Page 12 - LaconiaMCWeek2021

Greetings!
Charlie St. Clair & Jennifer Anderson
I would be will- ing to bet, many of the correspon- dences you have received this year have started with something along the lines of, “What a year!” and ours is no dif- ferent... What a year indeed!
Laconia Motorcycle Week’s legacy began in 1916 and although we missed 7 years due to world and national events (WW2, Great Depression, etc.), the rally continued through the 1918 pandemic AND through the 2020 pan- demic. Never did I think I would type that sentence . . . This year’s rally was postponed (for the first-time in its history) from June to August and it was, of course, very different than it normally would be, as was everything else this year.
To ensure the upmost respect for the health of residents and visitors alike, the City of Laconia limited rally ven- dors to local nonprofits only. Although the city discussed, at length, cancelling the event altogether; they agreed to hold it in a scaled down version because they recognized the economic challenges local businesses suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic and they did not want to add additional financial burden on the local restaurant and retail industries – Thank you to Mayor Andrew Hosmer, City Manager Scott Myers, the Laconia City Council and ALL of the city department personnel for their support and help all year-long.
In the late spring, as it became clear that the rally may need to be postponed, the Laconia Motorcycle Week Association focused our efforts on promoting CDC-guide- lines for COVID-related health and safety measures while encouraging people to “get out and ride” as the best example of social distancing! In addition to hiring Nano Coating Technologies, LLC to sanitize all public outdoor surfaces throughout the Lakeside Avenue area, we also supplied several sanitizer and hand-washing stations throughout Lakeside Avenue. We were pleased to work with the NH Partnership for Public Health and the NH Department of Safety to distribute additional marketing materials related to responsible hygiene, social distancing, and safe riding.
Through the efforts of the State of NH, City of Laconia and many others, the scaled-down rally was considered a major success with no significant increases in COVID cases directly related to the rally. Additionally, the post- poned rally provided the opportunity for several local nonprofits to raise funds that they previously thought (ear-
lier in the summer) would be
next to impossible. The Laconia
Rotary Club, Veterans for
Foreign Wars and the Weirs
Action Committee are just some
of the local organizations who
were able to participate and ben-
efit significantly from the 97th Anniversary of Laconia Motorcycle Week.
In addition to being exceptionally thankful for our health and safety, we are incredibly proud to have made it through this past year with all of you– Thank you for your support! The horizon continues to look optimistic with the release of a COVID vaccine. This year’s Laconia Motorcycle Week’s 98th Anniversary is con- firmed to be held from June 12th – 20th, 2021.
Although most events were cancelled during the 2020 rally, we are coming back strong with a calendar FULL of motorcycle events for 2021. In addition to the Tower Street Hill Climb Expo, we are looking forward to a NEW event, a Motorcycle Lights Parade on Friday night, June 18th. New Hampshire Motor Speedway has a full week of motorcycle demos, vendors and racing action planned and of course, state of the art camping is avail- able all week!
There is a lot to look forward to in 2021 and we are blessed to share it with our friends in the riding communi- ty, our business partners, Rally Patrons, and our sponsors, including Progressive Insurance, AMSOIL, TEAM Motorcycle, the Bank of NH, Budweiser, the Naswa Resort, Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys®, SYSCO, Coca-Cola & Dr. Pepper, 104.9 the Hawk, SYSCO, Twister Tea, Truly Hard Seltzer, the Weirs Beach Drive-In, and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Here’s to a safe and successful 2021 for all! H
Counting down to the
98th Anniversary of Laconia Motorcycle Week | June 12th-20th, 2021
With deepest appreciation,
Charlie St. Clair & Jennifer Anderson
Enjoy New Hampshire and Ride Safely!
Charlie & Jennifer.
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Photo Courtesy: W. Stephen Loughlin