The Tribe MC

From the Admiral Louis Caplan –

The Tribe Motorcycle Club First Annual Hanukkah Party

When: Sunday, December 12th, 2004. 12:30 PM
Where: Fairfax Plaza Community Room, 3813 Persimmon Circle.
Who: Tribe members and their immediate family or one guest. Non-Tribe members can pay $18 at the door to become members at the party. (Membership covers the 2005 year)

This will be a potluck party. Everyone is asked to bring a dish, drinks, utensils, or other needed things to the party. Please contact Louis to 1) Reserve (how many people altogether), and 2) Coordinate what type of food/product you will bring. We’d like to make sure we do not have 10 trays of latkes, and no plates. If you are bringing kosher food (Parve or Dairy) from a kosher kitchen, be sure to note that with Louis. Please respect that there will be some attendees who keep kosher.

Gifts / grab bag:
Every member/family is asked to bring:
- One UNWRAPPED present of less than $10, which will be donated as tzedakah to the Children’s Hospital. For guidelines see this link.
- One WRAPPED unisex present of less than $15, which will be used for a mystery gift exchange. (Something appropriate for a fellow Tribe Member)

Directions:
- From the DC Beltway (I-495) take Exit 52A, heading west on Rt. 236 (Little River Turnpike) towards Fairfax.
- Go to the eighth traffic light
- Turn right at the light, onto Pickett Road (shopping center at this intersection, including Chuck E Cheese, CVS, and a tire shop)
- Go to the second traffic light, and turn right onto Mathy Drive.
- Mathy is only one block long. At the end, turn left, and follow Persimmon Circle around.
- Party is in 3813 Persimmon Circle, near the pool (I will try to have balloons or some other type of marking). Please park in a VISITOR SPACE ONLY. You will not need a permit until after 5 pm. If you are not in a visitor space, you can be towed any time.

(If you will be coming from some other direction and would like directions from your origin, please contact Louis)

To contact Louis to reserve, or any matter related to the Hanukkah Party:
e-mail: Hanukkah “at” the-caplans “dot” us (Note this spelling of Hanukkah!)

Please reserve by Sunday, December 5th. (Earlier is always better!)

A couple of people have asked about the history of The Tribe Motorcycle Club, so I thought I’d post it here for posterity. The Tribe MC was conceived around March 2003, when Jay Rubin was profiled in a an article for Washington Jewish Week. That article caused many of us to contact him and we met on 30 March 2003 at the Northern Virginia JCC. That meeting led us to create the “JewishRiders” Yahoo Group, an effort to help us coordinate and reach out to other motorcyclists.

Those early days were thin, but there were a number of initial rides and we even all met up at the Sabra Grill in Pikesville on the 20th of June that summer. As the summer went on, we haggled over names, domain names, and organizational structure. On the 26th of October 2003, we met in Fairfax for a cookout, where Jay, Henry, and I (Jeff) were selected to form the steering committee which would deal with the club organizational issues. The three of us met that fall and established a ride calendar. Michael Krauss drafted our charter and Matt Rosenstock took the ride calendar and went to town as our ride Rabbi. The steering committee worked tirelessly through the winter to nail down the details.

The club met again on 28 March 2004 for a general meeting where the club name was officially adopted and the charter ratified. The charter and other organizational papers were filed with the Commonwealth of Virginia, officially incorporating the club. The charter named Jay, Henry and I as initial officers pending a club election, which was completed on 10 October. During the time after the first general meeting, Jay took the lead to design our club logo and to order patches. The website was established in August 2004.

The 2004 season was marked by at least seven club events with additional events planned before year end, including the club Chanukah party. At this point, the club is twenty members and growing, with others subscribed on the e-mail list (those of you who haven’t done so, send us your dues to get a patch). Our push for 2004 and 2005 is outreach to other Jewish motorcyclists in the Washington DC area and for a major demonstration of solidarity and fraternity at the Ride to Remember next year.

The Tribe had a great general meeting today at Bagel City in Rockville. At the end of this post are the minutes from that meeting with the following key highlights:

• Jay Rubin, Jeffrey Kay, and Henry Winokur were re-elected to their current positions of President, Vice President and Secretary/Treasurer respectively. We thank our Tribe mates for making our club a huge success.

• There will be a ride to Solomon Islands on 7 November, led by Michael Krauss. Details to follow.
• Our first annual Chanukah party will be held on 12 December 2004 at 12:30 PM. It will be a pot luck affair with families invited. More details to follow, but put this down on your calendar now. Everyone attending is asked to bring one unwrapped gift of $10 or less, which will be donated to a designated charity, and a second wrapped gift of $15 or less for a mystery gift exchange.
• Jay reported that the date for the Yom HaShoah ride is 15 May 2005. We realize that this is way in the future, but again put this down now. This is an opportunity to join with what we hope will be many other Jewish bike clubs to show strong solidarity.

Official meeting minutes (unapproved) may be reviewed by clicking the permaLink below.

Meeting Minutes 10 October 2004

Officers Present
Jay Rubin - President
Jeff Kay - Vice President

Steve Mazer — Nominations Committee

Agenda
1) Elections
2) Chanukah Party
3) Destinations
4) Other business

Jay declared a minyan at 10:30 AM.

1) Elections

Steve ran elections and the proposed slate of officers was voted in by acclamation.

2) Jay reported on various club business

Dues paid now go through end of 2005. Jay indicated that we will look into distributing 2005 rockers.

3) Chanukah Party

12 December at 12:30
Ben suggested that we ride up to Balt. to a home there that is decorated for the season. Will follow up as we get closer.
Louis Caplan to take the lead on pulling the party together.
Bring a $10 gift (unwrapped) to donate and 1 gift to gift swap max $15
Pot luck
Open to families
Will pay for party room out of treasury
Louis to send out e-mail

4) Ride scheduled for 7 November
Destination Solomon Islands. Michael Krauss will be the designated POC for the ride.

5) Destinations
Matt asked for suggested destinations for club rides next year.

Jim Thorpe, PA
Brunswick, MD
St. Michaels, MD
Cunningham Falls State Park, MD
Harpers Ferry, WV
Shepherdstown WV
Skyline Drive, VA
Scranton, PA (train museum)
Lancaster, PA
Watkins Glen, NY
Hood College
Charlottesville, VA
Thurmont, MD (covered bridges)
Winchester, VA
Deep Creek, MD
Ocean City, MD

6) Other Business

Yom HaShoah Ride — 15 May 2005

Louis Caplan looking into yarmulkes with Tribe logo

7) Meeting adjourned — 11:30

What can I say except how impressive it was that around 70 Jewish motorcyclists from 5 clubs got together at Mike’s in Delaware. The meeting was the first of its kinds (as far as we know) and looks like a great start to future joint endeavors. The Chai Riders (NY) arranged for a Rabbi to bring a sukkah and many of us participated in the mitzvah of eating in the sukkah and shaking the lulav and etrog. In addition to the Chai Riders, members of Hillel’s Angels (NJ), Semites on Bikes (Baltimore) and King David Bikers (FL) participated.

One of the key things to come out of this meeting was an agreement to work towards a Ride to Remember next year, around Yom HaShoah. This ride is intended to culminate in DC at the Holocaust Museum. More details will follow.

This entry will be updated as more photos are available: