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Hello Everyone!!  Time for an *All Kids Bike Fundraiser* Update!!  Thank you all so much for your donations and securing your raffle tickets for the art piece to be painted in upcoming videos. So far $2450 has been raised. Also...some kind folks donated a few years ago after the last AKB program was completed, to be used in a future program. All of those donations have been held and totaled a little over $600.  So added up, at $3000 we are 1/3 of the way to the $9000 goal!  Again...thank you all so much for helping these kiddos and school with an amazing, much needed program. 

Thanks to a great friend, it has come to my attention that unauthorized Baxters Garage and Skunk Series logo apparel is being sold across social media platforms. If you happen to see this, please take a second to report it. 

Thanks! 

As some of you may be familiar, this time of year, every year for many, I have sat in reflection of the previous 365 days and compare to the decades preceeding them.  As we pass thru Christmas, I acutely begin to focus on the day of the anniversary of my birth. That day, December 31, marks the end of another calendar year…for me, it marks yet another trip around the sun.

This year…and this Christmas…is different.
Most of you have no idea of a goal…a task…a give back of sorts I tasked myself with many months ago.  The people here in my new community have been so gracious and caring. From building and electrical inspectors, to contractors, each has been gracious. As for customers…all of which span the globe…all of which have been kind…all patient. All…nothing short of incredible. 

I searched my soul to find some way I could give back.  A way to say thanks to all those who have played their own special part in helping me. Several months ago…I found it. 
I have always been fascinated by helicopters. They, and their pilots, have fascinated me my entire life. One day, while driving from the local town, I saw a medi-vac lifting off from the EMS station only a couple miles from me. I stopped to watch…and so it began. 

Now, three months later, after long work days preparing the shop and performing work for customers, in the evenings spending over 100 hours in testing and training, classroom and practical…from CPR to FEMA emergency management, defensive driving, search/rescue, and various other testing and training, I can say I am very proud to be a  Volunteer Firefighter.

Understand…I am not the only one so no accolade is warranted or desired. Over 70% of firefighters in the US are unpaid volunteers and no different than me. They, along with their families, and at a moments notice, make sacrifices to protect us all. I am no different than any of them.

So far, I have seen teens lucky to walk away from vehicle roll overs, I have seen arson, I have seen elderly people being pulled from vehicles, miraculously without injury, I have seen families lose everything they have ever owned…

I have also seen men…brothers…willing, at a moments notice, selflessly and without a penny of financial gain, be willing to lay down their lives to help strangers. I have men, who trust me as I trust them, glance at me amid sirens, rush, panic…a glance that tells us both our lives are in each others hands. A glance that passes in an instant yet it says everything.

A trust based not on what you own, what you buy or your lot in life…but a trust and brotherhood based on the core fundamentals of life…to preserve life itself and protect it. 

Tomorrow is Christmas. Tonight…we count our blessings. There are tens of thousands of men and women, scattered all across this great land laying in wait in the unfortunate event they are needed. 

Remember them all.

For me, as others…tonight…I wait…just in case.
Those closest to you…pull them in and celebrate the love and kindness they bring you. If they are no longer with you in body…remember and cherish them in spirit.
Your reality today can change in an instant.

Cherish every moment.

Often…there are people who stand behind you…to care for and protect you…and you may never know who they are or that they were standing there to begin with. 

There are many behind me…those…I cherish and am grateful for. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year all…may the love of the world fall on your lap…and may you have the wisdom to embrace it.

As for me...and tens of thousands of others...my gear is in the truck and we are here...waiting...just in case. 

See you tomorrow (Saturday)  morning at 10am central for some live tech!   You pick the topics and let's discuss the answers! Bring your questions! 

Harry arrived from Ohio to drop off his Ultra for a complete Skunk Series 117, DD7 trans and all the fixins....the first bike to be dropped at the new shop. For those of you on the waiting list, you will be contacted in the next few days to schedule your drop offs as well.  Finally...back to work...and I love it. 

Officially, the first customers, now friends, to arrive at the shop...picking up his lower end and heads for his twin cam we finished up right before the move.  It was great to meet you Tommy and Chris...and it was nice to have time to actually get to know you. Safe travels back to northern Kentucky. Thank you. 

Weve hit another milestone my friends and Id like to thank all of you for your continued support.  So many great things are coming to the channel so hang in there...itll be a great ride. 

With the sun setting, today marks the last time I'll be leaving this building. The doors locked, lights out, and signs down, the same silence remains but the view through my office window is quite different than it has been for many years.  The last words of this chapter have been read and I'm anxious to start the next one at the new shop. 

Jason and I will be making the last trip of the big move tomorrow morning.  He and Guy will be finishing up small details Monday so I can make my way to Sturgis for some much needed, long awaited rest and time with some of my best of friends.

I'm not sad, I'm happy for what awaits when I return...setting up equipment and preparing for customers (who have generously waited patiently) to drop off bikes shortly after...many are on the year backlog and are excited to be the first at the new location.

I do want to extend my deepest gratitude to my team for their hard work...Guy, whos been with me for nearly 10 years and will continue on at his home shop.  Jason who cares so much about the shop and our customers and will remain at his home handling parts, our website, and customer relations, Mike T and Mike J for volunteering to help the past few months, to Rob for really being there at the last minute when I needed him most, to Steven for making a trip for us, and to all customers for your kindness, patronage, patience, and support. 

I would also like to thank everyone who has posted comments, sent emails, messages, calls, cards, letters... all offering concern, encouragement and kind words.  Some were nice enough to tell me I look like hell.  Yeah...I know. 

For the past few months, the 100 plus hour work weeks, driving between 700 and 1400 miles per week, being dangerously sleep deprived, and to the point of absolute exhaustion, dining on Bucees BBQ and gas station hot dogs far more than I liked has taken quite its toll on me mentally and physically but...the task at hand is nearly complete and I'm thankful.

Blessings to you all!  I'm Tennessee bound!...but wait...I gotta go to a little bike thing first up in South Dakota. Safe travels friends.