| MAY - JUNE 2008 |
| DOGWOOD SAMS In April we (10 member rigs and three visitor rigs) camped at Florala State Park in Florala, AL. This was our first visit and we were all pleasantly surprised at how nice the park is. It’s located lakeside with great views, full hookups, and helpful staff. Several of the guys found a boat and, after acquiring paddles and life vests from park personnel, promptly lauched a fishing expedition. Unfortunately, no string of fish every materialized. Friday, four members participaated in a volksmarch (10 km) around the town of Florala. The walk passed through some lovely residential areas as well as along the lakeside park. All four managed to complete the 6.2 mile walk with only minor wear and tear. We returned to Lake Stone in Northern Escambia County for May’s campout with 18 rigs. A few rigs arrived early and took advantage of the fishing and local dining and shopping. They even managed to fit in a couple of rounds of golf before the rest of the group arrived for the weekend outing. We enjoyed a fish fry with all the trimmings Friday. The usual games and campfires were enjoyed each evening as well as some fine music by our member musicians. We welcomed special visitors Bob and Reba Ward this month. We enjoyed getting to know these two energetic, personable folks a little better and look forward to working with them when they become State Director in January. FLORIDA EAGLE SAMS Our May campout was held at the Southern Palms Resort with 12 rigs present. Hosts were Bill and Emily Griffith. As usual our potluck dinner was delicious. We sure have some mighty fine cooks amongst us. We played our usual card games, card bingo, etc. After our meeting the guys got together and made “AWESOME” flag holders for our rigs. It was an awesome sight to see the flags displayed in front of our rigs; they really showed off our patriotism. Alan Troop spearheaded the project and got all the materials together. After lunch we gathered around a real nice grassy area for our Holey Board tournament. We had a great time playing and visiting with our fellow campers. It had been quite awhile since we had such great participation in an outside game. GATEWAY SAMS We camped at Kelly’s Countryside RV Park with Don and Janell Kent as hosts. Not all were able to have adjoining sites. Some came in on Thursday with a total of 12 for the weekend. Saturday Janell prepared spaghetti for the crowd. We may have had a record set for the shortest business meeting Saturday. We enjoyed the “races”, also serious discussion about old cars and old memories. GETAWAY SAMS In April we traveled to Lazy Days Rally Park in Seffner. We didn’t have a large turnout but those who made the trip had a great time. Our hosts were Bev Maples and Helen Paulin. Thursday and Friday most of the group took advantage of the breakfasts and lunches provided by the Rally Park. Saturday we had our usual covered dish dinner featuring baked ham. During the day we played Holey Board. You could not have asked for better weather than what we had at Lazy Days Rally Park. John and Sue Johnson represented the chapter at the Okeechobee Samboree. The Richardsons and Reynolds hosted our food filled Memorial Day weekend held at Ocala North RV Park with 10 chapter rigs and two guest rigs. Darline drove back and forth; Dave was in South Korea but called during BINGO to check on the Rib’s success. Food and Fun was the topic of the weekend. We enjoyed cards, beanbag baseball. GOOD SAM SEAHORSES A great time was had by the members who attended the Good Sam of Florida 2008 Spring Samboree at Okeechobee KOA. We had a good attendance of 13 rigs. They parked our rigs alphabetically; Hummmm!! How efficient can you get? On behalf of Dogs for the Deaf, I would like to thank everyone who was able to get me a Micro Mini Clothes Pin. We received thank-yous from the Maxwells and the Wards for our helping at the Samboree. GO-SEE-UM SAMS April campout highlights included welcoming guests and then making Walt and Carolyn and Kathy and Bill our newest members. We had 19 rigs and 38 folks present; what a fantastic turnout! ASD Bob Louis passed along thanks from the state director for our expert assistance serving sausage biscuits at Okeechobee. We enjoyed bingo and dominoes and other activities. OCALA CENTRAL SAMS We had a good group at Suwannee River State Park for this May campout. Unlike so many of the private parks, this state park had many large sites most with lots of trees, and as pleasant surprise for a state park, full hookups with 50 amp service. No club house at the state park – so all our activities were under the trees. It didn’t take long to find that we had an abundance of flies; they looked like ordinary house flies so what on earth are they doing out in the woods? At least they don’t bite. Matt came to the rescue with a great little screen room. It was easy to erect and was just the right size for serving the food for our Tuesday potluck meal. Paul got out his special bug zapper (looks like a racquetball racket with metal strings that electrocute the bugs) and went after any fly or other bug that dare to venture inside. Mornings included walking the several trails in the park while the afternoon was for games and socializing or a trip into the city of Live Oak. SILVER SAMS II Our March campout was at Lazy Days in Seffner. We had some of our members go to the rally in Georgia and the rest were at the campout. Some of our past members came to visit. We were treated to strawberries at Parksdale’s farm market by the Crown Club. Potluck dinner was a fun time. We got to see some of our other members who had dropped out. We played a game after dinner that was 'how much do you know about your mate.' Lots of laughter. What a great time we had in Okeechobee at the Samboree. All of our members were present except one. (They had already left for the summer.) We volunteered for security, sewed on patches for fellow campers and had a charity auction. Seven members participated in the Mad Hatters. A good time was had by all. SOUTH FLORIDA SAMS The April campout was at the Spring Samboree held at the Okeechobee KOA. Weather was good, a little cool first couple of days but then warmed up and very nice. We had some great entertainment which was singer Kate Brooks,. Comedian Timothy Hawkins (hilarious) and country singer/guitarist Glenn Johnson. Saturday we enjoyed a dinner catered by Golden Corral which was outstanding. We enjoyed fun happy hours every day and had a new couple, George and Linda Winialski, join us. Our group participated in beanbag, bocce ball and other sports. Some of the members played bingo. A wonderful time was had by all. The May campout was held at Whispering Palms Campground, Sebastian. Campground was very large and comfortable with all sites pull through. Wagonmasters were Bob Pearce and Polly Crosby who did an outstanding job. Friday night we all enjoyed a potluck dinner in the clubhouse; as usual, we had some spectacular dishes. After dinner we played Uno. Saturday we dined at Marker I Restaurant in Sebastian. Service was excellent and food was very good. Saturday some of us had breakfast at Mrs. Mac’s Fillin’ Station (a restaurant not a “gas station”) in Sebastian. Several others had a walking group going on Friday and Saturday mornings. Saturday night we played games in the clubhouse. ST. JOHNS PAL-A-TAKA GOOD SAMS The May campout was held at Wandering Oaks RV Park in Ocala with eight rigs. Friday night was salad night with roasted chicken for the main meal on Saturday. As usual, all the great side dishes were perfect. Sunday was Mother’s Day so it was celebrated with all the women receiving roses and having a special Mother’s Day cake. The cake had a corsage on top which was given to Ruth Bartel since it happened to be her birthday. A good time was had playing cards and bocce ball. SUNSET RAMBLERS The May campout was held at the Stephen Foster State Park in White Springs with seven rigs. Everyone enjoyed sitting and catching up on what was new; the bugs drove us home fairly early. A side trip was taken to the Ward’s Fun Rally at Blueberry Hill RV Resort in Bushnell. The theme this year was The Wild West and we had lots of cowboy hats and even a jail followed by court. The June campout was held at the Pecan Park RV park in Jacksonville with four rigs. While parts of the area had bad weather, the campground hardly saw any rain. We enjoyed playing Joker with John and Sue teaching the others to play. Once again John’s wonderful skill with wood was apparent as he had made the game pieces used for the game. Saturday several went to the flea market. SUWANNEE RAMBLING SAMS & SUWANNEE VALLEY SAMS If you’ve missed camping with either of our chapters, you need to come back and camp with us. We’ve been having some great times and great food! TALLAHASSEE GOOD SAMS The camping Gods smiled on us again for our May campout at White Oak Creek Park in Eufala, AL. Several rigs arrived early and enjoyed extra fellowship with hot dogs and all the trimmings Thursday evening. While they kept things cool, the winds were so high Thursday evening we not only had to hold onto our hats but also our plates. We went into Eufala for Friday breakfast at Barbs Restaurant to fortify ourselves to do duty for National Cleanup Day later that day. Several members also ventured into Abbeville to enjoy a neat restaurant called Huggin’ Mollys. Saturday breakfast and dinner were group contributions and very good (as usual). We were ready for a relaxing weekend after completing our all night participation in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life the previous weekend. We were so grateful to have exceeded our goal…..we raised $8,869.58. Some of that came via a 50/50 raffle at the Dunnellon Samboree and a raffle of Precious Moments figurines at the Alabama Spring Samboree. Thanks fellow Good Samers for purchasing tickets to help us in this worthwhile fund raiser.!!! We are adjourned for the summer and will resume our campouts in September at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park @ Santa Rosa Beach. WUNWUNWUN SAMS What a great turnout for the April South Bay outing. We had 10 rigs with 22 steak hungry members and guests. Honey and Sandy Wolff are now official members. It was nice having guests Sherry and Mark – Sherry made a chocolate cake that was delicious and Mark did a great job flipping steaks. The WWW chapter is fortunate to have so many talented cooks and helpers. As the saying goes, time flies when you are having fun. Our May outing at St. Lucie RV Resort had seven rigs and 17 members plus one guest. Nice seeing Linda, Roy and Diane again. The men did a good job keeping the ladies happy by taking them to CiCi's Friday evening and followed up with our Mother's Day breakfast at Denny's. Mostly everyone enjoyed the pool and evening games. Sunday morning Roy and Linda prepared a delicious biscuit and gravy breakfast, a personal favorite. May is the last official meeting of the 111 club until September. |