  President's
Corner
November
2011
This
is my last edition of the President’s
Corner so I better write something profound,
right? Well,
that’s not likely to happen so I will just use
this space to thank all of the Covered Wagons
members who have supported me these last few years
and been willing to step up to do the things that
needed doing.
Our Chapter is only as fun and exciting as
its members—and we have some very fun and
exciting members!
It has been a privilege to serve as Vice
President and then President for the first five
years of our existence but I am looking forward to
turning the reins over to Bill Keegan in January
2012. Chapter
success depends on more than just the elected
officers so please pass along your ideas for
future Chapter activities and be willing to lend
your talents when asked to serve on a committee or
host a rally.
Bill and his team will be counting on you!
You
won’t be totally rid of me since I will move
into the roles of Treasurer and Alternate National
Director. After
serving as Treasurer for five years, Wanda Ryel
moves to Vice President and we welcome back
Barbara Corder as Secretary.
(Barbara was our first Secretary so she can
probably handle the job with her eyes closed!)
The
2012 Rally Schedule has been accepted and is
available on our website. The April rally will include a celebration of the fifth
anniversary since Covered Wagons became an FMCA
chapter. We
expect Six-State and national FMCA
representatives will attend our April rally
so definitely put that one on your ‘to attend’
list!
Have
a wonderful Holiday Season and we’ll see you in
Lawrence for the January meeting!
Virg
Paulson
Covered Wagons President
September
2011
Over
30 coaches from the Covered Wagons chapter
attended the Six-State Rally in Hutchinson, KS the
last week in September.
The weather could not have been
better—the worst we had was a little wind on one
day—and everyone enjoyed the entire week’s
festivities!
A special ‘Thank You’ is owed to Wanda
and Loren for their efforts organizing special
tours of both the Salt Museum and the Kansas
Cosmosphere and Space Center.
I know I enjoyed them tremendously and hope
the rest did as well.
It’s
hard to believe that the 2011 rally season is
nearly over—where did the year go?
We only have one more chance to get
together and I understand there may be almost
thirty coaches at the Branson, MO rally in
October. Remember,
this rally was moved to the third weekend so if
you have not yet made reservations, get in touch
with Wagonmaster Loren Brown for details.
Stay
well and we’ll see you in Branson!
Virg
Paulson
Covered Wagons President
August
2011
The
Covered Wagons ballots are in the mail!
Everyone should receive them by September 3rd
and have plenty of time to get them marked and
returned in the supplied stamped envelope by the
October 1, 2011 deadline.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to
vote and support the chapter.
We
finally got some relief from this summer’s heat
and had very nice weather for the August rally at
Cozy Corner RV Park. Hosts
Bill & Sharon Keegan and Vickie Paulson and
myself served attendees waffles and everyone
played Bingo Saturday night.
We again had a quorum for the Saturday
morning business meeting due to the special
dedication of Dick Dehn and Barbara & Jim
Corder who all came just for the meeting.
Thank you all for making that extra effort!
Wagon
Master Loren Brown has made arrangements for those
of us attending the Six-State Rally in Hutchinson,
KS to meet at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 25
and be parked together at the fairgrounds.
Attendees will pay an additional $25 to go
in on Sunday and this money should be sent to
Wanda Ryel if you have not already done so.
Loren expects we will have over 30 coaches
but there is still time to get registered if you
want to join us!
Do
you have any double-pane windows in your motorhome
that have “fogging” problems?
If so, consider attending the October rally
in Branson. Bill
Keegan informed us that if enough folks show up
with this problem a firm in Arkansas will come to
the rally and perform repairs on site.
Contact Bill for additional details.
Have
a great month and we’ll see you in Hutchinson!
Virg
Paulson
Covered Wagons President
July
2011
Despite
the continuing heat wave, our July rally at KOA KC
East in Oak Grove, Missouri was a great success. Hosts
Ray & Nina Hughes and Bob & Edris Bond
kept us well fed and comfortable in spite of a
very laboring AC system.
We had a quorum for the Saturday morning
business meeting due to the special dedication of
Linda Sauer and Barbara & Jim Corder who all
drove over just for the meeting.
Thank you for making that extra effort!
Our
Wagon Master, Loren Brown, provided additional
information on remaining 2011 rallies and insight
on locations he is working on for the 2012 rally
schedule. At
the present time, it appears we will have around
11 member units at the FMCA Rally in Madison, WI
in August, and 30 at the Six-State Rally in
Hutchinson, KS in September. We will have a booth at the FMCA Chapter Fair in Madison to
highlight Covered Wagons and recruit additional
members.
The
Nominating Committee has completed their task of
preparing a slate of candidates for this year’s
election of officers and we thank them for their
efforts. Their slate will be presented to the membership at the August
rally. Members
present will then have the opportunity to offer
additional nominations from the floor before
voting on the final list of candidates.
Ballots will be mailed to all members in
good standing and the voting results will be
presented at the October rally.
Elected officers will begin their two-year
terms at the January 2012 meeting.
In
addition to the FMCA gathering in Madison, we will
also have a monthly rally at Cozy Corners RV Park
in Clinton, Missouri August 26-28, 2011.
Please contact the campground directly to
secure your reservations and let Loren Brown know
you are attending.
Have a great month and we’ll see you at
the next rally!
Virg
Paulson
Covered Wagons President
May
2011
The
Covered Wagons May rally at Melvern Lake Outlet
Park went off flawlessly in spite of threatening
weather. Our
hosts/co-hosts, Carolyn & Luther Buford and
Nancy & Mike Steed, provided us with great
food and spirited games which we all enjoyed.
We want to give a special attendance
‘thank you’ to Greg & Donna Smith who
attended their first CW rally with their motorhome
(they joined us in January 2011).
Greg said they really enjoyed the
rally in spite of the weather scare on Saturday
night! (It
turned out there was a fatal tornado less than 20
miles west of the campground in Reading, KS.)
Fortunately, the small hail and winds we
experienced did not appear to have done any damage
to those at the campground.
Wagon
Master, Loren Brown, indicated we now have hosts
for all 2011 CW rallies. I want to give a big ‘Thank You’ to those who have
volunteered to host or co-host a rally—we cannot
succeed without you!
It looks like we will have a good showing
of members at both the FMCA Rally in Madison, WI
in August, and the Six-State Rally in Hutchinson,
KS in September.
We will have a booth at the FMCA Chapter
Fair in Madison to highlight Covered Wagons and
recruit additional members.
We need a few volunteers for this duty (it
will last less than 2 hours) and ask that you
forward suggestions for the booth to me, or any of
the other CW officers or committee chairs.
Our
Vice President and Membership Chair, Bill Keegan,
is polling members for interest in Covered Wagons
Chapter jackets, hats, and personal garden flags.
Please contact him to indicate what you are
interested in purchasing.
Our
next rally is at the Mark Twain Cave Campgrounds
in Hannibal, MO.
Please contact the campground directly to
secure your reservations and let Loren Brown know
you are attending.
Have a great month and we’ll see you at
the next rally!.
Virg
Paulson
Covered Wagons President
April
2011
The
Covered Wagons circled at the Beacon RV Park in
St. Joseph, Missouri, last weekend.
Our hosts were the Covered Wagons Officers
but we must give special thanks to Jean &
Loren Brown and Sharon & Bill Keegan who
actually did all the work!
Your efforts were appreciated by all in
attendance and the weather could not have been
nicer. I
want to give a special ‘thank you’ to Russell
& Jody Hicks for attending the rally.
They are new members since January 2011 so
we hope they enjoyed the weekend.
Although attendance was just under the
quorum minimum, we had a meeting Saturday morning
to disseminate information about 2011 rallies and
hear the National Director’s report from Dave
Marlowe. Please
review the minutes for discussion details.
Our
Wagon Master, Loren Brown, indicated we have a lot
of members planning to attend the FMCA Rally in
Madison, WI in August, and even more for the
Six-State Rally in Hutchinson, KS in September.
Keep a sharp eye on your e-mail and the
Covered Wagons website for details on all the
rallies. Also,
remember to call the rally campgrounds when
instructed to do so in the rally schedule
available on the website.
Loren coordinates closely with the rally
sites to determine if those members who had
indicated they would attend, have made
reservations.
Thanks
again for supporting the Covered Wagons!
See you in a few weeks for the May rally at
Melvern Lake Outlet Park.
Virg
Paulson
Covered Wagons President
March
2011
Guess
what members?
Spring is almost
here and it’s time to
get ready for another year
of fun rallies and RV
gatherings.
The Covered Wagons
season starts next month
at the Beacon RV Park in
St. Joseph, Missouri.
Our fourth-Friday
weekend happens to include
Easter this year so that
may prevent some of you
from attending.
Fortunately, this
complication doesn’t
happen very often and we
hope to see you later if
you miss the April rally.
We
want to thank all of the
members who attended the
winter meeting on January
29, 2011.
There were several
items discussed and we
encourage you to check the
minutes for what
transpired if you could
not attend. We
also hope all of you who
were basking in the sun
down south make it home
safely once Spring seems
to be here for real!
Welcome
to all those members who
have recently joined the
chapter or who are
planning to attend one of
our rallies this spring.
The Covered Wagons
continues to grow with the
addition of each of you
and we look forward to the
opportunity to visit and
learn more about you. This promises to be a great year and hopefully the rising
fuel prices won’t keep
us from attending the
rallies—at least not all
of them.
Thanks
again for supporting the
Covered Wagons!
See you in April.
Virg
Paulson
Covered Wagons President
|
