President’s Message – Sep/Oct 2023

GEAR 2023

As I write this we are still unpacking from a terrific week in Lewisburg, WV, at GEAR. This was a really fun time; by the numbers there were 223 registered families (so about 445+ people and untold number of dogs) and of those folks, there were 180+ First-Timers!  Dogwood had the second largest contingent there – Penn Coachmen outnumbered us but for Dogwood, I counted thirteen Dogwood families – a great turnout.

We had twelve vendors, one of whom had to call in for extra help because he was so busy – that was the Kleen Tank guy. By way of commentary, there were over 1500 seminar evaluation sheets turned in and the seminars were pretty crowded from what I hear. A “left-handed” compliment was that thereweren’t enough seminars and that we should have doubled up on the ones offered. OK, lessons learned for next time. And speaking of next time, next year’s GEAR will be at the Western North Carolina Agricultural Fairgrounds in Fletcher, NC – near Ashville on October 23-27, 2024. Please mark your calendars. I want to give a shout-out to the volunteers that helped make this event so good; these include Mary Lou Dudziak, Ed & Connie Tilman, Wilt Greenwood, Rich Bonewitz, Tom Evans, Gary & Sue Cipa, Steve Mahanes, Dave & Nanette Meyer, and Jim & Susan Buelow – thank you all VERY much! 

GEAR President's Round Table 2023

Jim, along with our Area Secretary Sue Cipa, put together the President's Round Table Breakfast and Seminar. Dave and Nanette provided support on that as well and another left-handed compliment - “Great stuff, but there wasn’t enough time....” And a BIG shout-out to Connie Tilman for setting up the Dogwood Dinner on Friday night.  We had close to 40 folks including some of the EAMA officers, and lots of great food.

 

GEAR Chapter Fair 2023

At the EAMA Annual Business Meeting, some new officers were elected, including our own Lynn Nelson who is now our Central Regional VP. Please convey your congratulations to Lynn the next time you see her. I got signed up for a couple more committees (when am I gonna learn...?). We picked up seven (7) new family members and we tied for First Place, winning a check for $20 in the Chapter Fair. Again, many thanks to all of you who helped out with that.

 

Carson Peters Bluegrass Band

The evening entertainment was pretty good; the sound system got straightened out by Saturday night and the Carson Peters Bluegrass Band had the room jumping and dancing. There was a beauty contest of sorts and I deny any involvement or participation thereof.  At any rate, a good time was had by all, I’mpretty sure. And next year should be just as much fun. 

 

For Dogwood business, we currently have a vacancy in the position of Rally Master.  The Nominating Committee worked quickly and has already sent out a notice with dates and their nominee - Dell Tenney.  And I would like to offer a special thanks to Pace Mimms for a great job as Rally Master this past year – Thanks Pace for a job well done! 

We have a business meeting scheduled during the Christmas Rally in December.  More to follow on that.

 

See you in November or December at our next rallies.

Ed

Ed Herbert, President
FMCA Dogwood Chapter