If you will
remember, last month I mentioned my dislike of crosswinds. Well, that pales in
comparison to the heat index. For the past month I have felt as though I was
back in Nevada. Actually that would not be correct, it is cooler in Nevada or
almost everywhere else. Also, if we do not get some rain Missouri and Kansas
will start to look like Nevada.
In any case,
we had a very successful rally at the Peculiar RV Park. We had 24 members in
attendance with eight coaches. Those members included the Couchs, Cooks,
Severes, Backers, Lynchs, Sidebottoms, Genrichs, Mathis’, Carliles, Ginny
Weaver, TJ Ballard and Sandy Thomas, Phyllis Anderson and Dick Pennington and
Ken Stremming. This rally started on Wednesday and our beginning day reception
officially started at 6PM with the Cooks as the host while everyone brought an
appetizer. Naturally, we had enough food for an army which is good because I
hate to see Wayne whimper because he is hungry. The club house at the park is
great and well cooled. There is plenty of room for two cards games and left
over space for conversations without bothering the card players.
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Thursday morning’s breakfast started at
8:30 with Ginny Weaver’s egg casserole, doughnuts, juice and coffee. After
breakfast we had a business meeting which can be read about in the meeting
minutes. After that there were more card games and more conversation. It was
obvious that the temperature was going to discourage outdoor activities. It
would take a very determined person to want to be outdoors when the temperature
is above 100 degrees. As opposed to last month when we were all over Council
Groves, Kansas, this month was mostly socializing among the members both in the
club house and in member’s coaches. That evening we had a barbecue dinner
hosted by the Sidebottoms. The food came from a local company, Jack Stack Barbecue.
Obviously they picked well as everyone thought the food was delicious. Following
dinner we were entertained by Gary and Elaine Sidebottom’s granddaughter,
Elizabeth Brock and her violin. Elizabeth was accompanied by Linda and Hoot
Mann. Elizabeth is a high school senior who has been playing the violin since
the fourth grade. She is a member of the Missouri All State Orchestra and last
winter was among 98 high school musicians chosen by the American High School
Performance Series to play in Carnegie Hall. Those 98 high school musicians
were chosen from a field of 6,000 from around the US. After the entertainment, the
evening was completed with strawberry shortcake dessert provided by Ken and
Ruth Ann Stremming. 
Friday morning we were greeting by
biscuits and gravy breakfast courtesy of the Severes and TJ Ballard. Friday was
another lazy day. It was considerably cooler (yes, 99 is better than 105!) and
several members went touristing. This also gave the ladies additional chances
to try their hands at card games. You know, daily practice is important. Meanwhile
several of the men solved most of the world’s problems. We really should have a
member of the media in attendance to take notes. Lunch was provided by
leftovers from previous meals. The evening meal was a catered Italian dinner
courtesy of Carol and Len Lynch. First we started with a social hour punctuated
with margaritas. Following that we dined on salad, fruit, lasagna, penne,
garlic bread and Chianti. We finished with a marble cake adorned with the Heart
of America logo. Carol and Len also presented each member with a wine glass engraved
with the FMCA and HOA logos. This was a class act.
Saturday the Couchs hosted our usual
get-away breakfast before we attended to all of the tasks associated with
leaving a rally site.
Rally notes: Next on the schedule is
the FMCA rally in Indianapolis the last week in August, followed in late
September by the Six State Rally in Shawnee, OK. The next HOA rally is
tentatively schedule for the middle of October. A flyer will be available as
soon as the details are finalized.
