ROCKWOOD WEST

NOVEMBER 2011 NEWSLETTER

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE:

We had a wonderful time at the Pismo Beach rally and I'm looking forward to all the rallies scheduled for 2012.  If you haven't attended a rally lately you have certainly missed out on a lot of fun and good fellowship.  I again urge you to look at the rally schedule and consider hosting a rally in the available months.  If you are hesitant to host a rally on your own, ask someone to co-host with you and I will also help as much as possible.  It takes all of us to be involved to make this a successful chapter.  

Please keep Roger Gibson, Duke Heffern and Richard Strobel in your thoughts and prayers as they deal with their health issues.

Paulette Kotan, president

MEETING MINUTES:

Pismo Coast Village RV Resort,

Pismo Beach, CA

October 22, 2011, 9:07 a.m.

The meeting was called to order and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by president Paulette Kotan.

Members present:  Lenny and Gloria Blake, Gerry and Lin Chetelat, Lloyd and Wendy Holloway, Bob and Linda Lee Karr, Steve and Mary Lee Smith, Rich and Linda Strobel, Bill and Sandy Vargo,  Henry and Lucille Yanoff.  Guest, Julie Blake.

The president thanked our hosts Steve, Mary Lee, Henry and Lucille for a great rally.

Motion to approve the last minutes as they appeared in the blog was made by Dennis, seconded by Lloyd and the motion carried.

Treasurer's Report:  Balance in the checking account $2,199.11.  Motion to accept by Wendy, seconded by Linda and the motion carried.  Everyone was reminded that dues for 2012 are now due.  Please remit your check to Linda Chetelat.

National Director's Report:  Lloyd once again stated FMCA's continuing money problems and their planned budget cuts to remedy existing problems, etc. and the drive to promote new memberships.  Paulette spoke to bringing new members who are not FMCA members to the chapter rallies and the fact we have a few free memberships in FMCA to offer anyone who joins our chapter.  She also discussed the differences between FMCA and Escapees, noting the advantages and disadvantages of both.

Committee Reports:  Gerry spoke for the nominating committee and swore in the new officers who were elected by proclamation during the September meeting at Viejas.  They are:

President-Paulette Kotan

Vice-President-Cookie Ringhand

Secretary/Treasurer-Linda Chetelat

National Director-Lloyd Holloway

Alternate National Director-Nick Escamilla

Nominating Committee-Ramona Escamilla, Gerry Chetelat and Dennis Kotan

   

Old business:  None

New business:  Steve and MaryLee collected the monies due for camping since we did not have the required rigs present to receive the group discount.

Motion to adjourn made by Steve, seconded by Lucille and the motion carried.  Meeting adjourned at 9:35 a.m.

Wagonmaster's Report:

The October rally was held at Pismo Coast Village RV Resort in Pismo Beach, CA.  We had 9 rigs sign up so unfortunately we were unable to qualify for the group rates.  It was a great rally!  The park is nestled on a beautiful site right on the beach and close to the little town of Pismo and the pier.  The management was very helpful and even let us use the wood pit BBQ from their old restaurant for our Santa Maria Tri-Tip dinner.  The clubhouse and facilities were terrific and included a heated swimming pool, showers, miniature golf and a well stocked general store. 

The activities started on Thursday evening in the clubhouse with our usual "Happy Hour" followed by a bountiful table of hearty appetizers and lots of fun socializing.  The Blakes brought their daughter, Julie, as their guest.

The next morning we had egg casseroles and a chile relleno casserole with tortillas, english muffins, bagels and fruit.  After breakfast, our great craft lady, Linda Chetelat, taught us how to make cute Holloween ghost door hangers out of foam.  Then she realy challenged us not so "craftily gifted" people with a beaded Christmas tree ornament.  Only with her assistance did we leave with two beautiful projects.  Thank you Linda for your time and PATIENCE!!!

 The rest of the day was spent relaxing around the camp, riding bikes into town, or sightseeing locally.  For those who had arrived earlier in the week, the days were spent having lots of fun scouring the local thrift shops for pirate costumes (yes, Sandy I did spend only a quarter on that pathetic crow!) for the Indio rally in January and trips to Avila Beach on a quest for the best clam chowder on the coast and then a visit to a local apple farm.
We were all given a tour of the Holloway's beautiful new coach shown here decorated with toilet paper.
   That evening we had a great Santa Maria BBQ dinner.  Steve wanted to especially thank Dennis and Paulette and their friends from San Luis who provided the "required" red oak for the traditional flavoring we needed for our tri-tips and the homemade sausage appetizer.  We filled up on delicious tri-tip, salsa, red beans, mac'n cheese, grilled french bread and salad.

We then had a celebration for the Blake's 55th wedding anniversary.  Congratulations!!

We also celebrated Wendy's birthday with a special birthday girl tiara!  There were 2 cakes.

We had a surprise visit from our two oldest "kids," Scott and Christy who joined in the socializing and spent the night.  They confided that our friends were "really awesome" and they had a lot of fun with them!!!  Christy still cannot believe that Cleo, the Chetelat's cat, walks on a leash.  She was also impressed with Bob and Linda Karr's stories of backpacking in the wilderness.

Saturday morning our good weather continued and we had buttermilk pancakes and sausages.  Thank you Lloyd, you can flip for us anytime!

After breakfast Paulette conducted a great meeting and then we ate AGAIN!

Due to the melodrama time being moved up we had our potluck at 1 p.m.  Thanks to all our good cooks we had another yummy meal and then we were off to the theater.

"The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville" was full of crazy characters.  This time we saw 

"The Werewolf of Dr. Oz," a take off on Dorothy in the "Wizard of Oz" in the form of Donny, a teenage boy living in Kansas who is horrified to discover that he is turning into a werewolf.  Instead of searching for the wizard, Donny searches for "Dr. Oz," the TV personality who can "cure" him.  Following the musical came the "Game of Life" with zany songs like "Seniors in the Night" (Strangers in the Night) complete with a hilarious dance routine with walkers.  

To add to all this fun we returned to the clubhouse for a wonderful ice cream social!

Sunday morning we had a nice continental breakfast before beginning to pack up and check out.  We would like to thank our co-hosts Henry and Lucille Yanoff for helping us put on this rally and also to all who helped in so many ways, sharing ovens, refrigerators, cooking, cleaning up, etc.  It was a lot of fun.

Steve and Mary Lee Smith

Chile Relleno Casserole Recipe

4 eggs

1/2 cup half and half

8 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded

2 T onion, finely chopped

4 oz can chopped green chiles, drained

2 T flour

Heat oven to 350 degrees, grease 8 or 9 inch square pan

In medium bowl beat eggs, stir in half and half and flour.  Blend until smooth.  Stir in remaining ingredients; blend.  Pour into pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes.

Cut into squares or use smaller squares for appetizers.

I doubled this recipe and used an oblong casserole dish for the rally.

RALLY SCHEDULE:

November 18-20  Lake Elsinore Marina hosted by the Kotans

2012

January 11-15  WMHA Rally, Indio

January 18-23  Dome Rock BLM, Quartzsite hosted by the Murrells

March TBA hosted by Roses and Ringhands

April 27-29  Chula Vista RV Resort hosted by the Chetelats

May 25-28  Boulder Creek RV Resort, Lone Pine hosted by the Escamillas

June 10-16  North Rim, Grand Canyon arranged by the Kotans