May Rally

Our May rally is all set.
Wes and Janet Barager, and Dick and Mary Randall have planned a great weekend May 9-11 in Salamanca, and Elkdale campground. Their plans are under the May Rally tab above and a sign up sheet is under the May Application tab.
You can print out the page by -

• Hold the "Ctrl" key and press "p". Print options will come up for your printer
• Choose "Print" and you will get the whole screen as seen.

It is also in the newsletter.

Perry convention notes from Walt Linden

• Perry Convention - 2554 family coaches + 448 commercial coaches = 3002 total coaches
• Chapter members we saw - Millers, Anten, Wollaber, Whilen, Shafer, Moses & Fadale.
• FMCA Nat President (Charlie Adcock) will be in Essex Junction and will spend a few days at HarborFest.
• A proposal will be presented at the Redmond Rally to bring back free FMCA Assist.  Including ways to fund it.
• The Michelin tire deal will be expanded to include passenger vehicles. 
• More benefits are on the horizon.

Future Rallies -

• 2014 summer rally - Redmond , OR. 
• 2015 winter rally, Pomona, CA - Summer rally, Madison, WI 

Walt Linden
wlinden@juno.com

Harborfest Update

We are now ready to send out the Itinerary and registration for the FMCA Oswego Harborfest Rally 2014! While the music acts are not known yet I will pass it along when it is announced. Last year they had a fantastic lineup and we look forward to learning this years performers. I have been told that there will be tall ships this year. The trolley should be picking us up again and Mayor Gillen will be welcoming our group.

We have added a full breakfast on Sunday with pancakes, sausage and eggs. I will be busy fishing this spring as we went through 75 pounds of fillets in 2012. We are working with local vendors and RV suppliers on door prizes. Camping World will be sponsoring the Sunday dinner again and Burdick's RV will be sponsoring the coffee hours allowing us to keep the price unchanged from 2012. We already have 6 paid registrations so we are expecting a good turn out and welcome everyone. Please tell a friend about the rally and bring them.

For our friends making a long trip to the northeast and Northeast Area members wanting more to do, the new officers of the Northeast Motorhome Association led by Tom Ziobrowski have rejuvenated the NE Area Rally and it will be held in Essex Junction, VT from July 17-21, 2014. They promise a great rally and then you can spend a day along the St Lawrence Seaway and arrive in Oswego for the Wednesday fish fry. National FMCA President Charlie Adcock will be at NEAR and then coming to Oswego where he will greet the group and take questions. Tom Z. will join us Friday if you miss him in Essex Junction.

Thursday will have the cocktail and hors d'oeuvre party featuring rum drinks from our trip to duty free St Thomas. The music starts at seven and runs until Sunday at 5.

The fishing in 2012 was incredible and we hope to also get salmon in 2014. Please sign up for the fishing ASAP if you want to go. We hope to fill two boats again this year.  

If you have any questions please call or email.

Jim & Sherry Miller

email: jem590@aol.com

2014 February Florida Get together

For the past several years, we have gathered at the Golden Corral in Leesburg, FL for a western NY snowbird get together.
This year the restaurant in Leesburg closed right after Christmas. So, we moved to the Golden Corral in Lakeland, FL. It turns out to be a great alternative.

53 folks from the Fingerlakers, PenNY Mixers and the Long Islanders (thanks to president Eleanor Rizzi) showed up around 1:00 PM. (Some were REALLY early). We had a room for the whole afternoon and many folks stayed, ate and caught up on stories.

Thanks to all of you who came, driving many miles to see each other.

Microsoft Windows XP support

Some foks like me keep things going to the end of their useful life. Well, Microsoft has decided to finally discontinue support for Windows XP.  Below, I am including information from the Microsoft web site, if you are interested. 

" Microsoft has provided support for Windows XP for the past 12 years. But now the time has come for us, along with our hardware and software partners, to invest our resources toward supporting more recent technologies so that we can continue to deliver great new experiences.

As a result, after April 8, 2014, technical assistance for Windows XP will no longer be available, including automatic updates that help protect your PC. Microsoft will also stop providing Microsoft Security Essentials for download on Windows XP on this date. (If you already have Microsoft Security Essentials installed, you will continue to receive anti-malware signature updates for a limited time, but this does not mean that your PC will be secure because Microsoft will no longer be providing security updates to protect your PC.)

If you continue to use Windows XP after support ends, your computer will still work but it might become more vulnerable to security risks and viruses. Also, as more software and hardware manufacturers continue to optimize for more recent versions of Windows, you can expect to encounter greater numbers of apps and devices that do not work with Windows XP. "

Your choices are limited; but, most likely, if your PC is over 5 or 6 years old, the best choice may be - buy a new one. However, I will wait a year or so. Windows 9 may be out.

Osaka's Japanese Steak house in Leesburg

As weather along the Gulf coast deteriorated, Walt and Beryl Linden rapidly headed along the Gulf shore to Florida bringing the rain and 40-50 degree temperatures.
In spite of that, 15 of us welcomed them as they organized lunch at Osaka's Japanese Steak House in Leesburg. This has been an event every time they were in the area the last few years.

South East Area Rally

The last week of January marked the annual Southeast Area of FMCA get together. This year, as seemed
too often every year, the weather was the worst enemy.
Many of the activities needed to be canceled due to rain (and more). We visited on Saturday and found how bad weather can adversely impact a rally.
So, the officers of SEA have decided to change venues. 2015 SEAR will go to the Sarasota Fair Grounds starting in 2015. The tents as well as other non-transferable possessions will be sold.

Northeast Area 2014 Rally

The Northeast Area Rally is planned for July 17th to 21st in Essex Junction, VT. It is about a 6 hour drive to Oswego and Harborfest starting July 24th.

Above is a tab describing the events in Essex Junction.

It seems like a chance to visit 2 good events.
More information can be found on the NEA blog -

Northeast Area Blog

By the way, it might be shameless bragging, but we also write the NEA Blog.

February lunch update

We have an update regarding the Florida lunch. Thanks to a suggestion from Bev and Neal Brown and lots of work from Kathianne Taylor, we have a new time and location for our Florida lunch.

It is now scheduled for Saturday, FEBRUARY 15TH (not the 8th) at 1:00 pm, in Lakeland, FL. The address is:
    Golden Corral
    4705 US 98 North
    Lakeland, FL 33809
    863-815-9774

Lakeland may be a little more centrally located for some (little less for others). So, we hope this works out.

Please let me know if you can make it by February 12th; so, I can let the restaurant know a count. We are at:
    Phone: 585-739-9074
    email: troule@aol.com