January 2025
As a child of 7 or 8 years old, my favorite time of day was dusk. My friends and I would pick some secluded spot away from home, and I would tell stories about aliens, or the future. Any story I told was a revelation to me because I could see the emotions playing out on my friends' faces. As I grew older, I thought that stories alone wouldn't be enough for me. I suppose, at that point, I could have become an author or writer, but it wasn't action oriented enough. I figured creating an idea and letting others fill it with their own stories might be a better direction to go. I didn't realize it at the time, but this was the foundation of a community of friends all doing their own thing and then bringing it back to the group. Many times, we did things together. We felt connected to one another.
So, in keeping with my idea of creating a foundation, Karlee and I built Mavericks MC and Door to America for no other reason than to create a community of people who feel like they belong and (mostly) get along with each other. Ride-outs, the love of motorcycles and way of life are our way of feeling connected which leads to events, creativity, and a general independence to act for MMC when members can and feel like it.
I was going to put a definition of community here for all to read. However, community basics are 1) rather boring and 2) cover so many variations it would be a slog to read. So, for our community I’ll just say that we are a diverse group of people who agree to follow the same interests, attitudes, goals, and guidelines without giving up our sense of agency. The most important part of community (that definitions don’t convey) is how we think, feel, act for ourselves and with others in our community. Other than community and fellowship, there is no “end goal” for us to achieve, rather it's a daily (sometimes hourly) story we all create together. Thankfully, I am here to say that we are successful!
We opened Mavericks MC on July 14th, 2021. Shortly after we added our Founders Group, who are a tremendous resource for all our members. We began 2024 with about 23 patch members and by the end of the year we were up to 36 patch members thanks to all our efforts and our Recruiter. We’ll stop at 36 patched – for now!
We are coming up on our 4-year anniversary in July 2025, and I couldn’t be happier. Thank you all for making our collective stories (e.g., our lives) wonderful and fun! Yes, we've had challenges, as well, so let’s watch out for one another!
Happy New Year,
AG
Church Minutes
Bylaws Update
By Raevyn Hawks
The Bylaws Revision and Update Project is nearly completed!
This project was started in August 2024, member suggestions were solicited until October. Several members submitted their ideas and over 80% were implemented! It can't be overstated how important and appreciated that input is, the document is for, by and about Mavericks and is the foundation which our club rests on.
The Project committee worked to review the document, updating to reflect our current membership and practices with the focus on defining many areas more clearly.
All suggestions, revisions and edits have been completed and it is now off for formatting and final draft. Once it has cleared that last step the tentative date for publication is 14 February Church meeting.
Cherry, Recruiter
New Probies & Patched
Full Patch Members
Kass
ViaJera
Araya
Associates
Dani
Probies
Reed
Birthdays
Gabrial
Moon
Lexi
Jak
Jules
Raevyn
Anniversaries
Bluu 1yr
Dana 1yr
November 2024 - Zaffy
Committee Members:
AG
Cajun
Jak
Raevyn
Cel
Dana
July 2024 - Jak
June 2024 -Ginger
August 2024 - Raevyn
September 2024 - Zaffy
October 2024 - Raevyn
December 2024 - Rora
January Celebrations
Cherry began as the MMC recruiter in 2023, during the course of her tenure, the MC has grown from 24 patched members to the final goal of 36 just in 2024! Cherry's efforts have fostered a close-knit family within MMC and paved the way for continued success. As we have reached the maximum capacity for our patched members, she will transition to the position of Enforcer, stepping up to resume her recruiting duties as needed.
New Years Eve 2024
Holiday Activities
HAMBURGER STROGANOFF by Rora
1/2 Lb ( 230g) Ground beef 1 TBSP butter 1 4oz ( 113g) can Sliced Mushrooms 2 TBSP chopped onion 2 TBSP flour 15 oz ( aprx 475 ml ) Can of beef Broth 1/2 tsp Salt 1/4 tsp pepper 1 TBSP ketchup 1/2c (120ml) sour cream 1/2 bag kulski (egg) noodles 1 TBSP Parsley In skillet, cook beef in butter until brown, Add mushrooms & onions, saute until onion is tender. Remove from heat Blend Flour,gradually stir in beef broth, and S&P & Ketchup Cook over low heat stirring occasionally for 10 minutes Blend in sour cream and heat for 1 minute Cook noodles according to directions Serve over noodles.
By Araya
Being over 45 percent Native American and living in Oklahoma, I had learned and been raised to believe the Eagle is very sacred to us in Cherokee culture.
Eagle is pronounced uwohali in the Cherokee language
Every part of the eagle has significant meaning to Cherokee culture and the Eagle as a whole signifies; focus, strength, peace, leadership, and ultimate prestige.
The wings of an eagle symbolize the balance and co-dependency between females and males, and how each gender must work together to achieve harmonious results. The Cherokees use the eagle feathers for many purposes listed below:
Ceremonies - healing, marriage, naming, and honoring significant life accomplishments.
Medicine - Cherokee tradition we practice using eagle feathers for ceremonial, healing, and purification purposes.
Symbolism— Eagles and their feathers are considered spiritually significant by many Native communities, not just the Cherokee tribe. Feathers represent honesty, truth, majesty, strength, courage, wisdom, power, and freedom.
Regalia - Native graduates can wear eagle feathers as part of their tribal regalia.
Nobody but federally recognized Native American tribes can have Eagle feathers or any other part of an eagle. Native Americans must be enrolled in a federally recognized tribe and be 18 years of age to receive or possess eagle feathers.
This month we're shining the spotlight on the Mavericks 4K Club! Lexi Darkwatch is the new Club Manager and has been hard at work getting everything set up and going. The club had it's soft opening on November 18th, with a Gift Certificate to DH Wheelworks for a free car given away. Now it's time to Party harder, the Official Grand Opening is Saturday, February 1st with a custom bike from Speed Corner being given away! You won't want to miss this!
Mavericks 4K Club
Mavericks 4K Club is located on the Mavericks MC sim next to DTA. It is an all inclusive club that is accepting of everyone. Djs play a variety of genres and many take requests. It is open during the hours that there are not rideouts, church or scheduled live singers. The staff is as diverse as the clubs VIPs and new staff and VIPs are always welcome. During the soft opening in November a gift certificate for a car was given away. Come check it out because you never know what may be going on there
My goal is for it to be the biker and bike enthusiast hangout in sl I want to get staff from all over the globe and have it open even when I am not able to be there personally. So it will be the kind of place "where everybody knows your name."
Lexi Darkwatch, Club Manager
Members, Friends and Allies
Sugarshack
So now, over a year in, my track is forever evolving... swapping out boxes, putting together custom trails, then switching them up some, and so on. About 6 months ago [DH] MotorWorks joined the sim and I added 3 drift tracks. Cars seemed to be a fun way to mix it up. Then Jules with [DH] DriftWear opened up on the Drag Strip Level. And it wasn't long before 509Ridez opened up shop. Most recently I've discovered SL Airplanes Blimps and Helicopters and installed an airstrip, great for Blimps and Helicopters to run 2 sims of sky. ✈
Together, John, Jules, Badger and I, put on the BoobsRock Car Show (September) and the Balls Out Car Show (April), both are weekend long events and (to be) held every year. We also put on a few random smaller contest throughout the year gathering various prizes from some pretty talented folks. Always up for expanding this tribe.
Also during the first year here, I became the Ad Gal for The BikerNews and now I am the Editor and put out the magazine each month on the 1st and 15th. I like to keep busy, I just this week interview to become a Flight Attendant on a SL Airlines... just to see what the SL Planes are all about, and maybe fly one soon.
Always on the lookout for another SIM neighbor, and growing my tribe. Looking forward to whats next in my own Second Life ✌
Beth Compton aka Bethy or AuntBeth
Hi, I'm Bethy... just a not quiet crazy middle aged Texan Lady always lookin to expand my tribe.... Discovered SL many many years ago and after a several year break I came back to an all MESH world that I had to learn. With the help of some old friends that are still around, I began to learn the new bodies and such. One of my old friends was hanging on a sim with a track and gave me a bike and we rode and rode ... up and down .... then up and down again... and again... I became addicted! My SL history is Clubs and DJing☊, I had no clue there was a whole Biker culture in SL... with MCs... RCs... etc.
Once I saw there were several more sims with tracks... I got the bug, and in August, 2023, I went thru LL and bought a sim, found Roadrunner Tracks and bought a few track boxes and started building. I love arranging and creating so this was heaven for me. I purchased an ad board at Wet Willie's and within a few days AG, the Mavericks Pres, messaged me with a couple of suggestions for my track. Then took me on a ride at DtA and showed me several things about tracks I had not discovered yet. I was so excited with all the new info I think I told him I loved him «-(¯`v´¯)-» He invited me to a 1pSLT rideout and I've been going non stop ever since. It's been a learn-as-you-go thing mostly, but I have to say the Biker Community has been pretty kind and helpful to this nonBiker Chick. ๏[-ิ_•ิ]๏ I'm even building tracks on other peoples sims now.
The Whats and Whys of Where We Ride
We ride tracks, but have you ever wondered about them? For what reason was it selected for a Club Ride Out? A number of factors influence the decision, including the "ride time" from beginning to conclusion, the track's overall complexity and difficulty, quality (i.e., build, maintenance, latency (lag), etc.), and availability.
When scouting a track for a possible Club ride out, ideally, it will have a ride time of approximately 30-35 minutes at a moderately fast speed. For riders in lower gears, that may translate to 40-45 minutes; for faster riders, 25 minutes. The overall height isn't a factor depending on the density and ride time. Based on the tracks that are available and which at least come close to the ideal aim, there is always a variance. When scouting, it is done with that objective in mind.
One important consideration is track complexity, which must be considered with respect to our membership. We have a wide spectrum of riding abilities, therefore the track shouldn't be "too hard" for the relative beginner or "too boring" for the more experienced riders in order for everyone to enjoy. While some people prefer a relaxing, easy ride, others prefer one that tests their abilities more. Some want a wide, smooth track with few turns while others prefer a more scenic environment. Depending on who attends a particular ride-out on any given day, finding a balance is a real challenge! Fortunately, our calendar of scheduled ride outs offers a wide variety of tracks, so there's something for everyone.
The track's quality predicts that it rides smooth, with regular maintenance, restarts and minimal lag. It's difficult to measure when scouting alone, because of the nature of SL. Who knows what the last restart did to the track? And when (or if) it was prior to the club ride-out. Scouting alone can only gauge sim lag at any given point. How it reacts when there are 10-15 riders at the same time can only be known when it happens. In that case, the track is then moved to a potential return to give it a "second chance", as there can be multiple causes for it, not necessarily the track or sim.
Not every track—or even every section of a track—will be ideal for every individual. I make every effort to schedule rides that I believe most people will enjoy. We frequently emphasize that the quality of time spent as a club in camaraderie, doing what we all love—riding—is more important than the track.
Given this, if there is a track that you just don't like, it might be more enjoyable to ride Royal or join the ride-out on Discord. Asking for an open royal seat to continue is always a fantastic alternative if a track ever gets more challenging than pleasurable for any reason! When you gripe and kvetch about the things you don't like about a track, it negatively impacts everyone on the ride-out with you. So keep your attention on having fun with the MC, it could be the favorite of another person. Be upbeat; we ride more than 60 tracks every month, so there will undoubtedly be some that you like better than others and we'll get to those too.
By Raevyn Hawks
