The Red Scooter Club was founded on April 2, 2020 in response to State of Emergency and Covid-19 restrictions in the State of Minnesota. Pictured are the founding members of the Red Scooter Club, our grandsons Liam and Sully and Papa. The founding principles of the newly formed club are respectfulness for others, togetherness outside and social distancing.
It was during the very early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic that we founded our club while those in leadership positions were trying to find a way to manage the new outbreak while coming up with a response to curb its deadly effect. We all probably have varying opinions on the response, but we are trying to do our best to deal with and work within the policies implemented, to the best of our abilities. Kim and I will get our second vaccination the first week in May which is cutting it pretty close to the beginning of our Motch Across America adventure and LBCA fundraiser, but we are thankful and we’ll breathe a little better knowing we have some coverage, for us and others, as we travel across eleven states.
On March, 15, 2020, the Governor announced the temporary closure of all K-12 public schools. This obviously affected my oldest Grandsons who would be stranded at home with their parents who were pregnant with granddaughter June, who was arriving soon, and adjusting to working full-time at home. This confinement was and continues to create additional stress on many individuals and families around the world. I tried to come up with a plan for some momentary relief for all of us and believed that our safest and needed outlet would be to find something to do outside.
I called my daughter Amanda and said that I would stop over a couple times a week to do something with the boys outside and try to maintain social distance recommendations. Amanda and Trevan’s family live within fifteen minutes of us so dropping over would be manageable. Behind their house is a wooded area where I thought we could entertain ourselves with nature and maybe even learn something. Since we would be “running” through the woods I wanted to make sure that I could see them at all times so I came up with something that would provide that visibility, provide a little warmth in early April and create some unity within our ranks. We strapped on red hanky’s, bandana style.
Our first meeting was a walk through the woods, crossing streams, getting muddy, having snacks and making s’mores. As we were standing around my truck, I said we have to come up with a name for our group. With some back and forth the boy settled on the Red Scooter Club. Since then, we’ve picked up garbage along the road, hiked in the woods, went on bicycle rides, had bonfires, cooked s’mores and of course, ate snacks.
Since the founding of the club, we have opened up our membership to everyone. Members include many family members and friends, including my parents, Stan and Shirley. All you need to do to gain membership to the Club is send us a picture of yourself or your group, wearing a bandana outdoors, and pledge to follow our guiding principles; respect others, find togetherness outside and social distance.
