Dogwood Winnies Chapter

DOGWOOD WINNIES NEWS
HOLIDAY TRAVEL PARK
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA
SEPTEMBER 21-23, 2007 - Rally

Many of the Dogwoods arrived for the rally on Thursday. The Michelin rep was weighing RVs during the day. That evening, there was a pot luck dinner followed by bingo. Gail Young finally won two rounds after having not won a single game in 20 years.

Friday morning, Joe Preissner gave and impressive talk on RV Electrical Systems. That was followed by the Opening Ceremony and the presentation of the colors. Harold Moyer led in a special Pledge of Allegiance dedicated to Virginia Tech. After the opening, it was snack time and everyone contributed to the feast. The day was filled with activities including the Michelin seminar, the Medicare seminar and games hosted by the Cardinals called “Cardinalympics”. There was also a Friendship walk held. The folks from Tidewater Express spent the whole day cooking pork on their huge smoker. We got to enjoy the smells all day long, and by dinnertime, we were ready! The BBQ was delicious. After dinner, the H.M. Johnson band played and everyone enjoyed that.

Saturday morning there was a delicious southern breakfast of eggs, sausage, hash browns, grits and biscuits. Then the day was full of activities. There was an Arts & Crafts competition in the Tally Ho room. The WIT store opened so people could by their official WIT goodies. Skymed gave a seminar as well as the Dri-Wash-N-Guard. The Dogwoods squeezed in a quick meeting at noon and celebrated their 25 th anniversary with a cake and champagne. Our area reps, the Dodges and the Formanek's from WIT were invited and joined in the celebration. After the meeting, the new officers were sworn in just as it began to rain. Back at the pavilion, there was a large Bean Bag Baseball game and a Weekenders fashion show. The Dogwoods took First Place and won a blue ribbon for the Bean Bag Baseball. There was a Workhorse seminar and a bonsai demonstration. The rain came, but didn't put a damper on the activities, they just moved in under the pavilion. The ice cream truck man came and everyone got to cash in their tickets for their favorite treat.

About 3:00 the Dogwoods began setting up the table decorations for dinner. After having spent months hand sanding, painting and assembling vehicles, it was finally time to put everything on display. The tables were covered with paper and rivers were made up from saran wrap and crepe paper. The vehicles were numbered and put along the rivers and used as a seating chart. There were 99 vehicles representing all 99 coaches by registration number. It was a great way to mix everyone up and meet new people. The idea was the James River and 400 years worth of vehicles. A big THANK YOU to the Preissners and Mills for organizing this feat. Each coach got to take home their special vehicle by their registration number.

For dinner, many people dressed in period costumes. Check out www.virginiawit.org to see photos. The dinner was fried chicken and roast beef and was great. After dinner, the band Still Kickin' played and everyone danced up a storm. Door prizes were awarded and there were some nice prizes.

Sunday morning there was a continental breakfast, followed by a church service. The general meeting was held and the new state officers were installed. After that, everyone said their good byes and packed up to go home. Thanks to the Coasters for hosting a great 2007 Rally.

Mike Schuler

President

804-739-1198