Newsletter, November-2010
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From The President – Howard “Howie” Glenna
Greetings to all the
Greater Midwest Classics members!
This is the last
newsletter I will be writing. It is the end of my term as President and with the
election over (our club elections) I am a lame duck President. It has been a
very positive experience being your Vice President and then becoming your
President. It has allowed me to get to know many of you better and I must say we
have a great club with some of the best people. If you have not considered being
an officer in the Greater Midwest Classics, think it over, you are missing a
great opportunity.
Your new President, Lucy Weidner has
and will continue to bring a lot of life to our club. Our new Vice President,
Yvonne Miller, has got to be our most experienced officer. She is one of our
original founders. And by the way, we will be celebrating our 20th year as the
Greater Midwest Classic club next year.
A great big thank you to all who have
helped make things happen in our organization. The back bone of any club has to
be the treasurer and the secretary but where would we be without the newsletter
and the membership book as well as the helping hands we have had at the rallies.
What about the job of T-shirts and sweat shirts and bringing them to our
rallies. As you can see we have some good people giving a lot of extra effort to
make things happen.
We
are looking forward to the next event on our calendar, our Christmas Party,
Wednesday, December 1, 2010. It will be held at the Manitou Station restaurant,
White Bear Lake, Minnesota. I have been to this restaurant and they do a nice
job.
The Fall Rally with GMC International was well attended. We had 34
members and one visitor at our dinner and meeting. We all had the opportunity to
go to many seminars as well as meet with vendors who help keep our coaches
operating properly. The flea market always brings some interesting items to the
surface.
A good number of us joined the Great Lakers Rally in Springfield,
Illinois after the GMCMI Rally. We got a chance to be with the oldest GMC club
and see how they do things. They will be celebrating 35 years next year. A big
thank you to the Great Lakers for including us in their Fall Rally! The
highlight of Springfield for me was the Lincoln Museum, it was unbelievable.
From Vice President – Lucy Weidner.
What a great time we
all had at the DuQuoin, Illinois Fairgrounds at the GMCMI Rally. It was
spectacular weather, great camping facilities with big trees that provided
shade, green grass, lovely lakes (with lots of catfish!), great sunrises and
geese that landed every day. The guys had wonderful tech sessions; the ladies
did many crafts and under the direction and support of Teresa Dall, made over 50
fleece blankets to be shared in the community. Ice Cream socials were very
popular and even if you didn’t indulge, the chance to reconnect with friends and
make new ones was one of the highlights of our time there.
Larry and I stepped in to do the parking for JR and
Jeanne, and we certainly learned how hard of a job it is and appreciated the
support we received from them as we stumbled through. All in all, we didn’t have
anyone upset with us, so our time on the firing line was worry free!
One evening we had a potluck and the club brought chicken and sides and a couple
of the gals supplied us with “yummy” desserts. First timers and new members
joined us and the whole evening was filled with fun and laughter. Howard, Midge,
Sandi and Anita White were great organizers and I thank them for all their help
and support.
“So you might be a redneck if…..was a hit
with lots of laughs, funny gags, and it took on a life of its own as the evening
progressed.
I would like to thank Howard for his
great leadership as Vice President and President of our group. He made many
connections with new members and brought some of our seasoned members to our
local meetings. I hope he will continue to reach out to those who have been so
important to our history and make sure I don’t go off on some wild tangent as
your new President.
On a more serious note, I would
like to comment about the dues situation for our organization. I have learned
that our dues year runs from Jan. 1st to Dec. 31st. Making sure your renewals
are paid to the Treasurer by January 1st of the next year has been somewhat of a
problem because many of you go South for the winter and don’t receive your mail
until you return. This presents a problem for the creation of the Membership
Directory. The Membership Directory should be available as soon after January
1st as possible so we have current information. By not receiving your dues until
after April 1st it makes this impossible to happen. Our new Treasurer, Larry
Johnson, will be sending out reminders and hopes they make it to your home
before you leave. Only those members whose dues that have been received by the
deadline will be put in the Membership Directory. I would like to propose that
the dues year change from what we currently are doing to run from July 1st to
June 30th so our members can receive their dues notice before they leave for the
winter. I’d appreciate your thoughts on this idea.
Lastly, we often get the question about why we have to have a membership in
FMCA. FMCA is required as a condition for membership in our local organization.
This is because we are a Chapter, chartered under FMCA. The FMCA Charter and
membership provides two important benefits to us as a Club. First, the umbrella
liability insurance allows us to hold group rallies at both public and private
facilities. The second direct benefit is the medical evacuation and coach driver
program for individual members. This is a benefit that some of our members have
used. Occasionally there are club members that drop their FMCA membership
and desire to keep their membership in our local Chapter. I urge you not to
consider this as it weakens both organizations and could cost our club the loss
of FMCA Chapter status and resulting Club benefits.
OK, serious stuff is done and our next joyous occasion will be the Christmas
party. Our new Vice President, Yvonne Miller will be sharing the important
information elsewhere in the newsletter.
I look
forward to serving as your new President, and welcome any suggestions or
concerns you may have with regard to our future journey.
CHRISTMAS PARTY
Hi everyone! This year’s Christmas Party is scheduled for Wednesday,
December 1st at Manitou Station in White Bear Lake, MN. We will begin at 12:00
noon so we have plenty of time for conversation and good times together. We will
have the room until 4:00 pm so we can spend some time together after the meal.
We look forward to seeing everyone there. Your Christmas committee is Margaret
Biwersi, Sandi Renk and Yvonne Miller.
When: Wednesday, Dec. 1st
Time:
12:00 Noon
Where: Manitou Station,
21714 4th Street
White Bear Lake, MN
http://www.manitoustation.com/home.html is their website.
Buffet Lunch
$20.00 per person and Cash Bar
Reservations: Yvonne Miller at
651-429-6152 by Friday, November 26th.
Local Hotel: White Bear Country
Inn Best Western (Closest one, 3 blocks away)
4940 Highway 61 North
White
Bear Lake, MN
Phone 651-429-5393
ASK FOR GMC MOTORHOME CLUB RATE which is
$49.00.
2011 RALLIES
2011 SPRING RALLY: Will be held May 12, 13,
14, & 15, 2011 at Cushions Peak in Houston, Minnesota.
www.camppeak.com is their
website. Rally Master will be Sandi Renk. Visits to a round barn and lefse
factory are some of the activities.
2011 SUMMER RALLY: Will be held July
14, 15, 16, & 17, 2011 at the Redwood City Park in Redwood Falls Minnesota. John
Parker will be the Rally Master.
2011 FALL RALLY: We are looking at a
Rolling Rally after the GMCMI Convention in Goshen, Indiana. We have a committee
working on the “rolling” rally.
All things are subject to change
depending on how life goes. If anyone has a great place for us to visit and have
a rally, please let me know, nothing is set in stone!
Thanks; Lucy Weidner,
Vice President
Our hats go off to Randy Johnson for entering the Pinewood
Derby at the GMCMI Rally in DuQuoin, Illinois. His coach even had a “Moke”
inside. Three couples in our club who entered the “Hats, Boots, and
Bandanas” Great Chili Cook-Off contest for best Chili and presentation. Howard
and Midge Glenna did a “white lightning” chili, Larry and Lucy Weidner did a
“venison” chili (ask them about the hunter and the deer), and Wayne and Jane
Hasek did a “Krazy Jane’s” chili. Glenna’s and Weidner’s came home as winners
Editor: You can contact me in Harpers Ferry, by phone:-563-586-2554 or cell
319-240-2460
Midge Glenna is sunshine lady so send her the name of
anyone needing a little sunshine and Midge will send them a card. Her phone #
is: 715-426-5650.
For paying dues or change of mailing address, or Email
changes: Please notify Treasurer, Larry Johnson, 14451 Highway 23, Cold Spring,
MN 56320-4613
The club website
www.gmcmidwestclassics.org has great information about our GMC club and how
to join. Visit it often and share with perspective members. Bob Drewes has done
an excellent job with our web site. News, photos (look at the new ones from the
Summer Rally), For Sale items, Rally’s etc..
Send Bob information for the
web site by calling 605-997-2550