2003

It was 1953. Songs topping “Your Hit Parade” included “Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes” by Perry Como and “I’ve Got The World On A String” by Frank Sinatra.

Hello. First of all I would like to thank all of the youth for allowing me to serve a third year as president of the TATS.

In a dell surrounded by the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Kentucky’s Renfro Valley Entertainment Center offers a touch of Americana that time may have forgotten but old-time country music fans love to remember.
Sixty-four years ago, a radio program called the Renfro Valley Barn Dance first originated from this gentle glen. Men, some wearing overalls and plaid shirts, and women, clad in calico dresses and cotton stockings, performed on a stage inside a barn.

According to John Anderson, who founded the Recreation Vehicle Safety Education Foundation (RVSEF) and served as its executive director until he retired this past July, tires probably are the most vulnerable component on an RV relative to weight and overload issues. They also tend to be the most overlooked.

In 1933 when the Broadway musical Forty-Second Street and the song “Shuffle Off To Buffalo” made their debut, few could have imagined the transportation that FMCA convention attendees recently used to “Shuffle Off To Buffalo.” In mid-July 2003, more than 3,800 families climbed aboard their high-tech homes on wheels and made tracks to the Buffalo Niagara region for FMCA’s 70th International Convention, dubbed “Shuffle Off To Buffalo” in honor of the host area. A total of 4,791 motorhomes gathered for the event in western New York.

An easy way to minimize wrinkles in the bottom bed sheet in the motorhome is to use worker-type stretchy suspenders, which are available at most home supply or hardware stores. The suspenders generally are at least 2 inches wide and come with heavy-duty, 1/2-inch metal clips.
To begin, place the suspenders on top of the mattress and equally adjust each side of the suspenders to approximately two-thirds of the width of the bed.

Barker Manufacturing has added two models to its line of Tote-Along portable gray- and black-water holding tanks. The 16-gallon 4-Wheeler Tote-Along measures 11.5 inches high, 17 inches wide, and 37 inches long and weighs 25 pounds empty.

With winter approaching, many FMCA members are planning to follow the sun to warmer zones. Quartzsite, Arizona, is high on the list of snowbird roosts, attracting thousands of RVers each year.

It’s pleasing to the eye, elegantly appointed, and its cavernous interior reflects the maximum amount of livability that can be coaxed from a triple-slideout motorhome. It’s the 2004 Navigator.
Holiday Rambler, a division of Monaco Coach Corporation, is celebrating 50 years in the RV industry by offering the quintessential luxury motorhome.

Editor’s note: Mr. Eversmann presented the following report to the FMCA Governing Board during its meeting in Buffalo, New York, this past July.

It is my pleasure to provide an update regarding noteworthy activities within the Family Motor Coach Association.

Butterflies are more than tiny works of art — they’re fascinating little creatures. So this month we’ll share answers to butterfly questions that we’ve had in the past, and provide answers to other questions we didn’t even think to ask until we began working on this column.

Ponder for a moment just how many items on a modern motorhome are powered or energized by some form of electrical current. Not including the cabinets, sofa cushions, and other soft goods, quite a few of our amenities are electrical in some sense.

Since we don’t have a huge motorhome, we try to carry multiple-use products as much as possible. Lemon juice certainly fits our requirements.

These easy-to-make and delicious dishes will keep you out of the galley as summer really heats up.
Chinese Crockpot Chicken
This recipe from Wendy Louise’s The Complete Crockpot Cookbook ($16, Champion Press) is a festival of flavor that requires little work. If you don’t have a slow cooker, put it in a roasting bag in the oven (see label directions, which call for the addition of a tablespoon of flour) or follow the directions for a three-pound chicken when using your microwave-convection oven in the combination mode.
One 3-pound chicken
1/4-cup soy sauce
1/4-cup orange marmalade
2 tablespoons ketchup
6 cloves garlic, pressed
1 onion, sliced
Salt, pepper to taste
Place the chicken in the slow cooker.

You’re a medical transcriptionist, an expert on oil well fires, a highly specialized Wi-Fi installer, or even a top executive at a major corporation. You long to go full-timing, but you must continue to work.

Raynell Proksa says that Ed, her husband of 13 years, is the most committed FMCA member she knows.
“The magazine is practically his bible,” she said with a smile. “He reads it cover to cover, then at campgrounds searches out coaches without a goose egg (oval FMCA membership plate).” Considered a “great recruiter” by his wife, Ed has given away many copies of Family Motor Coaching to non-member motorhomers, hoping to entice them to join the organization.

Thank you for the responses you forwarded to us regarding the shaking problem we experienced in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer (“Vibrating Vacationer,” March 2003, page 32). We took the motorhome to a Ford garage and a mechanic there was able to identify and fix the problem.

Dear Editor:
One of your readers showed me a copy of the March 2003 issue of Family Motor Coaching. My grandfather’s RV predates the RV pictured on page 24, in the “Readers’ Forum” column, by about 14 years, and I wanted to share a photo of it.
The bashful young lady to the left of her mother is my mother, Barbara, at the age of 6.

The new FMCA North American Road Atlas & Travel Guide is now available to members. I hope you will take advantage of FMCA’s offer to send you a free copy of the revised FMCA atlas when you sign up a new FMCA member.

I am the son of Portuguese immigrants. When I was growing up, Portuguese was spoken in my home more frequently than English, and the food smelled of cumin, onions, and garlic, as does most Portuguese cooking.

I consider FMCA to be the premier organization in promoting a lifestyle of road travel and adventure in North America. The friends my wife, Jean, and I have made; the education we have gained; and the pleasure we’ve experienced traveling the continental United States and Canada will forever be instilled in our memories.
This month I’d like to highlight some of the most interesting locations we have visited in our retirement years.

I stood near the side of the road, mesmerized by the beauty of the striped red sandstone walls at Snow Canyon State Park near St. George, Utah.

Most people know it’s wise to keep several fire extinguishers in an RV, car, boat, and house. However, going through the process of choosing which fire extinguisher is the best for each situation can be difficult.

It is written that James A. Garfield may have been the best prepared candidate to seek the office of president of the United States.

My husband and I don’t rely on hand signals to help us park the motorhome. Instead, we use a pair of personal two-way radios.

The Quad-Loader from Hitch Things is described as a “revolutionary new way to haul an ATV.” It also is said to be ideal for hauling lawn tractors, golf carts, and even go-carts. The Quad-Loader features adjustable platform tracks to fit any width ATV; a powder-coated finish; lights; aluminum diamond-plate ramps; and a stowage compartment for the ramps.

At FMCA’s 69th International Convention in Pomona, California, this past March, Ron Domiano and his grandson, Jeremy, were in the outdoor motorhome display area doing a land-office business. Ron and Jeremy operate Domiano’s RV of Stanton, California, one of several West Coast dealerships that sell Travel Supreme diesel-pusher motorhomes.

FMCA president Jeff Jefcoat, F118344, has said on many occasions that if a person wants to learn the operation of FMCA, he or she should be a member of the Risk Management Committee. When Jeff was the national vice president from the Eastern Area, he spent three years on this committee and still attends all of our meetings.

While preparing for a trip some years back, my wife, Saraine, was driving our sport-utility vehicle to the grocery store to load up on supplies when she thought she smelled gasoline. When she jumped out and opened the hood to check, she discovered a fire in the engine compartment.
Having been a school bus driver for years, she had received fire safety training and knew exactly what to do.

Alfa Leisure Inc., C8898, of Ontario, California, which began building the See Ya motorhome three years ago, is now offering the See Ya Gold, an enhanced model offered in the same 40-foot long, dual-slideout floor plans that are available in the Alfa See Ya. The See Ya Gold incorporates many additional luxury items as standard equipment.
The See Ya Gold is powered by an 8.9-liter Cummins turbodiesel engine that develops 1,200 pound-feet of torque and yields 400 horsepower.

As thousands of motorhomers congregate at the Erie County Fairgrounds in Hamburg, New York, for FMCA’s 70th International Convention July 18, 19, and 20, they’ll find plenty to see and do. Awaiting them will be hundreds of new motorhomes to inspect and test-drive; buildings filled with exhibitors displaying RV-related products and accessories to peruse and purchase; and many hours of great entertainment to enjoy.

You have to wonder how jellyfish got their name. These spineless creatures certainly aren’t fish.

This is a wonderful time of year to visit Canada’s national parks. For the most part, it’s much cooler in Canada than it is in southern latitudes of the United States.

Invite the campground neighbors over for an evening of conviviality and to enjoy these cool, carefree recipes.

As chairman of the Membership/Member Services Committee, I want to thank the other committee members for their assistance and for attending meetings with enthusiasm. Jim deBord, F16686S; Roger Merrill, F11560; Jim Moir, F102582; and Janet Stubbs, F107765, are the faithful folk who also serve on the committee with me.
The committee reviews and updates member benefits on a regular basis.

Several years ago, Martin and Dottie Pierce, L57064, envisioned an annual rally that would be dedicated to fun, fellowship, and good-spirited competition. They planned the rally for early spring and called it “April Showers.” Since that first rally, FMCA members living or traveling in the Southeast have gathered for this special event each April.
This year, April Showers VII was held April 3, 4, and 5 at Rock Crusher Canyon RV Park, C8404, in Crystal River, Florida.

Q: Full-timers we recently met told us that a good workable solution for the black water tank is to mix one cup of household bleach with four quarts of water and four aspirin. Have you heard of this solution working as well as the expensive stuff at campground stores?
Harold Breuninger, F307094
Aiken, South Carolina
A: Let me ask you a question: Did you step into their RV to “smell the roses”? If these full-timers were using their own solution, you would have found out very quickly whether it worked or not.

In the May 2003 issue, an individual was misidentified in a photo caption that accompanied the article “A California Dream Come True.” On page 99, 103-year-young Cleo Pryor attended FMCA’s 69th International Convention March 21, 22, and 23 as one of the guests of Ben and Marguerite Boyce, F59326.

This is the last in a series of columns that I have written about the benefits that are available to members of the Family Motor Coach Association. This month I’ll conclude my discussion by focusing on insurance, financial services, and additional benefits.

The last time I contributed to this column, in the April 2002 issue, I attempted to explain how the governance of FMCA works. You may recall that I also used a chart to help in the explanation.
This month I would like to expand on that theme, and try to develop for you a model of how FMCA’s committee system works.

Forty years ago this month, a small group of families banded together, as volunteers, to help each other in their common interest of owning and traveling in motorhomes, and their quest for mobile recreation. Thus was formed the Family Motor Coach Association.

Today’s fashion is tomorrow’s memory. Estates in the Hamptons on New York’s Long Island are coveted by the wealthy today.

You’ve packed up the kids or grandkids and are ready to set out on a journey in the comfort of your motorhome. The road ahead is filled with adventure, excitement, and new sites.

Like traveling by motorhome, shopping around at an FMCA convention is a great form of recreation. It’s exciting to find a brand-new coach or a small, appropriate gift for a friend.

July 20, 1963
26 families gather at the Hinckley School in Hinckley, Maine, to view a solar eclipse.

One of the earliest motorized vehicles equipped for camping was called the Touring Landau, built by the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company beginning in 1910. This chauffeur-driven luxury auto included such deluxe camping appointments as a folding washbasin attached to the back of the front seat; a holding tank for fresh water; a toilet (chamber pot-style — a predecessor to the portable potty) under one rear seat and a box containing a luncheon kit under the other side; storage boxes in place of the usual running boards; and a rear seat that could be folded down to make a bed.
These vehicles sold for $8,250 plus all accessories, at a time when the common Model T Ford could be purchased for well under $1,000.

A group of long, narrow lakes, shaped like the fingers of a hand, give west-central New York a character like no other. Most experts agree that there are 11 Finger Lakes in all, but most people traveling through the region will notice only the larger ones.

Forty years have elapsed since the Family Motor Coach Association was founded on July 21, 1963, in Hinckley, Maine. Today FMCA is an international organization boasting more than 126,000 member families.

Nowadays, nearly everyone behind the wheel of an automobile has taken a driver’s education course at some point in their lives. Instituted in high schools across the United States in the Fabulous ’50s, “driver’s ed” usually was conducted by an out-of-season sports coach in a car donated by a local auto dealership.

Hose storage ideaI like using a self-coiling water hose, but after awhile, it tends to stretch and tangle. To solve the problem, I purchased a length of 4-inch ABS plastic pipe and two end caps.