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BMW Club Newsletter - August 2026 Newsletter

Our club had a great turnout at the national MOA Rally in June.

Hello BMW Minnesota Club, it's been a busy summerfor our club! Here is your August newsletter:

Time change for ZARS - August 22 June 16 Group Ride July 9 Club Meeting MOA Rally - Vermont RA Rally - Chippewa Falls Top of the Rockies Rally Grand Marais Campout Annual Club Picnic - August 23 Needed: 2027 Hiawatha Rally Co-chair

Time change for ZARS - August 22 Our Advanced Rider Training has moved to 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday August 22. Hopefully it will be cooler then! The time was previously 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. that day. At this time, we still have four open spots. Log in to the club website and then click hereto reserve your spot. The cost is $50.

Notes about the ZARS event:

We are having a campout at St. Croix Regional Park. It will begin after the ZARS course: 3 p.m. August 22 to 11 a.m. August 23. We will ride from the campout to the club picnic in Afton. We plan to have a late lunch/dinner Saturday in Hastings - Stay tuned for details. There will be a food truck and photographer at the track. Email Chris Svensrud at chris.svensrud@gmail.comfor more information.

June 16 Group Ride Dan Reese hosted a small group ride on June 16 in honor of his father Steve’s birthday:

They were joined by (from left) Adam Benedix, Gene Paulauskas, Jeff Ricker, and Steve Ballantine

July 9 Club Meeting Thanks to Chuck and Julie Bushnell for hosting the July club meeting at their home in Maple Grove. We had a great turnout:

Here is our host doing a wonderful job as grill master:

Thank you for the birthday cake and good wishes (my 70th birthday was the next day). Beth Forristall wisely did not include all those candles. She did not want to make the ongoing problem with wildfire smoke even worse!

MOA Rally - Vermont As shown in the group photo above, we had quite a few members attend the national MOA rally in Vermont June 11-13. I think we had the second largest chartered club attendance (behind Detroit for the second straight year). To get to the rally, Chris Svensrud and Dan Maki rode east through Canada and crossed the bridge from Ottawa into Ogdensburg, New York:

We raised the banner at the chartered club site to announce our arrival in style:

Ruth and Jeff Guertin visited Ben and Jerry’s on the way to the rally:

Chris Svensrud won an award in the People’s Choice bike contest with his S1000XR. I asked Chris about his strategy: "If you don't enter, you'll never win."

Beth Forristall is such a devoted club volunteer! She took her turn at keeping an eye on Daniel Maki at the MOA rally:

RA National Rally The national BMW Riders Association (RA) rally was held in Chippewa Falls from June 18-21. Unfortunately, we did not take a club photo. Here are some of our members enjoying a cold beverage:

Top of the Rockies Rally The BMW club of Colorado held their annual Top of The Rockies rally July 23-26. Thanks toCraig Olson,Linda Theisen,Nancy Kennedy, and Pat Besanson for representing our club:

Grand Marais Campout The annual Grand Marais campout is Friday August 14 to Monday August 17 at the Grand Marais city campground. Registration is not required. Northern Minnesota has experienced a terrible round of fires and smoke this summer. At this time, we are still planning to hold our campout. Dan Reese said his dad Steve (our campout organizer) will definitely be there. We hope you can make it too. Annual Club Picnic - August 23 Our annual club picnic is Sunday August 23 in Afton Town Square Park. The time is 12-4 p.m. The club will provide burgers, brats, buns, and condimentsas well as plates/napkins/plasticware. Please bring a side dish or dessert to share, plus your own beverages. Needed: 2027 Hiawatha Rally Co-chair At the picnic, we will vote whether to hold our 50th annual Hiawatha Rally, which will be June 4-6, 2027. Terry Lewis is our 2027 rally chair, but we really need a volunteer to be Terry's co-chair. If you are ready to vote to hold the 2027 rally, then please consider stepping up to take this critical rally position. Email me if you want to find out what all is involved. Thanks, Joel Howard BMW Minnesota Club Recorder