By Charlie Adcock, F311374
FMCA National President
October 2015
Hello, My Fellow FMCA Family:
Well, the summer 2015 Family Reunion at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin, is in our rearview mirror now. And what a wonderful summer this has been.
FMCA national senior vice president Jon Walker; his wife, Sondra; and my wife, Gloria, and I left Elkhart, Indiana, on July 20 and headed to the Wisconsin Dells, where we attended the second national Coaches for Christ chapter rally. It was hosted by George and Darlene Archer. We really had a great time in spite of me having to nurse my injured leg, which resulted from my attempt to water-ski. (All is okay now.) We left their rally on July 23 and headed back down to Madison to get ready for the big show.
On Friday evening, July 24, we enjoyed a big hamburger/hot dog cookout for the Madison Family Reunion advance crew — 225 people. The advance crew is made up of the volunteers who arrive early to take care of parking and security and those types of functions. Our spread at the advance crew cookout in Madison was sponsored by Hearthside Grove, a motor coach resort (and FMCA commercial member C11369) located in Petoskey, Michigan, and we are indebted to them for their generosity. A huge thanks also goes to the cooks who braved the heat and smoke from the grills, as well as the ladies who sliced and diced the condiments. The size of the advance crew is some indication of the amount of work necessary to get one of our events ready for the participants. It is always a phenomenal effort, and we thank you, advance crew volunteers, for this critical support. The Family Reunion event could not happen without you.
And not only did Hearthside Grove pay for our advance crew cookout, but they also offered the crew members a coupon to stay at the resort. A good number of us took advantage of that after the event.
By Wednesday, July 29, we were ready for the Governing Board meeting. I am happy to report that a balanced budget for 2016 was presented and passed. It was also decided to continue to fund FMCAssist from our investment account earnings. Also at this meeting, four national officers were elected for a two-year term. Jon Walker, national senior vice president; Percy Bell, national treasurer; and I were re-elected by acclamation, and Gaye Young was elected national secretary. Two new national area vice presidents also took office at this convention: Jack Mayberry from the Rocky Mountain Area and Jim Vitte from the Midwest Area. Welcome aboard. I want to thank my fellow officers for their willingness to give of their time and talents for the good of FMCA.
The first major Reunion event was the Motorhome Preview on Wednesday evening, where we all had the opportunity to drool over all the latest and greatest coaches that the manufacturers have dreamed up. On Thursday morning, we kicked off the day with coffee and doughnuts and then scattered to browse all the vendor booths and make the tough choices about which seminars to attend. My particular challenge was to try to shake hands with the 3,000-plus family members in attendance, 25 percent of whom were first-time attendees. It was really nice to see all the brown ribbons that are issued to the first-timers to identify them and prompt us to give them a good welcome!
Thursday night’s entertainment was provided by our very own Frustrated Maestros, who performed a selection of oldies and goldies, taking us all “Back to Your Senior Year in High School.” Charles Marston directed the program, and he also put the show together and wrote the narration. Charles and Roxie Marston, as well as the entire group, put many hours into preparing for the show. My hat is off to the entire cast for a wonderful night of entertainment. More than 70 members of Frustrated Maestros chapters performed during the Reunion.
Friday night’s entertainment was provided by the band New Odyssey, whose members hail from Chicago. The group consists of only three guys, but they collectively play 30 different instruments. Boy, you talk about energy — this group really had it and was exceptionally good.
Saturday night’s entertainment was William Florian, who performed for many years with The New Christy Minstrels. He treated us to folk music from the 1960s. What a perfect way to end a perfect convention!
David and Loretta Marlowe, chairmen of the Youth Committee, headed up a youth program organized for the benefit of our children ages 6 to 16. The kids did four days of touring, including visits to House on the Rock, Circus World, Cave of the Mounds National Natural Landmark, and the Henry Vilas Zoo. My granddaughter, Megan, had a ball. Thank you, Youth Committee!
Details about the Madison Reunion and photos from the event appear starting on page 52.
You may recall me mentioning an education program that I want to get started. Well, we had another meeting in Madison and decided we are ready to take the leap with our first effort. We are going to offer a two-day driving school in Perry, Georgia, and it will be conducted prior to the start of the Family Reunion that is scheduled to take place there March 17-20, 2016. We anticipate a minimum of six driving instructors, and this will determine the number of students we can teach. Participants will be charged an extra fee beyond the Perry Family Reunion registration fees and must be registered for the Family Reunion in order to take part in the driving school.
The driving portion will be in each participant’s own coach, and I am assured that the student will be good enough and/or improved enough after taking the course that he or she will be able to drive the coach much more safely and confidently when departing the event. We have several details to work out yet and will provide updates as soon as possible. If this is well received, we have lots of ideas in mind for the future. I have appointed Gaye Young, our newly elected national secretary and chairman of the Education Committee, to oversee this project. You will certainly be hearing more about this in the coming months.
Many of you met our granddaughter, Megan, at the Madison Reunion. After the event ended, she traveled on to Hearthside Grove with us. We visited Mackinac Island and took the buggy tour around the island. She went shopping in downtown Petoskey, and the highlight of her visit with us was … have you guessed it? We rode a ZIPLINE. Megan and I signed up to do this huge series of ziplines at Wildwood Rush, just outside Boyne City. Gaye Young found out about it and decided to go with us.
I began to think maybe I was “in over my head” again when I saw the big truck with the big tires and lots of plastic seats in the bed that was advertising the entrance of the park. Well, they got us all geared up, and I noticed that I was by far the oldest participant. They loaded us up in this big truck and drove us up the mountain. When we got out of the truck, we climbed a very steep trail for 100 yards, and by the time I reached the first zipline, I was pooped, winded, shot, and out of gas. I faked it and didn’t let the young folks see how badly out of shape I am.
It actually turned out to be a breeze after that hill. We did five sky bridges and 12 ziplines, totaling more than 7,000 feet, with the longest zipline being in excess of 1,200 feet.
When I told FMCA executive director Jerry Yeatts that I was doing this, he immediately checked our FMCAssist plan to see whether I was covered — LOL!
This was a wonderful experience and a great way to end Megan’s summer vacation with Meme and Papa. She left the next morning and headed back to Arkansas to start school. We will miss her.
As I am writing this, we are still in Michigan and planning to attend a chapter rally in Muskegon with the Roving Wolverines to celebrate their 15th anniversary. We are going to try canoeing with them. As Gloria says, “We are having new adventures and making new memories.” From there, Gloria and I plan on heading back south sometime around the first of September, with a stop in St. James, Missouri, to visit the Gateway Getaways chapter rally. We always look forward to these chapter rallies.
As I close, I want to thank each one of you for allowing Gloria and me the privilege of continuing to serve you as your national president. Please continue to remember our military service personnel, first responders, and law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line for us each day.
I hope to see you soon at a rally. Remember, “It’s all about having fun!”