czarsty

I have a 12 year old Splendide 2000 and use HE Tide liquid and it works quite well. I use the least amount and have had no problems. I have also used the Splendide powdered detergent and it was good too. I guess it hasn't mattered which detergent I use since the machine is going strong since Nov. 1998. I try not to overload it and often use the short wash since our clothes don't get too dirty. Good luck with the washer and have a wonderful trip.

Hello George. As others have stated, you will have a great time at the GLASS rally. Be sure to go to the chapter fair. I will also offer one piece of advice that people aren't aware of. You can take your chair and reserve your spot on the floor of the entertainment venue. If you want to do this, be sure to do it as soon as you get settled, as the space fills up in a hurry and then you will have to sit in the bleacher seats. There is also a place reserved for the handicapped to put their chairs which is off the floor but a great viewing place. I hope to see you there. Stop by and say hi. You can tell my coach by the orange tiger paw covers. Judy Czarsty F79148 National Senior Vice President/ Acting National President

You have certainly given this some thought. I agree that there are times when many organizations must consider life memberships as a way to infuse cash. A temporary infusion of cash does help with current expenses but it can be harmful in the long term. This is because as prices increase and dues must go up; the association will lose any potential benefit of the increased dues for this segment of the membership. I do not agree that now is the time to consider offering more life memberships. FMCA is strong and that is due in part to the fact that we have no real debt. At the end of December 2010 we had reserves of about $7 million. We do have an aging membership. Some older members are getting out of motorhoming and not renewing their membership. But, we also continue to bring in thousands of new members each year. As with all businesses and even in our personal lives there are periods when our assets are not what we would like them to be. However, there is a misconception about the purpose of the $500 life memberships. The following passage is taken from the history of FMCA found on this web site under the drop down “Join FMCA†and then the drop down “About FMCA†“By 1976 the association employed 15 full-time employees who attended to the needs of approximately 20,000 member families. FMCA's leaders determined that the association was now big enough to invest in property rather than continue to rent from others. Thus, the life member program was created to help raise the necessary funds for purchasing property. Thanks to the generosity of many FMCA members, who paid $500 each toward achieving this goal, enough money was raised to acquire property at 8291 Clough Pike in eastern Cincinnati, which continues to house the national office today.†I hope this clarifies information about the purpose of those $500 life memberships and gives you a better understanding of our current financial position. Judy Czarsty National Senior Vice President/Acting National President F79148

You are certainly right in your depiction of the campground but this is not what I was talking about. Unfortunately I was not precise in my description of the park. It is Lake Farm Park and if you go to google earth and look for that name you will see the campground you are referring to with the balloon marked "B". I was referring the to area with the balloon marked "C" which borders on the lake. You can see in the picture the trail leading to the pier on the lake. I am sorry for the confusion.

Madison will be a wonderful site. In addition to parking on the grounds of Alliant Energy Center and the abutting dog park we will have close-by parking which I think is phenomenal. FMCA is taking over the Lake Farm County Park and is it ever beautiful. There is green grass, tons of shade trees (but not so many that you can't get your satellite to work) pavilions, walking trails, and a huge lake where you can fish or boat if you bring your own boat. FMCA will run continuous shuttles from the park to the Alliant Energy Center less than 2 miles away. There will be ample busses running to get you back to your rig and your pet and then back to the exhibits, seminars, special events, and show coaches. Hope this answers your questions.

I will try to answer your questions in the order that you gave them. The Perry convention is a Tuesday through Thursday convention. Family member arrivals generally begin 2 days prior to the start of the convention. When you sign up you will be given a drive in day or arrival date. You can comes after that date but FMCA prefers you not come earlier. If you must get in the area before your assigned arrival date, there is a lot called the "Holding Area" where you can park the night before your scheduled arrival. The holding area is strictly dry camping. Your registration packet contains information on how to get to the holding area as well as how to get to the site and which entrances to use. Convention activities begin on the morning of the 14th. People usually depart on the day following the last night's entertainment, which for this convention will be Thursday. So departures will be on Friday the 17th. You might be able to stay an additional night if you make arrangements with the GA National Fairgrounds. You make a good suggestions regarding the terms and defining them. The term passport refers to members who choose to park off the grounds and come in by car to see the exhibits, vendors, seminars and other events, including eventing entertainment. You cannot come on the grounds in your motorhome. The cost is almost the same as if you stayed on the grounds. I understand there is a new "Preferred Parking: available at Perry for this convention, It is water, sewer and 30 amp shore power but the number of sites are limited. It costs about $65 more than getting just electric. There is ample room to put out awnings in any of the parking lots. FMCA has years of experience parking motorhomes -- even the 45 footers. This year I understand FMCA is looking at increasing the size of each parking spot to allow even greater space. You should not feel crowded. As you know, weather is unpredictable but I looked up the highs and lows from 2007 to 2010. In '07 it was 80 and 56, in '08 73 and 51; in '09 54 and 44, and '10 60 and 41. We have used our generator during the 7 am to 11 pm time and then put our furnace on around 55 degrees for the night. That usually works well and we have sufficient electric to cover the night time usage. Toads are usually parked either along side or immediately behind or in front of your motorhome. There will be a list of both seminar topics and vendors available on the web but it is way too early for that to be posted. Information should start showing up on the web site sometime in mid to late Jan. and early Feb. it is updated as things change. There are two (2) dump stations on the GA National Fairgrounds property. There are only a few historic things in Perry, but there is a lot to see within less than an hour or so driving. Warner Robins, GA (less than 30 minutes from Perry) his supposed to be the fastest growing military aviation museum in the Southeast. With over 85 historical aircraft and exhibits of aviation memorabilia dating from WW I through modern times. They have an original Norden bombsight, the "secret weapon of WW2", Rosie the Riveter, the WWI and WW2 Ace Gen. Frank "Monk" hunter collections; German Luftwaffe items and on and on. About 35 miles form Perry is the Andersonville National Cemetery and Historic Site. It includes 13,669 graves in the cemetery. Prisoner of War Memorials, a partial reconstruction of the prison stockade of the Confederate "Camp Sumter" and a Civil War Museum. Also there you can visit the Civil War Village of Andersonville, Pioneer Farm and Drummer Boy Museum. There were audio cassettes/cd's available when I took the self-guided car tour. It was very good. There is the Massee Lane Gardens about 16 miles from Perry. There are 9 acres of camellias under towering pines, a Japanese Koi pond and rose gazebo. This location also features an Edward Marshall Boehm porcelain collection -- the largest of its kind in the world, featuring magnificent works of art in porcelain. Perry is located at the crossroads of Georgia in the Historic Heartland Region. It is an important part of the Georgia Antiques Train the Golden Isles Parkway, the Peach Blossom Trail and the Andesronville Trail. This tourist information came from the www.georgiaonmymind.org site. Go there for a lot more information on things to see and do. Judy Czarsty, F79148

Allan and Pat, I don't know if you have children or grandchildren who will be traveling with you to Redmond. If you do and they are between the ages of 2 and 19 then you might be interested in our Youth Program. We have separate programs by age group: 2-5, 6-9, 10-12 and 13-19. They are chaperoned and have age-relevant activities. Older children take field trips off the convention grounds. The only caveat for the youngest participants is that they be potty trained. The youth are occupied during the day so that you can enjoy the convention and at night they are tired out and ready to hit the hay. Judy Czarsty, F79148

Hey, Jay, This is wonderful! We have signed up both of our cell phones. We have unlimited texting with our plans, so it will be free to us. It is worth a small charge to be alerted to severe weather. The special events and changes is just a bonus. Judy Czarsty, F79148

Sergeant Major, You are in for an adventure. We have been full-timing since 1998 -- when we were still working and are still going strong. To answer your question about a full-timing chapter, we do have one called the Full Timers. They always meet just prior to the FMCA conventions in the winter and summer. They are a diverse group and always looking for new members. There is another group that may interest you called the 3Ts (To dump, To do laundry, and To relax). They meet after the FMCA conventions and have a rally to do just what their name implies. They also enjoy the fellowship of a laid-back rally after a busy convention. You can find contact information for these chapter in the chapter/areas section. If you would prefer a personal contact, let me know and I will ask the president of either chapter to get back to you. As we travel we often run into chapters holding a rally at the campground where we are staying. Most recently we rallied with the Anazazi Chapter in Arizona. Had a great time and wish my putt-putt skills were better. The FMCA Calendar in our monthly magazine lists some chapter rallies as a way to invite other members to enjoy their fun and fellowship. If this appeals to you, please be sure to call the contact listed in advance to make sure they have room for another rig. Happy travels

I like the line up of entertainment for Redmond. We have The Texas Tenors, who were finalists in the America's Got Talent contest. I really like Jimmy Buffet and we will have the nation's #1 Jimmy Buffet tribute band -- Live Bait. Do you remember some of the hits from the '50s and '60s by the Coasters and Marvelettes? Our Forever Mowtown will feature their music. I really liked the Coasters' Charlie Brown, Yakety Yak, Searchin, Young Blood, and Poison Ivy songs. The Marvelettes, I think, sang Please Mr. Postman, Don't Mess With Bill, and He's A Good Guy. Hope you will come to Redmond. More Redmond evening entertainment info

Have you ever wondered why the Eastern Area calls their rally G.E.A.R.? Well, the rally held in Nashville in 1994 was put on by a chapter called the Eastern Area Volunteer Chapter. People from all over the area joined the chapter and worked to put on the rally. At a planning meeting a great motivator spoke to our cadre of people about putting on a good rally. At that time everyone was burning up their brains trying to come up with a name. We couldn't call it the E.A.R. Rally beause people would really laugh! The Northeast Area Rally is N.E.A.R. and that isn't a funny acronym. The discussion turned toward the fact that people would be getting in their motorhomes and gearing up to come to Nashville. So, we thought why not call it G.E.A.R. for the Great Eastern Area Rally.