President's Message

"Thanks" to our Dogwood members who attended the Endless Carvens Rally. A little weather didn't keep us down, everyone had plenty to eat and lots of fun. My only regret is that a picture was not taken of all those steaks lined up on the grill.

Nominatees are needed to serve on the nominating committee (they serve from present to Dec 2016). Members of the nominating committee will be looking for members to serve as officers from Jan. 2017 to Dec. 2018. 

It has been brought to my attention that Dogwood Chapter of FMCA will be 20 years old in June 2016. I would appreciate the memberships' input "a yea or nay" on holding a reunion. If we have a majority vote on holding a 20th Anniversay Dogwood Chapter reunion, a reunion committee will be needed. 

Saturday, July 18th will be our next business meeting. Hope to see you all at the Galax Rally, as I will be unable to attend the Rappahannock River Wine Cruise Rally.

Buck

VP of Rallies Message

It's hard to believe that it is almost June already! Our first rally was May 15-17 in New Market,Va. at the Endless Caverns. The weather was great, except for the one thunder storm. A huge thank you goes out to Buck, Linda, Clint and Pat for the wonderful meals. Buck really knows how to cook a steak!

Our next rally will be June 12-14 for the Ingleside winery cruise in Tappahannock, I hope to see you there. Then on to Galax,Va. July 13-19.

We will also meet together September 11-13 at Ed's Garage for another fun filled weekend in Urbanna. Our host for the weekend will be Ed and Anke Fisher.

The Greenwoods and Tilmans have secured 25 sites at the Americamp RV Resort in Ashland ,Va for our Christmas weekend December 4-6.  We hope to see our Maryland friends there this year.

Mark your calendars for these events and don't forget GEAR in Asheville NC October 15-18

Happy camping
Marion

National Director Message

I will be attending the FMCA International convention in Madison Wisconsin as your National Director in July. Please advise me of any items you desire to be brought up at the business meeting, and any suggestions or information you have for the National Officer election. I am your representative to the convention, and as such, I welcome your input.

Ed Fisher

Rappahannock River Wine Cruise Rally

Rescheduled to June 12-14 (one week later than originally planned), the Rappahannock River Wine Cruise Rally should be a great event for those of you who like wine (to drink), water (to float on), and just hanging out with your Dogwood friends.  Your hosts  Fairleigh & Cil Schoolar and Wilt & Barbara Greenwood are hoping that it’ll be as much fun as last year’s Tangier Island cruise by the Cockrells!

The highlight of the rally will be an all-day Saturday cruise up the Rappahannock, from Tappahannock to the Ingleside Winery in Oak Grove, VA, and back – but there’ll be plenty to do on Friday and Sunday too.  You’ll be dry-camping on the Schoolars’ business property, The Top Shop at LaGrange Industrial Park in Tappahannock, near Bray’s Fork.  (Fairleigh is going to try to provide enough electricity and water to keep batteries up and bodies clean, but don’t count on more than that). Attendees may come in on Thursday night after 5:00 PM at no additional charge, but there are no rally activities planned for Thursday, other than probably an informal social hour after everyone arrives.

Friday daytime will be free time to explore the Tappahannock area or just kick back.  Friday night will be a Guamanian dinner at the Schoolars’ home, prepared and served by the hosts and included in the rally price (this really means that Cil is in charge, with the rest of the rallymasters providing what help we can).  This is not a pot luck – so you can spend the day doing whatever you want without worrying about preparing food.

Saturday will be a full day – we’ll leave Tappahannock in mid-morning and travel up the Rappahannock River on the Captain Thomas, arriving at Ingleside Vineyards where we’ll enjoy a catered buffet lunch, a wine tasting, and a tour of the winery.  Click here for more information on the cruise, and here for more information on Ingleside Vineyards.  In the afternoon we’ll return to Tappahannock in time to have dinner at Lowery’s, a Tappahannock tradition.  The rally will end Sunday morning with a hitch-up continental breakfast.

RALLY FEES: The cost of the rally is $50.00 per person, and includes 2 or 3 nights of dry camping, a Friday night full dinner, the boat trip, the Saturday wine tasting and winery tour, a catered buffet lunch at the winery, and a continental breakfast on Sunday morning.

RALLY SCHEDULE:

Thursday 
6:00 pm (or so) - Informal social hour. BYOB

Friday 
Breakfast on your own

5:00 pm – Social hour. BYOB
6:00 pm – Full dinner (Guamanian cuisine) at the Schoolars’, 1976 Essex Mill Road, Dunnsville, VA

Saturday 
Breakfast on your own
9:00 am – Gather to depart for the boat 
10:00 am – Boat leaves Hoskins Creek at Tappahannock
Midday – Arrive at Ingleside Vineyards

4:30 pm (approximately) – Boat arrives back at Hoskins Creek

6:00 pm – Dinner (at your own expense) at Lowery’s

Sunday

9:00 am – Coffee and continental breakfast. 

Please bring your own plates and utensils for Sunday’s breakfast.

DIRECTIONS:

The Top Shop

230 LaGrange Industrial Dr.

Tappahannock, VA  22560

From RICHMOND:

Take Rt 360E towards Tappahannock

Turn left @ LaGrange Industrial Dr. (beside JOHN DEERE)

(This turn is just before you get to Bray’s Fork – if you see Rt 17, you’ve gone too far)

Turn right @ 2^nd driveway (The Top Shop – bldg. in the rear on right)

From the NORTH:

Go thru Tappahannock on Rt 17

Turn right onto Rt 360W @ Bray’s Fork

Turn right @ La Grange Industrial Dr (just past JOHN DEERE)

Turn right @ 2^nd driveway (The Top Shop - bldg. in the rear on right)

From the EAST:

Take Rt 17N

Turn left @ Bray’s Fork onto Rt 360W – get into the right lane before you get to the top of the hill

Turn right @ LaGrange Industrial Dr (just past JOHN DEERE)

Turn right @ 2^nd driveway (The Top Shop – bldg. in the rear on right)

If you have any questions, e-mail:

Cil at cilschoolar@yahoo.com ,or

Barbara at barbaragreenwood@earthlink.net

6/1 update:  We are full for the boat trip at this time, and even have a small waiting list.  Check back with Cil or Barbara as the date gets nearer, to see if there have been any cancellations.

________________________

REGISTRATION FORM – RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER WINE CRUISE RALLY

June 12-14, 2015

Please get your Registration Forms in as soon as you can – we need to pay the cruise company the remainder of their fee, and we need to give them an accurate count of attendees (we have to have 26 people to get the volume discount). Rally Registration cutoff date is May 15, 2014.

NAMES__________________________________

Rally fee is $50.00 per person.

AMOUNT ENCLOSED $__________________

Please mail form and fees (check payable to Cil Schoolar) to:

Cil Schoolar
1976 Essex Mill Road
Dunnsville, VA 22454

Galax Rally

by Barbara Dyke

The Galax Rally will be held at the Cool Breeze Campground July 13 thru July 19, 2015.  I am happy that Karen and Berkley Alexander will be co-hosting with Bobby and me. We have reserved the clubhouse for the entire week as there is so much to do in the area and it will be available for members who want to stay at the campground.  With Connie Tilman's help I am listing suggestions for activities you may want to see.

July 14, Tuesday:  Visit Mabry Mill and lunch in the area. Old time bluegrass jam at Stringbean Coffee Shop in Galax.
July 15, Wednesday:  Blue Ridge Parkway Music Center, music played on front porch. This is free.
July 16, Thursday:  Visit Mt. Airy Museum and lunch  Snappy Lunch for famous porkchop sandwich. Visit Mayberry jail and take a ride in Mayberry squad car. Visit Andy Griffith Museum.

July 17, Friday:  Walk around Galax, listen to music, shop gifts and antiques, watch set-up for BBQ festival. 8 pm Go to Rex Theater for live radio show.

July 18, Saturday:  After 3pm BBQ judging get free samples.  7pm Music at Blue Ridge Parkway Music Center. Take chairs and snacks.

Click on the links below for more information on the activities:
Smoke on the Mountain BBQ Championship (July 17-18)
Blue Ridge Parkway Music Center
Rex Theater
Mt. Airy Museum
Andy Griffin Museum
Mabry Mill

CAMPGROUND; call Cool Breeze at 1 866 342-0300 to make reservations and tell them you are with Dogwood Chapter. The address is 2300 Edmonds Rd., Galax, Va.24333. Campground fee is $33.09 including tax a night.  Click here to link to their website.  

Rally Schedule:

Monday: Pot luck supper.

Tuesday: Pot luck breakfast   9am Coffee and juice provided.
Wednesday:  9am Pot luck breakfast. Coffee and juice provided

      4pm Happy Hour (Hors d"oeuvres provided) BYOB

Thursday:  9am  Pot luck breakfast. Coffee and juice provided.

Friday:  9am  Egg casserole, eggs cooked to order, bacon & biscuit
Saturday:  9am  pancakes, sausage, and fruit.
Sunday:  Continental breakfast

                                                                Registration Form

NAMES_____________________________________

Amount Enclosed: $10.00 per person:___________________

Date arriving____________________________________:

Deadline for Registration: July 1

Please send registration to:

Barbara Dyke

5325 Iron Bridge Road

N. Chesterfield, Va. 23234

Christmas Rally

Mark your calendars for the weekend of December 4-6, 2015.  Americamps RV Resort at 11322 Air Park Rd., Ashland, VA  23005 has been reserved for our Christmas Rally.  Right off I 95 just north of Richmond, this campground seems like a good central location for most of our members.  There are 25 sites set aside in the name of Dogwood Chapter.  You can make your reservations beginning now at 804-798-5298.  Click here to link to their web site.  The rally rate is $35 per night.  The sites are set aside for Thursday, December 3 too if you would like to arrive early.  We also have the party room reserved.  More details will be available in upcoming months.

Your hosts, Ed and Connie Tilman and Wilt and Barbara Greenwood

Highlights from Endless Cavern Rally

by Buck Buchanan

The Endless Caverns Rally was attended by 15 members and 4 guests. The campground was quiet, well laid out (most were on pull thru sites) with lots of room. The rec room, where we had our meals, was huge and short of having a kitchen was perfect; we could have held a barn dance or even a corn hole tournament. The pool was not ready for use but with the cool temperatures I don't believe we would have had any takers anyway. There was even talk of holding another rally there next year about the same time. 

Most of us did the cavern tour, which were nice and deserve a look.  Our tour guide was a trip and some of our coaches were actually parked on top of the caverns we walked 200 feet down to see. The rugged terrain was tough on some of us with knee, legs and back problems, but the trip was worth it, even with all of the steps at the end. Those members who did not tour rode into town to look around or visited the potato chip factory. 

As for the meals everyone had plenty to eat and there was even a small amount of money left to turn into the treasurer.

Click here to view photos from the rally.

A special thanks to our hosts for the rally Buck and Linda Buchanan and Clint and Pat Allen.

Minutes from May Business Meeting

Minutes from May 16, 2015 Dogwood meeting - Endless Caverns, VA

President Buck Buchanan opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and thanking them for participating in the Endless Caverns Rally.  Buck told the group he would like to get the ball rolling by forming a nominating committee which would be nominated and voted on by the membership. So if you are interested in serving on the nominating committee please let him know so your name can be placed on the ballot. Since our bylaws state the preferred way of voting is electronically once names of members who would like to serve on the nominating committee are received, he will ask Carolyn Duff to send out the ballots, (he would like for September 1, 2015 to be the deadline for nominations). It was mentioned that Berkley Alexander and Buck Buchanan should sit on the committee. Being short one member to hold a vote it was decided that these minutes would be the necessary notice to our members to make their voices heard. The nominating committee will be looking for officers to service from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018.  These minutes will be forwarded to Carolyn Duff for distribution. 

Pat Allen reported that currently there is $3,047 in the treasury.

The Greenwoods and Tilmans will host our Christmas Rally on December 4-6 at America Kamp in Ashland just off of I-95 at the Lewistown Road exit. Camping will be $35 per night. It was suggested that the club pay for the Saturday night dinner and it would be the decision of the hosts to caterer or to prepare. The members will need to vote whether they agree to spend the club's money. By copy of these minutes Buck is asking for  members input.  

  

Wilt Greenwood gave a report on the June rally taking place in Tappahannock, currently eight more coaches are needed to get the special rate on the cruise to the winery. If you consider there is no fee for camping the June Rally is not a bad deal. 

Connie Tilman reported on the July Galax Rally stating that she was going to be unable to be there but has provide the itinerary to Barbara Dyke who has agreed to handle the hosting responsibilities. 

Marion Cockrell said there may be a September Rally but was awaiting confirmation, she also reminded everyone of the November Rally in Urbanna.

Discussion followed on Small Country Campground. Pat Allen said she will check to see if they could accommodate our group, if so then the Allens and Greenfields will host. 

No further business Fairleigh Schoolar motioned to adjourn. 

Linda Buchanan

Pro-Tem Secretary 

Member Updates

Welcome to new members Doug and Maureen Dodge from Mineral VA!

Judy and Steve Czarsty wrote: "After almost 20 years of Dogwood membership we realize we have not attended a rally in a number of years and it is not fair to you all to have members who don't participate, yes when the chapter was younger we did a lot but it's the current times that count. We do not see in the foreseeable future getting to attend let alone host an event. You have other founding (Charter) members still active and from what we read great continuing leadership so as we have always said " we'll see you on the road"! See you in Madison!"

Sue and Steve Sohles wrote "We are expecting a delivery....Oh, we mean a new coach.  We returned to VA in early May, leaving the Bounder in FL after ordering a 2016 Itasca Solei....a 38' diesel with 3 slides. Heading back to FL in mid June to pickup the "new ride"."

Butch and Liz Jones have sold their house in Powhatan and are moving to Florida.  They bought a house at The Great Outdoors in Titusville.

Donna Gruel stated:  "I am doing fine (following her hip replacement surgery).  Only use cane once in awhile when the hip gets overworked.  Please give our best to all the members.  TGO is an RV community with pad, pads with executive suites and houses.  Activities available are many, even free movies every Thursday nights.  We have a guest room in our loft and all are welcome... just not all at once!  But please, if you get anywhere within a hundred miles, please contact us.  We are mobile!

Remember the video Butch Jones created on RV fire safety.  Click here for a video of a family who had to escape their motor home during a fire - just down the road from Thousand Trails Orlando where many members visit during the winter.  Have you practiced your fire escape plan?

I have updated the mailing address for Mr. Ken's badges in the eNews article for ordering name badges.  He had moved and just sent me his new address.  Be forewarned that he isn't the most prompt in responding.  Carolyn