President's Corner - April, 2007
From Chapter Formation Meeting to FMCA International Rally, to our first Chapter Rally! What a great start!

With spring upon us, daylight savings time, and longer warmer days ahead, it brings us to the start of our first Covered Wagons rally season!

Esther and I just returned from a trip to Florida, and on to the FMCA International Rally in Perry, Georgia, where we represented Covered Wagons in the Chapter Fair. We got a head start on the rally season, de-winterizing our coach in March, which can be a little risky sometimes in our climate.

We really enjoyed the February 24th Chapter Formation meeting. The 63 people in attendance approved the Chapter Formation recommendations presented by the Marlowes and the Allisons, and elected Chapter officers. As your first President, I also made several Committee Chairperson appointments.

We realize that there were many Snowbirds and Winter Texans among our Charter Members who were still in the "tropics," as Loretta Marlowe would say. We hope to see them along with those at the Formation Meeting and others that have joined since then at our first Chapter Rally in April!
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I think everyone is very excited about meeting our fellow Chapter members. Everyone at FMCA is also excited about our new chapter! As of 4/4/07, we are not yet an official FMCA chapter, but I have spoken to members of the Chapter Bylaws committee and communicated with them via email. We and the Marlowes ironed out a few small wrinkles with the committee members, and it looks like it won't be much longer.

We are looking forward to the monthly rallies this season, and I plan to do my part to make the campouts fun. We want everyone to look forward to each rally. Let's all show up and enjoy our first rally at the Pony Express!

Fred Allison
President

Our first Covered Wagons rally was a wonderful success!

It was fun, and the weather was perfect. We had 32 rigs, and we almost filled up the whole Pony Express RV Park!

 Our first Rally hosts were Dave and Loretta, our National Director and Wagonmaster/ Membership Chairperson - and excellent hosts they were! Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings they provided coffee and donuts. Dave had the lonely job of making the coffee at 6:00 a.m. for the early-birds. There were still plenty of donuts for the late-risers as well!

Following the coffee and donuts on Saturday morning, we had a very productive meeting, even if I was long-winded!. There were several first-rally type items to discuss, and several members offered their services when I called for volunteers for various jobs. See the Secretary's meeting minutes (distributed to you vie mail or email) for meeting details.

We are still looking for an Assistant Secretary to fill in for Barbara for the summer months, and for Rally Hosts for upcoming rallies.

Lawrence and Rita volunteered to host the May rally at Deer Run RV Park. They have since gone there to check out the facilities and area attractions, and plan rally events. They have a great Rally planned. See details on the Rallies page, and remember to let Loretta know ASAP if you are attending the May rally, as well as what other rallies you plan to attend this year, and any changes in your plans as the rally season progresses.

Saturday evening we all enjoyed a delicious Pot Luck - what a spread!

The RV Park Hosts were very helpful to everybody. They even lined up a local band to entertain us on Saturday night, right there in their excellent meeting room! Our own entertainers, Don and Geri, regaled us with great songs during the band's intermission, and Geri accompanied them on the piano! She also rocked the house with some piano solos! There were also some fun door prizes, provided by Bill and Sharon. President Fred and Secretary Barbara did the honors of drawing names and awarding the prizes. I think everybody had a great time!

We are looking forward to seeing you all at the May rally at Deer Run. Let's fill up this RV park and have a great time like we did on our first rally at Pony Express!

Fred Allison
President

Our 2nd Covered Wagons rally at Deer Run was great fun! Starting with an open pit BBQ and Bingo on Friday night, hosts Lawrence and Rita planned a wonderful rally for the 40 people who attended!
The hosts provided the hotdogs and trimmings for the Friday night cookout, with make-your-own S'Mores for dessert! At sunset we went inside for Bingo, where they supplied the prizes for the big winners!

Saturday morning we enjoyed coffee, donuts, and just getting to know each other. Then we were off on our own to explore the area, including visits to the nearby Cheese Factory, and antique store, and to play indoor and outdoor games, including "Snake." Mike was declared reigning champion!

Saturday evening we cooked our own main dishes on a big open grill, then all shared in the delicious pot luck dinner. Dinner was followed by our chapter business meeting. After the meeting Esther and I celebrated my retirement from Coca Cola with the group by handing out Coke memorabilia items as door prizes. At least the Coke drinkers enjoyed it. I don't know about the Pepsi drinkers! Ha!

On our trip home, Esther and I were talking and we think it was a great rally because it seemed like everybody was really enjoying themselves - talking, eating, playing games, and getting to know each other. I think this is going to be a great FMCA Chapter, with plenty of good times to be had by all!

I can't wait until our next rally, hosted by Patrick and Alicia, because I heard great things are planned by our June rally hosts!

See you at the Michigan Valley Rally!

Fred Allison
President

Our 3rd Covered Wagons rally at Michigan Valley RV Park on Pomona Lake in June was our largest rally so far! We were blessed with perfect weather the entire weekend. A big "Thank You" goes out to Don and Geri for the great special entertainment they provided us on Saturday night. I think we all enjoyed the special treat, and some of us even joined in on the singing!
Thanks also to our great hosts, Patrick and Alicia. They provided us with some delicious, "giant" cinnamon rolls on Saturday morning! They were so scrumptious that lots more people showed up for breakfast on Sunday than usual. Of course it was all their fault that we ran out of cinnamon rolls on Sunday because they were sooo... good that we couldn't stop eating them! Ha! Thanks for hosting a great rally!

It's a good thing we were at Pomona Lake in June. As we speak, the campground is closed because of high water! The water from Pomona Lake also flows into Truman Lake in Missouri, which has closed Bucksaw campground, where we were originally scheduled to camp in July.
You should have already received information about our change of plans for our July Rally. If not, see the Rallies page for the latest details and to print the directions and agenda.

One more "Thanks" is in order. I want to thank all of our members who have volunteered in various capacities to help our new FMCA chapter be successful! All of our volunteers have helped make our new Covered Wagons chapter a huge, successful chapter! It requires many volunteers to keep our chapter running smoothly. A good example of a willing volunteer was Peggy, who filled as acting secretary for Barbara, and did a great job! We all really appreciate it! Thanks also to Virg for publishing the meeting minutes.

Esther and I have enjoyed a nice vacation in Branson. We are a little late with this letter and the website because of it.

We hope to see you at our next rally, hosted by Don and Connie. It sounds like they have planned for lots of things to do and see!

See you at the July Cozy Corner Rally!

"President Fred"

Our July Covered Wagons rally location at Cozy Corner RV Park near Truman Lake was a very good substitute for Bucksaw, which was flooded by torrential rains.
I want to thank Frank for helping us come up with another RV park at the last minute!
The rally was smaller in attendance than the June rally, but I believe everyone had a good time. We had most of our gatherings under the RV park's Shelter House, which was fine since we lucked out again with good weather.
Another big "Thank You" goes to Rosemary, who volunteered to take the minutes of the business meeting. After the meeting the ladies met to make 5 children's blankets from fleece material to donate at the 6 State Rally in September. I think they had fun making them and the blankets turned out so beautiful that it was decided to make more at the August rally.

I hope everyone is planning to attend the 6 State Rally in Sedalia. The more I hear about the rally, the more I think it will be Great Fun! We are hoping to win the prizes for:

• Largest percent of chapter members present,
• Best looking blankets, AND
• Best chapter web site!

I don't see why we can't win all the awards! LOL! (IM shortcut for "Laugh Out Loud")
We will also receive our own official Chapter Coffee Urn as a new FMCA Chapter!

Loretta, our Wagonmaster, is leading a Covered Wagons Caravan to the August FMCA International Rally in Redmond, Oregon. We wish them all a safe and enjoyable adventure!

The next Covered Wagons rally at Capital City RV Park is going to be big. Loretta already has 31 member families signed up, plus two drive-ins, and is expecting many more. Be sure to let Loretta know if you are coming. The park has a very nice air-conditioned meeting place, and Bill and Pearl have lots of activities planned for everyone!
 

See you at the August Capital City RV Rally in Topeka!

"President Fred"

The big FMCA South Central 6 State Rally is coming in just a few  short weeks! Plan to attend if at all possible! Our Covered Wagons Chapter will be recognized as a new FMCA chapter at the 3:00 p.m. Annual Meeting on Friday afternoon!
 It's going to be fun, so sign up if you haven't yet. There will be plenty of things to do and see. We are still making some final plans for the rally. You will be notified where and when to meet on Sunday September 23rd to caravan to Sedalia so we can park together. Go to the Rallies page for more information about the 6 State Rally.

Our 1st rally season has been going so fast! After the 6 State Rally there is just one more rally in October. I think we all can say that we have met new friends through our chapter. I also think Mother Nature looks over the Covered Wagons. We have had wonderful weather for each rally this year. The temperature has toned down the 4th weekend of the month.

I want to welcome our new members, Paul and Mary, who were voted in at the business meeting on Saturday morning of our August Rally at Capital City RV Park in Topeka, Kansas (Kansas state capital). After the business meeting many hands worked together to make 5 more blankets to donate at the 6 State Rally, and there are more to come. There were many sight-seeing
I also want to thank rally hosts Bill and Pearl, and co-hosts Bill and Sharon for an outstanding job, and for all the door prizes and bag of goodies they collected from local merchants. The theme was "The No Cooking Rally". Breakfast goodies and evening meals were provided by the hosts, and "snacks" brought by members to share were to come from "boxes, cans, and bottles" only!
On Saturday afternoon there were many sight-seeing options in and around the Topeka area. Esther and I decided to tour the Kansas State Capitol building. After a self-guided tour of all the wings of the first five floors of the building, we decided to go for the guided tour of the dome section, above the beautifully painted capital rotunda. The guide led our group up the 296 stairs from the 5th floor to the top of the upper dome! At the top we walked outside and enjoyed a grand, 360 degree view of the Topeka area, then descending back down. For some reason our calf muscles were a little bit sore for a few days!

Once again, I hope everyone is planning to attend the 6 State Rally in Sedalia. We are hoping to win the prizes for:

• Largest percent of chapter members present,
• Best looking blankets, AND
• Best chapter web site!

See you in Sedalia!

Fred Allison
Covered Wagons President

The FMCA South Central 6 State Rally was a great success, and the Covered Wagons chapter was very well represented! Our Covered Wagons Chapter will be recognized as a new FMCA chapter following the Annual Meeting on Friday afternoon. Tony presented us with a beautiful engraved Coffee Urn. We had a big group there to participate in the presentation.
 II was delighted to see everybody have such a great time at the rally. We had one of the largest chapters in attendance. The weather was wonderful except for one day of rain. All 27 of us were parked together. There were plenty of golf cart style trams to take us to all the events and attractions.
I was especially interested in what the volunteers were doing because we will have the opportunity to be a volunteer chapter at the 2008 6-State Rally in North Little Rock. Everyone mark your calendars now! We will have more information about next year's 6-State Rally at our October business meeting, and I will host a Question and Answer session after the meeting about what the 6-State Rally committee is planning for next year's event in North Little Rock.)
During our Thursday evening pot luck, we were honored to have some FMCA officers join us. Our FMCA National President, Connie Pool, Executive Director, Don Eversmann, and our own South Central Area Vice President, Fred Kennedy were among the special guests.
We held our September business meeting after the pot luck dinner. Thanks go to Rosemary for again volunteering to take the Secretary's minutes of the meeting! Esther, our Webmaster, announced that our Covered Wagons chapter won 3rd place in the 6-State website competition! I was told by several other chapter members how much they enjoy our website. Good job! Can you believe we completed the meeting in 20 minutes! (We were anxious to attend the evening entertainment!) Now don't get used to the idea of a 20 minute meeting! Ha!
We all went to have our group picture taken at the Friday afternoon presentation of our engraved coffee urn. It is FMCA's way of saying "Congratulations" for becoming a new FMCA Chapter.
The many fleece blankets our chapter made and donated were on display throughout the rally in a large climate controlled room, along with many other blankets and quilts from other South Central Area chapters (408 total). They were so great looking that volunteers had to guard the room to keep any of them from "walking away"! Thanks to all of you who contributed the materials and your time and talents to make our beautiful blankets!

Go to the Rallies page for more information about our Final 2007 Rally at Rutladers,  October 26 - 28. We will be voting on our 2008 Rally Schedule at the business meeting Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. Thanks to Rod and Wanda for volunteering to host the rally.

See you at Rutladers!

Fred Allison
Covered Wagons President

The Covered Wagons October Rally at Rutladers was our last of the 2007 season - our first year as an FMCA Chapter! I think this rally was one of the best rallies. There are many places to go in the Louisburg area, and there is plenty of fun to be had at Rutladers, with shops to visit and the Saturday night entertainment at Middle Creek Opry. We even brought our own comedian for the show (Fred Sauer)! Check out the pictures on the Photo Album pages! The rally was made even more fun by our hosts, Rod and Wanda.
 Rod and Wanda did an excellent job on making our rally a success. The choices of home-made soups Wanda made for dinner Friday evening really hit the spot on a cool fall night! The table decorations cleverly crafted by Rod had a Halloween theme.
In the Business Meeting Loretta presented the 2008 rally schedule. After some discussion and a couple of changes, the schedule was approved.
Click here to see the Rallies page for the complete 2008 schedule.
I predict that our second season will be even better than our first season as an FMCA Chapter. We have spent time in 2007 getting to know each other. 2008 will be filled with fun times and places that we will enjoy together with Covered Wagons.
We have it on good authority (Dave) that the leaky engraved coffee urn our chapter received at the September 6-State Rally has been replaced with a brand new one. So look forward to some "gooood" coffee in 2008!
For those of us who have to stay "up north" in the cold this winter, don't forget our Winter Luncheon and Business Meeting at the China Star on January 26th. We will eat lunch at 1 p.m., followed by the Business Meeting.

Until we meet again in January 2008, enjoy the Christmas holiday season, and have a Happy New Year!

See you at China Star!

Fred Allison
Covered Wagons President