Hello to everyone who enjoys the all the different ways of wheeling whether it be vehicle, razors, UTV, ATV’s, overlanders, on-line trail runners, and any other form of wheeling I did not mention.

I had been on the board of directors as the North District secretary/treasurer for many years, as well as volunteering to haul trailers and the raffle vehicle to many places. I began selling merchandise in the North District when the ever so missed Mr. Steve Gardiner was our state merchandise chair. Late 2021 I decided I wanted a different board position and ran for ND Membership Chair. I was very happy when I was able to begin fulfilling my position at the February Convention in 2022. I have been busy attending club meetings, events, and shows in the ND and I continued to sell merchandise, as it made sense since I was in attendance of many types of gatherings.

I have also started teaching a program called Hug-A-Tree where I teach informative survival techniques. This is a program not only for children, but many adults have stated they had no idea the simple things they can do to survive in the wilderness whether due to a wheeling breakdown or being lost — for the guys who think they never get lost — let’s call it ‘misplaced’. Okay maybe you didn’t find that funny, no worries my husband doesn’t laugh or smile at any of my jokes either.

Not only have I attended all the ND and board meetings, I managed to stay quite busy visiting several of our clubs and meeting truly awesome members whether at the club meetings or at an event or show. I was looking at my calendar for the 2022 year and I was astonished how much I have traveled. I have made trips to Scotts Valley, Tahoe, Santa Rosa, Sacramento and surrounding areas, Red Bluff, Hollister, Grass Valley, and Sonora.

For a quick rundown here are the wonderful things that kept me busy in 2022:
Aside from picking up and dropping off the raffle vehicle and trailers I worked Winter Fun Fest membership, merchandise, and making Saturday night dinner along with Sunday clean up with the Motherlode Rockcrawlers, Cal4Wheel convention, RSE (Redding Sportsman’s expo), Carnegie Appreciation Day (Motorcycles count too), July 4th parade, Thompsons Jeep Meet, Amador County Derby Pulls, Jeepers Jamboree, Jeep Jamboree, Sierra Trek, Skillz Day by Metalcloak. At all the shows and events, with the exception of convention and jamborees, many became annual members and quite a few became life members. Many thousands of dollars were brought in by membership. People loved the Gladiator Win-A-Jeep and were more than happy to try their luck at winning the awesome vehicle, but if not, then they were equally excited about possibly winning the other great raffle items. That made the tickets easy to sell.

Much to my disappointment there were a couple months I was unable to make any visits due to the horrendous fire in Amador County known as the Electra fire. I volunteer with an organization called ACART who takes in, and cares for, all types of evacuees’ animals due such disasters. However, I am delighted to report I did have the opportunity to meet with a few. I feel honored, lucky, and appreciative that you were all so willing to let me attend your meetings and speak to all your wonderful members. Thank you to: Joaquin Jeepers, Tuscan 4x4, Trailbusters 4x4, Boonie Bouncers, Tahoe Off Road Crew, Hi-Landers, Santa Cruz, Mud Sweat & Gears, Motherlode Rockcrawlers, Santa Rosa 4x4, Esprit De Four, and Sierra Treasure Hunters. I learned so much from all of you and especially enjoyed all the wheeling stories you have all experienced, some were funny and others informative on how to fix our ‘oops should have taken of that before wheeling’ excursions. I am still encouraging you all to write about them for the In Gear. Give our readers the incentive to write themselves, it’s entertaining and provides the knowledge of how things can be either fixed on the trail or at the least make it possible to limp your ride home. I hope you all learned something from me as well.

Regarding the ND merchandise, I was forced to surrender all ND merchandise and it is now in the hands of Mr. Shawn Bell, our Merchandise Chair in southern California. I was very disheartened that I had to give up this region’s merchandise as I had invested many hours to inventorying, packing, traveling, selling then re-inventorying and enjoyed every minute of it. Needless to say, I had brought in thousands of dollars selling our products and there are many opportunities this coming year to sell even more, but sometimes I guess as a volunteer you just have to reluctantly say c’est la vie to a passion.

My thank you’s go out to: all the clubs and members for supporting Cal4Wheel, all the volunteers who put your all into it, event chairs who work endlessly to ensure our events are great. Suzy our webmaster and editor where do I begin? I’ll start with you’re amazing, quick, forever helpful just to name a few, but the list goes on and on, you will definitely be missed. The office staff who work many hard hours and have to answer the never-ending ringing phone, my BOD peers for facing and making the most difficult decisions, our raffle vehicle builders for putting in so much time and effort to build our incredible vehicles, and all our sponsors for donating all you do for our raffles, which would not exist if it weren’t for you. A big thank you to the Cal4wheel Conservation and Education Foundation for approving my grant request to teach the Hug-A-Tree program.

My plan now until next convention: to get out there and see more clubs, meet new people, bring in more members whether annual, life, or associate members, and attend the many shows and events as 2022 and perhaps even more. Until I write again, please get out there and volunteer even if it’s for only a day, we could use your help. Write articles about your adventures; we’d love to read about them. If you pack it in, pack it out, educate those on the trails that could use it, or need it, whether they’re a friend or a stranger. Take the time to help those who have broken down, remember we all have something in common and it could be you some day. Teach and practice safety and trail etiquette, stay on the trails, have fun, and the most important of all PLEASE do not drink and drive, remember it’s against the law.