By Helen Hoffmeier, F361811
March 2016
A new FMCA chapter can get its start in any number of ways. This is the story of a chapter that owes its existence to fun and games. Well, one game in particular.
It all began when Maxine Schremp asked Flo Purcell to consider leading a seminar at a Monaco International chapter rally. The seminar would be for people who wanted to learn to play mah jongg. Flo was a good person to ask; she teaches beginners at a mah jongg club in Huntley, Illinois, where she lives, and she plays the game at Deer Creek RV Golf and Country Club in Davenport, Florida, while RVing.
But Flo had to give the request some thought. After all, mah jongg, which is usually played by four people, is a rather difficult game to learn. It shares some similarities with rummy and involves strategy, calculation, and a bit of luck. The game, believed to be of Chinese origin, is played with tiles that are drawn and discarded until one player secures a winning hand.
Flo decided to give the seminar a try. With help from her husband, Dick, a retired trainer for United Airlines, she developed an outline and practiced her presentation. Then in March 2014, she taught a group at the Monaco International rally in Albany, Georgia. Little did she know it was the start of something big.
In 2015, she taught people to play mah jongg at FMCA’s Southeast Area Rally in Sarasota, Florida; at the International Area Rally in Shreveport, Louisiana; and at the Great Lakes Area Rally — GLAMARAMA — in Goshen, Indiana.
She also agreed to teach mah jongg at the FMCA Family Reunion in Madison, Wisconsin, July 29-August 1, 2015. What a challenge that was. The first class had 59 people. The next day, more than 50 showed up.
Next was the Eastern Area Rally, held in October 2015 in Fletcher, North Carolina. Flo scheduled three morning sessions for teaching, with free play opportunities in the afternoons. She helped people grasp the basics so they could play right away. Their enthusiasm for the game was infectious. Flo bought three games and borrowed more from friends so everyone could be accommodated. Dick, meanwhile, toted the games from motorhome to car to playing room and back again.
Two days into the rally, Dick suggested it might be time to form a mah jongg chapter within FMCA. The idea appealed to both new and experienced players. The first meeting of the Eastern Area Mah Jongg chapter was held, roster signatures were collected, officers were elected, and bylaws were established.
After the rally, with the necessary paperwork in hand, John Reynolds, FMCA national vice president, Eastern Area, and his wife, Jayne, headed to FMCA headquarters in Cincinnati for meetings. The new chapter officially received its charter on October 17, 2015.
“I felt wonderful paying it forward and seeing the excitement of students when they made their first mah jongg,” Flo said. “I could never have imagined it would have caught on like wildfire. People were thanking me — hugging me — and I know they will go on to enjoy this fun and challenging game for life. To know I was part of that is a gift.”
She couldn’t have done it, she said, without the help of her husband.
Flo would like to establish mah jongg chapters wherever there is interest. She hopes her home area, the Midwest, will be next.
To join the Eastern Area Mah Jongg chapter, contact Jayne Reynolds at ghiapa@aol.com or Helen Hoffmeier at helen.hoffmeier@gmail.com. To start a mah jongg chapter in your FMCA area, contact Flo Purcell at purcellf23@gmail.com.