Hey Mosquitoes,
Gosh, is it February already? Oh, I guess not, that is 10 months away. I was planning on sending these out sometime in February just before or after the Brrr ride, but things didn’t work out quite like I had planned. Somewhere along the line I missed a couple of months. Heck, where did we even leave off? Oh yeah, it was the last second pass from the 2005 Heisman candidate, Drew Tate, to Holloway for a win in the Capital One Bowl. Better save up for this New Years, because it could be another sunny climate for Hawkeye fans. I guess there are some other fans on the team, but we don’t care about them.
Lets start with the best news of all. The Klinkenborgs are going to have a baby coming in May! What else can I say, except we are all so excited for them and can’t wait until the little one gets here. Speaking of babies, my wife and I are expecting our third sometime in the middle of August! It appears that it may interfere with RAGBRAI again, but we should be ready for football season along with some awesome new tailgate equipment. We had to make sure little Klink has a playmate!
To get down to business, we first mush let you know that we have the date for the Mosquito ride set! It is June 25th. Be there or be a loser again! We don’t really know the route yet, but it will start in Dysart and go to a couple of bars and end in Dysart! Is there anything else you need to know? Axe will be in charge of promoting the ride this year along with a lot of other things he doesn’t know about yet! There is also a ride the weekend before up here in Cedar Rapids that I would like to do. It is a little different, in that it is going to be a little more serious. It is one of the MS rides that you see all around. There is a 40 mile route that I am planning on doing at this time. I will be carrying some beverages with me, of course, and the ride ends sometime in the early afternoon at Carlos O’Kellys in Marion, where they will have a band and some good eats. Let me know if you are interested in doing that with me. One of my co-workers is affected by MS, so I want to help out.
Other Mosquito info that might peak your interest includes the bus. We are planning on finishing the paint job this spring, that is if Axe can get his brother to fix the bus. Most of you may not know, but we broke the clutch on the bus right after RAGBRAI. The timing couldn’t have been better. I think it is just a bolt, but it doesn’t move very well at the moment. Our financial position took quite a hit last year. The paint job was around a thousand dollars and the party we threw at Axe’s house put us out seven to eight hundred. We probably still have a thousand left for the paint this year also. We were also down in numbers last year a little, so we may see a little raise in the dues a little. For all of you whom would like to show you Mosquito support, regardless of whether you will be on RAGBRAI, I would like to get the $15 yearly dues coming in. Paypal works great, or you can send it to me at 4220 Monarch Ave. Marion, IA 52302. I still like the idea of sponsors to help us out, so ask around, you would be surprised who has a hundred bucks setting around for sponsorships.
Finally, we need ideas for the shirts! I haven’t thought about this at all! Send me them as soon as you can. Do we want tie-dye again, or do you have another idea? Help! Hope you all have a great week and get those bikes dusted off. No saggers this year!
Blaine McLaughlin
Mosquito King
