Comments on the FMCA Perry 2014 Family Reunion Rally

[paintedtugboat]

DW and I just returned from The Perry, Georgia, FMCA Family Reunion Rally. Despite the rain deluge and unbelievable amounts of mud, we really had a very good time. We also got to dry camp in winter and spring all in the same week! Met up with old friends and met new ones.

I was particularly impressed with the level of expertise and efficiency from the service techs brought to the rally by the motor home manufacturers, dealers and other vendors.

We got to meet FMCA National Chaplins Father Al and Father John. I believed that they personalized the kindness and hospitality of the FMCA organization. A terrific experience.

I sure wish the tram routes had been color coded and put on the map. It was very confusing for the first two days trying to find so many different buildings and try to find points on the compass with no sun shine. A more detailed map would have been more effective. Remember, we are a group of people who know how to read maps.

Anybody have any other comments?

Bob and Joan Alexander
2010 Tiffin Phaeton 36QSH
email="paintedtugboat@gmail.com"]paintedtugboat@gmail.com[/email]

[dickandlois]

Welcome!

Glad you both where able to attend the Rally! One never knows what mother nature has in mind when attending a rally or just out on the road traveling.

We have been to a number of the National Rallies and all have been a adventure in one way or another, but the time spent meeting old friends, making new ones, the seminars and the technical information is always rewarding.

We did not make the Rally; still snowed in this year.

Interesting you mentioned the tram routes and color coding them! The common practice has been to color code each tram route.

Like your pencil art!!

Rich

[BillAdams]

You almost CAN predict the weather in Perry in March. It has rained nearly every rally that has ever been held in Perry during that time frame!

[johnarch]

I did not attend the Perry rally, but would like to mention how impressed I was with the webcast. As a fairly new forum reader, the seminar webcasts were just like attending. An awesome benefit for members.

[wolfe10]

John,

Which Webcasts did you watch?

Observations/suggestions?

[wildebill308]

The tram routs were color coded to the maps by the flags on the tram. Perhaps it could have been explained better in the literature.

I drove Handicapped Golf carts. The rain was a challenge for every one.

I got my new to me tow bar serviced by Blue ox for only $25.00 they said it was in great shape.

Bill

[Howde]

We attended just one day for $7. per person. We were only permitted to see the inside and outside exhibits. Cost for daily seminar attendance was $55. per person which seemed rather steep with no guarantee we could get in our preferred session(s) so we chose not to go that route.

Exhibits were okay but nothing to make us spend money; lots of resort promotions. Coach exhibits seemed slim and not near as flashy or hyped as at Tampa RV Show.

This was our first FMCA Rally.

[desertdeals69]

The tram routs were color coded to the maps by the flags on the tram. Perhaps it could have been explained better in the literature.

I drove Handicapped Golf carts. The rain was a challenge for every one.

I got my new to me tow bar serviced by Blue ox for only $25.00 they said it was in great shape.

Bill

I believe Roadmaster still services their tow bars free of charge.

[hermanmullins]

DD69,

Roadmaster does service you tow bar for free, however you must take yours to their service area. Blue Ox does charge $25.00 but will come and pick up your tow bar , service it and return it to your coach.

Both are very good units.

Herman

[johnarch]

Brett - I watched the Cummins engine maintenance and Cummins Onan generator seminars. Since I am not a mechanic, I was trying to sponge up as much info as possible. Knowing that keeping with a schedule is important, the generator seminar ran out of time and a couple of PM items were omitted. No complaints though, good info, knowledgeable panel. Are the webcast archived anywhere?

[tmoning]

Are the webcast archived anywhere?

They are not archived at this time.

[wildebill308]

I believe Roadmaster still services their tow bars free of charge.

That would be great if I had a Roadmaster. I have a Blue ox that I bought used along with a Brake Buddy and all the accessories except the base plate for $400.00. So I think having them check it out at the coach and basically rebuild it for $25.00 was a good deal.

Bill

[majorberry]

Enjoyed the Rally and the organization of all events. Impressed with the parking crew and how fast they moved our coaches to parking spots in the rain. Some coaches did not get to final spot until Monday a.m. but that was not FMCA fault. Tram routes were color coded with flags and maps very detailed showing where all seminar buildings and exhibits were located. Entertainment was good and my favorite was Miss. Sarah Getto. And not because she is an FMCA member whom also attended the Rally. That gal can sing and is funny. Just ask Charlie our President how funny and sweet she is.

More vendor coaches than I had time to tour. We attended between us about 14 seminars and all but one had more seats available than were used. Never seen coffee flow as it did each morning along with what seemed to be all you can eat Krispy Kreme donuts.lol

Perry mayor and the president of the event grounds did a warm welcome and poked fun at themselves due to the weather. FMCA tried hard to keep us updated by texts when a tram was shut down or an event rescheduled.

Every major event can be improved but we went away very happy with the Rally, and thank all the staff and volunteers who made this such an enjoyable experience. Only improvement we can suggest is less golf carts going every direction and angle. Golf carts and pedestrians are personal gripe of mine. This was our first Rally.

[skiprd]

This was just our third rally, but I think it was the best so far. All of the seminars we attended were outstanding (although a couple could have used bigger rooms). There were more display coaches than we had time to look at. (We did come perilously close to buying one--the show price was excellent and then there were manufacturer incentives on top of that.) And I agree the entertainment was as good as I could hope for. My favorite was the Texas Tenors, but all of the acts were memorable.

We had a full hook-up site, although the sewer connection went through a weird, four-hole manifold. The design was so dubious that I was too chicken to dump the black tank. Not a bit deal since the black tank didn't get close to full in the 5 days we were there. Being able to dump the grey tank several times, though, was nice.

We also got the Blue Ox service, which was convenient and I didn't mind the small charge for an inspection and rebuild. We also tried to get a couple other items taken care of, but alas things were too booked by the time we tried to sign up. Next time I'll be sure to sign up early, before the early signer-uppers get in front of me.

We arrived Sunday in the midst of a downpour of Biblical proportions. What impressed me was the dedication of volunteers who handled entry, queuing, and parking--all of those guys working like crazy, soaking wet, and who payed the same registration fee that I did, making life easier for us just because they're the kind of people who like to be helpful. Wow.

Looking forward to the next one,

Skip

[elkhartjim]

Its nice to hear all the positive comments. Often its only the negative happenings that you read about...and there will always be negatives. I'm sure FMCA was blamed for the rain by someone.

Sounds like I missed a good one.

[on.vacation]

Hi!

We joined FMCA just in time to attend this Rally. Had a great time...even in the rain- glad to see our rig doesn't have any leaks. We choose not to try dumping at the end of the rally because we knew that there were multiple rest areas before hitting Texas where we could dump. In fact- we got all the way to Mississippi before we dumped (no line there).

We loved all the performances and wanted to get to more sessions...but couldn't do everything. We were impressed with the contests but of course didn't win any big things BUT we really liked that we got the $5. bonus bucks so we spent the $$ with vendors. We spent lots of time in the vendor area and looked at RVs till our heads were spinning. What few sessions we did get to were great. We attended the "new comers" event and the "under 60 event" but did not go to our "area" event because we don't know what area we belong to...we live in El Paso TX. Also as "newbies"... we are interested in clubs like the diesel club but are not members so we did not want to barge in to their meeting...is everybody welcome to these meetings if they are in the agenda?? We also liked the Maestros singing and playing music and coffee & donuts in the morning.

Few suggestions- it would have been nice if the "stamp" contest was at all the sessions because we missed several sessions looking for the "stamp" and ended up spending too much time chasing the stamp. For example we wanted to go to a session in area 4 but the stamp was in area 1, which was quite a distance if you walked. We did not realize that the "white" shuttle went all around the session areas until the last day. Also...the shuttle service was great, so was the volunteer force, but sometimes the shuttle was too full so it would be nice- if the area is always as large as Perry, if there was an "inside" shuttle that did not go all the way to the RV areas but just as far as the "gate" entrances to pick up people who couldn't get on because it was full.... I don't think the white shuttle went that far- did it?

Looking for pictures.... Our granddaughter- Victoria was invited to dance on stage while Sarah Getto performed the fiddle song. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, we did not get any pictures of her on stage. Does anyone have pictures they would email or send us???? email is on.vacation@Hotmail.com I wanted to put a collage together for Victoria because this was the highlight of her trip. THANKS!!! ps- email me for a physical address if you have pictures you would like to send.

[wolfe10]

Hi!Also as "newbies"... we are interested in clubs like the diesel club but are not members so we did not want to barge in to their meeting...is everybody welcome to these meetings if they are in the agenda?? We also liked the Maestros singing and playing music and coffee & donuts in the morning.

on.vacation,

Welcome to the FMCA Forum.

Yes, of course you are welcome to attend a meeting of any Chapter you may be interested in joining. That certainly includes the Diesel RV Club: http://www.dieselrvclub.org/

You could have enjoyed the pizza and the 10 anniversary (of the chapter) cake in Perry.

[hermanmullins]

on.vacation,

As Brett said, welcome to FMCA and the Forum. Being in El Paso you will be in the South Central Area. Also called the Six-State Rally Association. South Central Area Nation Vice President is Jim McCabe.

The Six-State Rally Association cover Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. Jim McCabe is also the President, Rod Sartwell is the Sr. VP, Keith Jerome is the Northern VP, Herman Mullins is the Southern VP, Connie Farrar is Secretary and Dan Couch is the Treasurer. Sorry you miss the Area Meeting. I will look into chapters in your area and email you some in your area. At this time we are in Shreveport, LA for the Planning rally for October 1-2-3-4, 2014. You may sign up either on line or by calling the FMCA Office. Come, enjoy and meet some new friends.

Herman Mullins

SRA Southern Area Vice President

[BlueSpring]

Perry was our first event with FMCA and we were certainly glad we came.

We also had a hard time trying to figure out the shuttle routes.

Because we were away from our home address I had to pick up our information at will call. Not having that information I thought we could not arrived until Sunday.

When we got the information by email I saw that the first timers meeting was on Sunday I called and found we could come on Saturday.

The volunteers did a great job of parking but it would have been somewhat intimidating for us first timers to get set up and still get to that meeting.

As a result of the positive experience at Perry we are seriously considering joining a chapter after many years of RVing.