January 10th is coming soon and I need your help

The deadline to file my response to the lawsuit filed against me made by Sturgis North, Ray Sasseville and Joan Hansen is January 10th, 2014. As of today's date I have raised $1,620.00 with promises of 2 cheques in the amount of $500 each being in the mail.

For this first round of this suit I need to raise $5,000.00.  I want my day in court to face Ray and Joan and prove that what I have had to say is true. That what I have gathered for evidence shows a certain pattern of behaviour.  I want the documents I have becoming public record, I want to clear my name and protect my community.

I have come, helmet in hand to ask the motorcycle community to help me defend myself.

For those of you who don't know the history of Sturgis North here is a quick glance at what has transpired since the first event held in 2011.  The first event was a financial failure and faced a number of challenges because of the way the venues were laid out, communications and organizational issues. Depending on which set of documents you read, the debt from 2011 was between $200,000 and $975,000

2012 - the event moved to Vernon's Motoplex and was again a financial failure, the venue was terribly laid out and it again had communication and organizational issues.
To visit Vendor Alley you had to pay $20
The liquor control board put huge sanctions on the beer gardens.
The BEU was everywhere.
The 2012 event left close to $400,000 in debt.

The 2013 event was cancelled and during the down time it was rebranded it to Sturgis Canada.

I started out as a supporter and sponsor of the event. I became a detractor about 2 minutes after I rode into the Motoplex venue the second year when I saw how things were laid out.

I started investigating the event and the policing situation after having gotten some emails from unhappy people asking for help over the policing situation.

As it turned out, that investigation took some serious turns and I learned a lot of things that made me uncomfortable about Ray Sasseville in particular.  
I published some of those the findings here in my blog and again in our newspaper the Busted Knuckle Chronicles.

Because I have again brought their event to the fore front of people's minds, reminding them of the history, I am being sued along with 6 others for slander, libel and defamation.

Next to being reduced to asking for financial support for my defense, having to revisit all of the evidence I have, is the most painful thing I have had to do in a while, but I have been doggedly working to pull it all together into a chronological format for the lawyer.

I decided to revisit some of lawsuits against the above mentioned parties after reading Martha Wickett's articles in Salmon Arm Observer the other day to see if anything new had transpired.
I sent my research assistant off to retrieve the documents on the Ministry of Justice web site.

Besides the case Sasseville et al have initiated against myself and 6 others, there are lawsuits that were initiated by Michael Smith, Warren McKay, Okanagan Aggregates, Robert Lopez,and Marjorie Paula Sasseville that are still active and a couple that were withdrawn or dismissed and one that indirectly involves Sturgis North. You can purchase the documents at: http://www.gov.bc.ca/justice/  under Court Services. Just search Sasseville, Sturgis North.

As I read the documents of the Michael Smith case over, my memory was refreshed and I realized I had known about this case, I had just forgotten it.

And as Martha Wickett stated in her article, Michael won his lawsuit by default judgment on August 16th, 2012.

The next lawsuit Martha alluded to; the Motoplex one:
Okanagan Aggregates DBA Motoplex Speedway is suing Sturgis North Encore Productions, Ray Sasseville and Joan Hansen for $398,567,34. According to the documents, on July 20th, 2012 the plaintiff agreed to advance the defendants $539,023, on the 25th of July 2012, the amount advanced had been reduced to $454,11.72. A guarantee had been signed by both Sasseville and Hansen.
The plaintiff recovered some of the money that had been advanced, leaving the outstanding debt at $398, 567.34.

Sturgis North 2012 was held July 18-23, 2012.

Ray, Joan and Sturgis North Encore Productions Inc are counter suing and allege that they never had an agreement with Okanagan Aggregates regarding the advance of funds. They also claim, among other things, that the Motoplex took all of the ticket sales money and converted it for their own use.
They want the judge to dismiss the Motoplex suit.

And I did discover something new - a lawsuit filed by one Marjorie Paula Sasseville filed on Feb.12th, 2013.

Whoever this Marjorie Paula Sasseville is, Ray's wife Edith, has power of attorney for her.  And Ray's wife on behalf of Marjorie, as Power of Attorney,  is suing Ray for $140,000.00 alleging that Ray signed a promissory note for $140K at 12% interest.  What is most interesting to me is that Marjorie lives at the same address as the plaintiff.  Interestingly enough, it is the same address that has always been identified as Ray and Edith Sasseville's home address.

Ray's Address on the lawsuit documents regarding myself.

Address of plaintiff and defendant are the same.

Please support my Defense Fund if you can, and if you can't, please consider sharing my story.
With your support, I will be able to continue the work I do in the riding community.
I deeply appreciate your help.

Belt Drive Betty,
Editor & Rider

Thanks to you all...

I want to thank everyone who has donated to my defense fund so far.

(http://www.beltdrivebetty.com/community/bdb-defense-fund)

Because of you, my husband and I were able to have a reasonably peaceful Christmas.

The Sturgis North Entertainment, Ray Sasseville, Joan Hansen suit alleging slander, defamation and libel against me was pushed aside for a few hours because of your comments of support and for those who could, their donation.  Knowing I have the support of my community made a huge difference in the day.

It had been suggested that I put up a donation thermometer so that people could see how close to the goal I am.

Right now, beyond the retainer and some immediate support staff help, I have no idea what the goal should be.

I can tell you that I have raised close to $1,500.00 so far and have been promised 2 -  $500 donations to come by mail.  I know that I will need about $5,000 for my share of the lawyer initially and that I have to pay other people to do research gathering, and time line creation.

I know how much time of mine this is consuming and how it means that other things that I have to do are falling farther and farther behind, and because of my crash in October, they were already behind.

I have no idea where I go after getting through this initial time.

Is $10K the right amount to attempt to raise?
Is 20K and what happens if I raise more than I need.

What then?

I have no idea - none.

I know that my sales are suffering as is my invoicing etc. I know that proposals I have to do are suffering.  All I can do is deep breath and work as steady at it all as I can for as many hours every day that I can.

If anyone has time to help here in Grande Prairie, I could sure use the donation of a few hours of your time! It's tedious and time consuming work reading through the gathered evidence, chronicling it all and having to revisit all of those feelings.  It's a total nuisance that is taking up time and resources that could be put to better use else where. But it is what it is and somehow, I will find a way to meet all my deadlines and keep on keeping on. I just have to.

Someone asked who the lawyer of record is in this lawsuit for the Plaintiff:

Gerhard A. Pyper has been their lawyer since early 2013 at least

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I hope that 2014 brings you all that your heart desires.

And again, thank you for the words of encouragement and the support, whether you are able to donate or can only share the information about the defense fund, I am deeply grateful.

I am honoured to be a part of this community and the help I am given I promise I will pay forward into the community.

Belt Drive Betty
Rider & Editor

The BEST Christmas Present EVER!

When I got the papers for the lawsuit served to me last Friday a number of things went through my head.

Like many things in life, there are phases of emotions and thought patterns that we all go through.

My very first thought was:
How the hell do I tell my husband?
MS patients do NOT need worry in their lives, that only accelerates the disease's progress.

Then I wondered do I keep this to myself, or do I do the right thing and report on what is going on after all, it is Canadian motorcycle community news and the documents are public record.
Do I announce it to the world and risk loosing advertisers who may not know the whole story?

After those thoughts rolled through my brain, others started flooding me...

Why aren't the other reporters who have been following and reporting on this story been sued?
Why am I included in a lawsuit with so many others?
I thought to myself, why would Sturgis North (which is now Sturgis Canada), Ray Sasseville and Joan Hansen really want to sue me?  They know that my business is just a little community based business and that I really don't have anything, so why? Do these people really consider me a threat?

These are but a few of the questions that have rolled around in my head.

Then came that self pitying time.
What great freaking timing - #&^@%@$
GREAT CHRISTMAS PRESENT.
I'm barely recovered from my motorcycle crash and the costs of that and now this, throwing good money after bad to defend myself. What a nuisance!

Then a calm settled over me.

I decided to listen to my gut and just put the facts out there the way I have done with everything I report on and to ask this community for help.  As that decision settled in my heart, the gut wrenching emotions went away. I was able to get down to the business of gathering the facts.

After I talked to one lawyer friend and sought some initial advice, I spoke with some of the other defendants and began the work of going through the list of the people I had interviewed to do my initial pieces on Sturgis North and Ray Sasseville.

I revisited emails, started copying and filing things for the lawyer.
I did google searches to find all the articles I have done and I uncovered even more news about Sturgis North and Ray Sasseville.

Then I asked my web mistress to build me a defence fund page and link as much of the information as possible all in one place.

On the Belt Drive Betty Defense Fund Page you will be able to read my blog posts, the comments made by others and my responses.
You will be able to see the four pages of the legal documents that pertain to my involvement in this law suit.
And I made a video to explain how I feel about the Sturgis North, Ray Sasseville, Joan Hansen lawsuit against me.

On the Defense Fund page, I offer you the facts as I know them, links to information and ask you to form your own decisions.
(There is so much that I cannot share publicly, the private emails from people asking me for help over money owed to them, the documents that were shared with me, the phone calls from hurt and angry people - all of this needs to stay privileged until they come out in court.)

Then I swallowed my pride and asked you, my community, to support me.

I have already received a number of donations and I am deeply appreciative and blown away by that.
I have received emails, Pm's and phone calls from people willing to swear out affidavits.
I have received emails and letters of support from people who cannot afford to donate to the defense fund but are sharing the story far and wide because they believe in me.

The support and comments have eased my husband's mind immeasurably and they have warmed my heart. It is deeply gratifying to know that the work I do for this community answers a need and really adds value to people's lives.  That alone has made my heart lighter.

I slept really well for the first time in a while, last night.  It's amazing how when you are angry, the sleep you get never makes you feel rested or ready to tackle the day.

To every individual who helps me, I want you to know one thing:
The help you give me today - I SWEAR TO YOU I WILL PAY FORWARD into our community 10 fold.

If you are a rider who owns a business, instead of donating to our fund, perhaps you'll consider becoming an advertiser and help us really spread the news of the Canadian Riding community.

What I am asking for is a hand up - not a hand out.

Belt Drive Betty Media CAN offer you good value for your money, so please, consider becoming a member of our Rider Friendly Business Association as opposed to donating.
Together we can make long term change by helping the riding community get the news it needs.

To all you riders - from now until January 5th - every person who registers on my web site will get a free one year subscription to our newspaper.  Let's grow our communications network wide open.

Get all your friends to REGISTER on my site - www.beltdrivebetty.com - and use the PROMO CODE - I support Belt Drive Betty -  and I'll give them a free newspaper subscription for a year.

My way of saying thank you and growing our information sharing circle. Tell them it's your Christmas present to them....

I want to thank each and every one of you for the BEST Christmas present I could ever have been given during this trying time - YOUR SUPPORT. You have given me a sense of relief, of hope, and you have washed some of the worry off of my husband's brow as well and right now, that means everything because without him, I'd be lost.

Thank you for your love, kindness, warmth and support.

From My house to yours, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and thank you.

PS - Our Beat the PMS Blues Online Show 'n' Shine is coming up and who knows, you could win one of the fabulous prizes we have up for grabs from our fabulous sponsors, Kimpex, Heat Demon, CKX, SHD Enterprises, Bagot Leather Goods, Luggage Plus...this year most of our prizes do not require shipping fees to be paid either!

Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider