News Past, Present and Future, August 2013

      Well, the weird weather is continuing in the Ozarks. Here we are in the middle of August and last weekend was more like late September. Maybe this is the new normal. Many of you may remember that just the week before, the river that goes through Roaring River State Park had flooded the park. By the time we got there almost everything was in good shape but you could see some large drift wood piled next to the bridge. The flooding has also caused some erosion damage to the RV park and they had repaired most of the sites that had been damaged. They do have more to accomplish. There was also some damage to units stored at the park but considering what could have been the outcome the result was better than you might expect. The Couches were the wagonmasters for the rally and they did a great job. Thanks are owed to them.

      Thursday. In any case, we had a great rally. At the reception, hosted by the Couches, we had the members of six coaches; Couches, Severes, Cooks, Nashs, Backers and Genrichs plus Ginny Weaver, TJ Ballard and Sandy Thomas. Everyone brought an appetizer to share.

      Friday. We greeted the day with the temperature at 61 degrees and clear skies. We started the day with breakfast at the RV park dining room as we all ordered from the menu. That was followed by several announcements concerning the events of the weekend. Everyone then headed back to the coaches to get ready for our trip to the palatial lake house of the Severes. We caravanned to the lake, arriving just before noon. After we unloaded everything and the Severes gave the normal house tour, John uncovered his pontoon boat and most of us went for a tour of the lake. After the tour the cooks started preparing the feast while Wayne and TJ changed into swim trunks for the Great Water Display. After an aborted attempt to find adequate skies, John convinced Wayne and TJ they would be better off using a tube. Therefore, after about 30 minutes of preparing the appropriate equipment several of us got aboard the pontoon boat while Wayne and TJ “launched” the tube.

Once they were on the tube and it was attached to the boat we headed out to the center of the lake. Only the attached photos can adequately explain what ensued as mere words could not properly explain the result. There are more photos that are better

left in the camera and not on the Web. After Wayne and TJ regained dry land and the boat was docked, John fired up his BBQ grill and cooked the hamburgers while the cooks presented the rest of the meal. Needless to say it was great. After the meal a card game erupted and consumed the better part of the afternoon. After cleaning the area and putting everything away, we departed for the park. Since it was late in the day most decided they were done. I would like to give the Severes a big thank you for their efforts. I believe that we all appreciate it.

      Saturday. This day started just like the previous one, great weather and a breakfast at the park diner. The rest of the day was left open. This was a free kids fishing day at the state park and there were kids with fishing poles in every direction. The banks of the river were wall to wall kids and the fish cleaning station was crowded all day. The river had just been restocked and there were more than a few large trout landed. Since Nick Backer had suffered a failure of his bathroom sink, repair was on his list while John Severe needed to attend to tail lights. Late in the morning six of us headed to Bentonville, AR to visit the Crystal Bridges Museum. This is a world class art museum conceived by Alice Walton, daughter of Sam and supported by the Walmart Foundation. The museum contains hundreds of millions of dollars of art and recently hosted its one millionth visitor. There is a restaurant and gift shop and admission is free. This is well worth your visit. For the evening meal we headed uphill to the Roaring River Lodge restaurant and ordered from the menu. After that we retired to the club house for dessert. By the time we finished everyone was ready to end the day.

      Sunday. Our get-away breakfast occurred at our parking site with the Couches providing coffee cake, doughnuts, apple juice and coffee. After breakfast we broke camp and headed home.  

      Six State Rally. Our next event is the rally in Sedalia, MO. As of this writing we have nine coaches attending. The Couches, McVays and Tom Drennon/Jack Mathis will be parking with the association cadre. The remaining six, Genrich, Severe, Cook, Backer, Nash and Sidebottom are planning on parking together. To accomplish that we need to arrive as a group. Our current plan is to rendezvous at Menards on the west side of Sedalia at 1pm on September 10 and then travel to the rally grounds. If anyone else would like to join us they are more than welcome.

      October rally. Our next chapter rally is at the Cedar Oaks RV Park in Grove, OK, October 17 to 20 and it is hosted by Anne Marie and Dick Carlile. The flyer will be distributed in September. Be sure to attend this one as the list of 2014 officer candidates will be revealed and the election will be held. Remember, if you are not there you can not defend yourself.

     2014. In the near future your wagonmaster will be sending everyone an email with some information about next year. As of now only some of the responsibilities for two rallies have been signed for. We have six rallies next year. That means we need six rally masters. During each rally there is a reception, three breakfasts and two dinners. We cannot follow the 80/20 rule. That is, where 80% of the work is done by 20% of the members. We need support from everyone, and not just moral support.