Rallies

Happy New Year to all. Many of us who are in the last quarter of our lives have taken our "D's" and headed for warmer climates. One of my goals when I purchased our "D" was to never experience the need to winterize the coach.

Mary & John Boka who are heading up the March Branson rally have assured me the weather in Missouri will be warm and there will be no need to worry about freezing conditions during that time of year. John & Mary have enlisted the help of Neil Elkins for the rally and I'm sure they have many exciting activities planned for our "D" rally in late March. Make sure you get your reservations in now so you don't miss out on the fun.

It is currently planned that we will be holding our Chapter Meeting on Monday, April 2 at 11:00 A.M. at the Oklahoma City Convention Center. We will be electing the nominating committee who will be developing our nominees for the officers who will be elected at the Redmond Oregon Convention in August.

We have secured the camping location for our Redmond Pre-Rally and it will be held at the Sisters, Oregon, rodeo grounds. Now all we need is some people to volunteer to help organize this rally. Would you be willing to help our chapter by stepping forward? If so please let me know.

The Alaska Caravan group is still busy making their final plans for the excursion this summer. They will be leaving Dawson Creek on May 30 and returning to the US (Oregon) in time to attend the Sisters rally. Due to some late cancellations, there are two openings; if you have any interest, please call me as soon as possible.

Don't forget Otho & Alice Tew have put together a fantastic rally for Renfro Valley. Make sure you check out the information elsewhere in this newsletter.

Some of you may have heard or read about Fleetwood introducing the 2001.5 Discovery. They have been showing limited coaches at major shows and major dealers. I'm told east-west bedroom slides are in abundance and they no longer offer Cummins engines. Sad but true, with all the changes, they have still not reinstated the hot/cold cup holders. Don't they realize some of us will never trade until we find a coach that has this feature? (Fleetwood - are you listening?)

Sorry to say but we have lost some of our original chapter members because they have purchased a SOB. We will sure miss Dutch and Marilyn Souder along with Ken & Jackie Adams, but we want to let them know they are always welcome to visit us at our FMCA rallies.

OPENING BALANCE	$3,939.96
RECEIPTS:
Membership Dues	$4,223.00
Rally Income	$13,321.20
Other	$150.00
TOTAL INCOME	$17,694.20
EXPENSES:
Rallies	$11,962.31
Newsletter	$896.10
Postage	$231.96
Name Tags	$550.50
Office Supplies	$76.24
Other	$55.00
TOTAL EXPENSES	$13,772.11
CLOSING BALANCE	$7,862.05

When you own a motor home, there are many, many individual items that have separate warranties. Keeping up with what is required to maintain each and every warranty can be a daunting task.

According to the warranty of the Dometic refrigerator: "This warranty REQUIRES the Original Purchaser to provide preventative maintenance on a yearly basis, starting at the anniversary of his date of purchase. The Original Purchaser must keep a record of the preventative maintenance to keep the warranty in effect. Failure of the Original Purchaser in providing this annual maintenance may void the warranty. The preventative maintenance must be performed by a Dometic Authorized Service Center/Dealer. The preventative maintenance required is an inspection, cleaning and full diagnostics performed on the entire electronic system, burner assembly, wiring and cooling unit. A copy of the receipt covering the maintenance checks must accompany the warranty claim during the second and third year of ownership. The cost of this preventative maintenance is the Original Purchaser's responsibility and should take about one hour."

The above paragraph is a direct quote from the warranty. So, with that in mind, each Discovery owner should take a few minutes to "read all about it!" in order to avoid the hassles that could result from not understanding the rules.

With your initial membership, Discovery International provides a name tag to each member. If you have not yet ordered your name tag and would like to have one, let me know. I will be ordering name tags very soon. The only additional expense to you would be the mailing cost ($2.00). Along with the $2.00, I will need your name (as you wish it to appear on the tag), your F# (FMCA membership #), and your city and state.

We are in the planning stage of the Membership Directory. Membership renewals have been strong, and as soon as the final dues are posted, the directory can be produced. With that in mind, be sure that your name and address is correct on your newsletter. If there is misspelling or other error, please let the membership secretary know so that the directory will be correct. Thank you!