Happy Birthday to our US Navy

Happy 249th Birthday to our US Navy!  

THANK YOU to all our Navy Veterans!

Found on the Military.com Website >>   navy-birthday 

GEAR 2024 Cancelled

GEAR 2024 Cancelled

October 2, 2024 - - Due to the destructive nature of Hurricane Helene on Friday, September 27, which impacted many of our members who had registered to attend as well as the WNC Ag Center which has ...   Continue Reading

Dogwood Christmas Rally - 2024

Dogwood Christmas Rally 2024

12/05 through 12/08

 

Rockahock Campground

Lanexa VA 

 

Hosts - Jean & Ed Herbert / Terry & Dell Tenney / Nanette & Dave Meyer

 

Jean Herbert        540-760-4181       jeanandedherbert@aol.com

Terry Tenney        240-925-0023       terry@tenney1.com

 

The rally fee is $25 per person .... Read More, including the Itinerary

Important message from FMCA National President, Gary Milner

Here is the link to the:

President's Letter of Resignation

National President

Gary Milner

Gary & Glenda Milner (F409834)

We wish them all the best!   No One FIGHTS Alone!

Care Person Update - Bruce Bingham

Bruce & Renee Bingham

Prayers needed for the Binghams

 

Hello Dogwood Family,

We received this update from Lynda Bucklew and Sonia Kuppert.

Renee and Bruce Bingham need our prayers...  Thursday, 12 Sep, Bruce had a heart attack.   He is in a Nashville, TN hospital as they had picked up their new RV.  Fortunately, they were staying at the dealership to address any warranty issues.  

Please keep Bruce in your thoughts and prayers - for his doctor's wisdom and medical care, for Bruce to regain strength and begin to heal. 

Saturday, 14 Sep Update:  Lynda received a text from Renee and she asked to pass it along. 

 

"Bruce was released from the hospital a little while ago. He is happy to be out and back home in the RV. We will take it easy for a couple of days and start to plan our trip back home. Dr has told Bruce he can't drive - yet. But, that's OK because I can! 😁 Just wanted to let you know we are making good progress. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. We love and appreciate you all.❤️"

 

 

Sincerely,
Nanette Meyer, Care Person
FMCA Dogwood Chapter 

 

National Director Update – From Redmond, OR - Aug 2024

 

Governing Board Meeting Highlights

Redmond, Oregon

August 14, 2024

By Eric Britz (representing Dogwood)

 

·      2025 Budget was approved after some debate and revisions.  

o   FMCA has been in a financial downturn for years. 

o   The proposed budget was to eliminate the magazine.  It has been losing money and is projected to lose $600,000 in 2025

o   FMCAssist was not funded in the proposed budget as the cost was too great.  Chubb had more than doubled the cost for the renewed contract from $0.67 per F# to $1.91.  A new Insurance provider, ARCH, will provide a similar product for $1.10/F#

o   Flood damaged the basement of the FMCA Headquarters that insurance did not cover

o   FMCA’s largest source of revenue is membership.  There has been a drop in membership.

o   The proposed budget would eliminate both International Conventions, they have been losing large sums of money with Redmond expected to lose $400,000

o   6 FMCA staff were let go April and 4 have since resigned.

·      In order to pass the 2025 Budget, the Governing Board voted to:

o   Increase dues to $100/year.  The vote was 89 to 75 to raise the dues to $100/year.

o   Keep FMCAssist- to be given a new name reflecting what it is/does with new provider.

o   Keep the magazine for the time being every other month.

o   Keep the 2 International rallies for 2025 Perry, GA in March and Gillette, WY in July.

·      Constitution and BYLAWS 

o   Proposal to simplify the title of Area Vice President to Area President.  PASSED

o   Proposal to simplify the title of National SR. VP to Vice President.  PASSED

o   Proposal to change the date for receiving proposed Bylaws amendments from January 1 to March 1.  PASSED 

o   Proposal to include the requirements for electing the Area Sr, VP, That position to be filled by a person that is qualified to fill a vacancy of the Area President.  PASSED

·      Policies and Procedures

o   Proposal to allow dues to be paid for 5 years out.  DID NOT PASS

o   Proposal to Dissolve an Area that is unable to get a candidate for Area President.  This was rejected and sent back to committee

·       Approval of a DBA (Doing Business As) “The Family RV Association”.

Click here for a copy of the PDF.

President’s Message – Jul/Aug 2024

Ed's "Springtime in Minnesota"

Hello Dogwood! It is August and here in the mid-Atlantic the weatherman has given us a break and we are not melting like two weeks ago. I have not heard of any club members affected by Hurricane Debby, but if you were, I am so sorry and hope that things are coming back to normal for you.

Jean and I are packing for our big trip to Minnesota to see grandkids; we are going through the usual “I need to take this…” and “I need to do that ….” Etc., etc., etc. You know the drill; we are heading to Minneapolis and then back east to Booth Bay, and then down to Boston before coming home. Have new tires on the RV and the Tow Dolly and a new microwave oven, and had the rig checked out by my local RV mechanic. We made a short trip up to the In-Laws cabins up near Devil’s Backbone as a test run and everything seemed to work well.  I got the RV all prepped and, fingers crossed, JUST KNOW that all will be well. Yeah, sure, Ed….We are also praying that the fires in Colorado and Canada have abated by the time we get to Minnesota. 

Dogwood lunch in Fredericksburg

On a different note, the Nominating Committee is still seeking candidates for offices of President, VP of Membership, and Safety. So what does the President do?  We are in FMCA’s Eastern Area (one of 10) and as such have an Area President (Ms. Phyllis Britz) and Area Vice President (Mr. Dave Fowler) – those are my FMCA interfaces. National rule changes, policy changes, etc. that filter down from National to Area comes through them to me, and I bring it to the club. The Chapter Officer’s Handbook has a 2-page list of things I have to do, and I summarize them as follows: 

·       Preside over chapter meetings (at least one annually) 

·       Lead the chapter 

·       Assure chapter representation at the national meetings 

·       Handle/distribute national meeting materials 

·       Conduct rallies 

·       Grow new members 

·       Assign committees and members as needed 

At the club level, I focus on getting new members and ensuring that we follow the FMCA rules for clubs. About every other month, I get a list of 15 - 20 new FMCA members living in the Eastern Area, and I write them an introductory letter, invitation if you like, about Dogwood and things we do. This year Dogwood has gained several new members as a result of this invitation. And I really enjoy working with my VPs – we stay in touch and get a lot of “behind the scenes” things done for the club. Communicating with new members and working with the Rally hosts are probably my favorite parts of this job. 

The Vice President of Membership is responsible for initiating all activities associated with recruiting new members including but not limited to promotion of the chapter through chapter fairs, publication of articles in FMCA magazine, etc. In case of vacancy with the President, the VP of Membership steps up to that position until a new President is elected.

Our current Safety man (writer, expert, tech lead, etc.), Mr. Butch Jones, is leaving at the end of the year. Butch, I’m going to miss you. The role of Safety in our club has not been defined, but, if you like investigating and writing about Technical RV Issues, I welcome your stepping up! You would be writing an article for our bi-monthly newsletter and choice of topics is yours – Understanding your tires, fixing electrical bugs, patching sideing, etc. OR, you could solicit and edit stories from our club members (and I now there are plenty of those!).

In summary, please consider serving the club in one of these positions. This club runs on its volunteers, and we/they/us all do good jobs – for the betterment of Dogwood. For now,

Travel safe

Ed

 

Ed Herbert, President

FMCA Dogwood Chapter

      

Secretary’s Report – Jul/Aug 2024

Family Motor Coach Association

Dogwood Chapter Business Meeting Minutes

Castiglia’s Restaurant on Courthouse Rd., 

Fredericksburg VA

July 20, 2024

 

Members present: Alexander, Allen, Bragg, Brinkley, Buelow, Davis, Dudziak, Greenwood, Herbert, Kuiken, Kuppert, Robison, Schwartz, Stanton, Tenney, and Tilman

 

1. Call to Order: President, Ed Herbert ("Ed") called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m. with a welcome to Dogwood members and thanks to Castiglia’s for the good food.   ….  Continue Reading

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Jean Herbert, Secretary
FMCA Dogwood Chapter

  

Treasurer’s Report – Jul/Aug 2024

Treasury balance is $3,657.40.

 

Pat Allen, Treasurer

FMCA Dogwood Chapter

    

VP Rallies Update – Jul/Aug 2024

Upcoming 2024 Rally Planning:

 

August 14-17: FMCA International Rally; Redmond Oregon

August 29-Sept 4:  Hosts:  Alexander and Bonewitz

         Lobsterfest Rally in Bar Harbor ME

September 25-October 2: Pocono International Speedway, Penn Coachmen (http://penncoachmen.org/pocono/)

October 23-27: FMCA Great Eastern Area Rally (“GEAR”) in Fletcher (Ashville) NC, Hosts for Dogwood gathering, Ed & Connie Tilman.  

November 1-3: Cancelled - Urbanna Oyster Festival

December 5-8: Dogwood Christmas Rally at Rockahock Campground (1428 Outpost Road, Lanexa, VA) Hosts:  Jean & Ed Herbert, Dell & Terry Tenney

RESERVATIONS ARE OPEN ------- Be sure to mention the DOGWOOD GROUP when reserving.

 

Please see all the Rallies and updated information planned for this year.

Happy Camping, 

Dell Tenney, Rally Master

FMCA Dogwood Chapter