Christmas Cookie Decorating Party for SafeHouse of Seminole

The Divas hosted a Christmas cookie party for the kids at SafeHouse this afternoon.  We went into a baking frenzy the day before and ended up bringing 35 dozen cookies to be decorated.  It was a wonderful day and all of us -- the kids, the moms and the Divas -- couldn't resist the pull of decorating sugar cookies. 
It's the simple things.

At meetup.
What's a Diva get together without a mechanical issue?  Hey, we're getting good at this stuff!

The Divas and Zazoo the Clown



The Divas with some of the volunteers (friends and family) that came out to help us.



At the SafeHouse getting everything ready before the children arrive.

Chris keeping a close eye on the gingerbread cookies in the oven.
 Mmmmm... They made the shelter smell all Christmas cozy!

 



You know, "Too many cooks in the kitchen..."  That's our excuse and we're sticking to it.



We had a little cookie icing mixing incident.

But some of us came prepared.

Prepping the tables for the decorating messy.

Zazoo was on hand to entertain the children with balloons and face painting.

Akili enjoyed holding this little sugar cookie.

The decorating in full swing.

The kids seemed to be having so much fun. 

Even the Divas got in on the decorating action.  Not sure who had more fun, us or the kids.

One of the masterpieces.



A table full of masterpieces.





Poker Run to Benefit Jessi "SunDancer" Sills

On Labor Day the president of the Chrome Angels of Central Florida, Jessi Sills, went down on her bike and suffered numerous severe injuries, including a skull fracture, fractured ribs and nerve damage to the right side of her face.  A poker run was held to raise money to try to offset some of the debt she has incurred while out of work and recovering.  After many years of  dedication to raising money to support breast cancer research and to help its victims, Jessi was now on the receiving end of the generosity of the motorcycling community.  The Chrome Divas were there to offer our support to our sister rider.

The Divas at Harley Davidson

Melissa rolling up her sleeves to help get everyone registered.



Divas working the registration table.



The chow line at Cowboys, where the ride concluded.

The Divas with Jessi and friends



Trish, always the dancer.




Chris, just moments before she won the Strong Woman contest.  She won two gift cards for Beef 'O' Brady's and a gift card from Harley Davidson.  Woo hoo!
Fair warning:  Don't ever get in an arm wrestling match with her. 
(And, Chris, you can't say you never win anything ever again!)

Also noteworthy (but not pictured due to blurriness) is the fact that Victoria won another raffle.  Hellooo, lottery ticket!



Cruising For The Kids

The Chrome Divas of Orlando met up at the Orlando Harley-Davidson this morning to ride in the Orange County Police Athletic League's Cruising For The Kids ride, a fundraiser to help keep kids off the streets.  A nice breakfast was offered and live music was playing while we all registered and visited with other riders. 

Debi and Akili with the Grand Marshals of the Parade, Orange County Sheriff Val Demings and Orlando Police Chief Jerry Demings

Local radio personality Shannon Burke getting things started.  Shannon did a great job getting the word out about the ride on The Shannon Burke Show.  (We'd like to send a big thank you to him for also getting the word out about the Chrome Divas of Orlando's participation in this event.)

Prayer and The National Anthem before the riders' meeting

Our escort vehicles ready and waiting

Let's ride!

The 30-mile ride was escorted by the Orange County Sheriff's Department.  They were stopping traffic for us all along the way as we headed out toward Windermere and ended up at the Central Florida Fairgrounds.

The Divas with Dan Haggerty. 
Most of us know him as "Grizzly Adams."
All you younger Divas will have to Google that one...

Workin' it.
The Divas had a booth to welcome anyone interested in learning more about the Chrome Divas of Orlando.

Lunch at the Central Florida Fairgrounds

Victoria won the $300 cash raffle!
Akili was also a raffle winner of free yoga classes.

Bunny and Dan Haggerty
(After riding with him many times in the Love Ride in California, it was surreal for me to see Dan Haggerty on the East Coast, especially since the Love Ride event was taking place that very day out West and I was feeling a little bummed about not being there.  What a nice surprise!)

Cruise For A Cause

The Chrome Divas of Orlando participated in Insight Credit Union's Cruise For A Cause, a poker run to benefit New Hope For Kids, Saturday, October 23, 2010. 

Homes for Heroes Charity Ride

On this September 11th anniversary the Chrome Divas of Orlando attended the First Annual Charity Ride Event benefitting the Central Florida Homes for Heroes Foundation.  The Homes For Heroes Foundation provides and/or coordinates financial assistance and housing resources to the heroes of our nation such as military personnel, police/peace officers, firefighters and first responders who are in need.

The event started at 8:00 a.m. at The WingHouse of Altamonte Springs, where breakfast was served before 125 registered bikes paraded out for a nice ride to Orlando Harley-Davidson.  At the Harley shop we had a booth set up to introduce ourselves to some of the women riders who attended the event and get the word out about who the Chrome Divas of Orlando are.

Breakfast at The WingHouse

 

Victoria, Joni, Debi, Chris, Keri, Bunny, Melanie, Gail and Penny



Pre-ride Meeting

 

Ready to roll!



The Chrome Divas at Harley-Davidson of Orlando



Ribbon Cutting for the Homes for Heroes' First Annual Charity Ride Event



Oh, you do not want to mess with this Diva.  She's one baaad biker chick.

Debi won this Harley-Davidson jacket in a raffle

Give A Kid A Backpack

The Divas braved one of Orlando's famous afternoon summer storms this Friday the 13th  -- we drove the cages! -- and headed out to the Amway Arena for a backpack stuffing event for Give A Kid A Backpack and HopeNow International.  These organizations put the call out to the community to help stuff and hand out 9,000 backpacks for a back-to-school event for struggling families in Central Florida.  The response was so overwhelming, that by the time we arrived  (the last day of the three-day event), everything was done but the stacking for the next day's distribution.  Central Florida volunteers, you rock!! 

No, we didn't take the short bus.

Backpack stacking

Time for a little goofing off.

Okay, a lot of goofing off.

(And this was before wings and beer were involved.)

The Chrome Angels' Hawaiian Luau

The Chrome Divas of Orlando rode out to support the Chrome Angels' 6th Annual Hawaiian Luau Saturday, July 24, 2010.  (Way to go Cindy and Melissa for braving the weather and making it all the way to the end!)

Cindy, Joni, Debi, Julie, Melisa, Chris and Keri