A
Brief History of the Southern Cruisers Riding Club in
John Payne
It was in the early Spring
of 1999 that John Payne first became aware of the Southern Cruisers Riding Club.
While browsing the internet he came across a link to a riding club called The
Southern Cruisers Riding Club. John was immediately struck by their
simple approach to what riding as a club was all about. The emphasis on
riding and the lack of rules and regulations or the need for meetings or
commitments of any kind sounded like just the thing John was looking for. He
was already a member of a club which had more then enough rules and regulations
and felt it was definitely time for a change.
There was and is a simple
process to apply for membership online and as there were no dues or any other
form of payment required. John figured he had nothing to lose. In about 3 days
he received an email welcoming him to the Club and informing him that he was the
first Canadian to have joined and was given a "Member at Large" ID
number.
About 3 months after joining, John discovered that someone
had started a chapter in the Toronto area and he
immediately sent the 1st Officer an e-mail letting him know I was in the area
and interested in joining his chapter. However, before we were able to
communicate John decided to investigate the possibility of starting a chapter of his own in the Burlington
area. John sent in a request for chapter application and on a Friday evening
shortly thereafter, he received a phone call from the Membership Director in
Bill Strebel
Bill wanted to know if John understood what was expected of him as a chapter 1st Officer and if he was prepared to put in the effort to make a success of the Chapter. Bill went on to describe the Southern Cruisers, it's origin and it's basic philosophy. John assured him that he was prepared to do whatever was necessary and Burlington's Chapter 57 was born.
The founder and existing President is Rick Perry better known as "Rickster"
Rickster
During this period, a chapter was also started
in Kapuskasing under the guidance of Mike Micallef and has been growing
steadily. It was at this point that the history of the SCRC in
It was clear that the philosophy of the Club;
no dues, no meetings and no commitments of any kind had struck a cord with
bikers everywhere and our membership continued to grow to the point that it
became necessary to form new chapters.
It is no surprise to anyone who has been with
this club for awhile that the growth continues at a phenomenal rate and as such
it was decided for that reason we needed to split
Canada
into two regions, East and West. This led to the need for a 2nd
Regional Officer for Western
A lot has changed since the club began
here in Canada and there have been and will continue to be changes to the
officer ranks as some folks move on and others step in to take their place.
The one thing that doesn't seem to change is the continued success and growth of
this great club! The continued growth of the club necessitated the need to
establish our first Provincial Officer in February of 2005, for the
In the spring of 2006, after 7 years of commitment and dedication to the growth of the club in Canada, John Payne felt it was time for a well deserved rest and announced at the annual Eastern Canada Officer's meeting that Mike Langevin (then Ontario Provincial Officer), would be assuming the responsibilities of Regional Officer of Eastern Canada. Mike continues to hold this position with responsibilities for Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI and Newfoundland.
Mike "Scully" Langevin
The current Western Regional Officer position is held by Wade Noble of British Columbia.
Wade "Zeek" Noble
Our Canadian SCRC chapters are not fictional nor are they deemed "anticipated growth". They are existing organized, active and functional groups that are all part of the worldwide family of chapters. We are without doubt Canadian, but we're also proud to be part of a much bigger organization with much bigger benefits.
Whether your planning a trip to Bike Week in Florida in January, Americade and/or Laconia in June, Sturgis in August, Peggy's Cove and the Cabot Trail in the East or the beautiful Rockies in the West, you can look up a local chapter or several chapters along your route, make contact and expect to be welcomed by any of our members nation wide and feel at home with them the moment you arrive.
As of March 2009, there are currently 63 Active SCRC chapters across Canada with 166 Chapter Officer's and approximately 6,020 Canadian members. Worldwide membership is at 30,178 with 515 Chapters including: USA, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Korea, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland.
The fellowship and joy of riding combined with
the "Keep it Simple" philosophy of the SCRC will, continue to
make this club the success that it is in the years to come.
