President’s Message
By Don Moore, F154921
National President
October 2005
I’m indeed honored to be your new national president. The Governing Board elected me on Monday, August 15, in Minot, North Dakota, as the 18th person to hold the position and the first to be elected for a two-year term. I will always treat the title with honor and respect.
As many of you know, I’m not new to being a national officer and part of FMCA’s leadership. I’m a firm believer that experience does make a difference.
A candidates’ forum was held on Sunday before the election on Monday. The forum was conducted by the Nominating Committee, and was well-attended and beneficial to national directors and voting delegates to determine the qualifications of the seven candidates who ran for the four nationally elected offices.
The Governing Board meeting began at 9:00 a.m. Monday and went fairly smoothly. The election of national officers is typically the last item on the agenda. At about mid-afternoon the election process began. Those elected to serve along with me were Connie Pool, F140306, senior vice president; Jim Kern, F63208, treasurer; and Ginger Painter, F23514, secretary.
These four national officers along with the 10 area vice presidents and the immediate past national president make up the Executive Board. This past May, two new area vice presidents were elected and eight were re-elected by the national directors in their respective areas. Jay Blumenthal, F230605, is the new national vice president, International Area, and Donzella Leahy, F234822, is the new national vice president, Northwest Area. The incumbents are as follows: Bill Conway, F99081, Northeast Area; Judy Czarsty, F79148, Eastern Area; Tony Innocenti, F56315, South Central Area; Ginny McGrath, F87335, Great Lakes Area; Duane Pindell, F105443, Rocky Mountain Area; George Schipper, F17603, Southeast Area; Nelson K. Stubbs, F107765, Midwest Area; and Tony Vincent, F161584, Western Area.
All elected officers assumed their duties at the conclusion of the annual membership meeting on Thursday, August 18. Our first Executive Board meeting was held on the Friday morning after the convention, during which we took care of important business and transferred duties.
From October 31 to November 2, 2005, our newly elected officers and their spouses will attend an orientation program at the Cincinnati offices. Each of the five department directors and his or her staff will explain how their departments work, what the staff does, and how they can assist the officers and their spouses in carrying out their duties. This will help the office staff and officers get better acquainted, and learn how to better serve the members. The new officers are very excited about working together for the next two years.
After our orientation we can rest a couple of days before all the national officers and national committee members begin coming into Cincinnati for meetings starting on November 8.
Before closing, I thought I would tell you a little bit about my family and background. I was raised on a farm in central Missouri. My wife, Darlene, and I met in school. She was a freshman and I was a senior. We were married June 15, 1952.
I worked for Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Co., and Darlene was a bookkeeper and later a bank teller until 1956, when our first son, Tony, was born. Then she became a stay-at-home mom.
When Tony was born we lived in Mexico, Missouri. In 1957 Panhandle Eastern transferred us to Tuscola, Illinois. In 1959 our second son, Brad, was born. The company moved us to Chatham, Illinois, in August 1962. In 1963 our third son, Gary, was born in Springfield, Illinois. We decided not to move again, because each time we moved we had another baby. Three boys were enough. We have lived in the Chatham or Springfield area ever since.
All our sons attended school in Chatham. Tony attended Lincolnland Community College and University of Illinois in Springfield. He was a lineman for Central Illinois Light Company (CILCO) for several years and is now superintendent for Ameren-CILCO Electric. His wife is a registered nurse at Memorial Hospital in Springfield. They have four children: Matthew, 28; Amy, 26; Randy, 23; and Andrea, 21.
Our second son, Brad, passed away from an illness in January 1996. He was 36. He attended the University of Southern California and was self-employed.
Our third son, Gary, attended Lincolnland Community College and the University of Illinois. He is self-employed as an excavating contractor. He has one daughter, Brandi, age 11. So, we have five grandchildren; we also have two great-grandchildren and another one on the way in March.
I retired from Panhandle Eastern Pipeline in 1986 after 38 years, and then became involved in city politics. I was elected to City Council for four years, then was mayor of Chatham for four years.
Our camping days began when the kids were small, with a pop-up camping trailer. That didn’t last long, because all the kids got involved in sports, etc. and didn’t want to camp. We bought our first motorhome after retirement and are on our fourth one now.
I’ll be visiting with you each month through this column. If you have a subject you’d like me to write about, let me know. I will try to accommodate you.
I want to thank you for the trust and confidence you have placed in me by electing me as your national president. I will make every effort to uphold the office to the best of my ability. Darlene and I look forward to traveling this great continent and visiting with all our FMCA friends and family. Travel safely!
Help Us Update Our Records
Please note that the deadline for making changes to the information included in the January 2006 membership directory issue of Family Motor Coaching magazine is October 28, 2005. Please check the 2005 directory to determine whether any of the information contained therein has changed, and contact the Membership Department at the FMCA national office to report any changes.
The Membership Department can be contacted by phone (800-543-3622) or e-mail (membership@fmca.com). You also can change your membership record online at www.fmca.com/membership. Click on the Update Info link and log in using your FMCA membership number and expiration date.
Although members’ phone numbers are for FMCA business use and not for publication, please remember to let us know if your area code or phone number has changed. In addition, if any other information has changed, such as your mailing address, zip or postal code, e-mail address, or if you now own a different motorhome, please let us know.
We continue to add e-mail addressees to our membership records. These are maintained for FMCA business use only. If your e-mail address is not currently on file with us, please be sure to provide it. We prefer that members submit their e-mail addresses online at www.fmca.com/membership. However, you also can e-mail the address to us in the following way:
Updateemail@fmca.com
Subj: Update e-mail
FMCA Membership Number (no spaces) (e.g., F123456)
E-mail address (e.g. username@providername.com)
Please also check the information in the Membership Directory’s Stoppin’ Spots listing. This list begins on page 1051 of the January 2005 issue. If you are not included in this listing and wish to have your name added in one or more categories “” Stop Over, Come Visit, Mechanics Helper, or Pinch Hit Driver “” let the Membership Department staff know that as well.