SE VA. Guzzi Breakfasts ending

[sidecarnutz]

Folks.
Since 1997 I have been the contact person for the SE VA. Guzzi Breakfasts. That's a lotta years and its gone by pretty fast.

I'm sorry to announce that the SE Va. Guzzi breakfasts will be ending after this month. We lost our venue. The old restaurant (Bunny's) we've been using for 20 years has now closed permanently. They were supposed to just be shut down a week over the holiday and reopen as they always have every year. Now they've posted a sign on their door that they won't be reopening after 60 years in business.
That said, there is no other decent place we can hold a breakfast like this that isn't already overcrowded on Sunday Mornings. We all need to be able to sit together and we never know how many people will show up which makes reservations impossible. Bunny's was huge and only ever modestly busy so they could be very flexible for us. 4 people, ten people, no problem!

This coming Sunday, 7 July 0900, we WILL have one last Guzzi Breakfast in SE Va. We already planned to have it elsewhere since Bunny's was going to be closed for vacation. So we'll make our last breakfast something special and hold it at the Va. Diner on Rt. 460 in Wakefield Va. They have an excellent Breakfast buffet on Sundays. I'm sure many folks from Va. have been there before. It's a 45 mile drive for me, but it'll make a nice goodbye to something I've been doing for many years now.

Hope to see some of you there!

Rich Maund

[sidecarnutz]

Good article on the restaurant we've met at for 20 years.

https://www.suffolknewsherald.com/2019/07/03/bunnys-restaurant-closes/?fbclid=IwAR2feZKcG3GPdS1qWIk1RJ8qGDzMg0WwgqVmF19SBTbrIBny0jmyWzz48Io

[Two Checks]

There is a reason Bunnys wasn't busy.....


My son used to live in Suffolk and every time we went to Bunny's was a disappointment.


The VA Diner OTOH......fantastic!

[john fish]

Maybe try a different type of venue?  I never liked the sit-down-for-a-meal type of meet.  I much prefer walking around, interacting with different folks, and being able to check out the bikes; all while drinking a coffee and maybe eating a pastry. 



Admittedly, I got lucky that a cool bakery/restaurant opened nearby but it's worth finding a venue that offers refreshments and a decent parking lot.

[sidecarnutz]

Tomorrow at 0900 at VA Diner will be the last SE VA Guzzi breakfast. I'll be there a little early. Look for the short heavy bald guy in a Guzzi T shirt driving a hi top white RAM van. Sorry, bike has been off the road for two years. Nuthin to ride except my work van tomorrow.

I'd love to see a bakery coffee shop in a park somewhere that we can meet and shoot the breeze and enjoy gourmet coffee and pastries. Sounds like heaven! But nothing like that exists within a reasonable distance from me. I would think maybe a college town or someplace on the west coast would have that, but not us here. Locally we have a few good breakfast restaurants, but they are all swamped and wouldn't able to seat us Sunday mornings.

I've considered setting up my Blackstone gas griddle (GREAT tool for meals with friends!) and cooking for folks once a month. But it would wind up like the annual picnics we used to run years ago. Folks would SAY they want to come, then not show. Then I'm stuck with a bunch of food left over. That was why we stopped those picnics in the 90s.

Folks attending are usually myself and perhaps my wife if she isn't serving in church that day plus a couple old friends from NC who almost always come up. Other regulars we have had have all retired and moved away over the years. We have an interesting member in Va. Beach who used to join us a couple times a year. He works Sunday's. There's another gung ho Guzzi rider in Norfolk who commutes to work every day on his V85. But he's a church goer and works 6 to 7 days a week to make ends meet, so we don't get to see enough of him. So even though we have been holding these breakfasts for almost forever (Counting the MANY years the guy before me ran them) Attendance has always been thin. For some years we had a number of Ural riders attend. But they have all moved away too.

So just like Bunny's has died with a last gasp, so are the local Guzzi meetings. Just not enough folks caring to come and no good venue. Bunny's food was only ever OK. I mean they served tater tots instead of real potatoes fer gosh sakes. But their service and location and roominess was outstanding.

What I will miss most is seeing my friend's the Mims every month. They've become like family to me. His Dad started riding Guzzi's when I was a child and always has some good stories to tell. He's pushing 80 now but still owns a couple bikes.

[john fish]

Man, I'm sorry to hear that.  I hope you manage to stay connected to your friends.

[sidecarnutz]

Thanks!

Had five people for our last meet! A couple from Richmond, myself and and my friends from NC. It was really nice! Thanks for all the good years folks!

[Ronkom]

Rich,
Please let me extend to you a well deserved THANK YOU for your years of service to the Guzzi community. The attendance problems you were faced with are pretty much shared across the board in motorcycling. At rally after rally the "youngest rider" award is going to folks well into their 30's.....and older. We are an aging group, and far too many of the younger generation can be seen staring, deer-in-the-headlights, into their devices getting a full spectrum of exercise...in their thumbs.  Frankly, I have no idea what to do about it.
Again, my thanks to you, Rich, and to Gary Cobb, who once did the Richmond area Guzzi breakfast, and also Andrew Culpepper who did the Northern Va Guzzi Dinner for years. Out in my end of the state, I'll keep scheduling monthly lunches as long as I can still ride.
Ron Komoroski, MGNOC Rep for Virginia

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Rich,
Please let me extend to you a well deserved THANK YOU for your years of service to the Guzzi community. The attendance problems you were faced with are pretty much shared across the board in motorcycling. At rally after rally the "youngest rider" award is going to folks well into their 30's.....and older. We are an aging group, and far too many of the younger generation can be seen staring, deer-in-the-headlights, into their devices getting a full spectrum of exercise...in their thumbs.  Frankly, I have no idea what to do about it.
Again, my thanks to you, Rich, and to Gary Cobb, who once did the Richmond area Guzzi breakfast, and also Andrew Culpepper who did the Northern Va Guzzi Dinner for years. Out in my end of the state, I'll keep scheduling monthly lunches as long as I can still ride.
Ron Komoroski, MGNOC Rep for Virginia

Mike Tiberio was doing the NoVA Guzzi dinners for a while as well IIRC.

[sidecarnutz]

Rich,
Please let me extend to you a well deserved THANK YOU for your years of service to the Guzzi community. The attendance problems you were faced with are pretty much shared across the board in motorcycling. At rally after rally the "youngest rider" award is going to folks well into their 30's.....and older. We are an aging group, and far too many of the younger generation can be seen staring, deer-in-the-headlights, into their devices getting a full spectrum of exercise...in their thumbs.  Frankly, I have no idea what to do about it.
Again, my thanks to you, Rich, and to Gary Cobb, who once did the Richmond area Guzzi breakfast, and also Andrew Culpepper who did the Northern Va Guzzi Dinner for years. Out in my end of the state, I'll keep scheduling monthly lunches as long as I can still ride.
Ron Komoroski, MGNOC Rep for Virginia

I remember Gary and Andrew well. Great guys and serious riders. I hadn't seen them for some years though. Hope they're OK.

[Lannis]

I remember Gary and Andrew well. Great guys and serious riders. I hadn't seen them for some years though. Hope they're OK.

Andrew is out and about to many of the rides, lunches, and rallies, see him all the time.   

Gary's getting on in years - he did the guided rides for the Virginia Rally for many years up until 10 years ago or so when he was unable to ride any more, as I remember.   I haven't seen him in a while ...

Lannis