The Spring rally in King City was a big success – the San Lorenzo County Park is one of the nicest campgrounds that Carol and I have ever stayed in. We liked it so much that we went back to it for two more nights on our way home after visiting our sons and their families farther north in California.
In spite of gasoline prices we had a great turnout at the rally – about 55 coaches including about 10 vendors. We had two new members who were attending their first GMCWS rally and even one actively looking to buy a GMC.
The food was exceptionally good too – Joanne and Phil found a wonderful caterer, Rosa, who prepared some very interesting, delicious dishes for breakfast and dinner. We also had one imported/home-cooked meal and one bring-your-own barbeque dinner.
Many thanks to Phil and Joanne Hernandez for all of their work and to the many volunteers who helped prepare, serve and clean up – these rallies would not happen without you. Special thanks to Doug Norton, our A/V equipment manager who we kept very busy and, as always, to Freddi Condos the behind-the-scenes go-to person foranything we need. Thanks too to the presenters who made the rally so interesting.
The seminars and tours of the on-the-grounds agricultural museums and a nearby mission kept everyone busy during the day. Movies, jokers and marbles, Steinbeck character costumes, and a karaoke-sing-along filled the evenings aided by two large buckets of Margaritas prepared by our favorite Margarita maestro – Dave deGraffenreid.
Dave deGraffenreid, our Treasurer, and some volunteers completed an audit of the club’s financial records as required by the bylaws and Secretary Judy Cherry reported on our current membership which, unfortunately, has declined again.
We came up with a plan to encourage people to enter their coaches in local car shows and cruise nights when they can. The club’s role in this will be to reimburse members for their fees associated with the shows (probably $25 – 50 each) and to provide those members with ‘sales’ materials explaining the features and benefits of the GMC.
I will work on updating the bylaws as required by FMCA. As I reported in the last newsletter, I submitted our current bylaws – last updated in 1996 – to the FMCA and their response outlined some changes they require us to make. Since the changes are required by them there will be no membership vote needed – I will keep you informed.
We will also begin working on the web site. The first order of business will be to include a members-only section where membership information can be maintained by the individual members or the Secretary. Later we will add some other functions like GMC ‘good news’ stories where we can tell everyone about the benefits of owning a GMC.
The next rally is Emerald Desert RV Resort at Palm Desert, California on October 1 - 5 hosted by Dave and Donna deGraffenreid - we hope to see you there.