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