April 2008

Text Box: Smith Family Newsletter
April 2008 - 1

Text Box: Foley, AL was the site of our Chapter 400 Spring Rally from 4/5 to 4/10. Prior to arriving at the rally site in Foley, some of us stopped for one or more nights at the Rainbow Plantation, an Escapees campground in Summerdale, AL, right near by. We wanted to see it as many people had commented on how nice it was. Escapees has Rainbow Campgrounds where members can establish a base for longer stays or actually retire from the road. The Anchors Away RV Resort in Foley, site of the Rally, was only about 20 minutes from here. We found the whole area interesting and in many ways reminded us of the Myrtle Beach area, which we like very much. We certainly had a very nice time and both agree we would revisit this area.

Some of the highlights of this rally was activities such as the Model Train Museum, Lamberts (home of the ’throwed’ rolls), our pot lucks and luncheons and time to hammer out the business of finding candidates to fill the up coming vacancies in the chapter. A bonus was seeing some members we haven’t seen for some time. Even if you aren’t a train buff, the layout of the model train museum was very impressive. Some young children came in, and it was fun watching them as well as the trains. The group really had fun at Lamberts which was a real fun experience and the food was good too, of which there was plenty. Then there were the traditional events such as our pot luck, which gives everyone a chance to share their favorite dish and some personal chatter. Then there is the Red Hat Luncheon and the Old F__t’s Club Luncheon (men’s luncheon). Of course it doesn’t matter if you have a red hat or not, and if you look closely at the pictures, it doesn’t matter who wears them either. We have fun!! In order to keep this group functional, we all have to take a turn in filling key roles. Bob has done a turn as Board Member. He manages the Chapter Web site, provides computer help to those in need, and I make it a point of taking pictures at the many events to add to Bob’s daily commentaries on the web site. It was at this Spring Rally, that Bob & I were asked to take over the office of Vice President for this coming year. We look forward to doing our share and know we will have much support from the members. My attitude is to do it while we have enough good health and the energy. Lastly, it was really great to see members we have not seen for some time. It was especially good to see Fay, a former President, and very active chapter member, who lost her husband, George very recently. She has made it very clear how much she appreciated the support she received from chapter members during George’s illness. Then there is Ben & Marissa, Ben also being a former President also. He has been busy working at a RV Park down Aransas Pass, TX. Everyone cheered and congratulated Marissa on her newly acquired United States Citizenship. Well, it looks like the 2008 Chapter 400 Rally Season is well under way and everyone is looking forward to the pre-rally in Hopkins, Michigan and Fall Rally in Manheim, PA.

Text Box: 1-Red Hat 2-Red Hat? 3-RR Museum 4-Lamberts 5-Fay 6-Pot Luck 7-Marissa 8-Group Picture 9-A great picture of Ed & Kay!

Text Box: Smith Family Newsletter
April 2008 - 2

Text Box: Well, it is April 13th and we have arrived back at Briarcliffe RV Resort in Myrtle Beach on schedule. Why do we feel like we are coming home? I guess we are East Coasters at heart, plus we have a membership in Briarcliffe, where we have friends from our past life style as well as our present. As soon as we arrived we were greeted by Paul & Angie on one side and our x Gold Wing Buddies on the other side, the Stroebels and the Marcianos. Actually, Paul & Angie used to ride a Gold Wing also - we just didn’t know them then. It is interesting that many people who live this life style rode bikes at one time in their lives. I guess both activities involve the same “itch!” Also in the park was Dean & Winnie from the chapter and they joined in some of our adventures too. Well, we got together and enjoyed some 4 o’clocks, some dinners out, and took them to an outing to Brookgreen Gardens. They took us to see the Pelicans play, a local minor league baseball team. My birthday was this month too, so before everyone left us, we all went to dinner at Captain George’s across from the Broadway at the Beach. This was my choice as I think they have the best seafood on the beach. Bob & I had medical appointments for our annual medical check ups, which is another reason to come through here each year. Also when Paul & Angie left for PA, they volunteered us to take over their job in the kitchen on Saturday mornings to help Pat & Roger with the RV park breakfasts each week. We were glad to be of help, after all this is home!

Text Box: By the way, the picture at the left is of me feeding the seagulls the huge bread bowl my salad came in at Lamberts in Alabama! As you can see, I had quite a following!
So you want to know what the ‘oops’ was all about, do you? Well, my military ID card expired!!! Yep….so much for being organized! I didn’t even notice it, Bob did. I am just glad that we didn’t find out while trying to get on a base somewhere. It was set to expire when I turned 65, which is 2 yrs earlier than usual. Well, to correct this, we decided to go to Fort Jackson near Columbia, SC. Then it occurred to us that as many times we have come through SC we still have not visited the Capital building in Columbia. Why not make a day of it? We got an early start, which enabled us to accomplish both projects.

Each Capital we have been too has been interesting and has it’s own special characteristics. This one does too. This is the second State Building, as the original Capital was in Charleston, built in 1750’s. It was moved to Columbia in 1786. The original building was made of wood and burned. Construction on the current building began in the 1850’s but was not completed until 1907. Construction was slow, and the Civil War seriously interrupted the development. Gen. William T. Sherman occupied Columbia, and in the process of doing so his cannons struck the State House. Today, visitors can see where the cannon balls hit the outside wall, as there are six bronze stars marking those spots, clearly visible along with the original damage. The Architect was John M. Niernsee, an Austrian immigrant and his son Frank was responsible for most of the interior.

The day we visited, both the House and the Senate were in session and in a battle over the budget. This is the first time we have visited a state house when there was big happenings going on. The Senate rejected a bill passed by the House, which essentially took big money out of the Education budget and put it in Tourism. When it went back to the House, the Senate decided to leave for the day and go home. The next day there was quite a write up in the Newspaper about it. Interesting! The second floor of the building was filled with special interest groups lobbying, which we had never seen first hand before either. We sat for quite a while watching and listening to the rhetoric in both houses. Before leaving we walked around the grounds which were beautiful, and well kept. This concludes the month of April….and I do believe I am caught up again!!