Dogwood Lobster Fest Rally in Maine

Lobster Fest 2026

Anyone in the mood for lobsta?  The Maine Rally dates are 8/26 to 9/2 and we are heading to Boothbay!

Your Rally Hosts:  Alexander, Bonewitz, and Meyer 

 

Call the campground at 207-633-4782 for Reservations and Information.

You may have to go to the Shore Hills website to print out the reservation sheet.  Click here for Reservation Form and mail to Shore Hills Campground  

Campground Information:

Shore Hills Campground & RV Park

553 Wiscasset Road, Boothbay, ME 04537

Your Campground Hosts:

Neal and Jean Reny

207-633-4782

email:  camping@shorehills.com

Depending on how long you wish to stay will determine how much your reservation fee (deposit) will be. 

NOTES:

   Deposits are non-refundable

   Cash, checks, and traveler’s checks accepted

   Credit Cards and Debit Cards are NOT accepted

 

Come join us!!  There is no Rally Fee.  This rally includes happy hours, potlucks, and restaurant outings to be decided on a day-to-day basis.

Cabbage Island Clambakes (207-633-7200).  Last day is September 1.  If you want to go on you need to make reservations now.

 

Please address any Rally questions to the Alexanders and please let us know if you are coming!

Berkley @ 804-754-1308 

Karen @ 804-740-3101 

Happy Birthday to the U.S. Coast Guard

 For the Coast Guard’s 236th Birthday, Here Is Its Story and That of Its Veterans

It's the oldest continuous seagoing service in the U.S. and the only armed force that answers to Homeland Security instead of the Pentagon.

From 10 Ships to a Fifth Armed Service

The Coast Guard's roots trace to Aug. 4, 1790, when Alexander Hamilton, then secretary of the treasury, persuaded Congress to authorize construction of 10 small vessels called revenue cutters. Their job was narrow and unglamorous: Enforce tariff and trade laws and stop smuggling that was starving the young federal government of revenue it desperately needed to survive. That force became known as the Revenue-Marine, then the Revenue Cutter Service in 1894.

The modern Coast Guard didn't fully take shape until 1915, when the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the U.S. Life-Saving Service, combining law enforcement and armed maritime authority with organized search and rescue under a single command. Along the way, it also absorbed the Lighthouse Service and the Bureau of Navigation, giving it a mission set that stretches from drug interdiction and port security to icebreaking, environmental response and saving people out of the water in conditions almost no other agency is equipped to operate in.

See the entire article, here, on Military.com

Care Person Update - Berkley Alexander

Berkley & Karen Alexander

Hi all,

Want to pass on that Berkley spent the last 2 nights in the hospital, but is thankfully back home and resting.  They are waiting on the test results to determine exactly what was going on, but the initial thought is pneumonia.

He was feeling poorly after getting back home from the rally and decided to have it checked out.  

Karen asked for your prayers and good wishes.  Let’s rally around them with Dogwood love!!   ❤️‍🙏

We'll keep you updated.

Sincerely, 

Nanette Meyer, Care Person

FRVA Dogwood Chapter 

Dogwood-Penn Coachmen Co-Rally in Luray VA

Updated 7/12/2026 

Last call for the Dogwood-Penn Coachmen Joint Rally at Spacious Skies

Hello Dogwood! This is the last call for our upcoming joint rally with Penn Coachmen at Spacious Skies Campground in Luray, VA.  The Rally runs Monday to Friday, 8/10 to 8/14/2026. We have around 35 coaches signed up so far, from several different clubs, so it ought to be a really good time for us. Details on the rally can be found at:

http://penncoachmen.org/spacious-skies-luray/

Dates: August 10-14, 2026. 

Place: Spacious Skies/Shenandoah Views Campground, Luray, VA 

3402 Kimball Rd.

Luray, VA 22835

540-743-7222

 

Click Here For Rally Details and Registration Form

Ed Herbert (Dogwood, 540-760-4180)

Dogwood 30th Anniversary Rally

1996 ~ FRVA Dogwood Chapter ~ 2026

Dogwood 30th Anniversary Rally - Final Notice

 

Hello Dogwood Family, we hope all is well with all of you.

 

This is the final notice about the 30th Anniversary Rally. We hope all of you are ready to have a GREAT TIME.

  

Rally Location:    Rockahock Campground

                             1428 Outpost Road

                             Lanexa, VA 23089

                             804-966-8362

 

Rally Dates: Thursday, July 23 - Sunday, July 26, 2026

Click here to see the Rally Agenda and Details

Thank you and Safe Travels,

Jim Buelow

757-876-7399

 

 

President’s Message – May/Jun 2026

Hello Dogwood! It is June and we are coming up on Dogwood’s 30^th Anniversary Rally in July – probably by the time you read this! It is going to be a big event for us and I am glad to be part of it. Jim Buelow and friends have been hard at work putting together a great program for us.

 As you know, Jean and I toured Ireland, Northern Ireland, & Scotland back in May – what a grand trip it was. In addition to the incredible scenery, we saw a robust RV culture going on throughout the countries. Now, nobody drove the big Class A coaches like we were in (read “Bus”), but the Class B’s and C’s were everywhere as were the campgrounds. Many of the RVs had our standard left-hand steering and these mostly came over from mainland Europe – France, Germany, Switzerland, etc. The roads were narrow and the “Motorways” were at best two lanes, but usually just 1-1/2 lanes. I was glad I wasn’t driving.

The next FRVA convention starts this week as I write; the issues to be voted on concern the reduction in numbers of things needed for the organization to keep working – reducing the number of club members needed to start/maintain a club; reducing the quorum size for voting at the national business meetings, etc. All necessitated by the considerable reduction in size of  FRVA over the past year. I mention that here as a reminder to all of us that we need to keep recruiting – Dogwood has been very fortunate that we have maintained an average of 50 family members annually; some join, some leave, but we hover around 50. So please talk to folks when you are in that campground and let them know about FRVA and the benefits it offers.

That’s it for now – safe travels and stay healthy.

Ed Herbert, President

FRVA Dogwood Chapter

 

   

 

Treasurer’s Report – May/Jun 2026

Treasury balance is $4673.59 as of 6/26/2026.

And a Reminder - 2026 Dogwood dues are now due in the amount of $15.00/coach. 

 

Please mail them to me at:

 

Sonia Kuppert

FRVA Dogwood Chapter Treasurer

6113 Providence Court

Fredericksburg, VA  22407

 

Please make checks payable to FMCA Dogwood Chapter.

 

 

Sonia Kuppert, Treasurer

FRVA, Dogwood Chapter

    

VP Rallies Update – May/Jun 2026

Notes on our 2026 Christmas Rally Planning.  

 

The Christmas Rally is set for December 3-6 at Rockahock Campground (1428 Outpost Road Lanexa, VA.)  Jack and Mary Warren are our hosts this year.

 

I secured the following sites at Rockahock for our Christmas rally:  406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 411, 412, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426. (Jack and Mary have reserved site 417, so it is not available.).  All sites are under the DOGWOOD name and will be held until 15 October. They will give us more once these are full.  (See the map for sites.) 

 

Sites are Standard and the weekend rates are $72.00 a night plus tax, anyone can elect to choose a Patio site which is $82.00 a night.  Please make sure when calling in your membership indicates they are with the Dogwood group.  

 

As a reminder they do offer a discount to active/retired military members and first responders.  Please let us know when making reservations.

 

WE NEED SOME MORE COUPLES TO ASSIST.  Let Jack know if you can help, copy me please.

 

We have a blog announcement with updates that will be coming out/ posted soon.

 

   

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

Happy Camping, 

Dell Tenney, Rally Master

FRVA Dogwood Chapter

    

 

VP Communications Update – May/Jun 2026

Hello Dogwood. 
 
In the last newsletter I shared a few tips on navigating the Blog Site, and I received some positive feedback – so thanks for that.  I covered several sections on the main page including our Dogwood Banner and the menu bar with shortcuts to other areas.  I also covered the Blog posts and some of the sections along the right-hand side, including FRVA and the Eastern Area (EA) and finally, the Chapter Reference Documents.
 
In this newsletter I want to continue looking at the different sections along the right-hand side of the main Blog Page.
 
Underneath the Eastern Area section are 3 different search functions.  These can be very helpful if you are looking for specific information, or want to find older posts on various topics or rallies, etc.

ê The 1^st search function (Previous Newsletters and Posts) allows you to search by previous years and months, using the dropdown. 

ê The 2^nd search function (Search This Blog) allows you to enter a keyword you want to search on.  This is the one Robi mentions in his article 🙂

ê And the 3^rd search function (Search by Labels) allows you to select from the various labels (or Tags) assigned to the different blog posts.  The size is related to the number (in parenthesis) of posts with that label.  Note, these labels currently only date back to 2020. 

 

             

As with anytime you are scrolling down through a number of posts, when you get to the bottom, you can continue by clicking “Older Posts”, page backward by clicking “Newer Posts”, or go back to the top of the main page by clicking on “Home”  

I hope this information is helpful.  I will plan to cover additional sections in future articles.  BUT if you have any questions now, please email me at FMCADogwood@gmail.com, and I will respond as soon as possible.  Also, if you have ideas for items that would be useful to Dogwood members, please submit them via email and we will look at how to incorporate them into the Blog. 

Hope to see you at one of the upcoming rallies!

   

Dave Meyer, VP Communications

FRVA Dogwood Chapter

     

Nominating Committee Report

Hello Dogwood Family, we hope that all is well with all of you.

 

In this article, I am again going to discuss Dogwood elections. As all of you know, this is an election year for our chapter. Elections will be held in the September time frame...

 

In the last newsletter I informed all of you that we needed  to fill 3 positions on our Governing board, President, VP of Rallies, and National Director.

 

I am very pleased to announce that we have filled two of those positions, VP of Rallies and National Director. Steve Mahanes has agreed to step up as our new VP of Rallies and Jeanette Raileanu has stepped up to be our National Director. The Raileanu's are new members to our chapter, and Steve, Jeanette's husband is the EAMA Central Region VP... Welcome to Dogwood. Thank you both very much for stepping up. I can assure you both that you will not be left hanging, and you will receive all the assistance that you need to succeed in your new positions. Thank you again.

 

So we now have only one position left to fill, that of President of our Great chapter. And as I previously stated in earlier emails, our chapter cannot function as an active chapter without a President.

 

So, who out there is going to step up to be our next President. It only takes one person to say YES, and we definitely have talented individuals in our chapter who would do a great job. So Please consider stepping up and supporting our chapter. Time is getting short.  

Regards and Safe travels, 

 

Jim Buelow, Nominating Committee Chairman

FRVA Dogwood Chapter

  

Care Person Update – May/Jun 2026

 

 

Hello Dogwood Friends…

 

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the warm weather, whether outside or inside. 

 

May 

Y  Steve Sohles - Sent a get-well/thinking of you card as the process of healing was taking time.

Y  Jim Buelow - Sent a get-well card as he was still having some issues.

Y  Pat Allen - She had a knee replacement at the end of April. Sent a get-well card.

 

June

Y  Berkley Alexander - He is having some health issues. Sent a get-well card.

 

Thank you to all who reached out to keep me informed of these events. Please continue to let me know whenever you hear of our members being ill, having surgery, losing a loved one (even a pet) or just not doing well for whatever reason at ndmeyer3@icloud.com or text me at 757-813-0828.

 

Sincerely,

Nanette Meyer, Care Person
FRVA Dogwood Chapter 

  

 

Safety Article – May/Jun 2026

It was Dave Meyer that recently reminded me of the “Search This Blog” function on the Dogwood blogspot.  From the HOME page, view the righthand column, scroll down and you’ll find the box at which you can start your search.  I searched on the word “Safety” and immediately found several excellent articles submitted by Butch Jones over the years … most of which I could not improve upon! So, with a tip-of-the-hat to Butch, the below “Pre-Trip Safety Checklist” is, well, re-posted.

 

But first, I’d like to amplify the “Tires – sidewall cracks” entry.  Some years back, my aging Goodyear tires appeared quite “healthy” on the exposed sidewalls, but when I crawled under my rig, I found that the inside sidewalls of the “duals” (i.e., the dual’s sidewalls that “face” each other) where showing significant cracking.  Immediate replacement was call for.  

 

One additional safety action:  Have a golf putter (or driver) at-the-ready for use as a “tire thumper” before hitting the road.  Even if you have a TPMS (tire pressure motor system), perform a walk-around with the putter (mine: purchased from a Goodwill store).  I whack (thump) each tire on the tire’s tread (not the sidewall).  A solid THUMP of a tire reveals a low-frequency sound (a short “ring” of sorts).  An under-inflated tire or a tire that is suffering some sort of failure (tread separation?) will have a different sound than the other/good tires.   

 

Pre-Trip Safety Checklist

 

Before Every Trip

 

1. Engine Compartment
2. Tires – check cold, 3 hours without usage
3. External Lights (I usually check these just before we pull off)
4. Glass
5. Exterior Walk Around
6. Towed Vehicle
7. Interior Walk Around
8. Start-up
9. Buckle Up
10. Look around one more time. Now it is time to be “on the road again”.

 

There may be some items that you may want to add or subtract from this list; however, if it got you thinking about motorhome safety then we are on the right track.

Click here for the full article

Click here for the complete Checklist

 

  

THINK

SAFETY

EVERYDAY!

 

Wishing everyone safe travels.

Robi Robison, Safety Chairman
FRVA Dogwood Chapter