Armand Minnie
Hello fellow GMCers. Thanks for the opportunity to participate in such a responsible position in such a wonderful and historic club. My wife Carol and I have been members of the GMC Western States Club for only a short time – 2 years – but we have really enjoyed our times at the rallies and appreciate the friendships we have made and the information and help we have received since then. When the nominating committee asked me to consider running for the position I was surprised but immediately thought that it would be a good way to contribute to the support of the club. Volunteering, after all, is the reason the club operates so well.
We have owned our coach, a ’76 Eleganza II, for 4 years and the Las Vegas rally was our twentieth trip. We have taken trips with our GMC that have crossed into 31 states and 2 Canadian provinces. Those trips have already totaled more than 40,000 miles with the longest trip being 7,400 miles this summer from August 1st to September 23rd. We love our GMC – we call her “Barbie” after the Barbiemobile. We have, of course, put a lot of time and money into the coach both mechanically and aesthetically - from a rebuilt engine and transmission to a complete remodel of our living areas – and we love spending time in it. We especially love traveling to GMCWS rallies.
Regarding plans for the future, I would like to make more use of our web site for communication among the members. I realize that some of you don’t use computers and improving the web site will not help you. So, whatever we do with it will not require you to change; it will, hopefully, only add things for those of us who do use the internet. My wife, Carol, will also be participating by giving non-technical seminars that will help continue to make the rallies interesting for the women.
Mark your calendars for the Spring 2011 rally in King City, California. Jo Anne and Phil Hernandez will be hosting that rally and the theme will be “John Steinbeck Country” since Steinbeck was born in Salinas – about 45 miles away – and wrote about the Salinas Valley where King City is located. There are several wineries in the area, the Steinbeck Center in Salinas, and Carmel and Monterey are a scenic 2 hour drive away. Carol and I spent more than 16 years living in the Salinas-Monterey area before we moved to Marana (just NW of Tucson), Arizona in 2005. If we can answer any questions don’t hesitate to ask.
I look forward to getting to know more of you and to making 2011 a fun and productive year.