July 27, 2003 - The Harpoon MBA Ride at Hodges Dam hosted by Blackstone Valley NEMBA and coordinated by Rich Kordell was a great success.

Philip Keyes, NEMBA Executive Director, congratulates Rich Kordell for his work coordinating the Hodges Dam ride.

The ride was part of the Harpoon MBA Ride Series and a fundraiser for NEMBA's Land Preservation Fund.

A total of 145 riders attended (including 38 new memberships), resulting in $1270 from entrance fees for the land fund.  In addition, the Wachusett NEMBA chapter and Team Bike Alley both donated $1000 toward the land purchase, and $1320 worth of raffle tickets for the Escape Adventures trip were sold at the event.

Here's a copy of Rich Kordell's letter following the Hodges Dam NEMBA/Harpoon Mountain Bike Adventure Series Ride:

What a fun-fantastic day we had at the NEMBA Harpoon Mountain Bike Adventure Series Ride at Hodges Village Dam on July 27! My expectations were exceeded on every level. We had 145 riders. We generated $1270 from entrance fees that will be applied to the New England Land Preservation Fund. We added 38 new memberships to the NEMBA ranks. Team Bicycle Alley and NEMBA’s Wachusett chapter each presented $1000 donations toward the New England Land Preservation Fund’s purchase of  Viet Nam.

Another $1320 worth of raffle tickets for the Escape Adventures trip were sold at the event will also benefit the purchase. Afterwards, we visited Brew City. We recounted the day’s events, made some new friends, raffled off a bunch of schwag and unwound with a little help from our friends at Harpoon Brewery.

We held the drawing for the awesome six day all expenses trip for 2 to Bryce and Zion that was donated by Escape Adventure. Congratulations to Mark Gibson for winning and my consolations to everyone else. Know that your money went to a great cause. Besides, it should be a write-off.

All of this great stuff happened because of the attendees who came to play and the folks who volunteered their time. My thanks to everyone and especially:

• Charles Gaudette of Hands On Muscular Therapy for wrench support.
• Pete Taylor and Erik Aho, who spent a lot more time than expected and still went back for more, for arrowing Buffumville.
• Team Bums, especially Pat Royer, Mike LaPlante, Scott Nelson and Bum to be Bruce Rioux for being there at 6:30 to make sure the arrows were still there and fine tuning the signage.
• Also, Mark Donovan and the Team Bike Alley crew for pre-riding/fine tuning the course.
• Jessie Cox and Harpoon for the moral support.
• BV NEMBA’s Anne Shepard and Mitch Steinberg for handling registration, sweeping and always being there for all things NEMBA.
• James Vogh and the Boston Chapter’s Patrol for helping to keep everyone safe.
• Dave Grabowski for map support.
• The US Army Corps of Engineers and Lead Ranger Jamie Kordack for letting this all happen at Hodges.
• NEMBA’s Executive Director Philip Keyes for working registration at this event and being our all around land access guru.
• Hodges’ host Dick Schoen for putting up with our pre-event nights and early morning.
• Those who donated schwag including Milford Cycles, REI, Northeastern Digital and Landry’s.
• Everyone who came out, rode and left the property just as clean as it was when they arrived.

Thanks again for all of your support.

Keep the rubber side down,

Rich Kordell

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