for

many of us. The last year has really impacted some people in a negative way, but now is the time to throw away last year

and, with a little luck and some hard work, change it for the better in this new decade.

Until Next Month...Get out and do something!!

John and Barb Smith

Assistant District Directors

“We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress.” - Will Rogers

“Be careful about reading health books. You might die of a misprint.” - Mark Twain

GGaarryy aanndd DDiiaannaa DDoommaass

AAssssiissttaanntt DDiissttrriicctt DDiirreeccttoorrss

HI EVERYBODY December has been more like January. The cold for the first couple weeks was down around 0, then freezing rain after that. I was able to get the wing out for a short ride yesterday. Can’t wait for warmer riding weather.

Diana and I, along with some Chapter L members, went over to visit Chapter R’s Christmas Party. The food was good and we had a great time. While I was there, I

talked with John and Dee about their replacement as CDs. They want to step down as CDs in February. So far they haven’t had any luck in getting anyone to step up. I’ve talked to one of their members that I think would do a great job but haven’t had any success yet. I plan on another trip over to Walla Walla next month to discuss with John & Dee who they think will make a good replacement.

By the time you read this, Christmas will have come and gone. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and will have a very Happy New Year. With the New Year, a lot of people make New Year’s resolutions. My resolution this year will be to ride safer then I have in the past. I had over 13,000 safe miles last year but I also had some close calls. The Rider Ed classes I’ve taken helped me get through the close calls. More training will be on my agenda next year. My challenge to our members is to take at least one class during the next year.

Ride safe and keep the rubber side down.

Gary and Diana Domas Assistant District Directors

Page 3 of 8

DDaavvee aanndd SShheeiillaa CChhaavveezz

DDiissttrriicctt EEdduuccaattoorrss

IS PRACTICE REALLY NECESSARY? Probably the majority of the riders and co-riders belonging to the GWRRA have

evolved to their current skill level after years of riding, many riders coming from a

background of much smaller bikes than the behemoth Gold Wing that most of us ride.

However, even with a background such as this, does this mean that practice is still not necessary or critical to continued

safe riding? I would argue NO…practice is still necessary to keep our skills honed razor sharp and to possibly learn new

skills in the safety of a practice environment. To support this concept we need only look as far as any of our community

police departments. Motor officers are usually the most skillful and experienced motorcycle riders in any community and

yet regular practice, even on a daily basis, is a way of life for them. An added benefit to practice, particularly in a specific

practice area, is that it is usually done among friends. This can often lead to a shared learning experience.

Unfortunately, the attitudes of motorcyclists toward safety, and the need to practice, vary greatly. The Motorcycle

Safety Foundation (MSF) has stated that the safety of motorcyclists is affected by their attitudes toward skill development,

their ability to practice risk management, and the influence of their riding peers regarding such issues as protective

apparel and riding while impaired. Some motorcyclists emphasize safety in motorcycling activities while others give it little

thought. Sadly, there is little in-depth information that specifically addresses the effects of peer pressure, attitudes toward

safety, and the individual rider’s ability to recognize risk and react appropriately.

According to current MSF affiliated research, knowledge of rider peer pressure and motorcyclists’ attitudes toward

safety appears to be primarily anecdotal. While peer pressure has been studied extensively regarding teenagers and

drug/tobacco/alcohol use, nothing major has been done on mature, and not always positively experienced, motorcycle

riders.

While many riders appear to believe in the efficacy of rider training programs to enhance their skill development and

increase their safety while riding, a good number remain untrained and therefore may miss important safety messages.

The prevalent rider training program in the United States (i.e., the BRC taught as part of the MSF curriculum) teaches skill

development, risk management, the use of protective apparel, and the danger of riding while impaired. The GWRRA also

has an excellent training course with its flagship Advanced Rider Course (ARC). These training programs and many like

them are an excellent way to maintain skills. In fact, for the GWRRA Levels Program, we actually need these programs to

maintain our individual rider levels and proficiency.

A superb way to supplement a continuing skills development process, and one that I intend to promote within

Washington State, is the Parking Lot Practice (PLP) Program developed by the GWRRA. A relatively new program, the

PLP was developed as a member benefit to “Remind and Refine” their riding skills and help to save lives. However, in its

current configuration, the GWRRA PLP requires certain specific elements in order to be properly implemented. The

GWRRA is concerned that PLP’s are conducted in a consistent manner in accordance with GWRAA guidelines and any

pertinent State Motor Vehicle Training guidelines. Because the State DMV requires some form of licensing to conduct

rider classes, the GWRRA has designed the PLP to ensure that no coaching is done while conducting a PLP. Great care

has been put into the design of the “GWRRA Motorcycle Parking Lot Practice Guide” to ensure that a trained Facilitator

can successfully conduct a PLP without the need to coach.

For the Washington District, a major problem that we face is that there are no trained PLP Facilitators in the State.

Hopefully, we can rectify this situation by offering for the first time a PLP Facilitator Certification Seminar at the next Rider

Education Workshop on February 20, 2010. The seminar will be offered at 2 different times at the RE Workshop. My

hope is that we can have at least one representative from each of our 19 Chapters across the State be present for the

training and become certified to conduct a PLP for their respective chapters. For more information please feel free to

contact me at: educator@gwrra-wa.org

Dave and Sheila Chavez District Educators

“I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it.” - W. C. Fields

“Until I was thirteen, I thought my name was SHUT UP.” - Joe Namath

Page 4 of 8

JJoohhnn aanndd BBaarrbb SSmmiitthh

DDiissttrriicctt WWeebbmmaasstteerrss

NEW YEAR AND NEW STUFF… Well, the New Year is here and we want to wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year. So Long 2009, Hello 2010. The District calendar has been updated with the new events for 2010 and there are a lot to choose from. There are more and more events and information coming in every day. We’ll continue to add more to the

website, as the events are finalized and flyers are being created, and posted for the membership to choose and pick the events they want to attend for this next year. In addition, over the course of the next year, we’ll also continue to update the District Website, adding new features here and there to make the site a little better and more user-friendly. Information is power, so the more you know, the quicker you can make the right decisions. And this is especially true for picking events that you want to spend your free time doing and enjoying with friends. If you’d like to see something on the website, please drop me a note/email and, depending on your suggestion, we may be able to accommodate it.

I’ve looked at several of the websites throughout our district and many of these are looking really good. For all you

chapter webmasters, great job and keep up the good work!!! You are making a difference.

Until next month…

John and Barb Smith District Webmasters

CHAPTER O BUILDS BIKES FOR “FORGOTTEN CHILDREN” On Friday morning December 11

th, Seattle country radio station KMPS held their annual bike drive in support of the

“Forgotten Children’s Fund”. Our District Directors, Bob and Patty Spencer, have been involved with this charity for several years and are responsible for putting crews together to build bicycles, while the KMPS radio morning show host, Ichabod Caine, and the “Waking Crew” broadcast live from a different location each year.

This year the Bike Drive location was at the Port Orchard Fred Meyer store, so Chapter O was called upon to assemble bicycles while KMPS radio broadcasted live from the site. Chapter O Director Ken Smith was contacted and he put John Scrivner on the task of lining up a crew of bike builders. So at 6:00 am on a cold Friday morning, Chapter O members John Scrivner, Pat Holmes, John Siefert, Fred Schmidt, Jack Davies, John Morrison, Bill Biltoft and Mike Gilmore joined Leah Gray and Dave Steik from chapter E and Bob and Patty Spencer were at the Fred Meyer store with tools in hand and went to work, as listeners called in to purchase and donate bicycles.

As a special treat for the bike builders and audience that had congregated, KMPS arranged for a live show featuring country music star Joe Nichols and local violinist Geoffrey Castle. After Joe Nichols performed a few Christmas songs, he joined our chapter O team to assemble a bicycle and then met with fans and signed autographs and CDs. We lost Patty as soon as Joe showed up and she was first in line for a hug from Joe. She’s been on a cloud ever since. The Bike Drive came to an end at 10:00 am and was a great success! Over 250 bikes were assembled that morning, and KMPS listeners had donated over 650 new bicycles to the “Forgotten Children’s Fund”.

All bicycles are delivered by a “live” Santa on Christmas Eve or Day, along with a helmet, a new coat and other gifts and food stuffs. For more information about the “Forgotten Children’s Fund” and how you can donate your time or money, go to their website at www.forgottenchildrensfund.org. This is a great organization with a touching beginning and a worthwhile cause.

Page 5 of 8

THANK YOU FROM MIKE AND PEGGY

I wish to express to all of you that have called, sent e-mails, and shared your concerns in person or concerns given

to Peggy regarding the tragic event of November 29th. The loss of four officers was a hard hit to my law

enforcement family. It consequently became a hard hit to my extended family and friends outside of my profession

and your support to us has made it easier for Peggy and me to deal with it. It has also shown you care about us and

for that we are truly blessed.

I had the privilege to work with two of the Lakewood officers before they were employed by Lakewood. They

were great people, very caring and true professionals. They did not deserve the brutal attack that was brought

against them nor did their families. The community support that has been extended to Lakewood and to officers

beyond Lakewood has touched us in a way that we cannot always express in words. You just have to know you have

lightened our burden and it means a great deal.

I wrote to one of my friends via e-mail that I was honored to have known Tina and Greg. I was honored to have

worked with them and shared good times with them. They could be counted on when it was needed the most in any

situation. It is good to see the community support to their families when they need it most.

I just wanted to say Thank You to all of you for your support, your caring, your prayers and thoughts. We are

blessed with great friends who care for us and share our load. You have touched our hearts and enhanced our lives

and we are sincerely grateful.

Mike and Peggy Hudnell

SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font...

5. Was learning cursive really necessary?

6. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my

neighborhood.

7. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

8. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going

to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

9. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...

again.

10. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page

research paper that I swear I didn’t make any changes to.

11. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I’ll never wash this-- ever.

12. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Darn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings

nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

13. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day.

What a waste.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

15. My 4-year-old son asked me in the car the one day "What would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How do you

respond to that one?

HHHaaappppppyyy BBBiiirrrttthhhdddaaayyy tttooo CCChhhaaapppttteeerrrsss BBB aaannnddd YYY!!!!!!

Page 6 of 8

2010 EVENT SCHEDULE

JANUARY

15-17 WA-P Winter Retreat in Long Beach

23 WA-I Casino Night at Camp Murray

FEBRUARY

6 District Chapter Leadership Skill Program

(Seattle)

13 WA-D Bowling Challenge in Montesano

20 District Rider Education Workshop, Buckley

26-28 WA-P Mall Show in Longview

MARCH

5-7 District Chapter Leadership Skill Program

(Olympia)

12-14 WA-D Mall Show

20 District Chapter Leadership Skill Program

(Portland, OR)

26-28 WA-E Surf Watch at Ocean Shores

APRIL

2 WA-Q Auction and Dinner in Puyallup

3 WA-M & R Joint Breakfast in Prosser

10 WA-C Spring Fever Fun Run in Everett

16-18 Region I ARC/TRC/TC courses in Bremerton

18 WA-N Brown Bag Auction in Spokane

24-25 Region I ARC course in Bremerton

MAY

1-2 WA-M Fun Run and Campout in Yakima

1 Brothers Power Sports GWRRA Appreciation

15 District Officers Leadership Skills Program

(Moses Lake)

21-24 BC-G & K Victoria Days in BC

28-30 WA-L Desert Spring Fling in Kennewick

(This schedule is subject to change, so please check on the websites for current information.)

JUNE

4-6 WA-R Blue Mountain Rendezvous in Milton-

Freewater, OR

5 WA-H Farmer’s Parade in Lynden

5 WA-B Harvest Run

12 WA-D Duck Hunt in Aberdeen

17-19 OR District Rally (Warm Springs)

17-19 WY District Rally (Rock Springs)

29 GWRRA Wing Ding Couple of the Year selection

30-July 3 GWRRA Wing Ding (Des Moines, IA)

JULY

1-3 GWRRA Wing Ding continued

15-17 WA District Rally (Port Townsend)

23-25 MT District Rally (TBA)

30-2Aug Region J Rally (Saskatoon, SK)

AUGUST

14 WA-O Whale of a Picnic

21-22 WA-Z Chicken Run/Campout in Centralia

26-28 Region I Rally (Tillamook, OR)

29-Sept 2 Region I Migration to Idaho Rally

SEPTEMBER

1-2 Region I Migration continued

2-5 ID District Rally (Kellogg)

3-6 WA-B Campout at the Ocean

17-19 WA-P Oyster Feed at Long Beach

OCTOBER

9 District Leadership Conference

23 WA-Q Halloween Dance in Puyallup

22-24 WA-F South Hill Mall Show

NOVEMBER

6 WA-L Veterans’ Day Parade

DECEMBER

11 WA-D Festival of Lights in Montesano

These businesses provide much appreciated support to our organization. Please return the favor!!

180 Mount Paran Road, Jacksboro, TN 37757

423-562-9900 w

ww.bushtec.com

AAAmmmeeerrriiicccaaannn LLLaaassseeerrr WWWooorrrkkksss

CCCuuussstttooommm LLLaaassseeerrr EEEnnngggrrraaavvviiinnnggg

111888666000 CCCaaalll iii fffooorrrnnniiiaaa AAAVVV SSSEEE

PPPooorrrttt OOOrrrccchhhaaarrrddd,,, WWWAAA... 999888333666666

(((333666000))) 888777111---333777333888

Nwagner@americanlaserworks.com

Page 7 of 8

Washington District Chapters

Meeting Chapter Contact

1st Friday

Puyallup WA-Q

Dean & Christie Kalles

253-845-7177

1st Saturday

Federal Way WA-V

Garry & Maxine Alexander

253-770-3866

1st Saturday

Toppenish WA-M

Ron Hafsos

509-697-4415

1st Saturday

Milton-Freewater WA-R

John & Dee Maplethorpe

509-382-3187

1st Saturday

Vancouver WA-X

Dee Hall & Vanora Volk

360-254-2343

1st Sunday

Bremerton WA-B

Jim & June Dutton

(360) 692-3466

2nd Friday

Enumclaw WA-Y

Don & Marlene Weikart

206-915-8107

2nd Saturday

Everett WA-C

Bud & Sandy Wells

425-788-1734

2nd Saturday

Pasco WA-L

Alex Piper

509-546-0846

2nd Saturday

Centralia WA-Z

Jesse & Eva Valentine

360-273-0992

2nd Sunday

Aberdeen WA-D

Erv & Phyllis Granahan

360-249-3463

2nd Tuesday

Lynden WA-H

Chet & Kathy Renskers

360-332-4765

2nd Saturday

Longview WA-P

Charles & Reggie Porter

360-636-0519

3rd Saturday

Bellevue WA-E

John & Barb Smith

cd@gwrra-wae.org

3rd Sunday

Olympia WA-I

Doug & Donna Deskin

360-754-2903

3rd Sunday

Spokane WA-N

Dale & Shirley Dufner

509-924-3698

4th Saturday

Kent WA-A

Sam & Doreen Grubbs

425-572-0617

4th Saturday

Port Orchard WA-O

Ken Smith

360-876-6737

4th Sunday

Tacoma WA-F

Jim Duncan

duncan0001@comcast.net

(Please contact the Chapter Director when you schedule a visit.)

Two people can look

at the exact same

thing and see

something totally

different.

PLANNING THE RALLY TRIP

Like many of you, we start planning our rally

trips during this winter “downtime”. In addition

to plotting our route, we like to check out

community events held during the rally. For your

edification and entertainment, here what’s

happening in Port Townsend while we’re there.

(Each event listed contains a link to the details page in a community calendar www.ptguide.com.)

Thursday, July 15th:

Northwind Reading Series: Port Townsend Writers' Conference Poets

Jefferson Land Trust Bingo Nights

Blues Legend Magic Slim & The Teardrops

Friday, July 16th:

Making Violin Bows - Paul Siefried (Free Admission)

Concerts on the Dock: Deadwood Revival

Sailing aboard Pleiades on Port Townsend Bay

Saturday, July 17th:

Building a Swampscott Dory Workshop II: Sawn Frames, Bottom Transom, Stem and Set-Up

Port Ludlow Friday Market

W.S.U. Master Gardners Friday Plant Clinic

Castle Key Live Jazz: Bruce Cowan Trio

Studebaker John and The Hawks Blues Band

Summer Courtyard Music Suppers

Sunday, July 18th:

Puffin Cruises

Adult women only - Learn to Sail

Port Townsend Farmers Market

Castle Key Live Jazz: Le Trio Dimanche

Olympic Music Festival: Mozart Festival

Tim Halpin & The Better Half

Danny Schmidt Concert

So check out anything that looks interesting to

you and maybe we’ll see you there

Shirley and Dale Dufner

District Newsletter Editors

Page 8 of 8

WASHINGTON DISTRICT STAFF

District Directors Bob and Patty Spencer

Asst District Directors John and Barb Smith

Asst District Directors Gary and Diana Domas

Rider Educators Dave and Sheila Chavez

Leadership Trainers Mike and Lynn Briggs

Treasurers Deb and Chuck Buell

Membership Coordinator Carmen and Dan Weakland

Stores Lynn Briggs

Webmaster John and Barb Smith

Couple of the Year OPEN

IOY/COY Coordinators Dan and Carmen Weakland

Vendor Coordinators Peggy and Mike Hudnell

Newsletter Editors Shirley and Dale Dufner

The website has contact information: www.gwrra-wa.org

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

27 28 29 30 31

NEW YEAR’S

EVE

Partial Lunar Eclipse

JANUARY 1

HAPPY

NEW YEAR

2

WA-V CD

Installation

3

WA-B CD

Installation

4

Trivia Day

5 6 7 8

WA-Q CD

Installation

9

Balloon Ascension Day

10 11

International

Thank-You Day

12

Stephen

Foster

Memorial Day

13 14

Ratification Day

15

WA-P Winter

Retreat

16

WA-P Winter

Retreat

16

WA-P Winter

Retreat

18

MARTIN

LUTHER KING

JR DAY

19 20

21 22 23

WA-I Casino Night

at Camp Murray

24 25

Opposite Day

26

Australia Day

27

28 29 30

Full Moon

31

Call your family

today –

just because!!

FEBRUARY 1 2

Groundhog Day

3 4

Thank a Mailman

Day

5 6

District Chapter

Leadership Skill

Program (Seattle)

Your life can be changed in a matter of minutes by people who don't even know you. And visa-versa.

REGION I STAFF

Region Directors Steve and Sandra Henicksman

Assistant Directors Mike and Peggy Hudnell

Assistant Directors Hank and Marilyn Smith

Rider Educators Lee and Anna Nelson

Asst. Rider Educators Eric and Mona Carlson

Leadership Trainers John and Dianne Kester

Region Ambassadors Tom and Mozelle Edwards

Treasurer Diane Covert

ME Coordinators Donna and Doug Deskin

Newsletter Editor Dianne Kester

Webmaster Dave Covert

COY Coordinators Dale and Dale Dufner

Couple of the Year Bud and Peggy Nading

Individual of the Year Ken Harvey

The website has contact information: www.bigskyregioni.org

GWRRA Exec. Director Melissa Eason

The website has contact information: www.gwrra.org