GMC Greater Midwest Classics
|
|
GMC Greater Midwest Classics |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
October-2008
From The President – Bob Miller
One last time, Greetings to all the Greater Midwest Classics
members!!! Well, as you know, I have been replaced, (thanks Howie) so
this will be my final letter to you as your president. It has been a
great 2 years and much has happened during that time but as you know,
our club is still doing great and we continue to attract new members.
For those of you who were not at our fall meeting, our new president is
Howie Glenna and our new vice president is Lucy Weidner, Congratulations
to both of you.
If you were not at the fall rally, then you missed a great one. Our own Bob and Marie Mesarchik were the rally masters and they did a wonderful job of providing us with a super rally. The location was Rochester, Minnesota at a great campground on the south side of town. We had a great turnout, with 30 coaches in attendance, which is one of the best attended rallies in my recollection. Bob and Marie were on top of their “game” when planning this one starting with an extra day, which gave us more time to visit and enjoy each other’s company. We did have our usual pot-luck, this time with singing including a number done by past presidents. The following night we had a wonderful catered meal followed by entertainment provided by the “Turkey River All Stars”, a local group that has played for years including some very impressive locations around the country. I think the highlight of the rally may have been a fantastic tour of the Mayo Clinic, which Bob helped lead. I think we were all amazed at the Mayo story from the beginning to present times, which was told in a video presented in their large theater. This was followed by a personal guided tour of their many buildings, all connected by what they call a subway, which is basically a way to connect all the buildings beneath the streets. As a final part of this wonderful event, those who wanted to, could go to the top of the Plumber building where every so often, a man performs the task of playing the Carillon bells. This entails him working a device that is connected to each of the many clappers of giant bells located at the top of the Plumber building thus playing songs that can be heard all over downtown. We were able to watch the man perform and of course everyone except Jim Dall experienced hearing loss after due to the fact we were right by the bells (Jim just turned off his hearing aids). The view of Rochester from the “top” was spectacular.
Another highlight was that Bob was able to get a reporter from the local Rochester newspaper, the Post Bulletin, to come out and do a special story about the GMC motorhomes. We were expecting him to spend a half hour or so but instead, he was there for three hours interviewing members for his article, and even doing some video for a website feature. The video can be seen at Postbulletin.com Local Life – http://www.postbulletin.com And is very impressive. On behalf of all of us in attendance, I just want to offer a special thanks to Bob and Marie for all their hard work and on this very successful rally.
The next event is our Christmas party, hosted by Larry and Lucy Weidner in Menomonie, Wisconsin. This promises to be another great event with the ability to attend a local theater group production where both Larry and Lucy play a significant role in the theater. Please see the detail of this later in this letter. I hope you will be able to attend.
Recently both Howie and Lucy have had some major surgery and while I can report they are both doing well, the recovery is slower than expected and as a result, they need some help with next year’s rallies. Yvonne and I have volunteered to be wagon masters at a spring rally, somewhere in southern Minnesota (suggestions welcome). We still need volunteers for the summer and fall rallies. Please consider helping out on this as it is vital to our clubs continued success. Please contact either Howie or Lucy to help out.
Lastly, I want to say THANK YOU to every member in our club. Thank you for letting me be your president and for your support. I have to say that in two years, I did not hear one negative comment about our club, the rallies, or anything else. This is not because of me but rather the many people who have pitched in to help with all aspects of the club. Thanks to each and every one of you, you know who you are. I look forward to seeing you at the Christmas Party and at next year’s rallies. Happy “GMC”ing.
The Greater Midwest Classics GMC club salutes Bob Miller for the energetic and visionary way he has lead our club the past two years !
From Vice President – Howard Glenna, Chief Wagon Master
GREATER MIDWEST CLASSIC CHRISTMAS PARTY
NOVEMBER 15, 2008 @ STOUT ALE HOUSE, MENOMONIE, WI.
Lucy and Larry Weidner are our wagon masters. After dinner we have reservations at the historic (built in 1859), very nicely restored Mabel Tainter Theater for an evening play Arsenic and Old Lace. Lucy and Larry have attended a play at this theater and say this is one of the nicest, most intimate theaters they have had the pleasure of attending. Dinner is at 5:00 p.m. The play will start at 7:30 pm.