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Grand Tour Since the International Board reinstated the Grand Tour at the 1998 convention it has grown every year. In 1999 we had 32 members complete a Tour. After a note in the Newsletter in the spring of 2001, participation started to grow again with 31 members finishing a Tour in that year. Grand Tour participation has grown each year till 2007 when 274 members completed a Tour. In the years from 1998 through 2008, 1370 members have earned a pin. Have you participated in the Grand Tour? Plan to run the Grand Tour this year, either by yourself, with a few Red Knight friends, or with your Red Knights Chapter, and help spread the word to other firefighters about what a great organization the Red Knights are.
What is Grand Tour? When the club was young, the easiest way to tell others about it was by word of mouth. This meant that the members had to get out to visit other firefighters in their areas, and one of the best ways to do that was to visit Fire Stations. Someone came up with the idea of rewarding members who made a certain number of visits with a certificate and a pin. Proof of these visits was needed and so the idea of Grand Tour was born. After visiting Fire Stations beginning with the letters G R A N D T O U R members were given a pin. Over the years, other rides were added since some members were not able to find new stations to visit beginning with these letters. RED KNIGHT and FIRE HOUSE rides were added and for members from remote areas, a ride to visit twelve stations beginning with any letter of the alphabet.
How do I earn a Grand Tour Pin? In order to earn a Grand Tour Pin you must first get an application form from the G.T. chairperson or download it from this page, then during the course of one (1) riding season you must visit nine (9) fire Stations whose names begin with the letters GRAND TOUR, RED KNIGHT, FIRE HOUSE or twelve Fire Stations beginning with any letter of the alphabet (this is for members who live in some of the more remote areas and may not be able to come up with Stations beginning with the required letters). You must have a picture of you and your motorcycle taken at each Station, with the name sign visible. Co-riders may also earn a pin and a rider and co-rider may have their picture taken together. Group photos are OK as well if you are doing the Tour as a chapter.
At the 2009 Spring Executive Board Meeting in Syracuse, NY, it was decided to make some changes to the program. After numerous inquiries as to why we did not have a separate pin for each of the four rides available, it was decided that we would offer a three inch patch (of the same design as the pin) with a rocker for each of the rides. A database will be kept to track who has completed the rides and when a member has completed all four rides he will also be awarded a pin (This program will begin as soon as the patches are available in the spring of 2009). When you have completed your visits simply fill out the application form and return it with your pictures to the G.T. chairperson and he/she will send you your certificate and patch and rocker (or just the rocker if you already have a patch). When a member has earned all four rockers, he will be issued a pin as well. If you are riding as a group, you need only send one application form with the names of the participants attached. Photo albums will be kept displaying pictures of everyone who has completed the Grand Tour and will be available at all future conventions. You may also send your application and photos electronically and we will show your pictures as a slide show at future conventions.
Please send hard copies of photos and applications to: Grand Tour Committee C/O Henry Heideman 4926 County Road 45 - PO Box 83 Baltimore ON Canada K0K 1C0
Please send electronic photos and applications to: hheideman@cogeco.ca
GRAND TOUR - DOWNLOAD APPLICATIONRED KNIGHT/FIRE HOUSE - DOWNLOAD APPLICATION TWELVE STATIONS - DOWNLOAD APPLICATION Photo Gallery Note: All pictures must be no more than 200 KB or they will not be posted
If you have pictures from the Grand Tour that you have done in the past and would like to share them with the rest of the club, email your pictures to the Web Liaison Grand Tour New Zealand style
What started out as a
brief ride to Auckland to look at a new motorcycles turned
out to be a weekend Grand Tour for Dianne and Russel Rawiri
and Verne and Debbie O'Dwyer from Northland-1 (our RKMC
Chapter in New Zealand) in September 2002. Their Grand Tour
garnered them 1,050 kilometers on their bikes before they
were through! Their GT fire stations included: Greenhithe,
Remuera, Albany, Ngaruawahia, Devonport,
TeKuiti, Otorahanga, Urenui, and Rukaka
It sounds as if New Zealand has some great roads for motorcycling.
Contact the Web Liaison for any suggested changes or corrections to this page. |
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