GMCWS General Membership Meeting
Mill Casino and RV Resort, Coos Bay/North Bend, OR October 13, 2016
President Nick Roenick called the meeting to order at 9:07 a.m.
He thanked the audience for their attendance at this rally. He thanked Gary and Rebecca Bovee for being the hosts, and presented them a certificate for a one-year membership in GMCWS for arranging such a great event. Gary was also presented with a VISA gift card for serving as 2015 and 2016 Technical Vice President (VP), as he is stepping down from that position.
President Roenick thanked the volunteers at this rally, as well as the Cascaders for a delicious BBQ dinner, the Pacific Cruisers for a delicious BBQ lunch, and Tom and Suzanne List for being a great auctioneering team. The auction made $2760 for the Western States Treasury - awesome. Treasurer Dave de Graffenreid assured us that the money is in fact in the bank and not lost in the Casino.
The Executive Board was introduced by the President: Technical Vice President Gary Bovee, Treasurer Dave de Graffenreid, FMCA National Director Sharon Work, and Secretary and Newsletter Editor Donna Ventura. First Vice President Carol Minnie and Web-master Armand Minnie were absent due to motorhome technical difficulties (blown motor). President Roenick once again expressed the need for an FMCA Alternate National Director; details about this position can be supplied by Sharon Work – please let her or President Roenick know if you are interested.
The motion was made by Jerry Work to dispense with the reading of the minutes of the Spring 2016 meeting, as shown on the GMCWS website. The motion was seconded by Dan Liddell and passed.
Nominations for new Executive Board position for 2017: The nominating committee needed to fill only one office this year - VP for Tech. The incumbents in the other positions have agreed to serve another year. George Banovich, Ed Staal and Gary Bovee made up the Nominating Committee. Spokesman George Banovich announced the nomination of George Beckman for Technical VP - he has agreed to serve if elected. (He was absent due to RV technical difficulties.) The President asked for nominations from the floor and none were put forth. Jim Kanomata moved that nominations cease, the motion was seconded and approved. The Membership voted to elect Beckman as Technical VP.
Treasurer Report, Dave de Graffenreid
2016 saw income of approximately $6000; expenses were approximated at $3500, leaving a net current balance of $17,222. Motion to accept the Treasurer report was made and accepted. The Treasurer reminded attendees, especially presenters, that presentation-related expenses can be reimbursed; he has forms available. As a point of interest, approximately 33% of our members pay their membership dues via PayPal. Motion to accept Treasurer’s report was made and seconded.
FMCA Report, National Director Sharon Work
The ongoing towing issue encountered by Paul and Jackie Jones (as discussed at the spring rally) has become a national issue. Many coaches, not just GMCs, are more than 10 years old. According to Paul and Jackie, FMCA learned about the 10-yr issue in June 2016 but didn’t pass on the information to the FMCA representatives. Sharon and Jerry recently attended a planning meeting in Washington State about this issue. More details can be found on our website http://www.gmcws.org/
The 95th FMCA International convention will be in Chandler, AZ, March 7-10, 2017. Refer to the most recent FMCA Magazine for details. The Saguaro Jetsetters may hold a rally prior to the FMCA convention, and then caravan to Chandler.
The FMCA Western Region rally will be held in Indio, CA, January 11-15, 2017. Pacific Cruisers may hold a rally beforehand.
Sharon emphasized that attendance at FMCA rallies and events is fun and informative. Attendees will see lots of new features in the newer motorhomes that may be relevant and/or transferable to our motorhomes. In addition, our presence gives the GMC motorhome community some exposure. People are very interested in our motorhomes.
Technical Vice President report, Gary Bovee
Gary expressed his thanks for the opportunity serve as Tech VP. As rally host, he presented certificates for one-year free membership to GMCWS to volunteers/presenters at this rally: Joe Nehl, Dave de Graffenreid, Suzanne and Tom List, Jim Hupy, Faye Curtis, Jeff Fraisure, Jim Kanomata, and Jerry Work. Sharon Work received a bag of Gary’s walnuts, as did Donna de Graffenreid, Suzanne List, and Greg Birch.
President Roenick
A new form – Rally Evaluation Form - was used at some of this rally’s presentations to get some feedback from attendees on ideas for future presentations. We need ideas. Please return completed evaluation sheets to one of the Executive Board members.
President Roenick was pleased to announce that 60% of the attendees are Cascaders, and one couple is from the Mountainaires Chapter. Western States makes a concerted effort to hold its rallies at locales that are “do-able” by all chapters of GMCWS, keeping in mind what is called the “500 mile rule”, which refers to the fact that most members will travel to a rally within that distance, whereas if the distance is too great, the attendance will fall off.
It is important that we all become members of GMC Western States and your local chapters. Your membership and participation is critical to make the club, and the rallies, the most fun and interesting for all of us.
The Spring GMCWS rally will be held in Pahrump, Nevada, April 20-24, 2017. Information on this rally will be on the GMCWS website in the very near future.
The Fall 2017 rally will be in Paso Robles. We need a rally host/hosts to make this a fun rally. We also need rally host(s) and locations for our 2018 rallies. Please let the President know if you would like to volunteer and make this valuable contribution to the club and its members. We will provide you with any support needed.
Secretary Report, Donna Ventura
GMCWS currently has ~210 members, with 17 new members in 2016.
As discussed at the Spring rally, chapter dues have been raised to $25. The Secretary will be sending out reminders that dues are due by end of December, for the calendar year January - December. If the Secretary doesn’t receive your dues by the end of December, your name may not appear in our 2017 roster.
IMPORTANT: Please update your personal information on the GMCWS database, for two reasons: (1) GMCWS members are required to be members of FMCA and provide the club with their FMCA number. By the end of December, the Secretary must correlate our membership roster with that of the FMCA, and there are always discrepancies in phone numbers, addresses, etc. (2) Early in 2017 the Secretary will be preparing the GMCWS roster for publication, both in printed form and for our website. If you like, the Secretary can make any changes for you – please send her an email or phone call.
Newsletters: As discussed at the Spring rally, we have reduced the number of newsletters to three per year, to reduce costs. We are welcoming ideas to make the newsletter more interesting for you, the members. You may see some changes in the look of the next newsletter. Specifically, we would like to have more stories from our members about their experiences, e.g., while at rallies. Let the Secretary know what types of information or news you would like to see in the newsletters. Please send the Secretary photos from this rally so they can be included on the website as well as in the newsletters.
New Business
Dave de Graffenreid talked about a future car show in Balboa that some GMCers will be attending. Car show promoters have expressly indicated that vintage motor homes are welcome. Western States will be covering entry fees for these shows. Jim Kanomata stated that if you enter car shows with GMC, Jim will donate up to $50 for the entry fee.
Dave de Graffenreid encouraged future rallies and hosts to include member-provided BBQ lunches, to help keep costs down.
The GMCMI Spring convention will be March 24-30, 2017 in Shawnee, Oklahoma. “A Celebration of Vintage Front-Wheel Drive Motorhomes”. This will be a celebration of vintage GMC Motorhomes, and also other classic front-wheel drive motorhomes such as the Revcon, Cortez, Travoy, Tiara and Silver Motor Coach. Plans are being made to share information and have some fun with the owners of these classics.
Suzanne List announced the GMC 49ers will have a celebration of their 40th anniversary on November 11-13, 2016, at the KOA in Petaluma, CA. The rally hosts are the de Graffenreids, Shutzbaughs and Jack Christensen. Suzanne invited all to come. Go to the 49er website for the registration form.
President Roenick again thanked Gary and Rebecca Bovee, all the volunteers, the Executive Board and rally attendees.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:58 a.m.