“A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, town, or neighbourhood) or in virtual space through communication platforms.” -Wikipedia
We are especially mindful of community at Northology Adventures, as we feel that our success is due in large part to the geographical and virtual communities we serve. In order to keep in touch with members in the stateline area, we co-host a local Rigs & Coffee meetup at Rocktown Adventures with Wanderlost Overland and XJPOverland/Xvanture. Our December meetup was an opportunity to not only strengthen ties and gather with our virtual community members in person, but also give back to the local community with a donation drive for an organization that serves the hungry, homeless and addicted in the greater Rockford, IL area.
The day was misty and overcast but the temps were mild as we gathered downtown to eat cookies, drink coffee and warm ourselves by a portable propane firepit. We gave away prizes for the best holiday decorated rigs and collected donations of sleeping bags, boots, food, personal items and other necessities for Miss Carly’s. A check for $500 was presented to Miss Carly, who stopped by to delight in the offroad and overland-outfitted rigs and tell the story of her organization and mission (she says she has fond memories of offroading as a kid in southern California.) Afterwards we convoyed on a gravel road route down to Lowden State Park, had some laughs and learned some local history along the way.
We owe a huge thanks to Rocktown for hosting us, to Rigs & Coffee for the meetup format & inspiration and especially Chris from XJPOverland/Xvanture (MP Heating & Cooling) for coordinating the generous funds donation in all our names. It felt good to meet with this community and to see their generosity and character in action
Thank you also to Axel Fabrication, Birddog Overland and SJ Michals Photography for your participation and support.
Rigs & Coffee Rockford (IL/WI) happens from 9-11am on the second Saturday of each month in the municipal lot directly across from Rocktown Adventures. All adventure rigs are welcome and there is no cost to participate. Let us know if your business would like to participate as a sponsor, exhibitor or to donate door prizes.
Learning some local history on the route, see the previous blog post for more on this subject.
The Blackhawk statue overlooking the Rock River at Lowden State Park
