Rally for a Reason! By Heidi Goehring #181764
I HAD NEVER BEEN TO A RALLY before. I didn’t own a motorcycle. I didn’t even ride a motorcycle. So I was a bit surprised when my BMW MOA motorcycling brother suggested my daughter and I go with him to the Wisconsin Dells Rally, hosted by the Wisconsin BMW Club. That was in 2002, the first year it was being held at the Chula Vista Resort in the lovely Wisconsin Dells. His reasoning was simple. I needed
a getaway. The resort has a waterpark, and the club has a Kiddie Carnival, ample things to keep my 11-year-old occupied. My brother also rattled off all the things that were included with the rally fee: Friday and Saturday night meals, 24/7 beverages (non- alcoholic of course), fruit and donuts in the morning, live music, beer tent, yadda-yadda-yadda, and the fact that they were letting us pitch tents on the lawn. It was quite cost effective—so we were off! I was a little concerned at first. You
see, my daughter Mariah also has Down syndrome. I didn’t know how a group of bikers would respond to a young lady with special needs. But the BMW community embraced
her—more than at some events I’d taken her to over the years that were supposed to be for people with different abilities. Anyhow, it was an awesome weekend, and I got the motorcycling bug. While attending the rally, I also discov-
ered Camp Wawbeek—an Easter Seals camp located right there in the Dells about 2.5 miles away from Chula Vista. I did a lit- tle homework and started sending my daughter to various camp offerings there. Every time I pick her up, she doesn’t want to leave. She absolutely loves this camp and the amazing, caring staff and volunteers who keep the oldest Easter Seals camp in the nation running. But I digress... The following year we came back to the
Wisconsin Dells Rally. This time I had a motorcycle license and was riding a 1995 Ural with my daughter in the sidecar. In 2010, I upgraded to a 1991 BMW R 100 R with a sidecar. (I say upgraded because the older BMW actually allows me to keep up to speed with traffic.) We haven’t missed this rally in 14 years, truly enjoy all the friendships we’ve made and always look forward to welcoming the new “rally vir- gins.” Somewhere during that time, I became an MOA member, too. Changes started in 2016. The site location
was just not working out for either the club or the resort. A move was called for and I
received an interesting phone call in Janu- ary from Ambassador Brian Manke, rally chair. Brian is a good friend and has learned
quite a bit about Mariah over the years. Thus, he knew about the camp and how much she enjoys it. He started asking about the Easter Seals location and amenities on the site. I shared with him what I knew and told him I’d place a call into the camp direc- tor, who is also a good friend. That phone call went something like this: Me: Hi Carrissa! You know Mariah and I
have been attending the BMW Dells Rally for years now, and they’ve got a situation. We are wondering if there would be an option of moving our rally
to Camp
Wawbeek? Carrissa: That would be great! What are
the dates your looking at? Me: September 9-11. Carrissa: (getting excited) That’s an open
weekend! How many people are we talking? Me: They’re planning for 400, hoping for
five. Carrissa: (sigh) We only have beds for
200. Me: No, no, no! We camp! How much
space for tents? Carrissa: (perking up) We have 400 acres! We continued to discuss options. We can
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BMW OWNERS NEWS August 2016
lifestyle
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