I hope this note finds you all doing well, riding safely and enjoying the warm weather.
I wanted to share some information with you:
Since January 1st, we have completed 78 missions and done so with integrity, professionalism and honor! I cannot thank each and every one of you enough for all you to do honor our Veterans and 1st Responders!
- Safety- weather, traffic, Leo (law enforcement officer) escort, highway vs. back roads, etc.
- The wishes of the family or agency requesting the service
- Availability of members and how best to honor the Veteran or 1st Responder.
I take all of these factors into considering when deciding if an escort will be provided. One other additional factor is making sure we do not have too many on an escort if we are providing a Flag Line at the final stage so that we have members on the line and not all in the escort.
My primary concern is always safety and with more vehicles/bikes in escorts and with very limited assistance from law enforcement, it is a significant concern as many of the funeral homes proceed through red traffic lights. Additionally, when traveling on highways, the merging of oncoming traffic and large processions are always a safety issue.
One way to address many of the above components is to limit the amount of vehicles/bikes in an escort. To this end, I limit some of the escorts to Full Flags, which means 3×5 flags. In addition to the safety issue, it is also a very professional look while in a procession. Any member who has Full Flags can participate in an escort but must notify the Ride Captain of that mission ahead of time
As we’ve heard, some of our membership is having issues receiving email from us… to help rectify that situation we’ve explored different avenues to deliver the mission messages. One we’ve successfully tested is via TXT to phones. If you would like to receive texts to your phone you must send a txt message to StateCaptain@CTPatriotGuard.
Many of you know our own PGR store leader Joanne “Dimples” Fuller. Dimples will be heading off for some rest and retirement to Maine shortlyand she has asked if anyone has an interest in taking over the store. Should you have an interest and want more information, please contact her directly at Dimples5166@aol.com or 207-939-9196.
