Merry Christmas

Tonight, we barbeque, like real 
campers

To folks who head south, it's ok to be jealous. 
You with green grass, synthesized holiday ornaments wishing for the real thing - well, we have it.

  

Wishing you all a 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Tom & Sharon

Florida Get together

Our third annual Florida winter get together is planned for the Golden Coral In Leesburg, Florida. 
Date: Feb. 16, 2013 (Saturday)
Time: 1:00 pm
Location: 
Golden Coral
US 441
Leesburg, FL

Last year there were 50 New Yorkers, former New Yorkers and welcome guests. Above you will see a tab to the information. Click on it or click on the link below for detailed information.

http://pennymixers.blogspot.com/p/february-get-together-date-feb.html

JANUARY LUNCHEON

HAPPY THANKSGIVING !

The January, 2013 luncheon will be held on January 19, 2013 at Tomasso’s.

• Social Hour 1-2 p.m. 
• Lunch at 2 p.m. We will order off the menu. 
• If planning on attending please let Barb Kotar know, by January 16th.

Barbara Kotar's Phone: 570-888-8163.

Ed and Gale Austin's Travels

Ed and Gale Austin have provided the following information about their travels. If it's late, my fault. Tom

Dear friends and family, It is that time of year when Ed and I take off for the west for the months of Dec/Jan where we will stay in Boulder City NV   Use our regular address and our cells are: E-607-279-6018 & G-607-592-9444.  We are trying to miss storms and will leave home Sun. 11/11/12 (traveling thru Ohio/Ill/OK) and expect to arrive in NV by next Sun.  If all goes well we will then travel to Fla for Feb/Mar and home early April.  We always look forward to seeing friends and family in these different sites, even if it is only once a year.  Take care of yourselves, stay well and travel safe.  Love you all, Ed and Gale

2013 NEAR has been cancelled

In response to a query, I received this letter from Paul DuBois about NEAR - 2013. Paul and the executive board of NMA face some serious challenges. We wish them good luck.
Tom
----------------------------------

Hi Tom  The rumor is true. Our Northeast Area Executive Board voted not to have a rally in 2013. This was not a decision that was made lightly but was necessary due to the lack of support from the chapters. As you are aware we have lost money since the economy took a hit in 2008. Although initially the losses were not significant and we continued hopeing for bettor days this has not happned. The lack of family coach attendance has caused a lack of vendors and therefore a lack of income. When our rally was in August we were very successful however the first meeting that I attended upon becoming Northeast Area VP I was informed that National was changing their convention to August and due to the Bylaws an Area rally cannot be held within 30 days of a convention. This caused us to change our rally to July. When I immediatly contected Tom Oddy at the Expo the only dates available were the present dates we have. At the annual meeting during Sam Allen's last year as President the membership agreed to a five year contract with the Champlain Valley Expo. That contract is still in effect. In order to cancel the 2013 rally we had to negotiate with them and they agreed to let us skip a year if we agreed not to have a rally at any other location during that period and to agree that the contract remained in effect and that I would remain in office to the end of my term. Unless we get more support from the chapters in our area than we presently do,  I fear for the future for any area rallies after our contact expires. For example we only received ads for our program book from 14 out of 41 chapters this year. I sent out 188 e-mails announcing the cancellation of the rally a few weeks ago and I received 23 bounce backs for undeliverable and only one reply and that was from Perfect Circle stating that they may be turning in their charter in the spring due to apathy in getting officers for the chapter. If these conflicting dates with our rally and lack of attendance continue to exist then I think that sends a signal to the Executive Board that the Area Rally is no longer important to them and should be discontinued.

 

Paul DuBois

Memorial Weekend, 2013 Information

Because no one signed up for the May 2013 Pen-NY Mixer rally, a few of us decided
to have an "unofficial" rally on Memorial Week-end 2013 at Ives Run Core of Engineers Park near Wellsboro, PA. like we did last year.

Everyone needs to make their own reservations. 

• Phone # 1-877-444-6777 
• online: http://www.recreation.gov/
• click "camping". 

• Because Memorial Week end is a busy week-end for Ives Run, you need to get reservations in as soon as you can.
• Reservations can start to be made 6 months prior to the date you want to go in. The Friday starting Memorial week-end is May 24, 2013. We are going in on May 20,2013 the Monday prior to Memorial week-end so we will reserve on Nov. 20, 2012. If you wait until Nov. 24 2012 it may be full by then because a lot of people reserve earlier in the week.
• We are going in on the Hawthorne Circle. Hawthorne has full hookups. Most of us in the Pen-NY Mixers were in that circle last year. 

Note: AS OF NOV. 22nd only 2 sites in Hawthorne left. (36 others with electric)

It will be an "unofficial" rally, but we are taking the big coffee pots and will have
coffee going each morning.

If you have questions call us 607-529-3353 or email: sosew722@yahoo.com

Sylvia & Ed Plaisted

Northeast Area News

There have been rumors around that Paul Dubois was resigning as Vice President of the Northeast Area of FMCA. So, I asked. The following is his response. As you see, the area faces some challenges.
******

Hi Tom

I have not resigned although I have given it serious thought. It has been a very discouraging year.

On the Area front we are facing some serious issues. We are not getting the support of many of the chapters in the Northeast Area for our rally. As you may be aware under Sam's term of office the members voted at the annual meeting to sign a five year contract with the Champlain Valley Expo. Since 2008 when the economy took a hit we have saw a steady decline in vendors and coach display coaches. This was not due just to the economy but to a serious decline in Family coaches attending. Vendors have ways of keeping up on rally attendance figures and if we do not get a good showing of attendees then the vendors will not attend. In 2012 we had only 37 vendors and 10 display coaches. and 377 family coaches. Our normal attendance is between 500 and 600 family coaches and in the area of 60 vendors and 100 display coaches. Vendors and display coaches are where we make our money. Going into the 2012 rally we had about $15,000 on hand. The cost to put on a rally is between $60,000 and $80,000. We cut every corner that we could cut and received a $15,000 discount from the Expo and thanks to Tom and Connie Ziobrowski with their hard work getting sponsorships for some of the events and our advertising it as a fund raiser for the Veterans and getting veterans agencies to donate their time and resources we were able to come up with a small profit . We have already been told by the vendors and coach dealers that they will not be able to support us next year as many of them lost money this year. That leaves us no option but to cancel next years rally if we are able to work something out with the Champlain Valley Expo. Tom Oddy is discussing the contract with his Board and will get back to us in a week or so.

FMCA if it is to survive has to adjust their thinking. The Governing Board again rejected towables, Mororhomes are not selling and dealers are not stocking them . The younger generation cannot afford a motorhome and are buying towables. When we spoke to dealers prior to our rally they with out exception stated that they were not willing to spend several hundred dollars to bring a motorhome to the rally, pay for hotels and salaries only to bring the MH back without selling it. They stated that they are selling towables as fast as they can get them without bringing them to a rally.

With FMCA making the members pay for the FMCA Assist insurance themselves we are going to loose even more than the approximately 600 members a month that they now loose. Our membership is presently around 83,000 members and continues to drop.  As with all insurances of this type the cost is determined by the total members covered. I feel that as membership declines, I am sure that the premium will increase. Looking at the declared canditates for president of FMCA for the June election, I see candidates that are opposed to allowing towables so I don't see any hope for a change on the National scene. If anyone is tuned to the economic scene you will see that the economy shows no signs of improving significantly in the near future. With fuel prices continueing to rise this will mean that motorhome sales will continue to be stagnate . This combined with the ageing out process that FMCA is currently experiencing will undoubtably be a serious problem. It has been estimated that it would cost around two million dollars to shut FMCA down if that becomes necessary Our reserves are currently around 6.9 million dollars. We cannot continue to bury our heads in the sand and not realize what the end result could be. 

We must collectivly put our heads together and decide what direction that the Northeast Area must take. 

• Is it to eliminate all area rallies?  
• Is it to have smaller chapter groups? 
• or is it some other course of action?

I am an optimist but I am also a realist and feel that we cannot ignore a problem and it will go away without any action. The time for a decision is now. I stand ready to assist in any way.

We could not even fill the vacancies in the area offices this year and had to postpone the meeting and send security out into the grounds to find Presidents and National Directors to make a quorum for the meeting. This leads us to believe that the interest is not there. If I were to resign ,I have been told that a majority of the Board will resign with me as they are discouraged also. If I do resign, a special election would have to be held at a considerable expense. My present thoughts are to hang in there until my term is up in June.

Paul

Ed and Lori Hoag sighting

Many reported earlier this year that Lori Hoag was very ill.
We wanted to let you know that they attended the Susquenago Rally at Bainbridge. Ed asked we emphasize they are doing very well. Lori was helping with the youth and Ed has volunteered to help at our August, 2013 rally with a safety demonstration.

Live (we think) from Cowanesque

Our National Director contemplating the gravity of the decisions needed at the International in Indianapolis.
Thanks to Jim & Sharon Fairbrother

2011 RV Industry Report

Statistical Surveys Inc. reports that Thor Industries Inc. was the top U.S. retailer of towable and motorized RVs combined in 2011. Forest River Inc.’s combined subsidiaries placed first in motorhomes and second in total RVs.
In towables, Thor posted a 36.6% market share for 2011 followed by Forest River with 31.1%, Jayco Inc., Middlebury, Ind. at 12.1%, KZRV, Shipshewana, Ind. with 3.1% and Nappanee, Ind.-based Gulf Stream Coach Inc. at 2.0%. The total number of towable RVs retailed in the U.S. in 2011 was 172,617 units.
Elkhart, Ind.-based Forest River’s total share for all motorhomes (including Class B’s) was 21.6%, while Thor’s combined divisional share was 19.8%, followed by Winnebago Industries Inc., Forest City, Iowa, at 18.3%, Tiffin Motorhomes Inc., Red Bay, Ala. at 11.3% and Fleetwood RV Inc., Decatur, Ind. with 10.3%. Total 2011 motorized retail volume was 21,088 units.–RV Business

September Events

September brings three events for Pen-NY Mixers.

• The first is the Susquenango Rally on Labor Day Weekend. Late registration is still available. Check the tab above for rally details. Cost is $140.
• September 12-16 is the Bean Soup Festival in Beavertown, PA-joint with Fingerlakers. We have a tab above with registration. Registration deadline is September 8th and the cost is $50. There is a tab showing the itinerary.
• Our last September rally is September 28-30th at Jim's RV center in Nichols, NY. The theme is Halloween. Cost is $80 and the deadline is September 1st. Check out the tab above.  Plans include a trip to Tioga Downs (including transportation), Apple Recipe cook off, Pig roast, 2 breakfasts and more.

Jim Miller's Fish Marinade

Jim Miller has made fish at almost every rally he worked. Numerous folks have asked for it. Sadly, my memory is really long. I found this in a 2005 newsletter. Below is his secret.
Fish Marinade
1 tsp salt 
3 cloves minced garlic 
3 Tbsp olive oil 
2 Tbsp lemon juice 
3 tsp cajun seasoning 
1 tsp black pepper 

Mix all ingredients and allow to stand.  Then pour over fish. Allow fish to marinate 2-4 hours, then grill. 
I use less cajun seasoning and pepper.  I make several batches at once and store in the refrigerator. 

More from Harborfest

This was taken from the top of the ladder

I hope we aren't milking this too much, but here are a couple pictures taken by the Oswego Fire Department that we couldn't include with the original post.

August Rally Tab

We have posted the agenda for the August rally. It is under the "August Rally" tab above. Just "Click" on it.

The deadline for sign up is August 15th.

Finally !!!

Many of us believe that the cemetery is the "Last Stop". However, I found one that may be an exception.

It's where I plan to go just in case it's not the "last stop".

Harborfest - 2012 Results

Well, we did it !
Harborfest brought 79 motor homes from a several chapters and as far away as Mexico to the port authority in Oswego. Tuesday 12 folks came in to plan parking, clean up and locate venues. Hot dogs were supplied by our hosts for dinner. Wednesday while some folks helped George Worden set up the Fingerlakers tent, Ed Plaisted and his crew needed to park a dozen per hour to be ready for dinner - grilled and fried fish supplied by our wagon master, Jim Miller. Through this, we were entertained by Steve Robinson on the guitar.

The Slide show can be replayed by pressing the "arrow"

IPAD or IPHONE may not play the slide show. (APPLE is catching up)

Thursday started with coffee and donuts; then some wondering around, last minute set-ups and welcome the last 19 campers. As the day progressed, folks toured and prepared snacks to go with margaritas - all made by Sandy Wollaber. After dinner, door prizes were drawn for folks from the 23 generous donors from around the area. 7:00 pm started Harborfest entertainment.
The plan was to supply breakfast Friday and Saturday and folks eat the rest of their meals on their own. So, after a continental breakfast folks went off to redeem door prizes.
Also, Friday, at 5:00 am, 10 folks took off on a fishing charter arranged by Jim Miller. After a 2 hour delay due to wind, folks headed out into 3 foot waves. As the waves subsided, the boats came 1 fish short of the limit,  29 fish with over 200 pounds.

Pen-NY Mixer Fishing pictures
Friday night entertainment was highlighted by Kenny Loggins watched by 10,000 (or so) of our closest friends.
Saturday, after more eating and entertainment, we were thrilled by the spectacular fireworks display from around the light house.
Sunday breakfast led to more tours and enjoying the entertainment. Sunday also brought something special - a ride for one member supplied by the Harborfest Committee. We drew tickets, and JoAnne Fadale won. Her excitement resulted in a 4 hour trip on a tall ship.
In the evening, Cam's Pizza (supplied by CAMPING WORLD) was followed by BYRNE DAIRY ice cream all served by the New York Centrals Chapter.
Monday, after coffee and donuts, we took down tents and all were gone by noon.
Jim, Sherry, Millie, George, Harold, Sandy,Alice, Fred and Ed did a great job of keeping a very busy weekend FUN for the rest of us.
PS: Just like the last time in Oswego, Jim and Tom found themselves helping a coach get his jacks up. Good ol' crow bar.

Fingerlakers 40th Anniversary Celebration

George and Mille dance to music

Alice Dietrich joined us from
Grand Ol'  Oprey

Many Pen-NY Mixers have dual membership with the Fingerlakers. Fingerlakers were formed July 18, 1972. This year many of us joined them to help Millie Worden (president) celebrate. 31 coaches attended. There was entertainment, a little dancing, an Allison transmission seminar, great food and lots of fun.
Here are a few pictures showing the happenings.
You can view a larger view of a picture by clicking on it.

Kevin Clark played
music until we dropped

Larry Dobson on  Allison
transmissions

Hot dogs anyone

More about Harborfest

There will be several "Tall Ships" visiting the Oswego Harborfest. One of them is the "Schooner La Revenante" which is shown below. It is used to support historical pagentry, re-enactments as well as community celebrations and scholarly research.

Below is a tentative schedule for the tall ships at Harborfest..
Friday. July 27.2012

12:30 PM               Tall Ship Rendezvous - Abeam Oswego Lighthouse

1:00 PM                 Parade of Sail down Oswego Harbor (East Breakwater)

1:30 PM                 Turn West & Salute Fort

2:00 PM                 Pier side (43"-27'-55"N/76"-30'-56"W)

2:30 PM                 Clear Customs (Harborfest will arrange)

6-30 PM                 Captain/Sponsor Meet- Hang Sponsor Flag

6:30 PM                 VIP Tour Sponsor (Max 8 people)

Saturday. July 28.2012

10:00 AM -1:00 PM    General visit for public

2:00 PM                       Underway for Fort Ontario Battle (6 sponsors as passengers)

2:30 - 3:30 PM            Exchange fire with Fort Ontario

4:00 PM                       Pier side

7:00 -10:00 PM           Sponsor Reception (Pier side) & Fireworks

Sunday. July 29.2012

10:00 AM -1:00 PM       General visit for public

Z:00 PM                          Underway tor Fort Ontario Battle (with 6 passengers)

2:30 - 3:30 PM               Exchange Fire with Fort Ontario

4:00 PM                          Passenger drop-off & Ban Voyage                      „-

By the way, this is the 25th anniversary of Harborfest and as of July 9th, there are 65 signed up for the rally.

For a complete list activities, check their link at -

http://www.oswegoharborfest.com/

Our rally agenda is on the
http://pennymixers.blogspot.com/p/haborfest-rally-itinerary.html
TAB above

June Rally highlights

Plagiarised from newsletter, here are highlights written by Sylvia Plaisted from the June rally.

----------------

Our June Pen-NY Mixer Rally was a big success. Bill and Cheryl Ortlieb, our rally masters worked very hard and did a great job. Some of us arrived on Thursday and were welcomed by our hosts. The rest arrived on Friday. Those attending were, Bill and Rose McGlynn, George and Barb Cole, Jim and Sherry Miller, Phil Liberatore and Lury Wallenbeck, Charlie and Doris Kline, Jean Horton and Bill, Ed and Sylvia Plaisted, Lee and Shirley Moore, Bill and Cheryl Ortlieb and John and Carla Couture'.

On Friday morning Sherry Miller and Sylvia Plaisted went to the Diamond mines. Sherry found several quite large "diamonds" and I found one small one. We loved it. Friday afternoon most of us went to Utica to the Matts Brewery for a 2 hour tour. Very interesting. We enjoyed a dinner of hot dogs, mac salad and tossed salad put on by our hosts and some helpers. Half of us brought desserts. We had some mouth watering desserts. They were all wonderful.

Saturday started out with a large breakfast of blueberry pancakes, eggs etc. Most of the girls went to a local quilt shop in the morning. Some of the guys went back to the brewery in the afternoon. Bill and Cheryl outdid themselves by cooking a gourmet dinner for us. We dined on Cornish game hens (prepared and baked in the ovens ant the Fair Grounds), mashed potatoes, baby carrots, fresh cooked green beans, cabbage salad, rolls. It was a dinner fit for a king. Half of us brought dessert. We had lots of fun with a "horse race" in the evening.

Sunday Morning, we had a great dish to pass breakfast. So as you can see we ate very well as usual at our rallies.

It was our first official rally for the year and it was a big success.

Sylvia Plaisted

Harborfest Update from the Millers

Fuel prices are down what are you waiting for? Harborfest is celebrating its 25th anniversary and we are going to be there.  Will you? Go to www.oswegoharborfest.com for all the details, but Kenny Loggins headlines the music that covers classic rock,country, blues, jazz and big band. The first headline band will be Changes in Latitude, a Jimmy Buffet tribute band. For those that don't know his biggest song was Margaritaville  and they play right after our Margarita party, its liked we planned it that way. They have 4 tall ships and War of 1812 reenactments this year and we are working on one lucky rally attendee winning a spot on a tall ship.  New this year will be Gasoline Alley with displays by Watkins Glen International and The Oswego Speedway.

 We have 11 people signed up for the fishing trip on Friday morning and one opening left. If more than one signs up we will start a waiting list for a third boat. All you need is your food and drink and a NY fishing license. They provide all the gear and the trip is only $120.00 including the mates tip. 1 or 7 day licenses are available online or Walmart after you are there.

We will once again have tank pump outs available($20.00) and are looking into water. Sandy has returned from wintering in the west with enough tequila to supply the cocktail party and there will also be beer, wine and soft beverages. The fish fry is a complete meal this year with salt potatoes and cole slaw. If you do not eat fish and want to come we will have a few hamburgers. We will have pizza delivered by Cams Pizza on Sunday night. Our friend Janet has some crafts planned at Calico Gals and the Mayor plans to welcome us to Oswego on Thursday. We have some good door prizes to restaurants, museums and local merchants.

When coming to Oswego on Rt 481 you should stay in the right lane coming through Fulton or you will end up in a left turn only lane. As you come into Oswego follow the truck route signs and stay on 481 until you reach Bridge Street(Rt 104) and then turn right. Go to the third light and turn left on Ninth Street. Go to the end of the street and there you are.

If you are looking for something else to do on the same trip, the Northeast Area Rally takes place the week before Harborfest and its a great rally in Essex Junction, Vermont. That rally ends on Monday and we start on Wednesday leaving you one day to explore along the way.

There is already 35 units signed up for Wednesday arrival so I will probably be fishing more than once the week before if you live nearby or arrive early and want to fish Cayuga Lake let me know.

Cell phone numbers if you get lost or need more info are:

Jim 607-423-1747

Sherry 607-423-6318

We look forward to seeing you

Jim and Sherry

The Port Authority has said we can have more room if needed so invite a friend or bring the grand kids as there are lots of children activities at Harborfest. If someone need a sign up form let me know and I can send them one.

Fingerlaker 40th Anniversary rally update

Below is a note from Millie Worden about the Fingerlakers 40th Anniversary rally July 12th to 15th..

*****

Just a short note informing you of some of the upcoming events for the 40th Anniversary Rally at York, New York. Saturday entertainment will be songs by Alice Dietrich at 2:00 PM followed by an excellent pork dinner and then at 7:00 PM, Kevin Clark will entertain with his keyboard and participation singing. Looking forward to visiting with you the weekend of the Rally.


Millie Worden

June Rally

June  is our first official Pen-NY MIxer rally. It's this weekend at the Herkimer Fairgrounds with Bill & Cheryl Ortlieb wagon masters.
The agenda is under the JUNE RALLY tab above.

TWASN'T ARally

Memorial Day weekend is our usual first get together. This year we didn't have wagon masters. So, it was decided to "just make reservations" at Ives Run on Hammond Lake in Tioga, PA. That meant - make the reservation last Thanksgiving. 
It's a COE park with all amenities and many things to do.

17 motor homes made reservations, many arriving the weekend before. Of course, some of us didn't know the "secret loop" meaning we were scattered around the park. In spite of that, many folks rose to the challenge to make the week fun. 

Osprey Nest

• Ed and Lee organized some golf outings. 
• Howie, Pat, John, Carla, Shirley, Sylvia and Ed organized some great pot luck meals
• Neena, Shirley and Sylvia organized some unique crafts.

It shows that if we don't have Wagon Masters, anarchy does not result and lots of fun things happen.

Everyone enjoyed a nice get together.

Big Boy Toys

I want this !!!!
Introduced last fall at the "Big Boys Toy Show" in Dubai, UAE, the Elemment-Palazzo made by Marchi Mobile in Vienna, Austria is now in production.

Bedroom

Ready for the Autobon, it has a top speed of 93 mph, separate sleeping quarters for the chauffeur, push button roof terrace, a power door, full length slides, and any other option you can dream up.

Cockpit

Finally, a legitimate upgrade to your Provost or Blue Bird.
At 40 feet, it's less than $3 million.
We look forward to seeing yours at the May rally.

Skybridge Open

Hope You Recognize This

Do you know what this is?
This is the FREEDOM TOWER - the replacement for the trade center destroyed on Sept. 11, 2011.
It's taken 11 years but it grew up this week to be the tallest building in New York. It will be over 1776 ft (I wonder what they do if the contractor ends up at 1775).
I hope y'all don't mind bragging, but we Americans don't give up easy and want to prove it.
On the right is more.

June Rally Information

One thing we we can do with the updated version of the blog is to add TABS at the top for 10 + events. The latest TAB has information about the June rally (June 22-24th) hosted by the Ortlieb's in Herkimer, NY.
Directions to the rally at the Herkimer Fairgrounds are --

Take the Thruwav to exit 30 (Herkimer). At the light take a left. Go over the bridge and

get onto Route 5S west - ramp to the right. Go through the next light (unless it's RED). Stay on Route 5S until the 3rd exit - Frankfort Fairarounds. The grounds will be on your right side. 

Tumright into the ramp. Turn into the fairgrounds entrance.

We'll be there!

Blog pages

At the top of our blog are "Pages". If you click on any of them, you see additional information about us and our upcoming events.
Check out the following tabs above by clicking on them:

• PenNY Mixers Next Event
• Up Coming Rallies
• NEAR 2012
• July, 2012 Harborfest
• Harborfest rally Itinerary (New)
• About our blog

This the "Home" page. Return here by clicking on:

• Home

Folks return north

Many folks are returning north. We arrived on April 6th. Weather has been typical until the last couple days. Yesterday, we played some golf and tennis in 90 degree temperatures and didn't realize it until we got home. They were typical of Florida temperatures last couple weeks we were there.
NOW, let's plan on getting together. Our opportunities in May, June and July are -

• Our first one is Memorial Day weekend at Ives Run. Ed and Sylvia Plaisted have heard from about 15 families planning to attend.
• June 22-24 is in Herkimer, NY hosted by the Ortliebs 
• What a month of events, July has planned-
• July 12th to 15th is the 40th anniversary of the Fingerlakers Chapter at the York Firemen's Field
• July 19th to 23rd is the 20th Norheast Area Rally in Essex Junction, VT
• And THEN >>>> The PenNY Mixers 2nd trip to Harborfest in Oswego, NY, July 26th to 29th hosted by the Millers.

LAST, IF YOU ARE READING THIS, AND HAVE NOT DONE YOUR TAXES, IT MAY BE TOO LATE.

Fingerlakers 40th Anniversary Bash

Fingerlakers Chapter of FMCA is celebrating their 40th anniversary this July and we are invited. below are the highlights of the rally.

 --------------------------------------------------

40th Anniversary 

Fingerlakers Chapter

You are invited to a Rally to celebrate the  40th anniversary of the Fingerlakers Chapter of FMCA

Come join the chapter in this celebration on July 12 - 15th at York Firemen's Field in York, NY.

Included will be 3 nights dry camping

        3 breakfasts

        1 night theme supper (black pants and a red shirt)

        2 ice cream socials

        Pound auction ( every person brings a 1# item to be auction - no pasta, please)

        Entertainment

       

 All this for a mere $60.00 per coach (2 people).

 Single $50

 Extra person $15.00

RSVP to Millie Worden

            3050 Federal Road

            Pavillion, NY        14525

             585 243-2951        

Northeast Area 2012 Rally Page

We have added a new TAB at the top of our blog for the Northeast Area Rally July 19th-22nd (Actual departure is Monday the 23rd).

This is the 20th anniversary of the rally and lots of new exciting things are planned.

Afterwards, it's a great drive along the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario from Essex Junction to Harborfest in Oswego where early arrival on Wednesday will be greeted with a fish fry. 
Check out the "July, 2012 Harborfest" information on the tab above.

Harborfest Update

From Jim & Sherry Miller
-----------

We now have a registration form and itinerary for the Harborfest rally. With the help of Camping World sponsoring the Sunday night dinner we were able to keep the price close to two years ago despite some big cost increases.

 

The folks at Harborfest are promising some great entertainment for their 25th anniversary event including both  well known country and jazz performers on Sunday afternoon as well popular acts on Thursday through Saturday. New this year will be tall ships at the pier and a War of 1812 reinactments. They will announce the performers by the end of March so we will update you all. They are also going to be giving away a new Dodge Challenger in their raffle this year. Two years ago a rally attendee won the big cash prize in this raffle so don't miss out. Once again they will be bringing the trolley right to the front of our lot to get you to the festival.

 

Janet at Calico Gals quit shop is planning some sort of activity for the group, probably on Friday morning. The fishing trip aboard Top Gun is also Friday morning. Two years we caught over 20 brown trout and 5 of the 6 people have already signed up to go again. We have one boat full already but there is a second boat available. The boats are both beautiful 40 footers. I have fished with these captains before and they did a great job. Trip will be 120.00 each including the tip. If you want to go let me know ASAP so we can reserve the second boat.

We are providing the entire meal this year for the Wednesday  fish fry. We will have fried and grilled fish, salt potatoes and cole slaw.

 

The Port Authority has told us we can have the fenced in area if we have more people so don't hesitate to invite a friend. If they are not in FMCA that's OK. We had 4 non FMCA coaches at the rally two years ago and at least 2 of them joined FMCA later.

 

If you want to help out for a couple of hours let us know we could use some help at the coffee hours, meals and last day cleanup.

Jim and Sherry

Ed Hoag (sr VP) has to resign

As you may have suspected Ed & Lori Hoag have stepped down as Senior VP of the Northeast Area of the FMCA.

Thomas M. Ziobrowski is now Senior Vice President
Tom & Connie  Ziobrowski are the Rally Masters for 2012 Northeast Area Rally in Essex Junction, VT.

Their Email is:
Z8iggy@aol.com

Northeast Area January Newsletter

For the first time since 2010, the Northeast Area of FMCA has produced a newsletter. It can be viewed at:
http://www.nmafmca.org/nmanewsletterjan2012.pdf

Of particular note is the ongoing health issues of Lori Hoag, Sr. VP Ed's wife. Our thoughts are with her.

New TAB for Haborfest !

Did you notice we have added a tab at the top of our Blog? It's for Haborfest rally in Oswego, NY the last week of July. Those of you who didn't make the last one, try to make the next one. We don't think you will be disappointed.
Check:

http://pennymixers.blogspot.com/p/july-2012-harborfest.html

FMCA 2013, 2014 International Rallies announced

FMCA has announced the dates and locations for their 2013 and 2014 International Rallies.

2013: June 19-22 in Gillette, Wyo.
2014: March 17-20 in Perry, Georgia

February, 2012 Lunch - Leesburg, Florida

Sunny days bring out lots of folks. On Saturday, February 11, Pen-NY Mixers hosted 54 members and former members of Pen-NY Mixers, Fingerlakers, Niagara Fontier Travelers from New York and elsewhere. We gathered at 1:00 pm at the Golden Corral in Leesburg, FL. Folks who now reside in Florida also made it. We had guests from the Frustrated Maestros who stay at Holiday Travel Resort in Leesburg. Charlie & Doris Kline flew down to visit their son in Ocala and made the trip.

Those who remember the history of this lunch remember that we used it as a "kickoff" to plan a caravan to the Southeast Area Rally. The past few years, the caravan hasn't materialized. So, we changed the date to after the SEAR. This allowed folks like the Linden's and Austen's to travel from the visits west and make the luncheon.

Golden Corral lived up to it's part putting out a great buffet. With a room to ourselves, we were able to hang around and tell stories to 4 o'clock.

REMEMBER, You can view a larger view of an image by "clicking" on it.
There will be an "X" in the right corner. Click on it to return to the blog.

Southeast Area FMCA Rally - are you kidding?

The past couple years, we went to the Southeast Area FMCA Rally on a day pass rather than tear down our site and go.
Going to their web site, we were surprised to find the price goes from $15 to $25 after January 13th. In my mind, that eliminates "daily drive ups", like us.
For $25 plus gas, we will play golf.
If this is the plan of other areas, I think vendors will WALK !
Does anyone look at collateral damage ?

Pen-NY Mixers Next Event- Florida get together

This year, the 2012 FMCA Southeast Area Rally is scheduled for January 31 to February 4th in Brooksville, FL.

We have scheduled our Florida get together at THE GOLDEN CORRAL in Leesburg, FL. It's not too late to sign up. Contact Tom or Sharon Roule if you want to attend.

Date: February 11, 2012
Time: 1:00 pm
Tom's Cell phone: 585-739-9074
Tom's email: troule@aol.com

Details are in the "Pen-NY Mixers Next Event" tab above.

Craft Show - Holiday Travel Resort, Leesburg,Fl

Those of you who aren't spending the first weekend of February at the FMCA Southeast Area rally in Brooksville, FL might want to consider a great craft show at Holiday Travel Resort in Leesburg, FL. Dates are February, 3rd an 4th this year.
Holiday Travel Resort is just off US route 27 on CR 33 south of Leesburg.
We are not trying to market the show, but it has been going for about 40 years and might be a viable alternative. It's FREE and we have gone several times including this year.

January, 2012 Dinner Update

Sylvia Plaisted reports the following from the January dinner.

----------------------------

We had a great time at Tomosso's on Saturday, Jan 14.  There were 18 Pen-ny Mixers in attendance.:

John & Carla Couture

Larry & Barb Kotar

Matt Miller

Charlie & Doris Kline

Norm & Madaline Pease

Howie & Pat Newman & Howie's Dad

Ed & Sylvia Plaisted

Jim and Sherry Miller

Phil Libatore & Lury Wallenbeck

 

We had a nice lunchen.  It is good to see our camping friends in this cold weather.  It was in the 20's.