| SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2008 |
| BAY AREA SAMS In September, our chapter camped in Bushnell at The Oaks. There were 22 member rigs present & one guest rig. It was great to see everyone after the summer. A catered "Welcome Back Pizza Party" with all the fixins' on Saturday evening was a treat for all. Several of our members went to the Georgia Fall Samboree in September and came away with 1st place in beanbag baseball. Congratulations to the Bluhm's, O'Connell's & Scheffer's and their victory for Florida. It was to Arcadia and Live Oaks Campground in October. We had 15 member rigs & one guest rig. Weather was warm but we managed to find some shade to play outdoor games and visit. Our chapter will be decorating the stage this year for the Orlando Samboree in November. This will be a first for us and we have some great ideas for the theme "Get Your Kicks on Route 66." We are also planning a parade entry for Saturday afternoon. On Friday & Saturday at lunch time, come up to the hall for our barbecue and/or meatball sandwiches. Your support is very much appreciated. DOGWOOD SAMS Owassa Lakeside RV Park welcomed us (15 rigs including two returning visitors) back for another visit in September. Several rigs arrived early to take advantage of the on-site fishing and enjoyed some success in their endeavors. Bud Norris volunteered to clean the catch, freeze them, and take them home for a fish dinner later. The first Saturday in September we met at the Bagdad Cemetery for our annual clean up day with 13 member rigs, one guest rig and two honorary members participating. We partnered with the Bagdad Cemetery Assn. In this venture and they seemed a bit overwhelmed by the number of people (27) we brought. We were able to prune, pull weeds, rake, and haul debris from the old area of the cemetery. Our efforts were greatly appreciated as an historical function is planned in early October. Nine member rigs and two guest rigs attended our October campout and meeting at Pelican Palms RV Park in Bagdad. Members visited some of the Santa Rosa County Beaches and also Woodlands events and activities. Saturday members visited the Heritage Days event in Munson. We enjoyed biscuits cooked on a wood stove, peach cobbler cooked over a fire in cast iron pots, syrup made onsite from fresh sugar cane juice and lots more. The Eliots, Myers and Lozanos had exhibits at this event. Some of our group took the walking tour Legends and Lore at the Bagdad Cemetery. Local residents were scattered throughout the cemetery dressed in period costumes and they shared the history of former residents of Bagdad village buried there. FLORIDA EAGLE SAMS New Smyrna Beach RV Park was the August gathering place with eight members plus some guests. Friday was our usual potluck dinner – great as always. The evening entertainment was a 60's theme Jeopardy. Bob and Paula did a great job putting together the categories and the questions. Our September campout was held at New Smyrna Beach RV Park; the clubhouse was well on its way to completion. There was enough completed so that we (10 rigs plus one guest rig) were able to have all our activities in there. Al & Helen Depaiva and Hugh & Judy Jones were our hosts for the weekend. We had our usual potluck dinner and then games afterwards. We camped at Ocala Sun RV Resort in October. It is a very nice campground. We had a wonderful clubhouse with a brand new kitchen, which was state of the art, down to everything that we could possibly use. Hosts were O'Daniels and Getsees and 10 rigs were present. GATEWAY SAMS Our hosts, Charlie & Jan Frey, took the chapter (11 rigs) to the KOA at Starke in October. We used the room at the west end of the campground since we were parked near it. Many members came a day early. The weather was fine for the whole weekend. We enjoyed having shade and cooler weather. GETAWAY SAMS End of August campout was at Suwannee Valley Campground, Live Oak with several rigs arriving on different days. We all had a great, relaxed, fun time, with lots of camaderie and laughing. The time flew by with talk and games and excellent food. Eight rigs and a guest rig attended the rally at Pelican Roost RV Park at Mayport Naval Station. All sites were on the river side so we were able to watch the dolphins and ships passing by. Despite a few glitches all eventually arrived. Friday some of us went to the Chiefs Club for lunch; everyone thought it was fantastic – especially the chocolate cheesecake. That evening it was to the American Legion Post 316 for steaks. It seems like all we did was eat and eat some more. GOLDEN TRIANGLE SAMS Lake Oklawaha RV Resort was the setting for our October campout of 16 member rigs and two guests rigs to enjoy the weather and fun. Official activities began Friday with happy hour; then many of us gathered to eat followed by playing new games. A little bit of cooler weather got us in the mood for a campfire. Many thanks to Ken Cole for bringing his fire pit which enabled us to make pie iron sandwiches and roast marshmallows for lunch Saturday. We played beanbag baseball and holey board. Six rigs caravaned to the Alabama Samboree in Talledega last month. They were warmly welcomed by the Alabama group, enjoyed a variety of activities and lots of good food. Won a lot of things from cakewalk to indoor and outdoor games. LAKE EOLA SAMS Our October campout was at Olde Mill Stream RV Resort in Umatilla with 10 rigs including a guest rig. We shared the rally area with the Safari Club who had 16 rigs. The weather was perfect for friends, food and games. Thursday five couples went to The Mason Jar for dinner. Friday it was to Crazy Gator in Eustis for dinner; afterwards, ice cream sundaes in the clubhouse. Saturday several couples went to The Race Car Diner (owned by one of our members) in Astataula for lunch. MIRACLE STRIP SAMS Miracle Strip Sams-Panama City (16 rigs) spent a glorious weekend in October at Topsail State Park in Santa Rosa Beach. It is a beautiful park and the weather was gorgeous. We carved pumpkins, ate too much, played various games, had a good meeting and enjoyed the company of our fellow RVers. Topsail State Park is a great place to visit. It has all the amenities including a pool and shuttle to the beach. Come visit--you'll love it! OCALA CENTRAL SAMS For this first chapter outing of the season in September at Lazy Days we had a good turnout of seven rigs. In spite of Ken’s best efforts we were not all parked together but that didn’t seem to interfere with having a good time. We enjoyed all the food provided by Lazy Days but also found time to eat an evening meal together at The Cracker Barrel. They also had excellent entertainment in the evenings. At our meeting Paul read a note from Jim Pierson’s daughter Lauri thanking us for our gift to Hospice in his name. The chapter members are also helping to fix up his motorhome and to sell it. We had a good group at The Oaks in October. With the weather so nice, early bird camping was enjoyed by many. Our Tuesday potluck had lots of meal selections but no desserts; that may be a first for us. We enjoyed playing Michigan Rummy. Wednesday we carpooled to Sonny’s for dinner. SALTY SAMS This past weekend meeting was held at Sabal Palms RV, Palmdale, about two miles north of Fisheaters Creek. The first problem is that you can’t see the road entrance sign if you’re going north on Rt. 27. Then when you get to the gate, you pass it by because there is no sign that you can see until you pass it, and there is no place to turn around unless you go all the way to the end of the road, make a turn and go back to Rt. 27 and start all over. Well, we only had three rigs at this meeting and two had the same problem. The camp grounds are nice, nice club house with all cooking facilities. We just mentioned the above statement in case we want to use them again. Two others came by car to join us. The weather was good, a little hot but we did get some nice breezes occasionally. Activity was down at all the RV camps we saw; don’t know if it was the season end or the gas prices. We had a nice meeting at Sebastian Inlet on A1A. It’s a large state park and has two RV camps (reservations must be three months ahead). If you’re a fisherman or a boating enthusiast, it’s the place to go. The weather was in and out, we had on and off rain most of the time and we were plagued by sand fleas (can’t see the little suckers). We had a nice turnout of eight rigs. Spent a lot of time chatting and talking about our summer activities. Regardless of the gas prices some members still did a lot of travelling.. SOUTH FLORIDA SAMS The September campout was held at Camelot RV Park in Malabar with Lucille and Norman Wallace as wagonmasters. We only had five members present so we only had an informal meeting. We did have two guests. We had good weather and a good time. Norman cooked hamburgers and hotdogs Friday; Saturday we went out to eat at the Shack. We played cards three nights. Several of us went to the flea market. October campout was held at Labelle Woods in Labelle with Henry and June Fuller as wagonmasters for our seven rigs. Friday night there were heavy hors d’oeuvres. Saturday we all ate at Flora & Ella’s in town. ST. JOHN’S PAL-A-TAKA GOOD SAMS The October campout was held at Whispering Pines RV Resort in Silver Springs with six rigs camping plus others for the meeting. The food was wonderful as usual. The weather was great along with the card games, dominoes and fellowship. This month’s topic of discussion was the elusive Jackalope. Mary & Robert visited the Jackalope Museum while out west. A nice time was had by all. SUNSET RAMBLERS The September campout was held at the Stagecoach RV Park in St. Augustine with six rigs plus visitors stopping by. The guys went to Camping World where they were able to get some needed parts for their rigs plus some hot dog forks for use next month. They had a good time looking around. The ladies enjoyed sitting and visiting while the guys shopped. We enjoyed the shade and sat and chatted in between doing a few things, taking naps, wandering camp, working on ditty bag strings, fixing food for the potluck, etc. The October campout was held at Stephen Foster State Park in White Springs with seven rigs. Thursday we had delicious corned beef, cabbage, onions, carrots and potatoes. Friday morning the weather was beautiful. Most everyone went to Old Timers in Lake City for supper. John brought lots of firewood so everyone gathered at Leo’s for a great campfire and visit. Saturday morning the gentle rains came. We gathered under Leo’s awning for our meeting. SUWANNEE RIVER GOOD SAMS October campout at Old Town was another successful event with a great turnout for our little group. Wednesday was a relaxing day of catching up with the news (UGH!), supper under the pavilion and a card game after dinner in the office. We enjoyed listening to music Thursday by George, Buddy and Dot. After supper ten people gathered in the office to play Hand & Foot. Friday, ongoing games were finished. Friday sixteen members drove into Chiefland for dinner at Bell’s Restaurant. No complaints about the food and there was plenty of it. Again, after dinner, most of us gathered at the pavilion to enjoy music again. SUWANNEE VALLEY & SUWANNEE RAMBLING SAMS We hope everyone is back from their summer travels and safe from the active hurricane season. Those who missed the summer campouts missed a great time and great food. TALLAHASSEE GOOD SAMS With the summer break behind us, we resumed our camping with a visit to Topsail Reserve RV Resort near Santa Rosa Beach in September. Thursday some early arrivals chose to eat at Golden Corral Restaurant. We had perfect weather to accommodate the beanbag baseball and holey board games Saturday. We also had the spacious and beautiful clubhouse for the entire weekend. We kicked off an eating frenzy Friday with a group meal and experimented with a potluck brunch following our business meeting Saturday in lieu of our usual early breakfast. The men fired up the grills Saturday night and we feasted on steaks with all the trimmings. We were missing just one member. The camping gods smiled on us again at our October campout at Seminole State Park near Donaldsonville, GA. We were again blessed with perfect weather but it was chilly Saturday and Sunday. We began the weekend Friday with hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill. The Saturday brunch worked nicely again and we ventured out to the Pond House Restaurant for Saturday dinner. TRAIL BLAZING SAMS Our May 2008 meeting was held over Memorial Day weekend at the Masonic Park in Wimauma, Fl. We had 17 members and 2 guest rigs in attendance. Our host and hostess, Robin and Mary Murray, did a great job in not only feeding us but also organizing many fun things to keep us busy for the weekend. Friday afternoon after getting caught up on the latest news, many practiced their Holy Board technique while others played cards, crocheted, or just sat and relaxed. Friday evening Hot Dogs and s’mores was enjoyed by all. Frank Ciampaglia got out his guitar and we had a good old fashion sing along Saturday. After a pot luck breakfast we had our business meeting. The Nomination Committee was given the responsibility of putting together candidates for office. Those candidates will be presented to the membership in September, the election of officers for the 2008-2009 Chapter year will be in October. Our COY Chairman, Al Morneault reported on the hours and money our Chapter has donated to charity and projects so far this year. We are on a record breaking course through April and should end the year well ahead of other years. Other activities for the weekend consisted of a Bean Bag Baseball game between the guys and the girls. The ladies came from behind and proved to be the better team . We also had our first golf tournament. We played a course that puts the total novice on par with the more experienced player. Once again the ladies showed that they are a force to be reckoned with by winning just about everything. Several other activities filled out the weekend which was topped off by a great fish fry sponsored by Lazy Days and prepared by our hosts. We sincerely want to thank Lazy Days and Rob and Mary for bringing this together. As the weekend ended, we wished everybody a safe and healthy summer and look forward to seeing everybody in September at Bay Bayou RV Resort. WUN WUN WUN After traveling all summer it felt good to meet up with the Wun Wun Wun gang at the Port St. Lucie RV Resort. Had a chance to find out how everyone spent their summer months. There were seven rigs with 15 members in attendance. Great seeing Diane driving that big motor home. Friday evening was pizza nite at Cici's; Saturday evening we had a feast of chicken, salad, ice cream and cake. Our October outing at St Lucie RV Resort was a huge success. The weather forecast was gloomy but all in all it turned out to be a nice weekend. Friday evening at Cici's was followed by a video of Barbara and Cal's trip to Alaska. John entertained us with a video of his tour thru the Tiffin R.V. plant in Alabama. John also showed a video of handmade quilts that Leola also works on. Saturday evening we went to the horse races. Cal Johnson did a great job directing and announcing the races. Just one problem, my horse is still running. |