Blue Knights Video

Fellow Knights,

I ran across this video about Blue Knights and some of the camraderie and fun that is part of the Blue Knight experience. I enjoyed watching the video and thinking about all the things that a chapter can be...that our chapter can be...if only the members understand and embrace the spirit that lies at the heart of Blue Knights membership.

Please take a few minutes to watch the video...heck, watch it a couple of times if you feel the urge...and think about what our chapter could be like if we were all to become active and involved members of the very chapter that we worked so hard to found, build, and preserve.

I don't know about you, but I am proud to be a Blue Knight. I am proud to be a member of the largest law enforcement-only motorcycle club in the world. I am proud to be associated with an organization that contributes millions of dollars and services to charities and that strives to enhance the reputation of our chosen and noble profession. And I am most proud to be a member of Blue Knights FL XXVII!!! I am proud to be a fellow member to each and every one of you. I value you and your contribution to our chapter. I enjoy spending time with all of you in the social settings that FL XXVII affords to us. I enjoy traveling with you, whether on a short day-trip or on a week-long escape to the mountains. I enjoy sharing the wonderful experience that is motorcycling with you.

Over the past year my enjoyment has been tempered by the fact that there are fewer and fewer of us sharing in the rides, the meals, the meetings, and the good times that are part and parcel to chapter activities. I miss riding with many of you. I miss hearing your stories and your tall tales. I miss exploring new roads with you and sharing a breakfast or a lunch with you in some out-of-the-way mom-and-pop joint that we happened upon in our travels.

Blue Knights membership is not a burden, fellas; it is a blessing. We are each uniquely qualified for membership in both the International and our local chapter. Not everyone can be one of us...and that includes others who honorably wear a badge and work the streets with us. We are a small, interesting, and unique minority within our profession: we are cops who own and ride motorcycles. We are cops who enjoy the freedom and adventure of two wheels. We are cops who feel comfortable sharing our riding time with other cops. And we are cops who made the decision -- and the commitment -- to become Blue Knights.

My fellow Knights, it is time for us to quit making excuses. It is time for us to quit forgetting or avoiding chapter activites. It is time for us to quit taking who and what we are for granted. It is time for us to get involved, to participate, and to shine as Blue Knights. We have a great thing going with this chapter of ours, lets start taking advantage of it!

I'm not preaching and I'm not scolding; I am speaking from the heart. Every member of this chapter is important to me, and you are each important to this chapter. What I wrote above is the sincere truth: I miss riding with the many of you have gone inactive. And I miss the fire and the magic that this chapter seemed to have in its early days. I want to recapture that sense of excitement and I want to share miles with you, my fellow Knights.

All that being said, it is also time for each and every one of us to work seriously to rebuild and to grow this chapter. We lost several members this year because they simply didn't renew. I have talked to a couple of them and encouraged them to rejoin the chapter. You can each help me to encourage them further. As I told them, Blue Knights is not about obligations, it is about relationships; the relationships that we build with kindred spirits who share not only our professional calling, but also our love of motorcycling.

Beyond recapturing lost members, we each need to do our level best to seek out and recruit new members so that our chapter can grow and be strengthened. The more members we have in our chapter, the more fun we have. The more members we have, the more good ideas we have to act upon. The more members we have, the more effective our chapter becomes. The more members we have, the better our own membership experience becomes.

Prospective Blue Knights are all around us. We meet and work with them on a daily basis. Why not start recruiting some of these people into our chapter? Let us all make it our personal goal to recruit two new members to the club. Just imagine what FL XXVII could be this time next year if we each brought in two new members!!!

Do your part to grow the club...I will certainly do mine!

Do your part to be an active member of FL XXVII...I will certainly do mine!

In closing, I remind you that this all started with my recommending that you watch a short video clip about being a Blue Knight. Well, here is the link to that video. Enjoy!

http://www.dailymotion.com/Danilyn/video/x4tt9o_bkbel1_creation

-- Ace