Now that riding season and warmer weather have finally arrived, it's a good time to go over a few things.

We are not about motorcycles! We have many members who do not ride and we are grateful for their attendance at our missions and events. It doesn't matter HOW you get to a Patriot Guard mission or event - what is important is that you are there to pay honor, dignity, and respect to someone serving or have served our great nation; and that you arrive safely there and home again.

As the temps rise, we all need to be thinking about sunburn, heat stroke, heat exhaustion and all the other things that come with warm weather. Please take care of yourself and watch out for each other. We have faithful members who would rather pass out on the flag line than to step aside to cool off - definitely not what we want!  Drink plenty of water to hydrate before and during the Mission. 

 

We have had an extremely busy April for missions.  Thank you to all who have stepped up and are willing to help make sure missions get done!  If you are interested in helping run a honor mission on the ground, or to come into leadership - talk to your Ride Captain!  Your help is how we have been able to honor all the requests we have received.

 

Thank you for all you do!

We would like to welcome the following patriots to the leadership roles:

 

Jim Nelson - stepped up from ARC to be the Rochester RC

Glenn Zimmer - St Cloud ARC

Jon Knutson - Alexandria ARC

John "Vinnie" Fitch - St Cloud ARC

 

We can't do our mission without those willing to step into leadership, or just help run a mission.  Thank you for these 4 who are willing to make sure missions are conducted, hero's are honored, and families given a small measure of comfort during a very difficult time.

 

Thank you for all you do!

MN PG Assistant State Captain

Fellow Members, I was recently asked if I would be willing to fill the Assistant State Captain position upon Tim Leonhardt's resignation. I gave this new position much thought and consideration, including discussions with former and current leadership at both the State and National level. After discussing the new responsibilities with my family, I decided to accept this nomination. The Leadership Advisory Committee and Board of Directors voted to accept me into this role and I am honored to accept this mission oriented role in the MN Patriot Guard. I have been an active member of the MN Patriot Guard since May 2006. I remember my first mission well, it was in Welcome, MN on June 3, 2006 for USMC Robert Posivio III. That mission struck a nerve with me and I've been involved with the MN PG ever since. Since that hot day in Welcome, I have attended missions in MN, WI, IA and Texas. I was not able to serve in the military due to a disability, but I have the greatest of appreciation for the sacrifices our military and their families make for our Nation. I was asked to be the Rochester Sector Ride Captain in June 2006 and Southern MN Senior Ride Caption in Sept 2007. With the new role of Assistant State Captain, I will be stepping down as Rochester Sector Ride Captain as soon as the new RC is approved. I will be stepping down as Senior Ride Captain-at-Large as well, although I will still sit on Missions Team and the Board of Directors. I have had the honor and privilege to have RCIC'd and participated in countless KIA, Active Duty, LEO Line Of Duty and Veteran Missions, WWII and Vietnam Re-Patriations, Send-Offs, Welcome Homes, and Gold Star Family events. This experience will continue to serve me well to assist RC's throughout the state as mission questions and logistics arise. I will also continue to participate with the Tribute To The Troops, the POW/MIA Riders of MN and Beyond The Yellow Ribbon SEMN. All this experience has been and will continue to serve two important purposes, assist and enable our members to attend missions, and ensure the proper honor, dignity and respect is shown to our heroes. I would also like to take a moment to thank Tim Leonhardt for his unwavering support of our mission and ensuring that our mission has carried on with the highest respect it requires and deserves. Tim has been a huge asset to the MN PG, sacrificing his time, work and family for this organization, for which we cannot repay him except to say Thank You Tim, Mission Accomplished. Thank you all for doing the right thing.

Craig Ugland Rochester Sector Ride Captain Senior Ride Captain At Large Member - Board Of Directors

2015 Patriot Ride Motorcycle Raffle Tickets Are Ready to Sell!   It's that time of year once again and we need your Help! The 2015 Patriot Ride Motorcycle Raffle Tickets are printed and available for Sale.  We would like to invite members of the Minnesota Patriot Guard to help sell Raffle Tickets for the 2015 Patriot Ride Event.  With the change of venue this year from the Ham Lake Park to Key Air at the Anoka County Airport, we know this year's Patriot Ride will be an Event like no other in Minnesota coming June 20, 2015.   We are joining forces this year with the Tribute To The Troops in presenting the Patriot Ride sponsored by our great friends from Dennis Kirk.  Instead of competing with two motorcycle raffles we are all focused on one!  We are still two organizations with special purposes but joined together to help this ride become the most successful ever. As you know a large portion of the funds raised from the Patriot Ride come from the Motorcycle Raffle Ticket sales.   The proceeds from these Raffle Ticket sales (benefiting the MN Patriot Guard, the MN Chapter of the Tribute To The Troops, and the Minnesotans' Military Appreciation Fund) directly benefit our Veterans, active Military personnel and Family members of our Military.  Please help us make this year the year we ran out of Raffle Tickets.   We are sharing some information regarding the number of Raffle Tickets printed this year which may be used to help promote the sale of tickets: We have printed a limit of 5000 Raffle Tickets.   We hope this information is useful in encouraging the public to purchase tickets.   Chances of winning the 2015 Harley Davidson Road Glide or $15,000 cash (winners choice) are 1 in 5000.  Those are pretty good odds! Here are some details regarding the Patriot Ride and Raffle Tickets:    10th Annual Patriot Ride Date: Saturday, June 20, 2015 Event Location: Key Air / Anoka County Airport 9877 North Airport Rd. NE Blaine, MN.  55449 Raffle Tickets: $20 each, must be 18 or older to enter and win - Need not be present to win Prize: 2015 HD Road Glide or $15,000 cash If you are interested in selling Raffle Tickets this year,  please contact Gail Steiner at Dennis Kirk, Inc., by emailing: gsteiner@denniskirk.com.  Please include your name, address phone number, and the number of Raffle tickets you would like to receive.   Raffle Ticket booklets come in groups of 10 each.    We will send you as many booklets as you would like to sell. Dennis Kirk will provide a pre-paid UPS Shipping label,  along with an envelope for you to return the sold ticket stubs and the $ collected.   Please plan to return the Ticket stubs and funds collected to Dennis Kirk, Inc., no later than Monday,  June 15.    If people want to write checks they should be made out the MN Patriot Guard (the MN Patriot Guard holds the raffle ticket license but funds are divided between all groups). This is the 10th Annual Patriot Ride.  This means it has been a decade of memories, and of giving back to those that have given to us.  Please help us reach our goal: 5000 TICKETS SOLD!! Please check out the full event at www.thepatriotride.org for more information and to pre-register.

Doug Bley President, MN Patriot Guard Former, Minnesota State Captain

New President of MN Patriot Guard

Happy winter all! I was recently asked if I would be willing to serve as President of the MN Patriot Guard again.  This position is separate from the most important role of being involved in the Missions that we cover so well here in Minnesota.   The role of the President is really to make sure the office is in order.  Bills paid, insurance in place, donations considered and qualified by the Board of Directors before granting, web site running, store operations, taxes filed, and non-profit status kept in good standing.  I am not on the Board of Directors so do not have a vote on anything but am part of making sure all the rules are followed. The Leadership Team and Board of Directors voted to accept me in this role and I am honored to play this small part in what we do. A Ride Captain asked me a very good question before he voted.  I stepped down a few years ago because I was burned out from all the Missions and the requirements as President.  He asked what had changed that I was willing to do this.  This role is not nearly as demanding as a Missions role and can be done at night and on weekends.  I have the time and the love of the MN Patriot Guard and its Mission remains.  If I can help I'd like to. My first Mission was July 3, 2006, in Ladysmith, WI.  I will never forget the day and the change it brought to my life.  It is Mission First, Mission Last.  It's what we do and all we do.  The role of President is small in comparison to the people who can go to Missions when many of us can't because of work and family.  Thank you members for being there. I want to give my support and appreciation to State Captain Karla Richardson and the Missions Leadership team for doing a great job in these changing times.  When I met Karla for the first time on a snowy day in Frazee I knew she would do a great job. I want to say "Thank You" to Tim Leonhardt.  Tim has done more for this organization than any of us could know or appreciate.  So many things in the background on top of stepping into roles he didn't want but somebody had to at the time.  I have ridden many miles with the Drifter and look forward to doing that again with him.  He has had my back and he is my brother. We are a family.  We have had our differences.  We have mended those differences.  We have moved on.  We do this because we love what the Mission stands for. See you on the flag line....

Doug Bley President, MN Patriot Guard Former Minnesota State Captain

I have had the great honor to be a part of the leadership of the Minnesota Patriot Guard for many years, I have been in almost all the of the leadership positions stepping in and out as needed. I have had the privilege to be present and show honor to the families and community at missions that were gut wrenching when I saw the pain of a family losing a loved one while serving to protect my freedom, Your silent flag line is deafening with the sound of Honor, Dignity, and Respect. I've been to welcome home missions that made my heart of hearts soar seeing our warriors rejoining their family's after being deployed. I had the chance of a lifetime meeting and working with some wonderful people, some that I consider real patriots, people that understand what our warriors have sacrificed for our freedoms, I have the honor of saying I know these people. I currently hold the two positions of Minnesota Patriot Guard President and Minnesota Patriot Guard Assistant State Captain. I have had the honor to help guide and help grow the MN PGR from 300 people when I joined, to over 5000 today. I am honored to have been a part of building an organization that is respected for what we quietly do in Military Branches, Law Enforcement, First Responder, and Government organizations. The positions and roles I held weren't easy at times, but I always tried to stand up for what was the right thing to do and what was best for the organization as a whole. I took on interim positions that I didn't want, but they needed to be filled, it was an honor to do so. Alas, after 8 years of leadership it is time for me to step aside and let the next wave of patriots take the reins of the great Minnesota Patriot Guard organization. None of the positions I have will be left empty, I will be retaining the positions until they are occupied. The MN Patriot Guard Board of Directors and I are following the MN PG process to fill my current position of Minnesota Patriot Guard President. Karla along with the Senior Ride Captains are working with the Leadership Advisory Committee following the MN PG process to fill the Minnesota Patriot Guard Assistant State Captain position. Announcements on both of these positions are forthcoming.   I want to take this opportunity to thank every Patriot Guard Rider for the support over the years in making what we do possible. I am thankful and proud to have been able to meet so many good people and to have had the opportunity to be a small part of something I believe has changed the way our nation's people view and honor our warriors. I am proud to be called a Patriot Guard Rider because of what you all do.

Thank You, Tim Leonhardt (Drifter)

We would like to welcome and thank Mike VanRavenhorst as an ARC for the Metro SE Sector.  Mike is also the RC for the Mankato Sector.

We would also like to wish each of you a happy, healthy New Year in 2015!  Thank you for all you do!