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The Red Knights International Firefighters Motorcycle Club (RKMC) is a club for firefighters and their families who ride motorcycles. It is the largest fire service Motorcycle Club in the world.
Contents
Membership is open to all firefighters; active, retired, volunteer, professional or industrial, who have access to a motorcycle and hold a valid motorcycle driver's license.
History
During the summer of 1982, several firefighters met in "Randy's Cycle Shop" in Boylston Massachusetts ( United States ). They discussed the fact that police officers had established their own motorcycle club, the "Blue Knights", but there was still no motorcycle club for firefighters. During this discussion, business owner Randy Wilson said to Ed Wright, a firefighter from Northboro (Massachusetts), that he should stop talking about it and establish a motorcycle club. The idea excited Ed Wright and he went home and made some hand-made cards to invite fire fighters from the region. He planned to organize a meeting to determine whether there was enough interest to start a motorcycle club. On August 17, 1982, Fire Chief Jack Pierce allowed a small group of avid motorcycle riding firefighters to meet in the headquarters of the Fire Department for the purpose of starting a motorcycle club.
On October 19, 1982, firefighters Colin Mackey, Bob Bourassa, Ed Wright, Roger Wentzell, Dave Hamilton, Bob Goulet, David Hunt, Jon Tripp, Don Parker, Norm Beausoleil and Fire Chief Jack Pierce met again. It was decided that the club would be called the "Red Knights Motorcycle Club" and the first Chapter would be Massachusetts 1.
In July 1983, a Chapter was founded in Connecticut. In October of that year, a second chapter in Massachusetts was founded. Soon there were startups in remote locations, such as Nevada and Louisiana. In August 1983, the founding members realized that the organization had quickly exceeded their original expectations. To properly handle this growth they elected a board of directors, the "National Board of Directors" . With the founding of chapters in Ontario and Saskatchewan, the club was the renamed the "Red Knights International Firefighters Motorcycle Club".
There are now 350 chapters and over 9,500 members worldwide.
Membership Types
Here are some of the RKMC membership types:
Any active or retired firefighting personnel, who holds a valid driver‘s license for motorcycles and has access to a motorcycle can be an active members in RKMC member. A firefighter belonging to a professional, work, military, airport, or volunteer fire department can be a member. EMS personnel may also be included if they are employed by a fire department.
This membership is granted to any member who joins a new Chapter within the first year of the Chapter’s existence.
A sibling, spouse or partner, children aged 16 years or older, and the parents of Active members may join as social members.
Children and grandchildren of Active- and Associate members, up to 16 years of age, can join as a junior member.
Associate membership can be offered to a person who has contributed to the promotion of the Red Knights International Firefighters Motorcycle Club® Inc. for a minimum period of six (6) months. Final approval shall be by a majority vote of the Chapter members at a meeting held at the conclusion of the six-month (6) period.
This membership is available to anyone who qualifies as an Active member who chooses not to be a member of a Chapter.
Organisation
To form a Chapter, there must be a minimum of 7 Active members. Each Chapter elects its own board. The following are the board positions (officers): President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and Road Captain. President and Vice President must be an Active Member, the other 3 positions are available to all members. Only the Secretary and Treasurer position can be held by one member.
Several Chapters may join together to form a State/Provincial or Regional Association. The State/Provincial Associations exists predominantly in the U.S and Canada. Currently there are 2 Regional Associations. The first Regional Association brought together the chapters in Australia and New Zealand, the second brought together the chapters in Europe.
Memorial
The Memorial is located in Boylston ( Massachusetts ), near the local fire station, where in 1982 the RKMC was founded. In 2002, RKMC Massachusetts Chapter 1 began preparations for the site.On August 18, 2007, the Memorial was officially opened. In addition to a memorial stone which commemorates the founding of the RKMC there is also a memorial with the names of all deceased RKMC members.
In 2011, the Board of the International RKMC received a piece of World Trade Center steel from the Port Authority of New York. The piece bears the numbers 149 and C-N-176, which indicates that it came from the area of impact between the 94th and 98 Floor of WTC Tower 1. An honor guard escorted the steel from New York to Boylston. On June 16, 2012, the steel was integrated into the RKMC Memorial.
International Board
The RKMC is directed by the International Board (international executive board). The Board is composed of four Board Officers and 7 Regional Directors. The Board Officers are President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer.
The 7 Regional Directors are responsible for a region. 6 Regions in North America and one in Europe. Australia and New Zealand have an Ambassador who reports to the International Board.
Current and former Board members wear a distinctive pin bearing the International Seal, also some wear a patch with the wording "International Officer".
The RKMC international presidents:
Annual Convention
In each year, usually on the third weekend in August, there is an Annual Convention. During the Convention, the Annual General Meeting is held. The International Board Members are introduced and sworn in at this meeting, they have been elected from the chapters by online voting.