GEAR 2025 - Summary

Hello Dogwood! The GEAR 2025 was a pretty big thing! The Eastern Area hosted approximately 360+ families and I think all Eastern Area Chapters were accounted for. The Tenneys and the Kupperts rolled in on Sunday; Jean and I, along with Jim & Susan Buelow, and Paul  Cummings rolled in on Monday.  Other Dogwood folks included the Greenwoods, Alexanders, Mahanes,  Bucklews, Britzs and Cipas. So we had a good representation, and the Penn Coachmen were there also.

 

This campground is/was HUGE – 800+ sites or houses. We definitely needed the golf cart to get around. Our campsites were all on concrete pads with full hookups. Well-tended is an appropriate term – everything seemed to be neat, organized and in its place. So we would go back anytime.

 

Wilt Greenwood hosted a terrific seafood dinner at Wahoo’s Fish House on Tuesday evening and we (Dogwood) had a gathering at our site on Thursday evening. The party was fun and it was great seeing everyone together, but, man, It was WINDY! The next day I was able to get a few hours out on the beach – for the most part the day time weather was beautiful and lots of folks and fishermen were out on the beach. There was a slew of horseback riders out there as well. 

 

So the rally went off pretty well – about a dozen vendors and some excellent evening entertainment. The seminars were good too; we only had two rooms for seminars, but it worked out. At the Chapter Fair we (Terry, Jean, Dell, Jim, Susan, Paul & me) talked to many, many folks and gave out lots of our Dogwood Flyers. It was interesting to note that several other chapters followed our lead in having flyers (tri-folds) printed for handouts at this event!

 

The Saturday morning Business Meeting was brief – several new officers were voted in including our new Central Region (that’s us) Vice President – Steven Raileanu.  The budget was presented, and the big topic of discussion was over how to use electronic voting in future FRVA elections. Nearly everyone was in favor of electronic voting, and FRVA HQ is looking into this – no timeline or dates of action for now.

 

Dave Fowler and his crew did an excellent job putting on this rally. Two things to note for us – 1) December is our business and planning meeting, so think of some places You would like to go and bring them to the meeting, and 2) The Perry Rally is occurring in March and the Eastern Area is the host. Please let me know if you want to volunteer at Perry.

Click Here for a video by Paul Cummings

 

Safe Travels –

Ed

Ed Herbert, President

FRVA Dogwood Chapter

 

  

 

GEAR 2025 - Dogwood "Host" - Oct Update

Hello Dogwood,  We have an update on GEAR for you.

 

Ed Herbert is our new Dogwood "Host" for the Rally.  Unfortunately, Tim and Sheila will not be able to attend as planned.  Thanks for getting the ball rolling!

 

Jim & Susan Buelow, Paul Cummings, and Ed & Jean Herbert will arrive at Myrtle Beach on Monday, 11/3.  They are in sites 2070, 2068, and 2069 respectively.  They plan to leave home on 11/2 and caravan down together with 1 overnight at a location still TBD.

 

If you are interested in joining their caravan, please contact Jim for more information. 

 

Also, wanted you to know Oceans Lakes has hundreds of golf carts for rent on a first come first serve basis. Rental cost for 5 days is $131.76, and 6 days is $155.52.

 

Thanks! ❤️❤️  

 

 

Hope to see you there!

Ed Herbert, President

FRVA Dogwood Chapter

 

GEAR 2025 Registration is Open

Hello Dogwood,  

We’re sharing a message from the GEAR Rally Master.

 

Registration for GEAR 25 is now open!

 

 

 

Sent: Monday, May 5, 2025

Subject: GEAR 25 Registration open

 

Hi all,  I just wanted you to be aware that the registration for GEAR 25 is open.  Please let your member know this and that they MUST register for camping with Ocean Lakes Family Campground by CALLING (877) 510-1413, not online.

 

Go to the FMCA website. rallies, area rallies, Eastern area rally, or follow the link on the EA website.

 

Dave Fowler

GEAR Rally Master

 

 

Here is link to the GEAR Registration Form – for your convenience.  

 

Or copy&paste the URL:

 

https://www.fmca-ea.com/wpcontent/uploads/2025/05/EA25RegistrationForm.pdf

 

And a Reminder -  Tim & Sheila Schwartz volunteered to be our Dogwood "Hosts" for the event.  Thank You, Tim and Sheila!

Here's a link to Tim's article on the Blog and contact information ... 

    GEAR 2025 - Dogwood "Hosts"

 

Tim: (540) 226-5263, email TimSchwartz63@msn.com

Sheila: (540) 659-6578, email GMtoHHM@msn.com

Hope to see you there!

Ed Herbert, President

FRVA Dogwood Chapter

 

GEAR 2025 - Dogwood "Hosts"

 

Subject: GEAR 2025 (November 5-9, 2025)

 

Hello Dogwood, 

 

The GEAR Rally will be November 5th to 9^th at Ocean Lakes Family Campground in Myrtle Beach, SC. The sites will be available from Sunday November 2 until departure on November 9, 2025. You can make your reservations by calling the Ocean Lakes Family Campground directly at 1-800-722-1451. Use the name “2025 FMCA Eastern Area” when making site reservations. This is for site locations only. Registration for GEAR 25 will be separate from the site registration.

... Continue Reading

Tim & Sheila Schwartz

 

Tim: (540) 226-5263, email TimSchwartz63@msn.com

Sheila: (540) 659-6578, email GMtoHHM@msn.com

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

Crafters Flyer - GEAR 2024

 ARE YOU CRAFTY?

DO YOU HAVE AN ART THAT YOU WANT TO SHARE and SELL?

 

GEAR 2024 will feature an artisan area where members and the local community can participate in a craft fair.  

 

The date is October 26^th; 9 am to 4 pm – just outside the Davis building.  This is different than the inside offering to members as this will be an all day show.  You will need to provide table and chairs.  It will include local artisans, and their following as well as the public. The fee for this is $85.00.

 

Those interested can contact Lynn Nelson as LNVB1956@outlook.com; or call/text at 757-651-3589. The Chair for the members only inside event is Lee Deal – 757-560-1361.

Dogwood Gathering at GEAR

 

Going to GEAR in Lewisburg, WV soon?

 

Dogwood Gathering at GEAR Update

I'm planning for Dogwood Chapter's usual gathering at this Eastern Area of FMCA event.  Heavy hors d'oeuvres suitable to be our dinner before entertainment one evening has always been a nice time together. 

We now have a time and place for our chapter gathering!

 

Friday, October 6, 2023

5:30 pm

Blue Ribbon Building

 

Please bring the following:

·      your drinks

·      substantial hors d'oeuvres to share

·      your plates and utensils and serving utensils

·      potential new Dogwood members you have met at GEAR

 

I'm still going to make a group text of everyone attending so we have an easy way to communicate.

 

See you soon! 

 

Connie Tilman 

804-513-7274 

 

President's Report - GEAR 2022

We had 18 Dogwood members (11 coaches) at the Greater Eastern Area Rally July 13-17, 2022 in Lewisburg, West Va. There were approximately 190 coaches/towables present; the Eastern Area has 24 chapters and about 20 were represented at the Rally; with a dozen vendors. Beginning Wednesday, July 13^th, there were seminars and meetings as you would normally expect for this event and entertainment every night with singers, announcements and give-aways. 

 

Our first big event was the Chapter Fair on Wednesday evening held right after the First Timer’s Seminar. Dogwood laid out a great display; we handed out nearly 50 Dogwood Flyers (pamphlets) and talked with nearly every first-timer present. For our efforts, we took home the Blue Ribbon (First Place) that came with a check for $25, and I just discovered in my pile of papers an application that I need to forward to Pat Allen! 

The Presentation

The Interview

On Thursday morning, the 14^th, I attended Rhett Porter’s seminar on FMCAssist and walked away amazed at all the items covered. FMCA now has 74,000 RVs and 8700 towables; there are approximately 324 chapters. FMCAssist is a medical evacuation policy, not a medical insurance policy. However, did you know that with FMCAssist, your transportation expenses are covered for ANY trip greater than 75 miles from your home and that includes expenses for relatives to stay or be with you and pets to be boarded (only cats and dogs, no pot belly pigs or parrots, etc.). And ANY trip means what it says – you could be on a cruise ship somewhere, and if needed, FMCAssist will get you off that ship and home. If you are on a car trip out in the mid-West visiting the grandkids and become medically disabled and need transportation back home, you are covered. We all have FMCAssist just by being FMCA members. I encourage you to go to the FMCA website and read all about it. I also will try to get Rhett Porter’s presentation to show at our next rally. 

 

Later that day I attended the “Let’s recruit and grow our family” seminar led by Phyllis Britz. I attended for two reasons: first, Phyllis is replacing Gaye Young as our Area President and, never having met Phyllis, I wanted to see her and hear what she had to offer. Second, I was interested in to hear her ideas on recruitment and chapter growth. Two themes came up in the discussion – first that is difficult to find folks to staff the officer positions and second, that no chapter has an actual training program to show folks what the various chapter jobs entail. We all had rules and bylaws, but no real training program to speak of. One of the chapter reps brought a really difficult issue to the table (that we don’t have, fortunately); e.g., her chapter’s rules limited membership to 35 families. They currently had 35 but sent her to recruit anyway and she was stumped as to what to do. We all told her to go back and revise her standing rules.... 

Later that afternoon I attended seminars on things you can fix (“Don’t Call a Tech”) and some really neat items that I need to add to my toolbox (“Meters, Gauges, Gadgets, and Gizmos). Of course, my toolbox already weighs 25+ lbs,  but I need more “stuff”. 

 

Thursday evening served as Opening Ceremonies and entertainment by a folk-rock group called “A Band Called Honalee.” 

On Friday morning, Ken Lewis, National VP, and Rhett Porter gave a seminar on the other benefits and discounts offered by FMCA. Big ones are discounts for new tires and for RV insurance, membership at COSTCO, health insurance for those not old enough for Medicare, travel insurance, etc. Again, too many to describe here, but I am trying to get a copy of their presentation to share with the club. And please go visit the FMCA website for all the details on all the discount programs. 

Saturday morning was all about business. We started off with a President’s Roundtable led by Phyllis Britz. She split us into teams; my team discussed Chapter Leadership with focus on how to get folks to volunteer for the lead positions. Again, we all had rules and by-laws, but who reads that stuff? So a suggestion was to put in our newsletters (and, BTW, Dogwood is one of the few chapters to have a newsletter!) on a regular basis a paragraph or two on the lead positions. This to help folks understand what’s required for the job and take the mystique away, or the fear that newcomers might have of “stepping on the toes” of the older members. Besides, who really knows what their job description is in this outfit? 

 

Then we transitioned to the Eastern Area Business meeting. Berkley Alexander gave us our financial picture which passed the audit committee, and each area VP gave his/her report. Our Area VP is Andy Deal and I suspect all these reports will be posted on the Eastern Area web site, for which there is a link to on our Dogwood Blogsite. All of the VPs were really glad that this rally went down, for it is kind of a re-awakening after the Covid Shutdown pandemic of the past two years. Apparently, several chapters shut down or folded up during this time. I volunteered for the Audit Committee with Wilt Greenwood  and Jim Griffin. For leadership, the Northern VP position is open due to Phyllis moving up to replace Gaye, and nobody (at the meeting anyway) was nominated/voted to replace her. The Northern area covers mainly Pennsylvania with parts of New York and New Jersey. What I noted was that all clubs, like ours, no matter where they are centered, have members up and down the east coast, and a few on the west coast!  Next year’s GEAR will also be in Lewisburg on October 4-7, 2023. 

 

Saturday night, Connie Tilman arranged a chapter potluck dinner for us in the Blue Ribbon Building, and we had a prospective new member couple, the Smiths, join us for dinner. 

 

In the end I want to thank the Dogwood folks that made it to this rally – Buelows, Tilmans, Dudziak, Cummings, Alexanders, Robinsons, Brinkleys, Mimms, Wolfes, Greenwoods and us. (I believe) a good time was had by all, and I’m looking forward to next year.

Thanks to Jim, Paul, and Robi for the pictures and videos!

Regards,

Ed Herbert

Dogwood President

Dogwood Call to Action - Who is attending the FMCA Events?

 

Hello Dogwood!

This is a call to find out who is/are going to the big events this summer - GEAR in July and FMCA International in Nebraska in August.  Dogwood has opportunities at both events to volunteer for event support and participate in the chapter fair.

 

Jean and I are signed up for GEAR and we are so looking forward to it; never been to one before!  However, we don’t think, at this time, we will make the FMCA event, but this is an important one.  We (e.g. all chapters) are voting on new leadership as well as other business matters for FMCA.

 

So, if you are planning on attending either or both events, please let me know.

 

Thanks,

Ed Herbert

Dogwood President

 

Email: jeanandedherbert@aol.com

Cell:  (540) 760-4180

 

CANCELLED - GEAR Rally in Lewisburg

 Dogwood - we received the following email from Gaye Young.

9/14/2021

Hello all,

 

After having a meeting with Dr. Bridget Morrison of the Greenbrier Health Department and Kelly Collins of WV State Fairgrounds, along with Gary Milner, Phyllis Britz, Northern Regional VP, Garnetta Mallory WRVP, and Dennis Ducharme, Senior VP, the outlook in Lewisburg WV is devastating as they are at max capacity at the hospital with emergency ventilators being shipped to them. There have been too many breakthrough covid cases along with deaths. Afterwards, I had a conference call with my executive board and we decided to cancel GEAR until next year.

 

The health and welfare of our members are of utmost importance to me, as most of you know I dealt with this last summer.    It is with a heavy heart that we had to make this decision to postpone.  You all have worked so hard and have been so excited that we were finally getting to enjoy our area rally after not having one for 3 years.

 

I appreciate each of you and your dedication to our Eastern Area and FMCA.  A notice will be emailed out to all of our attendees by FMCA and refunds will be given.

 

Be safe as you travel and take care of yourselves by getting the vaccine, booster, and wearing masks.

 

Gaye