ABOUT HISTORY
Club History ~ Dap
Greetings to all the "Ridin' Friends Of Bill" out there in cyberspace who might happen on our site. I'm Dap, the Club Historian and one of the "Founders" of the Third Tradition Motorcycle Club. This little blurb ain't about me but to qualify, I've been riding motorcycles since delivering papers on a Cushman Eagle in Prescott, Arizona in 1956. In 1982, I stumbled into AA in Phoenix, Arizona where I had landed during an unsuccessful geographical. Thank God and "The Fellowship", I've been Clean & Sober ever since!
About a year after I sobered up, I joined the local chapter of a Clean & Sober club and about a year later the "troubles" came down and we folded our colors. The following year a few of us decided to try a low profile group and adopted the name Third Tradition. We designed a patch with a camel on a gold shield and had a dozen T-shirts printed up. It didn't go very far, four members and a dozen shirts doesn't exactly make a viable club. Anyway, we canned the idea after a few "putts" and I decided to go home to Orange, Virginia as I was getting nowhere as a rent-a-cop in Phoenix. "The idea" and the left over shirts came with me.
By 1987, I'd met some fellow C&S riders in the Orange, Charlottesville and Fredericksburg area and we decided to try "the idea" on the east coast. We had some new shirts printed and added a banner with our club motto, "Sober In The Wind" above the shield. We also had our club prayer with which we close all our meetings and our three club legacies, "Sobriety, Brotherhood and Safety". The first meeting of the "reborn" TTMC was held at the Hangar Café at the Orange County Air Port on April 24, 1987. I was the only one there who'd ever been in, or even heard of, a Clean & Sober club and none of us really knew how to organize the thing; but, we adopted a simple "Preamble" and things were rolling.
In the fall of '87 a few of us rode up to the Baltimore Toy Run and it was there that we met some of the Sober Tramps MC. We were already planning a little Christmas Party at the Hangar Café and they agreed to come down. The Tramps were only a couple of years old and the two clubs hit it off from the start (In July of '88 we became "Brother Clubs"). We now have the same relationship with the About 12 MC of Maryland. On April 9th and 10th of that year we held the first of what would become our Annual Anniversary Bash with members of the Sober Tramps, the Phoenix and the Survivors MC riding in to help us celebrate our first year "Sober In The Wind". With this gathering, I believe we all began to feel that we were accepted into the growing community of Clean & Sober bikers and it felt good.
The "Brotherhood and Sisterhood" of the motorcycling world coupled with the "Spiritual Fellowship" of AA & NA is hard to beat! After all, most of us were too old to take up golf and join the Kawanis when we got straight! No longer did we use drugs or booze but we weren't into giving up our scooters or our Rock & Roll! There's life after sobriety!
Since our founding, like all clubs, we've had some up and downs and a lot of cussing and fussing but somehow we've made it. "Wanta Be's" have come and gone but we've always had a solid core of Bros & Sisters who really understand what it's all about. For those of us who've hung in there, it's about love, it's about family.
TTMC has done some things that we can be proud of. In 1990, we organized the first BADD DAY AT BEAUMONT. Beaumont Juvenile Corrections in Powhatan County, Virginia is the state reform school and we took bikers from four C&S and two Christian clubs into the facility to put on a Bike Show and Rodeo for the kids and give 'em a good anti-drug and anti-booze talk. It went over big with the kids and for the next eight years was the number one event at the facility. (BADD stands for Bikers Against Drugs & Drinking). We had to discontinue it due to some major changes in the policies at Beaumont after 1998.
Our Freedom Chapter played a number of softball games, "The Bikers vs The Bears," with the Stafford Sheriff's Department to raise money for the DARE program. And our Bros in the Norfolk and Virginia Beach area have held a number of Poker Runs to support the local Food Bank. We even "adopted a highway" to clean up trash between Orange and Gordonsville, Virginia. That was fun but although everyone voted to do it, it was a hassle to get everyone together to actually come out and pick up the beer cans and McDonald cups! As a club we've always tried to support as many of the worthwhile fund raisers of our fellow C&S clubs as possible. In short, TTMC has earned a good reputation. For any club, a good reputation is the hardest thing to earn and the easiest thing to loose and we try to keep that in mind.
Our Annual Anniversary Bash has grown from a little dance and dinner at the Orange Airport into a major motorcycle rally complete with live band, pig roast, bike show and rodeo and a scenic "putt" on the Skyline Parkway, a three day event with the works! Last year alone we had twelve C&S and three Christian clubs roll in from as far away as Florida, New York and Ohio! (We have a very special relationship with our Christian Brothers and Sisters. The Sons of God MC holds a "Biker Church" on Sunday morning to wrap up the Bash every year. We consider the Christian clubs our "Spiritual First Cousins.")
In June this year, 2002, TTMC will celebrate our 15th year "Sober In the Wind!" So, check out the event calendar and come on down to Old Virginny, we'd be honored to have ya'll! In the meantime, keep the FAITH and keep in touch, we love ya and we'll see ya on the road!
Yo Old Bro, Dap
About a year after I sobered up, I joined the local chapter of a Clean & Sober club and about a year later the "troubles" came down and we folded our colors. The following year a few of us decided to try a low profile group and adopted the name Third Tradition. We designed a patch with a camel on a gold shield and had a dozen T-shirts printed up. It didn't go very far, four members and a dozen shirts doesn't exactly make a viable club. Anyway, we canned the idea after a few "putts" and I decided to go home to Orange, Virginia as I was getting nowhere as a rent-a-cop in Phoenix. "The idea" and the left over shirts came with me.
By 1987, I'd met some fellow C&S riders in the Orange, Charlottesville and Fredericksburg area and we decided to try "the idea" on the east coast. We had some new shirts printed and added a banner with our club motto, "Sober In The Wind" above the shield. We also had our club prayer with which we close all our meetings and our three club legacies, "Sobriety, Brotherhood and Safety". The first meeting of the "reborn" TTMC was held at the Hangar Café at the Orange County Air Port on April 24, 1987. I was the only one there who'd ever been in, or even heard of, a Clean & Sober club and none of us really knew how to organize the thing; but, we adopted a simple "Preamble" and things were rolling.
In the fall of '87 a few of us rode up to the Baltimore Toy Run and it was there that we met some of the Sober Tramps MC. We were already planning a little Christmas Party at the Hangar Café and they agreed to come down. The Tramps were only a couple of years old and the two clubs hit it off from the start (In July of '88 we became "Brother Clubs"). We now have the same relationship with the About 12 MC of Maryland. On April 9th and 10th of that year we held the first of what would become our Annual Anniversary Bash with members of the Sober Tramps, the Phoenix and the Survivors MC riding in to help us celebrate our first year "Sober In The Wind". With this gathering, I believe we all began to feel that we were accepted into the growing community of Clean & Sober bikers and it felt good.
The "Brotherhood and Sisterhood" of the motorcycling world coupled with the "Spiritual Fellowship" of AA & NA is hard to beat! After all, most of us were too old to take up golf and join the Kawanis when we got straight! No longer did we use drugs or booze but we weren't into giving up our scooters or our Rock & Roll! There's life after sobriety!
Since our founding, like all clubs, we've had some up and downs and a lot of cussing and fussing but somehow we've made it. "Wanta Be's" have come and gone but we've always had a solid core of Bros & Sisters who really understand what it's all about. For those of us who've hung in there, it's about love, it's about family.
TTMC has done some things that we can be proud of. In 1990, we organized the first BADD DAY AT BEAUMONT. Beaumont Juvenile Corrections in Powhatan County, Virginia is the state reform school and we took bikers from four C&S and two Christian clubs into the facility to put on a Bike Show and Rodeo for the kids and give 'em a good anti-drug and anti-booze talk. It went over big with the kids and for the next eight years was the number one event at the facility. (BADD stands for Bikers Against Drugs & Drinking). We had to discontinue it due to some major changes in the policies at Beaumont after 1998.
Our Freedom Chapter played a number of softball games, "The Bikers vs The Bears," with the Stafford Sheriff's Department to raise money for the DARE program. And our Bros in the Norfolk and Virginia Beach area have held a number of Poker Runs to support the local Food Bank. We even "adopted a highway" to clean up trash between Orange and Gordonsville, Virginia. That was fun but although everyone voted to do it, it was a hassle to get everyone together to actually come out and pick up the beer cans and McDonald cups! As a club we've always tried to support as many of the worthwhile fund raisers of our fellow C&S clubs as possible. In short, TTMC has earned a good reputation. For any club, a good reputation is the hardest thing to earn and the easiest thing to loose and we try to keep that in mind.
Our Annual Anniversary Bash has grown from a little dance and dinner at the Orange Airport into a major motorcycle rally complete with live band, pig roast, bike show and rodeo and a scenic "putt" on the Skyline Parkway, a three day event with the works! Last year alone we had twelve C&S and three Christian clubs roll in from as far away as Florida, New York and Ohio! (We have a very special relationship with our Christian Brothers and Sisters. The Sons of God MC holds a "Biker Church" on Sunday morning to wrap up the Bash every year. We consider the Christian clubs our "Spiritual First Cousins.")
In June this year, 2002, TTMC will celebrate our 15th year "Sober In the Wind!" So, check out the event calendar and come on down to Old Virginny, we'd be honored to have ya'll! In the meantime, keep the FAITH and keep in touch, we love ya and we'll see ya on the road!
Yo Old Bro, Dap
Associate & Fellow Clubs
Our thanks go out to all those involved over the years who have shown support for TTMC, we are greatly appreciative of your hospitalty, occasional horseplay, and most of all the love of brotherhood, sisterhood, and camaraderie.
In no particular order a special thanks to;
~ Messengers MC
~ About 12 MC
~ Finally Free MC
~ Sober Tramps MC
~ Sons Of God MC
~ Viet Nam Vets MC
and so many others, be good to one another, and until we meet again, ride hard!
In no particular order a special thanks to;
~ Messengers MC
~ About 12 MC
~ Finally Free MC
~ Sober Tramps MC
~ Sons Of God MC
~ Viet Nam Vets MC
and so many others, be good to one another, and until we meet again, ride hard!
Club Profile ~ Bonz
TTMC was founded in April of 1987, at the Orange County, Virginia Airport Café, and is the brainchild of Herman S. "Dap" of Charlotte Court House, Virginia. In the beginning, the Club was kept purposely small and its collective aim simple: recovery and ride. Through all the ups and downs, members going back out for further research, the deaths of Charter Member Sluefoot and Patch Holders Smokey and Boomer, and all the fussin and cussin; a core group of members has always stuck together to make it work. The foundation of the Club's survival has always been in placing emphasis on recruiting only those people who are serious about their program of sobriety.
Membership in TTMC is only by invitation of a Full Patch Holder and is open to those who meet the following criteria: active involvement in AA and/or NA, at least six months clean and sober, and ownership, and exclusive access to, a properly licensed, street legal and insured motorcycle. There are five levels of membership: Hangaround, Prospect Full Patch Holder, Sweet Heart and Associate member.
Patch Holder status affords the Member the right to vote in any and all Club meetings and to hold offices. Full Patch Holders are required to meet all membership requirements, stay current in all dues, participate in all Club functions, and to represent the Club in a positive manner at all times.
Members in Good Standing may retire their colors after having served seven years as a Full Patch Holder in Good Standing. Retired members cannot hold office and are admitted free of charge at all official TTMC functions.
TTMC currently has four chapters statewide: the Southern Chapter located in the South Central Region of VA; the Freedom Chapter, located in Northern VA; the Outer Limits Chapter, located in the Southeastern Region of the state and the original Jefferson Chapter, located in Central VA.
Whenever the Charter Members founded the Club, they took care to include a statement in the Preamble making it very plain that TTMC was not to be a substitute for AA and NA. Dap is found of saying, "This thing of ours is the icing on the cake." Today, with our emphasis on quality over quantity, most TTMC members agree that the icing tastes pretty good.
Membership in TTMC is only by invitation of a Full Patch Holder and is open to those who meet the following criteria: active involvement in AA and/or NA, at least six months clean and sober, and ownership, and exclusive access to, a properly licensed, street legal and insured motorcycle. There are five levels of membership: Hangaround, Prospect Full Patch Holder, Sweet Heart and Associate member.
Patch Holder status affords the Member the right to vote in any and all Club meetings and to hold offices. Full Patch Holders are required to meet all membership requirements, stay current in all dues, participate in all Club functions, and to represent the Club in a positive manner at all times.
Members in Good Standing may retire their colors after having served seven years as a Full Patch Holder in Good Standing. Retired members cannot hold office and are admitted free of charge at all official TTMC functions.
TTMC currently has four chapters statewide: the Southern Chapter located in the South Central Region of VA; the Freedom Chapter, located in Northern VA; the Outer Limits Chapter, located in the Southeastern Region of the state and the original Jefferson Chapter, located in Central VA.
Whenever the Charter Members founded the Club, they took care to include a statement in the Preamble making it very plain that TTMC was not to be a substitute for AA and NA. Dap is found of saying, "This thing of ours is the icing on the cake." Today, with our emphasis on quality over quantity, most TTMC members agree that the icing tastes pretty good.
Contact
Interested in getting involved? We are always looking for friendship.
CONTACT ADDRESS
President - Kenny Lutter
Vice President - Chris Williams
Road Captain - Glen Kesner
Secretary - Ruth Bielke
Treasurer - Sarah Williams
(Full Name, Email, and Your Message are required fields.)
President - Kenny Lutter
Vice President - Chris Williams
Road Captain - Glen Kesner
Secretary - Ruth Bielke
Treasurer - Sarah Williams
(Full Name, Email, and Your Message are required fields.)
TO SEND
©2020 - OPENELEMENT.