Maryland Chapter L

Eastern Shore Road Riders

About Us

                                           History Of Maryland Chapter “L”

 

The creation of MD”L” started over coffee in the winter of 2001, when Greg and Vicki Smith, Jan and Cindy Alleger were discussing how far they traveled to attend a G.W.R.R.A. gathering. Leaving at 4:30 am was a wee bit early for Jan and Cindy. Then Assistant District Director Greg approached Jan and asked if he was interested in forming a new Chapter. Jan was very receptive and since Greg and Vicki had been Chapter Directors of MD “E”, he felt they were in a position to be of value helping to organize a new chapter. Greg offered to be Jan’s Assistant Chapter Director until one could be found to take the position. When Greg and Vicki stepped down as Assistant District Directors and Jan and Cindy stepped down as Maryland Ambassadors, the Upper Eastern Shore Chapter was again discussed. Greg and Jan thought it would be good to have the Chapter located in Easton/Kent Island areas. Everyone agreed and we got busy with the paperwork, sending out notices to members in the area, organizational meetings were held, finding a place to hold said meetings and so on… The MD District agreed if we showed an interest we could proceed. On June 9, 2002 MD”L” was born. We still had 3 months probation to meet G.W.R.R.A. qualifications for a Chapter. But, hey no problem, we had great support from our members. Jan and Cindy as Chapter Directors, Greg and Vicki as Assistant Chapter Directors, Lee and  Phyllis as Treasurers, Clarke Sewell as Educator and Bob and Debbie as Goodwill Ambassadors. This was MD”L”s first staff.

 

LT and Kim Blades secured the Queen Anne VFD in Queen Anne Maryland for the “Kick Off “ on August 11 2002.  123 motorcycles and 202 people showed up to kick off the new MD”L” Chapter with great success. The town did not know what to make of all these motorcycles so they had the Town Commissioner check us out. We fed him along with everyone else who drove from near and far to attend. A great time was had by all!

 

Later it was decided to adopt the name “Old Line State Riders” since Maryland is known as The Old Line State. This is from the staunchness of Maryland troops and their early service to the American Revolution.

 

Greg and Vicki suggested Camp Fairlee Manor for a charity. They had been, for several years, gathering a group of friends and riding to Camp Fairlee Manor to show the residents the bikes and enjoying the questions asked by the Campers. Camp Fairlee Manor is an Easter Seals Camp for special needs children and adults located in Chestertown. This organization was selected as our charity. It was said by one of our members “If they scratch our bikes this can be fixed, but they can not.”  Barb and Gene Walters suggested we ride to Caroline Nursing Home for our May event, it is always great to see the Seniors. Dinner rides were planned, the holiday party came and so did The Blessing of the Bikes, and just plain fun of riding.

 

Then we had a newsletter to get out to let everyone know the “HAPPENINGS NEAR AND FAR”. Cindy would be our Editor. She also tried to encourage others to contribute by starting “UP FRONT FROM THE REAR”, the co-riders view of what was taking place along the way. This was not always a funny side, but an inside look into what the co-rider may do or see.

Over the years things have not changed much. Bob and Debbie stepped up to take the Chapter Directors position in 2004 with the rest of the staff remaining. Jan and Cindy stayed on as the Assistant Chapter Directors. In 2006 the Salisbury Maryland Chapter folded and with MD-L being the only chapter on the Maryland Eastern Shore, the name “Eastern Shore Road Riders” was suggested and accepted.