DirtRiders, Inc. Newsletter
December 11, 2005

Club Email: dirtridersinc@yahoo.com
Club Website: http://www.dirt-rider.org

President Steve Arteman's Opening Remarks:

The meeting, held at the Oreana firehouse, was called to order at 7:00pm by the Club President, Steve Arteman.
The meeting was opened with Steve extending a "Thank you" to the individuals that took the time to take down the Charity Race course markers and clean up trash from the fields in the weeks after the race.

Steve explained that he had been contacted by the Timmerman family shortly after the race. Gene's daughter, Tammy, asked there was going to be another race because all the signs and markers were still in the fields. Tammy informed Steve that they wanted to spread lime and they didn't want to take down any markers if there was going to be another race.

Steve told her that no more races were scheduled and if club members did not get the markers removed before they were to get the lime spread and if they had to "pay" someone to get things cleaned up; the club would pay the cost.

Tammy said the weather wasn't cooperating anyway and her son, Ryan, would remove a lot of the stuff. Steve apologized for the inconvenience.

Jack Stoerger, Josh and Caleb Rich, Dave McCullough, Patrick and P.J. Riley, Mark Whitted, a few that didn't bother to claim work time and a couple of non-members inquiring about joining the club, all worked to get the fields and a majority of the course taken down. Jack said, "There might still be a few markers out there, but most everything is in the clubhouse now."

The Mike Piper Memorial Team Hare Scramble Race:

Steve extended a "Thank you" from club members and non-members that participated in the Charity Race, to John Gepford, Tom Lange, Paul Toth and everyone that helped set-up and conduct the event. Steve, John and other members have heard comments about the race and they were all POSITIVE! Beautiful weather and perfect ground conditions contributed to attract more than 100 riders to a 4 mile course that everyone said was "excellent". They are all looking forward to next years race.

John stated that the event generated $1600 in cash and an approximate equal amount in toys that was all donated to the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Macon County. John said he had more help this year than ever in the past with setting up the course, but having enough help to sign in and score was still a little scarce.

Webmaster, Chris Smith, has updated the club web-site with photos and descriptions of the race. Thanks Chris. Hopefully he will be able to post the results soon.

Dirtriders Sponsored events for 2006:

District 17 hare scrambles hosted by the DirtRiders and held at Oakford will be June 11th and Oct. 1st.
The Charity race will be Nov 12th.
The District 17 Trials will be held on September 10th with a riding school on the 9th.
Fun rides will be scheduled for the 3rd Sunday of each month March through October weather permitting!
Additional items:

NOISE!
John Gepford brought up the noise issue again. This was discussed at the last meeting and will be discussed again. People are buying land surrounding our little piece of heaven and encroaching on our "right of way". It appears that there is development taking place across the river that borders the North side of the Club Grounds.

Although we were here first, if we disturb our neighbors it could lead to the demise of the club. It happens around farm communities all the time. Someone with a high paying job buys a farm, builds a big expensive "dream house" and then complains that the hog farm down the road (that has been there for 50 years) is a nuisance because of the smell and that it's presence is hurting their real estate value. They then try to get the farmer, whose livelihood and business is "farming", to cease operation and clean up. Never mind that the farmer has 30 years and hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in an operation started by his family many years earlier; the new rich neighbors see him as a nuisance.

We will probably be seen as a nuisance if we make too much noise. For some people, we might be a nuisance just by being here. We all agree that the current sound decibel limit needs to be revised. The discussion is what level do we want to adopt and how we are going to enforce it.

Senate Bill 251

Senate Bill 251 that was brought up at the last meeting by Jay Hall was passed by the State legislature and signed into a law August 18th, 2005 by Governor Rod Blagojevich. (Public Act 094-0625).

Steve Arteman had information from a Personal Injury Attorney in Clinton that SB251 was a bill that provided liability protection for landowners. Upon further investigation Steve found out that the protections were already in place and what SB251 did was to narrow the definition of "recreational or conservation activities" to be limited to "….hunting or recreational shooting or a combination thereof…."

The bill as written was broader, but part of the wording was struck at the last minute before it was voted on and subsequently enacted.

Here is how a portion of it was written. Underlined portion was kept - lined through portion was struck. Definitions:
(a) "Land" includes roads, water, water courses, private ways and buildings, structures, and machinery or equipment when attached to the realty, but does not include residential buildings or residential property.
(b)"Owner" includes the possessor of any interest in the land, whether it be a tenant, lessee, occupant, The State of Illinois and it's political subdivisions, or a person in control of the premises.
(c) "Recreational or conservation purpose" means entry onto the land of another to conduct hunting or recreational shooting or a combination thereof or any activity soley related to the aforesaid hunting or recreational shooting any activity undertaken for conservation, resource management, exercise, education, relaxation, or pleasure on land owned by another.

The General Assembly needs to pass a new law that will restore the protection from liability to landowners that was taken away by Public Act 94-0625.

The following organizations support the recommended actions to reinstate liability protection for all recreation and conservation purposes.
Audubon, Chicago Chapter
Chicagoland Bicycle Federation
Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Association
The Conservation Foundation
Forest Preserve District of DuPage County
Fox Valley Land Foundation
Friends of the Parks
Illinois Association of Park Districts
Illinois Audubon Society
Illinois Environmental Council
Illinois Federation for Outdoor Resources (IFOR)
Illinois Paddling Council
Land Conservancy of McHenry County
Lake County Forest Preserve District
Land Trust Alliance
League of Illinois Bicyclists
McHenry County Conservation District
McHenry County Defenders
The Nature Conservancy
Openlands Project
Partners for Parks and Wildlife
Park District Risk Management Association
Prairie Coast Paddlers
Prairie State Canoeists
Sierra Club
Trout Unlimited (Illinois Council)

Other organizations that may support reinstatement actions: The Blue Ribbon Coalition, The American Motorcyclist Association, Illinois Motorcycle Dealers Association and smaller, local sportsman clubs. We can start by writing letters to our state legislators and look for support from other groups.

I, Steve Arteman, apologize for the mis-information I presented at the meeting.
For members with Internet access you might check out the Ill. General Assembly web site http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=094-0625&GA=094
Saint Louis Supercross Feb 18th
Chris Smith was unable to attend the meeting, but emailed Steve Arteman about the offer to buy a "block of seats" for the Supercross race in St. Louis, Sat. 18th, 2006. Chris needs anyone that is interested in going to the race and sitting as a group together in one section, to let him know and get the money to him before Christmas. Cost will be about $45 per ticket.
Plan A) Order them like last year (payment in advance)
Plan B) Raymond Devlin has an allocation (John thinks they are Club Level) and get the tickets from Raymond.

Call Chris at 309-454-4239 or his cell phone 309-530-3590 or email him cp.smith@insightbb.com

Club Membership:

Update not available.

Meetings:
February and March meetings will be held in the Oreana Firehouse. NO MEETING IN JANUARY!

The next meeting will be Feb 7th at the Oreana firehouse 7:00PM.
Note to the officers from Steve: I would like all officers to attend the Feb. meeting and be prepared to stay a little later than everyone else to discuss insurance matters. It shouldn't take more than 20 minutes.
Club Officers for 2005/2006 are:

Steve Arteman - President 800-950-6532 W, 217-620-6561 C
Jim Weaver - Vice president 217-672-3638 H, 217-433-3624 C
Wayne Thais - Secretary 217-687-2824 H, 217-377-8229 C
John Gepford - Treasurer 217-424-8950 H (after 4:30pm)
Jay Hall - Referee 217-566-3735 H, 217-789-0426 W
Tom Robinson - Grndskeeper 217-763-6674 H
Bryan Kite - Trophy God 217-425-7094 H
JWT 12/11/05