|
|
|
What
can I say? Who am I? Where am I from? You want to know a little about me?
My name is Irene Hargett. I live in Richland, Missouri, a small town of 1800 people. I am the Manager of Casey’s General Store in Richland. I am 47 years young. I live with Jerry Hargett and we have one daughter, Cassandra. She has two beautiful daughters--Chandra (age 7) and Tekera (age 5), who both love to ride by the way. We have seven grandchildren total, 5 step-grandchildren and 2 granddaughters. I am from a family of eight--six sisters and one brother. I am the oldest. No one in my family rode. AND my Mother (well that's another topic) dislikes motorcycles and won't even get on one. So how did this come about?? Well, let me explain. I first got introduced to a motorcycle at the age of 13. My uncle had bought a Harley. It was love on the very first ride. He even let me sit on it by myself!! Many years passed and I never gave it another thought UNTIL I got married. That is, in 1973. My husband rode and I was always his companion on the back seat. We bought a 1973 Honda 350 Chopper. (Even had our own motorcycle club at that time.) We then advanced to a 750 Honda. With a beautiful daughter on the way I quit riding when I was nine months pregnant, in 1976. Time once again was spent away from cycling. Eighteen years later and no babysitting problems, the urge to ride once again struck. Jerry bought a 1979 Honda 1000 Gold Wing. A year later he bought his dream--a 1997 Honda 1500 Gold Wing. We rode everywhere we could on this bike. It was our means of transportation on vacations. (No trailers for us.) We have traveled all 48 states on this bike. Talk about miles!! That's when I got to thinking....... or worrying...... Somewhere in riding all these miles with Jerry I got to thinking safety issues. Not just the fun of it. What was I to do if something happened to Jerry?? What if he got sick and couldn't travel anymore? How were we going to get help or to a motel room? That's when I decided I had to learn to ride also. (No more relaxing on the back seat and sleeping for me). I bought a 535 Yamaha Virago. I took a Motorcycle Safety Course, got my license and off I went. That's when I also learned to respect and appreciate the person driving the motorcycle. It's not as easy as he made it look!!! After a while I started looking for a bigger bike. That's when I found my "Dawn". She is a beauty. “Dawn” is a 1999 1500 Honda Gold Wing Trike. I hadn't planned on getting a trike, but this one caught my eye. Big time! Needless to say I don't ride too much on the back seat with Jerry anymore and we now have two motorcycles to think about. I was introduced to WOW from a fellow named John. He is a customer that comes to the store where I work. He rode a motorcycle and we got to talking. He informed me of an organization called Women On Wheels®. His wife, Karen, was a member. The next time he came to the store, he brought me a magazine. I didn't join at first; I wanted to see what it was all about, so I got a one-year subscription and then the next year I became a member. I have been a WOW member for two years, but of those two years, I have learned a lot. It has been wonderful for me. I am currently the Treasurer of the Lake Country Chapter from Springfield, Missouri. I like to get involved and help in any way that I can. (Any reason to ride is good to me.) I am looking forward to working with Joyce Shook and helping her in any way that I can. I cannot say how shocked I was when Joyce asked me if I would be interested in taking this position!!! It means a lot to me and I sincerely hope I can do the job. It just shows you it takes all kinds of people to make up this world and we can all make a difference in some way. Look at me, I never dreamed I would be where I am today. Nothing is impossible. I hope to ride and meet a lot of new people and make a whole lot of new friends. Ride Safe. Thank you. Irene Hargett Assistant State Ambassador, 2004-2005 Women On Wheels® blkwing@dam.net |