President’s Message
By R.G. Wilson, F21025
National President
October 2004
FMCA’s “Cascade Mountain Magic” convention, held August 16, 17, 18, and 19 in Redmond, Oregon, was a very successful convention overall but not without many challenges, difficulties, and heartaches.
Despite the high fuel costs, our family coach attendance was 3,803, slightly less than the number we budgeted for. The total coach count, including exhibitor live-in and commercial display coaches, was 4,912. Public gate passes and passport passes totaled 3,544.
According to reports I heard, sales for both indoor exhibitors and outdoor exhibitors were very good, and many reported that their sales were the best ever at such an event.
Parking thousands of motorhomes in the course of just a few days is an incredible feat that requires much planning, including developing routes, having them approved by local authorities, and then arranging for the assistance of local police during the actual parking days. Even then, when it comes time to execute the plans, things sometimes go awry. Coach parking in Redmond wasn’t without its difficulties, but once we got everyone headed in the right direction, our members were parked comfortably by our able parking crews and enjoyed the event.
Although the indoor arena where we had our entertainment was not air-conditioned, our folks seemed to enjoy every night of entertainment, with Frankie Avalon being the highlight. We also were honored to have Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton visit and speak to us on Thursday night. She gave us a nice overview of what her agency is doing to improve the national parks and recreation facilities in America. Our morning coffee and doughnuts, with entertainment furnished by our wonderful Frustrated Maestros, was well-attended and enjoyed.
As usual we had a good array of beneficial seminars for our members that were well-attended. Our Education Committee, chaired by June Davis, F158928, supported seminars presented by Nova Cullen, F179623, especially for our national directors. These seminars were to inform them of our FMCA governance structure and their duties and responsibilities on the Governing Board as an oversight body.
Our annual Governing Board meeting was held on Monday, August 16, with 381 voting members present out of a total of 486. Among other business, the annual budget was approved, and an election of national officers took place. Elected to serve with me for the 2004-2005 term were Don Moore, F154921, national senior vice president; Ginger Painter, F23514, national secretary; and Jim Kern, F63208, national treasurer. Serving along with us on the Executive Board will be the 10 national vice presidents, who were elected by their respective areas via mail ballot and took office during the convention, along with immediate past national president Jeff Jefcoat, L118344. The national vice presidents are as follows:
Bill Conway, F99081, Northeast Area
Judy Czarsty, F79148, Eastern Area
Max Durbin, F76454, International Area
Tony Innocenti, F56315, South Central Area
Ginny McGrath, F87335, Great Lakes Area
Jim Phillips, F158824, Northwest Area
Duane Pindell, F105443, Rocky Mountain Area
George Schipper, F17603, Southeast Area
Nelson K. Stubbs, F107765, Midwest Area
Tony Vincent, F161584, Western Area
We lost a great FMCA member in Redmond who has served FMCA well in many positions over the years. Royce Bishop, F62577, suffered a fatal heart attack while at the convention on Tuesday, August 17. Royce served as chairman of our President’s Council this past year. He also served on our national Convention Committee for the past several years. He was loved by all who knew him and will be missed greatly, especially by those of us who depended on him to get the job done.
Yes, we succeeded in holding another successful FMCA convention for our family and commercial members, but as you see we worked hard to overcome some difficult challenges and suffered heartaches over the loss of a very dear friend.
Thanks to all of you who have supported me the past six years as an elected national officer. I pledge to serve you, the owner-members of our association, in an honorable way to accomplish the long-range goals that I have been charged to fulfill. May you continue to enjoy safe travels in your home on the road.
Change In Trip Routing Company
As noted in the August 2004 issue of FMC magazine, Rand McNally stopped offering its trip routing service effective September 1, 2004. FMCA has since contracted with Spatial Data Sciences Inc. (SDSI), a custom map software company, to offer this service to members. As before, trip routings must be requested in writing and should be sent directly to SDSI. A form for this purpose appears on page 147 of this issue of the magazine and will appear in future issues as well as on FMCA’s Web site, www.fmca.com/triprouting. Please be sure to use the new form, as requests sent to Rand McNally will not be able to be processed.