FMCA Looking for volunteers in Albuquerque

Below is a note from Paul DuBois, FMCA Northeast Area Vice President

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If any of you or your chapter members are going to Albuquerque , and would be willing to Volunteer, it would be appreciated.

Paul DuBois
Northeast Area VP


Subject: HELP IN ALBUQUERQUE
Hello All
I thought the Rocky Mountain Area would be able to provide the required number of volunteers for ABQ, but it doesn’t look like that is going to happen. So I am asking for some additional help.
We need help in Security, Seminars, Trams, and Handicap Carts. If you would please try and get the word out to your chapters that we need help I would appreciate it.
If anyone is interested, have them contact Bill Marti, Volunteer Coordinator, at:
Cell: 303-898-7039
or by email: billmarti@attglobal.net

New York to Reduce Services or Close State Parks

"RV News Service" reports that New York is reducing activities/services or closing 41 state parks. New York is facing some serious budget deficits and this is one way to help to reduce them (THEY HOPE ! )

Below is the link to the list of the parks and what is being done.

http://rvnewsservice.com/?p=346

Sue Bray, Executive Director, Good Sam Leaving

Sue Bray, who has been with Good Sam (and the Affinity Group) for 33 years is leaving to start her own consulting firm SUE BRAY CONSULTING (http://www.suebray.com/).

During her tenure, Good Sam grew five-fold to almost 1,000,000 families.

One of her first clients will be Good Sam.

FMCA Executive Director Search update

Below is a letter from Paul DuBois, FMCA Northeast Area President.

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I have been asked by several Northeast members what the status of the search for a new Executive Director is. At the present time , I have no more information than the Northeast members do. Unfortunatly the Northeast area is not represented on either the Management or Search commitee. This information is only shared with the other Board members on a need to know basis . For your information following is a list of the committee members and their areas

Management Committee
Charlie Schrenkel National President South East Area
Judy Czarsty National VP Eastern Area
Boby Donald AVP Western Area
Allen Rein AVP Rocky MT Area
Will Young National Treasurer SE Area

Executive Director Search Committee

Ross Boyer AVP Great Lakes Area
Tom Eller AVP South East Area
Fred Kennedy AVP South Central Area

As Northeast Area President I feel very strongly that the membership should be kept well informed. The Membership through the Governing Board will be called upon to make some very difficult decisions greatly affecting the future of FMCA. I feel that the only way that they can make the right decisions is to be kept well informed.in advance of making these decisions I will do everything in my power to make sure that this happens. I sincerely appreciate your comments and input they are valuable to me in making the decisions that I must make and to vote in your best interest.

Sincerely
Paul DuBois
Northeast Area President

Walt Ott

Sadly, we have lost another of our members - Walt Ott. Walt passed away from pancreatic cancer February 10th. He was a Pen-NY Mixer for many years. Anyone who had the good fortune to see his workmanship rebuilding player pianos, would appreciate his many talents.

Our prayers are with Pat and his family. Below is a brief biography, copied from the funeral parlor web site.

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Walter L. Ott, 69, of Waverly, NY and formerly of Owego, NY, passed away at home on Wednesday evening, February 10, 2010. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Patricia Ott; his two daughters and son-in-law, Trina and Nick Smith, Huntersville, NC, Angela Ott, Barneveld, NY; his mother, Julia (Ott) Barrett; his sister and brother-in-law, Joanne and James Nichols, Binghamton, NY; and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his father, Joseph Ott; his sister, Marlene Covey; and his step-father, Marshall Barrett. Walter was born on September 24, 1940, in Sayre, PA. He retired from IBM and Lockheed Martin in Owego after over 30 years of service. Walt always enjoyed camping trips with his family at Cayuga Lake and later with his motor home all around New York and Pennsylvania. He was extremely mechanical, and could fix anything he tried. He used this gift in restoring antique automobiles, and his love of rebuilding player pianos.

A Funeral Service will be held at Richards Funeral Home, Rte. 17c West, Owego, NY on Saturday February 13, 2010, at 2:00pm with his nephew, Mitch Nichols officiating. Interment will be at a later date in Tioga Cemetery, Owego. Family and friends are invited to visit at Richards Funeral Home on Saturday from 12:00 noon until the time of service at 2:00pm. Please consider a memorial contribution in memory of Walt to the Guthrie Clinic Oncology Department, Nancy Quattrini Fund, One Guthrie Square, Sayre, PA 18840 or to Lourdes Hospice, 169 Riverside Dr. Binghamton, NY 13901.

FMCA RAISES DUES AGAIN

As FMCA transitions from a fraternal organization funded by advertisers and commercial support to a one supported more and more by member dues, members face another dues increase.

So, if you want to renew at the current dues structure, renew before April 1st. Below is the last offer from FMCA.
Please take a moment to renew online (must sign in), call them toll-free at (800) 543-3622 or send a check. You can take advantage of the multi-year program and receive a discount.

1 - Year ($35.00)
2 - Years ($66.50)
3 - Years ($94.50)
5 - Years ($140.00)

Make checks payable to:
FMCA
8291 Clough Pike
Cincinnati, OH 45244-2796

Below is a paragraph from Charlie Shrenkel, FMCA National President, explaining the process used to arrive at the increase. Note, It does not mention the above offer.
So, TAKE CARE OF RENEWAL YOURSELF.

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I wanted to let you know firsthand that the FMCA Governing Board voted by mail ballot (322 for, 91 against and 84 not voting) to increase the FMCA membership dues by $5.00 per year. Effective April 1, 2010, your annual dues will be $40 instead of $35. Steps have been taken over the last two years to reduce expenditures while at the same time keeping the quality of an FMCA membership. As I am sure you are aware, the motorhome industry, including many companies that are commercial members of FMCA, has experienced a downturn for the past two or three years. A number of companies have even gone out of business. As a result, the revenue FMCA receives from these commercial entities has declined. Some companies are now in the reorganization process and should be back with us soon, advertising in Family Motor Coaching magazine and participating in FMCA international conventions. It is important that we keep FMCA the organization that it is, which enhances your motorhome lifestyle with the exceptional benefits we offer. .............................

Charlie Schrenkel
National President

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FYI - Links to other sites

On the right side of our blog is some potentially helpful links to other web sites. It includes sites like FMCA.COM, RV.NET and GOODSAM.COM.

Another site is GASBUDDY.COM which lists best gas prices. Just enter the name of a city.

SPEED TRAPS list speed traps by city.

Many of us need a Word Processor to create documents and letters. There is an excellant Word Processor that very closely mimics Microsoft Word. It's GOOD. There a link to a program called ABIWORD. You can download it to your PC in less than 5 minutes with a WI-FI connection.

To get there go to: http://abiword.com/

If you need a full blown immitation of Microsoft Office, consider "OPEN OFFICE" that includes Word Processor, Spreadsheet, and a presention package.

Go to: http://www.openoffice.org/

OPEN OFFICE is free, but it could take an hour or more at WI-FI speeds.