President

National Director

Jerry Young

Clarence Haggart

First Vice President

Alternate National Director

Eugene Herring

Bill Neumann

Second Vice President

Chaplin

Gaye Young

Mike Lucas

Secretary

Retail Sales

Liz Wilson 

Sharon Rice

Treasurer 

Webmaster

Jennifer Smith

www.coastaltarheels.com

Suzanne Brannan

March 2008 Newsletter

submitted by Liz Wilson

Hello to all of my fellow Tarheels, friends, members, guests, etc. and etc,. I am sorry to be a little late in getting the newsletter out, I finally caught that nasty bug that has been going around and it really knocked me out of commission. I am still on sick pills, etc., so hopefully I will soon be over it.

We had a wonderful weekend at Ocean Lakes. That is such a beautiful facility and most of us could see the ocean from where we were parked. However, the winds sure had the motor homes rocking and rolling and some much needed rain on Friday and of course, we woke up on Sunday, with the time change lag, to a beautiful warm and sunny day, of course we all had to head home. Some were headed to different places, Sharon and Larry were headed to the Nascar races in Bristol, Tenn, and Paul and Vicki were headed to Perry, Ga to volunteer at the Rally there and I am sure others might have been going other places, let me know so I can keep out public informed.

Our wonderful hosts for the weekend was Howard/Rice, Benton/Garner, Murdocks, Hooks, and Marcum. They prepared dinner for us early birds Thursday night, breakfast on Friday, Saturday and Sun., and of course dinner Friday and Saturday. We had dinner early Saturday so we could head out to see the show at "Legends" that evening. It was wonderful entertainment. We had Garth Brooks, very good,; then Diana Ross, she was ok, looked good; then the Blues Brothers entertained us big time; then we had Elton John, who did a good imitation; and last and best we had "ELVIS", he was the best Elvis I have ever seen, I hope that we can have him at one of our Gear or International rallies. He was just wonderful, of course, the ladies all went crazy. It did not hurt that he looked mighty good - probably the closest to looking like Elvis. Needless to say, we had a wonderful time.

I mentioned the Early Birds, as we call the ones that come in on Thursday. It is so nice to get there early, it gives you a longer week end, and we usually have 90 to 95% come in on Thursdays, so it's now a part of the planning, to have something on Thursday nights. It’s informal, relaxed and very enjoyable.

We want to keep our sick ones in our thoughts and prayers. Nick Paul is still out with both knees being replaced, also Nancy Kenny, a partial knee replacement; Phillip Rowe had a knee replacement; Elizabeth Baker had both knees replaced; Kay Hendrix had shoulder surgery; Mary Lee Marcus had 2 stints and a pacemaker, but was helping out as one of the co-hosts, so she is doing very well; Jackie Craig fell and broke her shoulder; Our treasurer Jenny Smith, was very much missed also this week, both she and Leon were out sick, they thought Leon had pneumonia, however, it was just a good case of the flu. I hope I did not miss anybody that was sick. We really miss you all, we have had an epidemic of knee replacements, you have got to keep those knees moving so they did get stiff on you. We hope everybody is recovering and will soon be able to come back home to us. We really miss you all.

Those attending this weekend: Almendarez, Andrews, Benton/Garner, Cassingham, Duke, Hebert, Herring, Hooks, Howard/Rice, Mann, Marcum, Murdock, Powers, Simerly, Tew, Thompson, Tillman/Wilson, Wales and Young. It was good to see the Manns back and they had a guest Juanuite NcManamay from Newport. Sonny & Terisa Futrell were guest of Sonny & Linda, their address is P.O. Box 53, Newport, N. C. 28570, e-mail saltyshores54@yahoo.com. They joined our club and I will get their phone numbers and birthdays. We also had Dain & Deborah Riley, 1708 Chatsworth Lane, Raleigh, N. C. 27615, e-mail - Driley2762@aol.com. They were guests of Jerry and Gaye and they also joined our club. Congratulations to our new members and welcome aboard, pick out someone you would like to co-hosts with, and the committee you want to be on for our 30th anniversary celebration in September. We also had Gaye's sister visiting with us, Sonja Carole Turner, P. O. Box 1512, Burgaw, N. C. 28425. We were so happy to have all of you there with us.

Friday night we had ice cream with lots of goodies to mix with it and celebrated St Pat's day a little early, lots of us wore green and we played word games.

Saturday, after breakfast, we had our regular scheduled meeting, We got started about 9:15 with our President, Jerry Young presiding. We discussed our 30th anniversary scheduled for September. We still need lots of volunteers, we would like each and every one of our Coastal Tarheels to have a little part in this big celebration. Those dates are September 11 - 14th at the Senator Bob Martin NC Agricultural Center in Williamston. If you wish to volunteer, please call Sharon Rice @ 252 223 4957. We already have the shirts on sale for the 30th anniversary and we will soon have pins for sale. We have been having a 50/50 raffle at each rally, this month Frances took up $100, the winner was Mary Lee Marcum who received $50 and the other $50 went toward our special fund for the expenses we will have for this big event. We have already collected a total of $2,373.00 to assist us with the expenses. Howards RV center has contributed $200. We have several RV centers that hopefully will participate. So far all that have been called have sounded very positive. If we collect enough money to cover all expenses with money left over, we will all get a refund.

They will not have the "Red Hatters" lunch at Gear in June, however, they are still going to have a ladies luncheon. So all of you ladies plan on attending. Call Alice Tew @ 910-846-3131 for additional information.

Our club will again be volunteers for coffee and donuts at the GEAR rally in June, We have a lot of fun and usually only have to work one morning during the rally, two mornings at the very most. As long as we have plenty of volunteers, its just one morning. Its fun, because you get to see people that you have met at other rally's, and meet new people.

Ortho Tew is a walking history book about our club, and the GEAR organization. He got up and gave us a lot of history about our club, It got started 30 years ago, which is why we are working so hard on our 30th anniversary in September. It was very interesting to hear how GEAR got started, this will be the 17th GEAR rally. Ortho is again running for the Eastern Area Vice President. He has made a very good representative for our club and we are sure that he will be re-elected. The first rally James and I attended was in Harringtion, De in 1994. We had gone up by ourselves, not part of any club. We have sure enjoyed being a member of this club, and I hope that all of the new members will get involved, co-hosting a monthly rally and helping at the GEAR rally. We met Jack and Barbara A., who just happen to live only 4 blocks away from us in Fayetteville. They are the ones that kept reminding us in Barbara's very sweet way that we needed to join their group. The fellowship, camaraderie, and friendships you make with this group will last you forever.

We will have games and 4 nights of entertainment at the GEAR rally. Jack Cassingham will be our race car driver, GO JACK. It will be held in Richmond. When we get our packets, it will have a lot of information for us and directions, etc., we also have to put a 8 1/2 x 11" paper with a large "V" in the window of the motor home, so the volunteers working the parking, will know where to direct us. It was a very informative meeting and it came to a close about 11:25. And as we always do when in Myrtle Beach, most of us headed to Camping World and the Bass pro shops, and all the other wonderful places to shop.

Our April rally will be held at the country estate of Mike and Sherry Lucas in Aberdeen. Their phone no is 910 944 7403. The dates are April 4th - 6th. Early birds will be welcomed on the 3rd, according to the sign up sheet, all but 2 will be coming in on Thursday. Just let them know. Hosting with Mike and Sherry will be the Frank and Dayne Crumpler, Paul and Vicki Simerly and James and Liz will be assisting as needed. We are really looking forward to this outing. It will be dry camping. For Thursday night, we will be having Chicken bog, slaw, seasoned green beans, rolls and dessert at 6:00 pm. Friday a.m. for breakfast at 8:30am we will have pancakes, bacon, juice and coffee. Friday dinner will be at 6:00pm with spaghetti, salad, rolls, desserts and tea. Saturday breakfast at 8:30am will be sausage and egg casserole, grits, toast, juice and coffee. Saturday dinner will be at 6:00pm - a pig pickin (the guys will be cooking that all day) with sweet potatoes, slaw, baked beans, hush puppies, banana pudding and tea. Sunday breakfast at 8:30am will be a continental breakfast followed by a time of devotion. If you have not tasted food before prepared by these ladies and gents, you are in for a real treat. The rally cost will be determined by the number attending. There is no charge for dry camping. I think it is wonderful that Mike and Sherry have opened up their grounds for us to have our rally there. He has plenty of room, so there is not a limit to the number of coaches.

The directions to get to their home is as follows: From I-95, take hwy 20 to Raeford, take hwy 211 west toward Aberdeen, approximately 14 miles. Turn left at the first stop light. There will be a convenient store on your left where you will turn on to Carolina Road. Go one mile to our driveway on the right-750 Carolina Road. There will be a sign.

From US hwy # 1, take Hwy 211 east in Aberdeen for approximately 2 miles. Turn right at the second stop light on to Carolina Road. Go one mile to our driveway on the right @ 750 Carolina Road. There will be a sign. If you get lost or need more directions call the cell phone # 910 215-6583.

The May Rally - May 2nd - 4th. will be at the KOA in Four Oaks, N. C. Call 800 562 5897 for reservations. Call Gaye or Jerry Young @ 919-632 2369 if you are planning to attend. Hosting will be the Youngs, Cassinghams, Kennys, Pauls, and the Wrights.

In June we will have our GEAR rally 5th - 8th. Register ASAP, lots of fun things, Gonzo Golf, Bean Bag Baseball, The Great Eastern Area Race between the chapters with our very own race car driver Jack Cassingham. The volunteers are requested to arrive on Monday, June 2nd (if possible). LOTS OF FUN GUYS AND DOLLS

In July the FMCA International rally will be held the 14th - 17th in St. Paul, Minn. For anyone that can go, it will be a wonderful trip.

In August - 8th - 10th, will be in Galax, Va at the Fiddlers Convention. We had a wonderful time last year. We will again be staying at the Deer Creek RV park, phone no 866 342 0300 Eugene and Irene Herring will be hosting. Phone No 910 865 5705 Other co-hosts will be announced.

September will be our 30th anniversary celebration rally, 11th - 14th. All Volunteers are encouraged to come in earlier. Call Larry or Sharon @ 252-223-4967.

We had happy dollars - $35 worth, with Mary Lee winning the 50/50 raffle of $50. Sherriff Irene got just a small number of offenders this time, yours truly was one of them, I did not have James to keep me straight that morning.

We had happy birthdays for Larry Howard and Gaye Young, we all sang so beautifully??? That not attending that had March birthdays are Nancy Barkalow, Steve Bates, Elaine Bodner, Howard Craig, Ray Craig, Ron Franck, Charlotte Kerr, Mike Lucas (Wilmington-Mike), Vivian MacDonald, Charlie McPherren, Robert Merrill,. Charlotte Ray, Sarah Wright.

March anniversaries were: Michael and Elaine Bodner, Doug and Jackie Craig, Ray and Carol Craig, Dick and Nancy Cupples, If any of you had been there, we could have sang to you all, now see what you missed!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed Easter holiday, be safe wherever you go. James and I have to drive early Sunday to Maryland for the funeral of his Aunt Jewel who passed away this past Tuesday. Pray for our safe journey and for each and every one that will be on the highways this weekend

Please let me know if there is anything you want to be put in the newsletter.

God Bless you all

Your secretary

Liz Wilson