2015 International Registration

It's a bit surprising to see the registration for the International in Madison, WS to have a price increase after June 1st. Below is the link to register.

Plans for Fingerlakers get together in Madison are not complete, but June 1st is looming.

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Registration Fees	FMCA MEMBER
	Early Bird	After 6/1, 2015
Registration Fee	$195	$215
* Additional fee for 30-amp Electric only	$175	$175
* Additional fee for 50-am Electric only (limited availability)	$295	$295
Passport — 2 people: No overnight parking	$185	$195
Coach with 1 person: deduct $20	- $20	- $20
Additional fee for Non-FMCA Member	$50	$50
** Each additional guest	$25	$25
* Additional fee is for electric only. ** Guest: Age 19 and younger and/or immediate family are free. Others are  $25 each. Cancellation Policy Refunds will be made only upon written request and only if request is received by July 9, 2015. Badges and confirmation materials must be returned with cacellation request. All cancelled registrations are subject to a $10 handling fee. Electric cancelled on or prior to Monday, June 8, 2015, will be refunded in full; electric cancelled after Monday, June 8, 2015, and on or before Thursday, July 9, 2015, will be refunded at 50%. Absolutely no refunds for electric cancelled after July 9, 2015.

Fingerlaker plans for NEAR

First, if you wish to have credentials delivered home, you need to have your registration in by June 1st ($200 for 2). June 13th, the price increases by $10. Doing it by EMAIL gives you plenty of time at www.fmca.com.

Sharon and I have made plans to arrive in Essex Junction,VT for NEAR on Wednesday, July 8th. Anyone interested, we are thinking of spending the night on the NY Thruway July 7th and meet on the 8th at the following location about 10:00 am. That should give us time to arrive before a 5:00 pm parking deadline.

I-90 - NYS Thruway, Milepost 184
Located Eastbound between Exit 29 (Canajoharie) & 28 (Fultonville - Fonda) 

Below is a note from Rich Burrell (President, NY Centrals) to Tom Rec (NEA Vice President) in response to a letter from us. The 3rd chapter referenced is the Pen-NY Mixers:

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Tom (Rec), Good to hear from you.  At this time I do not have a count for the number of volunteers coming in with the Centrals.  I will pass that on to you later. We would be happy to host the seminars like we did last year.  Also, Tom Roule, President of the Fingerlakers, will be joining us with additional coaches from his chapter.  Tom has expressed an interest in helping with the breakfast, so I think we will also help out there.  Who should we contact about the breakfast?

I will be in touch with you when I have more information on the number of volunteers we will have from our two chapters.  (Also a possibility of a 3rd chapter joining us.)

Rich Burrell

President

New York Centrals

Welcome to NEAR From Tom Zeobrowski, NEA President

Below is the welcome letter to NEAR from Tom Z.

Note from Donna Merlino, NEA Secretary

Hello Chapters:

I hope that everyone enjoyed the Memorial Day Weekend. 

This a "rally reminder" for a few things in regards to the upcoming NEA Rally "Summertime Fun At The Junction".  I'm assuming that most chapters have had their first rally/business meeting for the year and you have shared these emails with your members. 

We encourage everyone to submit their registrations early so you can get signed up for the various activities we have planned for you.  We don't want anyone to miss out. 

Don't forget to get your AD copy in right away for the Program Book.  We really appreciate your support and if your chapter can't attend this is a great way to support the rally if you can't be there.  Those ADs need to go to Bob Mills (  fourwindsbob@gmail.com) .  (Fingerlakers have submitted our AD, Tom). Just remember that the deadline is fast approaching (May 31).  Bob can answer any of your questions regarding the Program Book. 613-525-9970.

If you are attending, we would appreciate any and all donations for the US Marine's Toys for Tots, and we are excepting new stuffed animals again this year for the local emergency corps in the area.  We will be dividing those up between a couple of different organizations in the area.  There will be donation boxes for both items located in the Main Building on the grounds. 

Joan Lewis is still looking for craft seminars/classes, so if you have a skill or craft you would like to share with everyone please get in touch with Joan ASAP.  518-399-7072.  George Lewis would like to be notified in advance of any caravans attending the rally so that he can plan his parking layout accordingly.  Having this info before the rally makes parking flow much quicker for everyone.  After all, we want to get you parked and on the grounds so you can start having fun and meeting up with all of your motor home friends as soon as possible. You can reach George at the same number.

I can't stress enough how much we appreciate all of our volunteers that help make this rally possible.  If you would like to help out get in touch with any of our board members and we will forward your inquiry onto the Volunteer Captain for that specific area.  If you would like a listing of the Volunteer Captains for the various teams please let me know or any of the board members and we will get a list out to you ASAP.

Thank you for sharing this with your chapter members and as always we are here to answer any of your questions or concerns so please do not hesitate to get in touch with any of us.  I have included another copy of the Officers List in case you did not receive one in the earlier emails.

Safe Travels,

Donna Merlino

FMCA NEA Secretary

o/b/o NEA Executive Board

Chicken Gun

Normally, these don't posted, but since it's factual, it's too funny to ignore.

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The true story of the Chicken Gun. Sometimes it does take a rocket scientist!

 

Scientists at NASA built a gun specifically to launch standard 4 pound dead chickens at the windshields of airliners, military jets and the space shuttle, all traveling at maximum velocity. The idea is to simulate the frequent incidents of collisions with airborne fowl to test the strength of the windshields.

 

British engineers heard about the gun and were eager to test it on the windshields of their new high speed trains.  Arrangements were made, and a gun was sent to the British engineers.

 

When the gun was fired, the engineers stood shocked as the chicken hurled out of the barrel, crashed into the shatterproof shield, smashed it to smithereens, blasted through the control console, snapped the engineer's back-rest in two, and embedded itself in the back wall of the cabin like an arrow shot from a bow.  The horrified Brits sent NASA the disastrous results of their experiment, along with the designs of the windshield and begged the U.S. Scientists for suggestions.

 

NASA responded with a one-line memo --

 

"Defrost the chicken." (True story!)

May Rally highlights

Our first rally of 2015 was at Elkdale Campground near Salamanca, NY. Wagon masters, Mary and Dick Randall along with Bill and Kathy Colucci, Wes and Janet Barrager with Russ and Dorothy Taylor visiting to help out.

17 motor homes showed up with several using the location as a stop over on the way north. Food and fellowship was great with the highlight being Saturday bingo hosted by Janet Barrager. There were lots of cute prizes supplied by our hosts.

Our Saturday meeting was an active discussion with many new ideas suggested. We are losing our secretary, Celine Moses and news letter editor – Reed Johnson. Wes Barrager volunteered to take over the duties of newsletter editor. Meanwhile, Millie Worden volunteered to chair a nominating committee. It didn't take long as she recruited Barb Eggleston as secretary by Sunday. Millie may be contacting you to help. Please consider it.

In addition, folks believe few read the newsletter when it's sent by EMAIL over the web. It was suggested that a dues increase would allow for mailing newsletters. After discussion, it a $5 increase was voted by those attending - effective January, 2016 and anyone can receive a paper newsletter unless you refuse it. It will still be emailed, too.

As a afterthought, a quick check showed 75% of those who receive the newsletter by snail-mail were at the rally, whereas only about 20% of the members receiving it by email were present. Coincidence or an opportunity for improvement ?

Some pictures follow.

Thanks to all who volunteered and are helping.

You may click on the image to view it full screen