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BMW Club Newsletter - January 2026

Hello BMW Minnesota Club. Here is your January 2026 newsletter. Note:There is not a regular club meeting tonight (Thursday January 8). You can have your "Second Thursday" evening back while you think ahead to how much fun you'll have at the club banquet on January 31. Topics in this newsletter:

Toys for Tots Collection Club Banquet and Food Shelf Collection Club Awards February 12 Club Meeting 2026 Club Meetings Hiawatha Rally Election Results License Tabs

Toys for Tots Collection Thank you to everyone who attended our December 11 club meeting. We collected hundreds of toys and other items for Toys for Tots. Thanks to Nancee Musto and Jeff Oden for delivering the donations to the Toys for Tots collection center.

Club Banquet and Food Shelf Collection Our club banquet is Saturday January 31 at the Lost Spur Event Center in Eagan. Come at 10 for coffee and camaraderie. The brunch buffet will be served at 11. To sign up, log in to our club website and then click here to open the banquet registration page. At the bottom left side of the page, select the number of attendees and click the Register Now button. Please bring food shelf donations, which we will deliver to the VEAP organization in Bloomington. Thank you for supporting our community. Dan Reese is collecting our photos for a slide show at the banquet. You can email photos (five at a time, please). Club Awards So far, we have only received one nomination for our annual club awards. I told Curt Henry this, and he observed that, "Maybe we had a safe, uneventful year of riding!" Hard Luck Shaft: Honors the member who had the worst luck, as measured in terms of a motorcycle accident or terrible mishap. MacGyver: A member recovers from a breakdown or other riding misfortune and uses their ingenuity to make it home. Helping Hands: Honors anyone who has gone out of their way to assist a BMW Minnesota club member. This does not have to be a club member. You can email your nominations to me(Joel Howard) February 12 Club Meeting - Maple Grove Our next monthly club meeting is Thursday February 12. For a change of pace, we are meeting at Granite City Food and Brewery in Maple Grove. After meeting regularly in Roseville for the past few years, we wanted to try a venue that was convenient for our club members on the northwest side of town. Upcoming Club Meetings Did you receive a 2026 calendar as a holiday gift? Now you can add our club meetings for the next few months: March 12: Our annual March meeting at Richfield BMW. April 9: Our annual April meeting at Leo’s South. May 14: Our annual May meeting at Moon Motors. June 11: We will not hold a club meeting in June because it coincides with the national MOA and RA rallies. July 9: Our annual club meeting at the Bushnells in Maple Grove. August 16: Our annual picnic will be Sunday August 16 at the Afton City Park. September- December 2026: To be determined. The club board will consider whether we want to continue meeting at Rosetown American Legion or move to other venues. Contact your favorite board member if you have suggestions. Hiawatha Rally Our 49th annual rally is Friday May 29 to Sunday May 31. We are back at Money Creek. To sign up, log in to our club website and then click here to open the banquet registration page. At the bottom left side of the page, select the number of attendees and click the Register Now button.

Terry Stirewalt Terry Lewis

We have new rally leadership. Terry Stirewalt, our vice president, is stepping in as our new 2026 rally chair. Terry replaces Owen Applequist, who is starting a new business and needs to focus on it this year. Thank you, Owen, for your contributions to the rally Meanwhile, Terry Lewis will continue as our rally co-chair. I sent out a rally email last week and highlighted a new prize: If you pre-register before May 9, you will be eligible for a free set of tires. A club member asked who was providing these tires. The tires are being donated by one of our excellent door prize sponsors. When we decide which vendor will sponsor this particular prize, we will let everyone know. They deserve our thanks and support! Election Results A club member asked why we did not publish the vote counts for our November board election: Steve Ballantine and Chris Svensrud were elected as our new at large board members. Ron Bongard and Michael Selonalso ran but were not elected. The current board decided: if you are interested in the vote counts, please email me at. I will be happy to send this information to you. The board decided not to publish the results in an email to all members. Why? Let's have Greg Fetter, our past president and election coordinator, explain: "We didn't want to discourage candidates who run for the board but are not elected. They might see their vote totals and be disappointed. We appreciate their support for our club and hope they will continue to participate and volunteer." Again, send me an email if you want to receive the specific 2025 election results. License Tabs

Thank you for making it this far in the first club newsletter of the year. Just a quick reminder that now is the time to renew your motorcycle license tabs. They are due at the end of February, and let's hope we can get out for our first rides of the year in March. Joel Howard BMW Minnesota Club Recorder