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HRRVC REGION II WEB SITE

REGION II NEWS ITEMS
(Updated December 5, 2006)

The HRRVC news from around Region II is reported on this page. Anyone having such an item is encouraged to submit it to the Region II Webmaster listed on the Home Page.

2006 Region II/Maryland State Rally

The 2006 HRRVC Region II Rally Wrap Up
October 12 - 15, 2006
Now I’ve got to start thinking about next year”.  That was how State Manager Ernie Tilmes summed up his success as Rally Coordinator for the 2006 Holiday Rambler Recreational Vehicle Club Region II Rally, held at Walkersville Voluntary Fire Department Carnival Grounds, Walkersville , MD , October 12-15, 2006.

On Tuesday, October 10, beautiful sunshine and pleasant temperatures prevailed as the advance group of workers arrived and set up their areas.  Reba decorated the hall around the chosen theme “Colorfest”:  brightly colored leaves were hung from the rafters, the tables were adorned with more leaves and fall flowers, the stage area was set with bales of straw and Chrysanthemums, and scarecrows greeted all from their position on bales of straw at the entrance door.  Ruth (al ong with Jack, her husband and always able assistant) organized the kitchen, planned the meals and prepared her grocery list.  John Lentz, Harry Fox and Ron Riley, the Parking Committee, measured off parking spaces.   Sarah Gardner and Bernice Tilmes assembled the registration envelopes complete with seasonal badges handmade by Jean Lentz and “goody” bags of sample merchandise.   Stew Gardner seemed to be everywhere and was always ready to help.   Rich Mollman set up the sound system. 

 

 

      

Endless Summer delivered eight new units for inspection throughout the rally.  Chris Brown from the dealership brought his unit and stayed for the entire rally.  Monaco representative Gary McClain and Darrell Williams, Carefree Representative, were also on the grounds.  

 

Early Wednesday morning Sarah emerged from her RV ready to greet the early parkers.  To give the attendees a hint of what was to come, she had dressed in fall colors complete with a Rally Sunflower Badge.  Arrivals were constant from 10 am until the 49th unit was parked at approximately 7 pm.  They came from Ohio , New Jersey , Delaware , Pennsylvania , Florida and of course, Maryland .  Needless to say, Sarah and the parking committee were very, very tired.  Gratification for their hard work was in the kind remarks received from the unit owners.

Back in the hall, Ruth was preparing the serving tables for the Wine and Cheese Social which was held at 3:30 pm.  The event was well attended.  You could feel it in the air - everyone was anxious to greet old friends and for the 2006 Region II Rally to begin.

It was chilly Thursday morning when the Ramblers made their way to the hall where Ruth and her helpers had donuts, bagels and coffee and tea ready for breakfast. (Breakfasts were courtesy of Mellott Brothers RV, Willow Street, PA. )   Everyone was grateful that Ron Somerville arose early (this and each subsequent morning) to assure that the coffee was ready.  The weatherman had warned that there would be heavy rains but for once, the skies cleared instead. 

At lunchtime Mary Schottroff and the ladies of Chapter 111 hosted a lovely tea for the ladies.  The men of Chapter 111 were the grateful recipients of the luncheon leftovers.

When the ladies departed the hall Rich Crowley, a talented and prize winning photographer, presented a seminar on photography.   He gave numerable suggestions on how to care for and maintain cameras of all types and how to stage photographs.  His hints were very helpful and will no doubt be applied by the attendees for years to come.    Also during the afternoon, Nancy Williams and a group of ladies met to  tie Prayer Blankets and Ralph Holmes called the numbers for Bingo.  At 5 pm soup and dinner rolls were served in the hall. The 57th and final unit had been parked.   It was time for the Rally to open!

 Rich Crowley, Past National President, HRRVC and Emcee for the Rally, welcomed everyone to the Rally at 6:30 pm.  Kathryn Trego and members of Red Rose Chapter 257 presented the colors and the State Managers presented and posted the flag of their state.  Phil Cline, Region II National Director and Vice President, HRRVC. then declared the Rally open.   Entertainment for the evening was presented by Ginny Yelland and selected chapter members from all the states represented.   After the entertainment, Chris Brown and Endless Summer had gifts for all – canvas carrying bags, cups and pens. 


Friday was a very busy day.   It began with the breakfast hospitality hour.  Then many stayed for Phil Cline’s two presentations.  The first was the 1st Timers Briefing at which time he gave an informational talk on the organizational structure and advantages of belonging to HRRVC and HRRVC Chapters.  After a Q&A session, he changed the subject to GPS technology and the application, installation, capabilities and workings of the various GPS systems in RVs.   


Competitions in Horseshoes, Beanbag Baseball and Hillbilly Golf (a ” Maryland ” term – same as Ladder Golf) were held from 11 am until 3 pm.  Ken and Judy Lentz organized the games, drawing wide interest among participants and spectators alike.  Specifically, the energy, competition and noisy enthusiasm of all in attendance were especially immense as the chapter teams competed in Beanbag Baseball.   It was after the games that a whiteboard touting “ Susquehanna Valley , Chapter 63 – 2006 Region II BB Baseball Champs” began to appear in conspicuous locations.   Everyone knew that this was big news, but would find out later just how big it would become. 

 


In the makeshift kitchen, Ruth gave instructions to her volunteers.    Jack scrubbed and wrapped the potatoes, the beans were put on to cook, and the pork and potatoes were ably roasted by Martin Van Gosen on his cooker (towed in from his home in Whiteford, MD).  Wearing her new Chef’s hat, Ruth and her proficient serving staff from Chapter 111 made short order of serving the tasty roast pork dinner.  Together they did a superb job; it was one “fine” meal.    

Following the announcements Glenn Miller, “The Big One Man Band”, entertained the group with his music and shenanigans.  Accompanying himself on the accordion and sound system, he sang and played country, big band, jazz, polka, and rock and roll music with interludes on the trumpet, trombone and harmonica.  Everyone enjoyed his delightful voice and could not stop laughing at his antics when he interacted with individuals in the audience.  Glenn is from Orefield , PA.   The entertainment was sponsored by Endless Summer
Saturday was set aside for attending the Catoctin Colorfest in Thurmont , MD , but the first order of the day was the pancake and sausage breakfast prepared and served by Pennsylvania Chapter 63.  Afterwards, Chris Brown of Endless Summer presented a seminar on battery maintenance and Darrell Williams of Carefree Awnings gave a seminar on the maintenance and care of awnings.  Then everyone was free to attend Colorfest or whatever they wanted to do.   At 5 pm everyone was to be back to eat “leftovers” for dinner.

Winners of the Chinese Auction were drawn at 6:30 pm.   The Auction, made popular by Rich and Betty Mollman during their tour as State Manager, is a fun way to raise funds for charity.   Many went home with items worth far more than the money they spent for tickets.  Proceeds went to Make a Wish.

 

Following the Auction Rich Crowley proceeded with the opening remarks for the evening and then turned the microphone over to Ken and Judy Lentz for the awarding of Hang Bars to the game winners.   Ken began by claiming that he had wondered why Ernie chose him to handle the games in that he had never played by HRRVC rules, but knows now that what he [Ernie] really wanted was a “bouncer” (obviously referring to the BB Baseball games).   He then called  Larry Folkenroth to come forward to receive the hang bar for Men’s Horseshoes and announced that Chris Brown was the runner up.  For Hillbilly Golf the hang bars went to Lou Kollasch, first place and to Kay Crebs, runner up. 

Ken then moved on to the coveted award – the hang bars in beanbag baseball.  Five chapters assigned their best players to bring home the honor, i.e., PA Chapter 257, the Red Rose Ramblers; PA Chapter 429, the Cumberland Valley Ramblers; MD  Chapter 111, the National Capital Ramblers; NJ Chapter 238, the Four Seasons Ramblers, and PA Chapter 63, the Susquehanna Valley Ramblers.   After describing the competition in detail, Ken bestowed the title of Region II Beanbag Baseball Champs on the team from Chapter 63.   He introduced each member by their contrived [by Ken] “playing” name and asked them to come forward.  As the player approached, he described how the player contributed [or did not contribute] to the win.  According to Ken, the winning team members were:  “Shoeless” Rich Crowley,  Barb “The Babe” Crowley, "Fiesty” Frank Crebs, Kay “The Killer” Crebs, “Jumpin” Joyce Lockcuff, “Ironman” Nelson Lockcuff, Don “The Doomer” Schwalm, “Catfish” Larry Roberts, and last and littlest “Hurricane” Hayden.   What a lineup!   Congratulations Chapter 63! 

It was a tough act to follow but Ernie then presented certificates of appreciation to his chairpersons:  Ron Somerville, Mail-In Registration; John Lentz, Parking; Stew Gardner, Engineering; Sarah Gardner, Rally Registration/Goody Bags; Jean Lentz, Rally Badges/Programs; Reba Riley, Decorations; Rich Mollman, Sound System; Rich Crowley, Master of Ceremonies; Kathryn Trego and Chapter 257, Opening/Closing Ceremony; Ruth Clark, Food Committee; Ralph Holmes, Bingo; Ken and Judy Lentz, Games; Mary Schottroff, Ladies Tea; Ginny Yelland, Thursday’s Entertainment; Nancy Williams, Prayer Blankets; PA Chapter 63, Pancake Breakfast; Betty and Rich Mollman, Chinese Auction; Dr. Don Fishel, Church Service; and Helen Clark, Church Service music.  Ernie reminded the attendees that every chairperson also had help.

When Rich Crowley gave each State Managers an opportunity to speak, Ginny Yelland, PA SM, asked members from Pennsylvania to thank Maryland Chapter 111 for a great rally.  The Pennsylvania Ramblers responded with cheers and applause.  Ginny then challenged Chapter 111 (and any other chapter) to attend the Pennsylvania State Rally in Center Hall next June and compete for the 2007 Pennsylvania Beanbag Championship.

Time was running out for the rally – Rich Crowley made the last announcements, Kathryn Trego and the color guard fr om Chapter 257 retired the colors, Phil Cline declared the Rally Closed and the final door prizes were awarded.  The ice cream social, sponsored by Farm and City Insurance, was the last event of the day

It was Sunday before anyone knew it.  A continental breakfast was again served in the hall after which Dr. Don Fishel, National Chaplain, led the group in the Sunday Worship Service.  The inspirational service was a fitting end to a fun-filled rally.

There were 120 enthusiastic attendees from six states who stayed on the grounds in 57 units.  Breakdown by state was:  Delaware :  two units/four attendees; Florida :  one unit/one attendee;  Maryland :  21 units/42 attendees with five walk-ins;  New Jersey :  three units/six attendees; Ohio :  two units/four attendees; and Pennsylvania :  28 units/57 attendees.    At least two new units were sold as a result of the dealer display and Maryland Chapter 111 proudly announced that Ken and Cindy Spurrier (111002) became their newest members during the rally
Fifteen months of planning, preparations and coordination went into making the rally a success.  There was also a lot of shopping, phone calls, mailing lists and deliveries … and more deliveries.  Thanks go to the hosts, Maryland Chapter 111, and to the individuals and chapters outside Maryland who helped, especially Ginny Yelland and Pennsylvania Chapters 63 and 257.  Also, thanks go to Endless Summer and Darrell Williams for caring for unit proble ms throughout the rally.   Finally, credit and many, many thanks go to Ernie and Bernie Tilmes, Maryland State Managers and Rally Coordinators for their unending work and outstanding leadership in making the rally the tremendous success it was.  Fantastic job!

 

Jean Lentz (92056)