Thanks to a certain person who shall for now remain unnamed, the Rider Friendly Phone Book will be about 5 - 6 weeks late getting out.
This person backed out of their contract after stringing me along for 6 weeks and now I have to decide whether to just let it go or pursue other options to recover the cash. In business as in life, your word is supposed to mean something. Contracts are supposed to mean something but I have no heart to fight anyone else right now.
It also means I have about 400 phone calls to make to let people know the books are going to be late and there is not a damned thing I can do about it - at least I haven't figured out a way - yet but I am working on it.
Our website overhauls and our new apps will hopefully make up for some of the inconvenience of it all. Watch for their unveiling very soon!
On to the topic of the day...Getting ready for a great fundraiser!
As many of you know I am being sued by Ray Sasseville, Joan Hansen and Sturgis North/Canada.
I need to raise the money to fight this lawsuit and this coming weekend will be an important one for me. We have the
Freedom of the Press Poker Run and Rally happening at
Blackjacks in Nisku, AB, on Saturday.
Cost is $20 per hand for the Poker run which leaves Blackjacks at 10 AM and returns between 2-3PM. The BBQ will be on, a DJ will be spinning tunes, there will be a few vendors, 50/50 draws and silent auction items.
Justin King, stunter extraordinaire will be on hand to do a stunting demo!
Steel Horses Photography will be on hand as well!
So why do I need to raise funds? Why am I being sued?
I wish to draw your attention to the documents of their claims against me on my
defense fund page - (right hand side - 1/2 way down) and to this letter from their lawyer with their latest and newest claims against me. Before now I was only able to share part of this letter, but I can now share it in it's entirety as it is formally part of public record and can be purchased for download on the
BC Court Services site:
According to them, I have had a vendetta since BEFORE the 2012 event and yet, I produced their newsletter, I was a sponsor, a reporter and a vendor at the 2012 event and I never said anything negative about them until well after the event.
My lawyer has crafted the rebuttal letter with my counter offer to settle - but until the draft is edited and sent to the other parties, I am not allowed to reveal it's contents just yet, but when I am, I will share it with you, but again not until it is available in the public domain of
BC Court Services.
In the meantime....I need to be prepared
I need to raise a minimum of $3,500 this weekend to pay the next round of bills attached to my defense - lawyer, research assistant etc...and If Sturgis North/Canada, Ray and Joan do not accept my counter offer to settle, my lawyer has told me to prepare for a $50,000 bill to get us into court to prove I have done my job properly and that nothing I have said or provided for evidence is out of line or libellous as it is was in the public domain and was said by others.
The very heart of my defense is Freedom of the Press, freedom of speech and freedom of opinion.
To read everything I printed visit my
defense fund page.
As a sponsor, rider and vendor who attended both events, I am entitled to my opinion and as a former event coordinator myself, the dissection of the event. As a reporter, I am allowed to bring up the facts that pertain to the event and it's coordinators.
I am looking forward to seeing a lot of people out this weekend.
If I raise more money than needed to fight this suit, I will be donating the extra money to another worthy cause,
Doug Jenson - a local Edmonton musician who was recently diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease and is in need of an electric hospital bed and lift.
We will have a silent auction table devoted to my good friend Doug - I hope we can raise some funds for him too. His sister Kennedy will be on hand and Terry Evans from K97 is going to try and join us for the ride!
It is my fondest hope that you will come out and support me and the Freedoms this country affords us.
If you can't come out but would still like to support me, you can buy a Tee Shirt through
Tee Spring to support me or make a direct donation to my
defence fund.
I thank all who have already contributed, those who can only offer moral support and those who are going to come out to the fundraiser on Saturday. No matter how you can or have supported me, it is all important to me - the letters, the emails, the phone calls and of course the funds.
I love this community and want to keep working to protect and promote it for years to come!
Thank you for all the prayers for my husband, he returns to work on a trial basis on Wednesday!
I wish you all a fantastic week and if you are blessed enough to be riding today, please ride like everyone around you is blind and cannot see you!
Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider
