From: To: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; Subject: STARCRAFT CAMPER CLUB, FLORIDA CHAPTER---SEPTEMBER, 2009 Date: Friday, September 18, 2009 5:39 PM Chapter Officers--2009 Pres: Hamilton----1st VP----Weigle-----2nd VP:-----Mattheus Secy: Reid-----Treas:----Carriere THE PAST: JUNE CAMPOUT: Our June campout was held on June 12-14, 2009 at Holiday Travel Park, Holiday, with the Carroll's as our wagonmasters. This park was located near Tarpon Springs not far from the sponge docks. Friday night we sat at Wilma & James's trailer for delicious watermelon. On Saturday a bunch of us went into town and looked around at the different shops, we found a neat 99 cent store with many good buys. Then some of us went into Tarpon Springs and had lunch at a Greek Restaurant named Halle's, the food was very good there. Later in the afternoon, a few of us ventured into the pool as it was a warm day. Saturday evening we had a pool party at the rec-hall, everyone brought different hors d"oeuvre's, and other finger foods, shrimp, and fruit, everything was really good. Later we celebrated Geraldine's birthday with a delicious birthday cake that Bob had surprised her with. The 50/50 was won by Lew Carriere. 12 Units Attending: Apathy, Carriere, Carroll, Depoy, Fluegge, Hamilton, Humphreys, Mattheus, Reid, Scott, Weigle, Wiley **************************************************************************** ****************************************************** INTERNATIONAL RALLY: The International Rally was held in DuQoin, Illinois, July 13-17, 2009.it started out with a bang early Saturday morning when a vicious thunderstorm went through the area, then it rained until almost noon time. Then on Sunday afternoon we had another vicious storm. Florida's parking area was pretty dry but some states had water standing in their sites and had to deal with mud. Some of those trailers had to be pulled out to higher ground and some had their awnings blown off. Sunday evening all of the Florida members went into Duquoin to eat at Alongi's a very good Italian restaurant. During the week most of us managed to make a few visits to the nearby Dairy Queen. Monday evening, Florida served O.J. and orange slices for hospitality. Tuesday evening the entertainment was a water ski show and Dakota and Greg had a chance to water ski. The Pearl Handle Band from Illinois entertained on Wednesday evening. They were very good, held the crowd, and members were pushing aside the chairs and tables so they could dance. This same group may entertain at next year's rally. Most of the men from Florida attended the Greasy Hat get together, and most of the Florida women attended the Red Hat get together. Only five states participated in the state game and Fl. was one of them. Lew rode his bicycle with a horse tied to the front and Don and Wallace dressed up in horse costumes. They threw dice to advance the horses. our horse started out good but then came to a stand still and was over come by Mass. who won the race. Bill Humpreys was our master of ceremonies. Some of the Fl. members and our teens signed up for bean bag baseball, bocce, washer toss and euchre, but nobody came out in the first place win column. We were all happy to have Joyce and Andy Skinner attend. Joyce gave a talk on the closing of the Starcraft Plant and told how sad she was to see long time friends lose their jobs. She and her husband were fortunate enough to be transferred to the Jayco plant and still have a job. Kim Branham gave a seminar on how to blog, and our events managers, Brenda & Regie Price held a seminar to find out what is up with your club. A local woman gave a seminar on the history of DuQuoin. Thursday evening, Barbara Kruger presented the rock to Amy and Linda DeCamp after telling where the rock had been and how many miles it had traveled. Those attending were Carriere and grandson Greg, Cox, Flugge with grandaughters, Dakota and Madison, Humphreys, Keene, Kruger, Mattheus, and Weigle. **************************************************************************** ***************************************************** AUGUST CAMPOUT: As many of our camper club members were away on vacation, Don and Donna offered their home to camp at for the August campout. A few of us came on Thursday, for dinner we ordered pizza and had a salad with it, then played games at night. Friday a few of us went to a Goodwill thrift store where we found a lot of good buys, especially Wilma, we played Sequence in the afternoon. Friday evening Wilma brought a Prime Rib and we had baked potato and salad to go with it. A really delicious meal, thank you Wilma. Saturday morning, John and Linda made pancakes and sausage for everyone, during the day many went into the Weigle's pool while others played games in the kitchen. Saturday night everyone grilled their own meat and brought side dishes and desserts. Later a lot of us watched the "Mamma Mia" movie. Sunday morning Linda made a delicious cinammon roll in the oven for breakfast, it was yummy. We all want to thank Don and Donna very much for providing their home for this campout, it was a wonderful weekend and we all had a great time. 6 Units Attending: Carriere, Carroll, Depoy, Hamilton, Reid, Weigle **************************************************************************** ***************************************************** SEPTEMBER CAMPOUT: We went back to our favorite beach campground Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral for our September campout, the Weigle's were our wagonmasters. A few of us came in on Wednesday, we enjoyed watching the cruise ships go out, at night we sat on the beach where it was a little windy, but nice and cool. Thursday a bunch of us went for lunch to Sunrise Seafood Restaurant, we sat by the water, the food was good. On Friday afternoon, some took walks on the fishing pier, while others just sat and relaxed, saw a few more cruise ships go out. Friday night we had ice-cream, and Geraldine brought a delicious whipped cream birthday cake for all of those that had birthday's in September, Donna, Wilma, Bob Scott, and Lew. Later we went back down to the beach to enjoy the cool air. Saturday morning we had our community breakfast, everyone enjoyed all the delicious food. It was a little overcast which was nice as it wasn't too hot. A few of us sat down on the beach during the day, and then we went back again at night. We had some rain over the weekend, luckily it rained mostly at night. It was good to see Cesar & Cleo Paez camping with us again,. also Robert Perez and Ursula Garbowski, who we met at the April campout, they will be joining our club, and we hope to see them both again real soon. Monica Depoy won the 50/50 10 Units Attending: Carriere, Carroll, Depoy with their friends Jeff & Alisha Bethany, Hamilton, Neilson, Paez, Reid, Scott, Weigle with grandaughter Jessica, Wiley.Guests Mary & John Keys, friends of Carroll. Robert Perez & Ursula Garbowski **************************************************************************** **************************************************** UPCOMING CAMPOUTS: October 16-18, 2009---WP Franklin, Alva---Wagonmasters, Scott November 13-15, 2009---Sanlan RV Park, Lakeland---Wagonmasters, Club Officers December 11-13, 2009--Special Campout--Myakka State Park, Sarasota---Sites 10-20 **************************************************************************** *************************************************** OCTOBER 16-18, 2009--WP Franklin N. 17850 North Franklin Lock Road, Alva Fl. 33920 Phone # 239-694-8770---Wagonmasters, Scott's This is an Army Corps of Engineers Park on the Caloosahatchee River, almost every site is on the water and the fishing is great. This is the weekend of the October Fest in Cape Coral, you can also take a tour of the famous Shell Factory which is nearby.Friday we will get a group together to tour the winery in Homestead, then have lunch out, we will try to have dinner at Alva Country Diner. Saturday morning we will have a community breakfast, please bring a prepared dish to share. Saturday afternoon is the October Fest, we will be having an ice-cream social on Saturday night. Directions: From I-75 south take Exit 141, following SR 80 E to SR 31. Turn on SR 31 and travel 4 miles to SR78. Turn E on SR78 for 3 miles to North Franklin Lock Rd. Follow signs to campground. >From I-75 North Exit 143, following Bayshore Boulevard E to SR31. Turn on SR 31 N and travel 1.5 miles to SR 78. Turn E on SR 78 for 3 miles to North Franklin Lock Rd. Follow signs to campground **************************************************************************** *************************************************** NOVEMBER 13-15, 2009--Sanlan Ranch RV Resort 3929 U.S. 98 South, Lakeland, Fl. 33813 Phone # 863-665-1726---Wagonmasters Club Officers I think that mostly everyone has been to this campground before, we will be in the same area that we were last year, it is called the Ranchview area, everyone needs to make their own reservations just tell them that you are with the Starcraft group. The club officers are planning a hot dog lunch on Saturday afternoon, and we will have a meal put on by the club officers on Saturday night. This is the month for election of of our 2010 officer's so please let Linda know if you are interested in being a club officer. This year we need to replace the Secretary, any office will be open for nomination. As we are planning a few meals for this campout we need to know if you will be attending, please notify our officers Linda Hamilton, Sylvia Reid or Diane Carriere, you can e-mail Linda at _lindajohnh@yahoo.com_ (mailto:lindajohnh@yahoo.com) or call her at home, Phone# 386-574-2329, cell phone# Linda--407-416-1484, or John Hamilton cell # 407-579-2382. Sylvia Reid at _sylviar41@aol.com_ (mailto:sylviar41@aol.com) , or call her at 407-870-5238, Cell # 954-802-8253 Diane Carriere at _llcarrieres@gmail.com_ (mailto:llcarrieres@gmail.com) or call her at 863-858-7214, cell # Diane--863-608-2295--Lew Carriere cell #--863-409-2723 Directions: The campground is about 5 miles south of Lakeland on U.S. Hwy 98. The entrance is one mile south of the community of Eaton Park, and is on the west side of the highway. The campground is back off the highway with a long entrance road along side of some industrial type buildings. Look for the sign up high along the highway. **************************************************************************** ************************************************** DECEMBER SPECIAL CAMPOUT---December 11-13, 2009 Myakka River State Park, Sarosota in the Big Flats Campground, sites 10-20. Make your own reservations through Reserve America.com, or call them at 800-326-3521. There are bike trails, walking trails, fishing, and bird watching. There will be a meal on Saturday night, please bring a dish to go with the meal. For more information about this campout and to let them know you will be attending, please call Carol Peschel at 941-473-2458, cell # 941-276-4788 or e-mail her at _cpeschel@verizon.net_ (mailto:cpeschel@verizon.net) **************************************************************************** **************************************************** Many of the longtime members who know our past club member Libby Holcomb were notified that she was in the hospital with some health problems in August for over a week. She is home now and feels a lot better. She sent me a note saying that she would like to thank each and everyone of you who remembered her during her stay in the hospital, with your lovely get-well cards, your phone calls, and many many prayers. God indeed was listening, she appreciates all of them, and loves you all. **************************************************************************** ******************************************************* NOTE: I just want to let everybody know that if you are not a member of Passport America, you really need to think about becoming one. John and I traveled 6 weeks this summer, and we mostly used Passport America campgrounds, we really feel that we saved quite a bit of money. There is a 50% discount on many campgrounds throughout the U.S. and Canada. The cost is $44 a year which includes a directory, and a quarterly magazine. You can join on-line at _www.passportamerica.com_ (http://www.passportamerica.com) , or you can call them at 800-681-6810. Safe travels to you all, and hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving