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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Past President Ralph & Linda Deline 519-354-0958
[email protected] President Sylvia Powers 416-626-3911
Vice President Terry & Faye Swanburg 519-621-2049 [email protected]
Recording Secretary Lyn Davie-Sparling 519-845-1976 [email protected] Corresponding Secretary Darlene Wiltsie 519-822-8175 [email protected]
Treasurer Jim & Jean Keenleyside 905-632-8080 [email protected]
Voting Delegates Rep. Dave & Marilyn Webster 519-576-0326 [email protected]
Provincial Directors Ralph & Linda Deline 519-354-0958
[email protected] REPRESENTATIVES Regional Directors Hugh & Camy Hicks 519-747-5125 [email protected] Unaffiliated Reps Vacant Chaplain Jim Stobbart 613-962-5663 [email protected]
August 2013—Volume 47 Number 3
Chartered August 23, 1965 S/PA6
AN AWARD WINNING NEWSLETTER!
YES - we are tooting our own horn BUT we are very proud of ALL of us who work to make this newsletter interesting, informative, entertaining and acces-sible for all.
Sorry - we only won second place BUT we were beaten just by four points. We’ll have to do better next time!
The newsletters are judged by three independent people with a background in publishing. We have learned a lot over the years. We are new at this job with no background in editing newsletters. All suggestions, by our readers, are gratefully received and thoughtfully contemplated. Sometimes, unknown to others, there is method in our madness!
Please keep sharing your camping adventures, your chapter’s outings and any information that might be useful to others.
In our next edition, you can look forward to an article about a trip to the Rose Parade, California, made by Sharon and Rudy Sandau. Perhaps YOU have a trip on your bucket list that you have checked off and are willing to share with others. We look forward to reading about it!
Lee & Celia Steels
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O.P.A. STANDING COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS
CAMP Charlotte Daly [email protected]
Campout Coordinators Earl Swan 519-623-2978
Conservation Carl & Linda Wood [email protected]
Crest & Decals West Bill & Charlotte Daly 519-586-9374 [email protected] East Vacant
Provincial DASAT Terry & Faye Swanburg 519-621-2049 [email protected]
Historian Earl Swan
Hospitality Vacant
Legislation Ontario and For CANADA Sylvia Powers 416-626-3911
Membership Marilyn & Wayne Rosenberger 3500 Chilligo Road, RR2, Breslau, Ontario N0B 1M0 519-648-2017 [email protected]
O.P.Action Editors Lee and Celia Steels 905-844-3059 [email protected]
O.P.Action Mailing Windsor Hobos
Parliamentarian Dave & Marilyn Webster 519-576-0326 [email protected]
Photography Donna Dykun [email protected]
Property Vacant
Scholarship Jean Bedford 519-756-3845 [email protected]
Sound & Prod. Ralph & Linda Deline
Teen Advisors Jason & Kim Welburn
613-924-2868
Web Site Diane [email protected]
Youth Vacant
SYBBIE'S SYNOPTIC
It has been good camping weather for the most part. I hope that the exten-sive flooding in late June did not devastate too many of you! I know many homes in my neighbourhood were affected – the aftermath (reconstruction for some) is still on going! For those of us who were unable to attend “ECHO”, the FALL OPA will be our opportunity to get together again. I hope most of you will attend. There is a good programme planned! Please drop me a note, email or snail- mail, if you have any suggestions or queries, at any time! THIS IS OUR OR-GANIZATION. Let’s show our PRIDE and SUPPORT! See you August 30 – September 02 in Fergus!
Sylvia V Powers,
OPA President,
Family Campers & RVers
KEEP SAVING THOSE TABS
Ontario was recognized at national for having collected more pop can tabs than any other states and provinces combined. The total they announced as having been handed over to the Ronald McDonald House did not include the money Ontario handed over to Camp Bucko here in Ontario.
The total collected for campvention was 901 pounds. Ontario col-lected 1273 pounds or 579 kilograms for Camp Bucko.
Keep collecting those tabs. Approximately 293 pounds were col-lected at Spring OPA for about 618 pounds for the year. The funds from the tabs will continue to be donated to Camp Bucko, a camp for kids with severe burns.
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ONTARIO PROVINCIAL DIRECTOR’S REPORT
August, 2013 Well, here we are back doing a column for OPAction again, but in a new position. This position is completely new to us, but we know we have good members to help us with this work and it is nice to change hats and learn something from a new perspective. So, we will learn together. (Plus, we know where Hugh and Camy live!)
Campvention this year was different in that it was only 5 days long, which did not allow for as much visiting, but was just as much fun. It is going to take a couple of years to get things running smoothly. Ontario had a good turnout. In the parade awards department we received Best State/Provincial Float, and the Meandering Mohawks received the Best Chapter award.
A big THANK YOU to Mort and Louise Amell for heading up our hospitality, which was a drink and maple leaf cookies. They do love our maple leaf cookies! Good show and thanks to all for your help.
Next year (2014) Ontario is hosting Region 7 Regional Campout at NET Camping in the St. Cath-erine’s area, close to Niagara Falls. They now have 50 new sites with 50Amp, 30Amp and 20Amp on each site...and they are BIG sites...with sewer on each...full service for all! You can view the campground at www.netcampingresort.com.
We have begun the planning for this, but we will need more help. We know we can count on you when we ask. This is going to be a very busy year.
One of the biggest problems we have is the distance this great province of ours has between the Eastern end and the Western end. It wouldn’t be so bad except for...TORONTO! We just can’t seem to get beyond that dividing point. However, speaking from personal experience, you are missing out on a great deal of fun if you do not visit the ‘other’ half of Ontario. I know traffic is busy, but the ex-tra time is worth it when you meet the people! Please, please consider joining in on the fun with campouts throughout the province. Now, if we can just get gas prices down!
We are looking forward to the new opportunities coming our way, and seeing all of you at campouts! Till then, God bless.
Ralph and Linda Deline Ontario Provincial Directors Come Camp With Us
Ralph Deline, Marilyn Stobbart and Linda Deline
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CANADIAN REGIONAL DIRECTOR’S REPORT We enjoyed another great Campvention, this one in the Amana Colonies in Iowa. We escorted a small caravan of Canadian families who gathered in Port Huron Michigan at a local campground, to travel west with us. We started off with about eight families and picked up a Michigan family on our way through Flint, and then met more On-tario families at our overnight stop in Geneseo, Illinois. On our last travel day we stopped about six miles from the Campvention site to “Canada Up” our RVs for our grand entrance onto the site. We had about fourteen units, including a couple of units from North Carolina who joined in our group for the last two miles into Campven-tion.
We were quickly registered and escorted to our sites. We were fortunate to be located at the edge of the camping area where we could get lots of air moving around our units, but we were still very close to the main building where most of the activities took place. Our site could have accommodated an-other two units, it was so big, and 50 amp power to boot.
We were treated to an air show during our first day on site as the local crop dusting airplanes were busy over the fields adjacent to the campground. They flew very close to the ground and we were able to wave at the pilots as they circled over the campground.
We want to thank the Region for a truly great Campvention and we really enjoyed the air conditioned buildings, as we picked a period when the local temperatures were ten degrees above the normal temperatures for that time of the year. We had good weather for the whole time we were in the Colo-nies.
We want to acknowledge two very moving events at this Campvention. On the night before the offi-cial opening, there was a memorial service next to a corn field, to remember four FCRV members who had worked on organizing committees for Campvention, but who had passed away before it started. One of these members was Eldon Sellers who was a Past National President and Chairman for Campvention 2013. As part of the short service, they lit up four small hot air balloons and re-leased them to fly above the campground.
The second special moment for us was to see a past National Teen Queen, the Reverend Stepha-
nie Hill from Kansas, deliver the church sermon and a past state Teen Queen Heather Borton, lead
the choir for the church service. Stephanie gave a very moving sermon which touched on her experi-
ences as a National Teen Queen and her every day problems she has due to her medical problems.
For those of you who do not know Stephanie, in the year after she became our National teen Queen
in 2003, she was diagnosed with Lupus. She has had to deal with severe medical problems ever
since she was diagnosed, and she used these experiences as part of her sermon. There was not a
dry eye in the building by the time she finished her sermon. We can honestly say it was the first time
that Hugh had ever hugged and kissed a Reverend!
Continued on page 5.
Hugh and Camy Hicks New Region 7 Regional Directors
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CANADIAN REGIONAL DIRECTOR’S REPORT
2 Yorkville Pulse Speakers, 8 Ohms, 250 Watts 29in X 22in X 17in 2 Yorkville Traynor Speakers, 8 Ohms, 250 Watts 29in X 23in X 17 in 2 Yorkville Traynor Speakers, 8 Ohms, 44in X 12in X 11in 2 Cone outdoor speakers, 24in 8 Ohms 2 Cone outdoor speakers, 24in 16 Ohms 2 cone outdoor speakers, 12in 8Ohms JVC Tape deck KD VR 320
The sound equipment has not been used for a long time. We are offering the equipment to chapters free of charge. Any equipment still in my care by Sept 1, 2013 will be put up for sale with the funds going to OPA.
Ralph Deline, 519-354-0958 [email protected]
FREE OPA SOUND EQUIPMENT
Continued from page 4.
Our members took advantage of off hours to visit the local attractions including one family who ven-
tured off to visit “The Field of Dreams” which was about two hours away. The local stores did very
well with our members stocking up on items you only find in these local small specialty stores. Many
visits were made to the bakeries, cheese stores, meat stores and maybe even a couple of wineries
and one brewery. We were assured that the “wifi” at the “Brewery Patio” was the very best in town.
The “wifi” at the campground was overcrowded and very slow most of the time and most people
waited till late at night or very early in the morning to make use of the internet.
Did we mention that Iowa grows a lot of corn??? Yes local fields seem to stretch as far as the eye could see and it was obvious that corn was a very important local crop. On our way back to Ontario we stayed two nights in Elkhart Indiana, which is the RV Capital of the US. We again toured around to see the RV Museum as well as the many local RV manufacturing plants. Also many of us took the opportunity to tour some of the local RV surplus stores. On another note, there were beautiful quilt stores as we were adjacent to the Amish communities. We want to take this opportunity to discuss having a Road Service for your RV. On our way home from Iowa, we stopped for lunch at a rest stop along with another Ontario member who was travel-ling with us. When we went to leave, nothing happened when I turned the key. Oops?? We checked all the regular items such as fuses, but no luck. We had another FCRV family show up and they too had their theories. Still, no luck. Finally after one hour, we called our Road Service provider and within 45 minutes they had a mobile mechanic on site. He worked for about 45 minutes to find a bad connection between the battery and the fuse box. The fix took one minute after he found the prob-lem. We were fortunate enough to have the Road Service because they found this mobile mechanic and paid for him to come to the spot where we were parked. We did pay him $150 for his hour of work which I think was a bargain, because otherwise we would have been towed to a Ford Dealer late on a Friday afternoon and we probably would have spent the weekend there. Any way we were very happy we had the road service and just as happy that close FCRV friends waited with us at the rest stop to make sure we would get on the way. Thanks to Terry and Faye. Hugh and Camy Hicks New Region 7 Regional Directors
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NEW CADET PROGRAMME Cadet Contest 2013-2014
Family Campers and RVers needs your help and we’re willing to pay for it. We are issuing a chal-lenge to ALL FCRV members to recruit the most cadets and new paid members from April 1, 2013 to April 1 2014. Winners will win cash prizes and bragging rights.
The contest runs like this:
From April 1st
, 2013 to September 30th
, 2013, hand out and mentor as many Cadet Memberships as you can to potential members. Cadet Certificates will be in the hands of the FCRV Trustees, Ex-ecutive Board, State & Provincial Directors, as well as the Field Directors to give you easier access to the Cadet Certificates. After you turn in three Cadet Memberships you will receive a $5 FCRV merchandise certificate and an entry into a regional drawing for a $100 gift card. Receive an addi-tional $5 merchandise certificate (Max. $30) and entry into the regional drawing for each Cadet Membership after that. Merchandise certificates can be used for FCRV merchandise or can be used towards your Campvention fees. The drawing for the $100 gift card will take place in each region in October.
From October 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014, mentor your ca-dets and turn these Cadet Members into PAID Mem-bers. The person that converts the most Cadet members into paid Family Campers and RVers members will receive $500 cash. If you are attending Campvention 2014, your prize will be upgraded and you will receive an ADDITIONAL $250 and FREE Campvention 2014 registration. If you would like to experience the beautiful state of Vermont in July, an upgrade would be outstanding.
Who will be the big winner?
CHAPTER SCRAPBOOKS
NOW IS THE TIME to be thinking of making a Chapter Scrapbook to enter in the next year’s provin-cial contest. Collect pictures of your chapter’s outings, your good works, newspaper articles.
Let’s give those Wandering Canadians some competition!
7
INSPIRATIONAL STORIES FROM CAMPVENTION
Campvention in Iowa was an inspiration to many people in many different ways. We were treated to some unique history of the Amana Colonies. The Teen Queen pageant and talent show was full of inspirational stories. There was a very special message in store for those folks lucky enough to be at the Sunday worship service.
Marian and Dave Warrington in World’s Largest Rocker Cyclists start their 39 mile ride from MILLSTREAM
THE AMANA INSPIRATIONISTS The Amana Colonies get their name from The Song of Solomon 4:8 in the Bible . AMANA means TO REMAIN TRUE. The original followers of the pacifist movement were know as INSPIRATION-ISTS and they moved from Germany to near Buffalo, New York in 1842. Using a COMMUNAL sys-tem, they purchased 26 000 acres in Iowa and established the colonies, Amana, Middle Amana, West Amana, South Amana , High Amana and East Amana. They purchased Homestead in 1861 to make it a lucky number … SEVEN villages. The communal way lasted until 1932 when the GREAT CHANGE allowed for more opportunity. Following the great change many new businesses were es-tablished including the AMANA APPLIANCES now owned by Whirlpool. Today the Amana Society farms the land and operates many businesses.
Ackerman Winery in the Village of Amana The Amana Furniture Shop in Amana
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INSPIRATIONAL STORIES FROM CAMPVENTION
SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE INSPIRATION
The music, led by Heather Borton, a former state Teen Queen from Iowa, was fun to sing and the tunes were catchy. The message was delivered by Rev. Stephanie Hill, our own National Teen Queen 2003-2004. I personally found her message to be the most inspirational I’ve ever heard at Campvention. Stephanie told us about her struggles with a debilitating disease, LUPUS. There were times she wanted to give up but her faith ga ve her strength. She kept encouraging us to: KEEP ON KEEPING ON !!!! What a fantastic inspiration Stephanie is to all of us.
Stephanie’s timely message is wonderfully illustrated by our Campvention Chairperson , Glenda Sellers, who showed us what great courage means. Glenda is keeping on as a tribute to her hus-band, Eldon, who’s untimely death last December was a shock to all our FCRV family. (Please see the March issue of Camping Today pages 22 and 23 for Elton Remembered.) Ed. Note: Eldon was the FCRV President when we joined in 2006.
Co-editor Lee Steels with Reverend Stephanie Hill
CAMPVENTION: THE TEEN QUEEN INSPIRISTS
The stories of our Teen Queens are always interesting and this years participants in the FCRV Teen Queen Pageant are particularly inspiring. I had the privilege of attending the talent show on Tuesday afternoon. All the performers were great but two in particular stood out in my mind. Abigail Moats of Iowa played a Weber clarinet sonata. Her performance was a flawless display of talent. WOW!
I was no less touched by the singing of the eventual 2013 Miss FCRV, Hannah Robb of Kansas, who sang an opera aria with a purity of tone that belied her age. What an inspirational performance!
Abigail Moats from IOWA plays the clarinet. Miss 2013 FCRV, Hannah Robb from KANSAS, and her court
Shari and Dave give Glenda her citation
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CAMPVENTION ... Heart of the Heartland
Lilly Lake across the road from the Amana RV Park Jack Smye ready for the dunk tank at the Sunday family fun
Heart of the Heartland, Campvention 2013, was dedicated to the memory of Eldon Sellers, our na-tional president 2004-2008. Held July 13 to July 19 in the Amana RV park, this years Campvention was a busy week filled with fun. The sites were large and our Meandering Mohawks arrived just after noon on Friday after a week-long caravan through Ohio and Indiana. We were parked in an area just down from the main building.
The surrounding Amana colonies consists of seven villages and rolling farmland. Across the road from our park was a large lake full of lilies. Amana was a short distance from the site and there was a bike path from the site around the lake to Amana, a proper village with lots of neat businesses. (The Millstream Microbrewery has two very strong beers at 7.3 % and 9.8 %. WOW!)
On Saturday night we were entertained by the Good News Gospel Quartet. The main building was air conditioned and had an excellent stage with outstanding sound system and lighting.
Sunday saw the opening ceremonies and an inspiring interdenominational church service. The after-noon lunch was supplied by the teens, followed by a family fun day. Both our president Dave and past president Jack ended up in the dunk tank. Hooray!
10
Shari Weber and Dave Ludwig present Jean and Jim Keenleyside with their citation for outstanding service to FCRV.
After the awards ceremony, we were treated to one of the best entertainers ever to grace the Campvention stage. John Sager from Branson, MO sang a wide variety of music including country, gospel and contemporary. He could sing Elvis and Josh Groban and did so while romancing the la-dies in the crowd. The sound system allowed John to move through the audience while he crooned the tunes. Amazing! In the second set, John asked for volunteers and three of our finest from Ontario quickly jumped up. We would have been unanimous but I just wasn’t as quick as a fellow camper from Michigan. Our heroes went back stage and after a couple of songs they came out dressed up as only our boys can get dressed up. Our heroes then helped John sing YMCA. See if you can identify our three Ontario assistants and send us an email at [email protected]. (First correct answer wins a PRIZE!)
Sunday evening turned out to be even more ex-citing, thanks to an awards ceremony which saw our own Jean and Jim Keenleyside, of the Me-
andering Mohawks, awarded a citation for outstanding ser-vice to FCRV. This was the first of many honours On-tario campers were to receive during the week.
John Sager appears to have the heart in his hand!
11
T
Monday, July 15 was another busy day in Heart of the Heartland. We went on the C.A.M.P. bike ride around Lilly lake, through Amana and back to the RV park. There were lots of excellent seminars and I was lucky to attend one on producing business cards. Vickie Roop, our FCRV Website Editor, presented an excellent workshop and we finished by printing out our cards. Hooray!
The Trustees put on their hospitality in the afternoon and in the evening we were entertained by the Brett Family from Branson.
Tuesday, July 16 began with another bike ride and the teen talent show and Miss FCRV pageant were the big events of the day.
A very talented group of ladies entertained us Tuesday afternoon in preparation for their evening pageant.
After the ladies entertained, it was time for the ONTARIO hospitality. Hooray for us!
12
HEART OF THE HEARTHLAND … FCRV PARADE
The Skillings enjoy carrying the flags! Jack and Shari all dressed up in their Amana garb
Miss FCRV and her Court love to ride and float! The TWINS carry the Penn State Association banner
ONTARIO
13
CHAPTER NEWS ECHO 2013 CAMPOUT
ECHO 2013 was held at Rideau Acres, Kingston, Ontario. We had 53 families, good hospitalities and a great time was had by all!
The winner of Little Miss ECHO 2013 was Claire Rosenber-ger and the winner of Little Sir ECHO was Barret (Parsley) Jackson. Olivia Honasan was the first runner up. All gave a great performance and thrilled the audience!
Submitted by Bill Matier
MEANDERING MOHAWKS
Campvention is a wonderful opportunity to see more of our own country and that of the United States. Six families of the Meandering Mohawks spent a week touring places in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois before arriving at Campvention.
Our first stop was Punderson State Park. From here we toured the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. The Tall Ships were also docked in the same area. Cleveland has many sites along the waterfront with lots of parking – even for a big red truck with a dually rear end!
Our second stop was Dayton, Ohio. From here we visited the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. It was extremely interesting – from bi-planes to rocket ships. One could spend a week here! Our third stop was Indianapolis, Indiana. Some of us toured the Hall of Fame Museum at the Indian-apolis Motor Speedway. Others toured downtown Indianapolis.
Our final stop was one night at Galesburg East (a FCRV affiliated campground), Knoxville, Illinois where many enjoyed the pool and did laundry before heading to Campvention.
All along the way, we shared our experiences at happy hour and it was a wonderful opportunity to get to know everyone better.
We look forward to Campvention 2014 in Vermont and hope more of our chapter members will join
us. There are wonderful sites to see and good camping along the way, both in Canada and the USA!
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Air Force Museum
A Driver & His Love
Galesburg East Campground
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CHAPTER NEWS Oxford Rovers - Come & Relax Campout
The Oxford Rovers from Woodstock hosted their annual Come and Relax Campout on June 14, 15, 16 2013 at the Dorchester Fairgrounds. After everyone was registered and parked on Friday eve-ning, we enjoyed a rousing game of Card Bingo with laughter, squeals and stealing of gifts. This was followed by hospitality of homemade goodies and a friendly campfire.
Bright and early Saturday morning, the breakfast crew was busy preparing a delicious bacon and egg breakfast. Trails End Market was a favourite spot for many to visit in the morning. The horse-shoe winners were Cheryle McQuiggan and Jerry Finkbeiner for 1st and Reg Laurin and Bob Neutel for 2nd. Several lucky campers were able to win a draw prize. In the afternoon, a large group joined in the washer toss game ending with the winners being Connie Skillings and Paul McQuiggan for 1st and Gladys and Vicki Kellam for 2nd. Once again our famous strawberry sundaes disappeared in a hurry. This year we had a special feature - at 5pm everyone gathered at the shelter for "Soup By Marion". Chicken soup, like no other, was made by one of our own Rovers! In the evening we held our penny sale followed by pie irons, hospitality and campfire.
Sunday morning the campers enjoyed a sausage and pancake breakfast prepared by our cooking crew once again. Our church service was led by Gerry Neutel. Her message was very inspirational and thought provoking. The church offering went to the Sakura House in Woodstock. Following the service, Earl Swan presented the Oxford Rovers with their 45th Anniversary certificate. We thank all for attending and hope to see you next year.
CONGRATULATIONS...
The Oxford Rovers received their 45 year certificate at their Come & Relax Campout. The Rovers were chartered in 1969 with Field Directors, Gord and Leona Parker from London, with John and Betty Kila becoming Field Directors shortly after.
The Oxford Rovers have been a very active chapter for the past 45 years with NCHA/FCRV. The Rovers still have two charter families active in the chapter, Orwell, Doreen and Denise Bond and Jack and Ethel Boden.
For 25 years the Oxford Rovers had a sister chapter from Michigan called the Robin Hood Rovers. These two chapters camped together twice a year for the twenty-five years. Loveable Valley was a favourite spot for the Rovers to camp and hosted many campouts on this property. Their campfires were always big and created attention from passing motorists.
For ten years the Rovers hosted their Chilly Willy in February. This was always a fun time for snow-mobiling, log sawing and enjoying winter camping. The Oxford Rovers have helped host many Spring and Fall OPA campouts over the years. Family Campers & RVer's has been a big part of the lives of the Oxford Rovers from Woodstock.
Submitted by Carol Anderson
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HEAR YE … HEAR YE
August 30, 2013 - September 2, 2013
FALL OPA
Hosted by Wandering Canadians & Friends 550 Belsyde St, Fergus, On pre-registration $15 till August 23, after $20, Ac-tivity fee $110, make cheques payable to Fall OPA; send to Marilyn Rosenberger, 3500 Chil-ligo Rd., RR #2, Breslau, ON, N0B 1M0 To assist at the campout, please contact Earl Swan at [email protected] OR David Webster at [email protected] Gates open at 9am
September 6, 2013 - September 8, 2013
FORMAL CAMPOUT
Hosted by Kamping Kangaroos Friday pea soup hospitality, Saturday games, evening supper of roast beef, vegetables & des-sert $15 & family $35, entertainment, Sunday service followed by hot dog lunch Alexandria Island Park, in center of Alexandria, ON Preregistration: $10 until August 15; At gate reg-istration $15; Make cheque payable to: Kangaroo’s formal 2013 & send to Ann Vachon, P.O.Box 585, North Lancaster, ON K0C 1Z0
September 13, 2013 - September 15, 2013
CORN COBB
Hosted by Ontario Fire Flies Campfires, casino night, hospitality, corn on cob, Sunday breakfast, games, bingo, grocery roll Rideau Acres, 1014 Cunningham Road, King-ston, ON Preregistration: $10; At gate registration $15; camping fee $70 (includes 2 way hookups with dump facilities available); Make cheque payable to Ontario Fire Flies and send to: Roy Kemsley, 68 Hwy 33, Trenton ON, K8V 5P6
September 20, 2013 - September 22, 2013
MICHIGAN STATE FALL CAMPOUT
Hosted by Tails-a-Wagon , “Fall into the Fifties” Covenant Hills Campground Otisville, Michigan, Fees include: $25 activity fee and $12 a night camping fee (Friday and Saturday); To register, please go to www.mifcrv.org for the form
September 13, 2013 - September 15, 2013
BLUE WATER DISTRICT MIXER
eastern Michigan fairgrounds, Imlay City, Michi-gan. Fees are: $10 registration fee, $30 camp-ing fee for a total of $40 US; See www.mifcrv.org for the registration form; Rocky Lumley, 810-329-3455, [email protected]
August 10 - August 14, 2014
REGIONAL CAMPOUT
at NET CAMPING RESORT, Pelham Ontario Mark it on next year’s calendar. More information to follow.
Bring your own telescope to REGIONAL. I hear the star gazing in the Niagara region is
amazing!
16
CONSERVATION CONVERSATION My wife Lynda and I have recently taken on the role of Conservation Directors. We have been in-volved with FCRV for about 10 years; involved with conservation for about the same period of time. We believe that Conservation is an integral part of what makes FCRV successful. We plan to bring a heightened focus to as many Conservation activities as possible. Over the coming months, we will be putting articles in the OP Action publication and posting information about conservation on the OPA web site.
We believe that there are many more Conservation activities ongoing across this province by both individual FCRV members and by chapters than we have traditionally heard about. We invite every member to take a minute to reflect on what Conservation means and how they have been or could be contributing. We further invite all of you, again both individuals and chapters to email us at [email protected] with a description of what is going on in your end of the world, send pictures to help the readers visually see what you have done or plan to do. We will gather these contributions together and incorporate them in this section of OP Action. We have titled it ‘Conservation Conver-sation’ because that is what we want to have, Conversations about Conservation across the Prov-ince and at all chapter meetings.
In future publications, we will be outlining the information which is available to us through head of-fice. This includes the criteria for poster and essay contests; criteria for the Conservation Awards that are presented each year in both this province and within FCRV; explanation of the role of Con-servation in the FCRV mandate.
We will be clarifying the criteria for earning our provincial Conservation awards: the Conservation Council of Ontario Trophy; the Ontario 4-R Recycling Award; and the Conservation Oak Award. We ask every chapter to send us a contact email address, so that we can make direct contact with each of your groups.
Our hope is that by increasing the understanding of the rules for participation in Conservation Con-tests and awareness of the criteria to earn one of these prestigious Conservation Awards, more members will take the opportunity to enter Conservation Contests and apply for one or more of the Conservation Awards.
Don’t forget to send me your thoughts and Conservation stories. We look forward to getting a buzz going about Conservation and show all of FCRV how Ontarians get the job done! Carl & Lynda Wood [email protected]
17
NCHA CANADA reaches 50 year milestone!
Independent members of NCHA since 1955, my late husband George, Dean and Sidney (our 3 and 2 year old sons) and I attended our first of many National events in 1962. With our car topper unit, we went to Indian Falls Lake, near Batavia, New York to the NCHA Convention. It was the second CAMPING convention, 1960 being a hotel conference. Someone there suggested campers should meet in campground and 196l was held in the Ozarks. Some 1160 families came to Indian Falls Lake.
Other Ontario attendees were Ontario's Harold and Phyllis Moss, with Marilyn and Wally, and Helen Boaz and Pamela Boaz of Kitchener. Some National members wore a simple red beret as club ID and several clubs sported chapter identification with special head gear. One New York chapter had battery operated "Christmas type" lights running around their berets. Apple Pushers added leaves to their berets etc. We were impressed! Groups provided campfire entertainment. Hospitalities were prepared by the host New York State, as well as Alabama. The New York organization was well de-veloped as the founding took place there. We met and made friends with members who remain friends today. Richard and Vera Randall, Fiddler's Green chapter, come to mind as they have a let-ter in this month's Camping Today.
Not to be outdone, Phyllis, Helen and I went shopping for material to create Canadian identification: our own head gear. We soon recognized Helen Boaz's artistic talent. She could pick any piece of fabric, fold and fashion it into a variety of hat. Settling on foam backed place mats, Helen shaped them, Phyllis sewed the seams, and Noreen painted CANADA down the front and maple leaves on the sides. Suddenly our "9" were a Canadian contingent and we even had newspaper coverage! With some 5,000 people attending a campfire program, only a small minority had lawn chairs. Most of us sat on blankets on the ground. A store in Hamburg NY, advertised a great sale of chairs, and soon most of the camp were using lawn chairs. We purchased chairs in Hamburg which served us through over 40 "Campventions" as Nationals were labeled a few years later.
Our first camping convention had us all hooked. Phyllis and Harold Moss contacted the office for the names and addresses of members in Canada. They organized a meeting in January 1963 at a North York Library for all members. The meeting was directed by the New York State Directors, Jerry and Fay Bayer, along with National Director Lou Helwig. A decision was made to form a chapter and the first chapter in Ontario was born. It was a Toronto chapter, as Toronto members were able to fill chapter offices. TOR-CAN BEAVERS, the first chapter was named by Noreen Smith, with Fred Bar-rett designing the logo. Members from surrounding cities belonged to TOR-CAN until areas grew enough membership to begin local chapters. From this new growth came activity in Quebec and Nova Scotia. Each of these had one chapter previously but had not continued. 1963 was the right time and the organization continued.
Bill and Margaret Robb (Weston) acted as both Provincial and Regional Directors until 1965. Work-ing hard they travelled south western Ontario. Field Directors were Earl and Elsie Latter (Toronto area), Mac and Ellen Reid (Hamilton area), and George and Noreen Smith, West and North of Reid`s district (which stretched over a large territory). All worked hard and by 1965 there were 13 chapters and more forming when new directors were appointed in 1965. Roy and Marilyn Williamson were appointed Regional Directors, Norm and Betty Demeray were appointed Ontario Provincial Di-rectors. Ontario OPA was chartered in 1965 as well. First OPA President were Horace and Dora Hough of Hamilton.
Our Association and successive Provincial Directors have led us well. In 1971, with Harold and
Phyllis Moss serving as Provincial Directors, they chaired the First International NCHA Campvention
where we hosted over 7,000 families at Brant Park in Brantford. Ontario.
Continued on page 18.
SOME NCHA/FAMILY CAMPERS & RVers HISTORY
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ONTARIO AWARDS
Now is the time to think about nominating one of your camping friends for next year. Deadline is Feb. 28, 2014. All nominations are to be sent to the OPA Corresponding Secretary (See page 1 of OPAction for name and information). AWARDS: the Merit Award, Chapter of the Year Award, the Carling Award, the Harold Wilson Me-morial Award, Provincial Director’s Award Forms can be sent at any time. You don't have to wait until Feb. 2014. If anyone needs a copy of the Award nominations form, look on-line at the OPA website (found near the bottom of the ABOUT US page), contact any member of the OPA Board or email [email protected]
LET'S HAVE LOTS OF NOMINATIONS NEXT YEAR.
NCHA/FCRV HISTORY Continued from page 17. Hank and Barbara Nathan took part with their daughter Suzanne, who was a toddler. Over 3,000 preteens were looked after and entertained by Helen and Pamela Boaz, and a large committee of helpers. The first and only Youth Parade was held on the grounds at Brant with Hank Nathan march-ing in front of hundreds of little campers. Our famed Bobo-the-Clown organized all the clowns and had a fund raiser with kids saving pennies. Aimed at providing a wheelchair for Sick Children's Hos-pital, they came up with enough for TWO chairs for Hamilton Sick Children’s, TWO for Guelph Hos-pital, ONE for Brantford, and a motorized chair for a little boy from a US chapter. Can you picture the steering committee counting up all those pennies?
Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick also had growth of several chapters and formed provin-cial associations. All provinces had members: British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba each had one chapter at one time. However, being so far from neighbours in Canada, they participated across bor-der with US chapters in most cases rather than across mountains, or the Great Lakes.
Like all of National, membership has declined, but Family Campers and RVers are still active in Can-ada. LET US CELEBRATE 50 wonderful years of NCHA/Family Campers.
It is necessary to make a special mention of Roy and Marilyn Williamson, Hamilton, who served 31 years as Canada's Regional Direc-tors from 1965-1996. Still active they have served as Committee leaders at all six Nation-als held in Canada: 1971, 1979, 1986, 1999, 2006, 2012. They are the ONLY family to have accomplished that feat. Congratulations and a big thank you to them. Submitted by Noreen Smith
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Thought of the DAY
"There is only one way to avoid criticism:
do nothing, say nothing, be nothing!”
(Aristotle)
O.P.A. WEBSITE
We have a new, easy to use website. Just google opa fcrv or fcrv opa and it will ap-pear as Ontario Provincial Association .
The OPA website can keep you up to date on what’s going on: lists of campouts with registration forms listed by the month, the OPAction newsletter with news from our president, provincial director and regional director, and news bulletins. Contest awards, forms and rules can be found on the ABOUT US page. Be sure to scroll down.
It’s also a great place for YOU to let others know what campouts you are organizing and how they may join you.
Contact Diane Proper at
CHAPTER NEWS
We welcome chapter news, and hope you will send pictures and
descriptions of your camping experiences to share with others.
Please email written material as WORD documents.
DEADLINES FOR PUBLICATION ARE: March 4, June 14, August 14, November 10
Upcoming Meeting
O.P.A. BOARD MEETING August 31, 2013
O.P.A. VOTING DELEGATES MEETING September 1, 2013
Fergus, Ontario
Meeting to start at 1:00 PM.
READING OPActions
Some OPA members have opted to receive their OPActions electronically. If you wish to view this newsletter online rather than hav-ing it mailed, please email Wayne & Marilyn Rosenberger at [email protected] to inform them.
GOOD NEWS for print readers... The Windsor Hobos are taking over the mail-ing of the OPAction!
Marg and Bill Henderson have stepped down and deserve a big thank you for their dedica-tion to a difficult and time consuming task.
Please make sure that membership has your correct address and correct email address.
Marilyn & Wayne Rosenberger 3500 Chilligo Road, RR2, Breslau, Ontario N0B 1M0 519-648-2017
If for ANY REASON you do not wish to re-ceive the OPAction, please let the Rosen-bergers know.
It gets great gas mileage!
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2013 FALL OPA CAMPOUT
FERGUS COMMUNITY CENTER 550 BELSYDE STREET FERGUS ON. AUGUST 30 -SEPTEMBER 2
“COME CAMP WITH US”
HOSTED BY WANDERING CANADIANS AND FRIENDS
PREREGISTRATION: $15.00 by August 23 AT GATE $ 20.00
ACTIVITY FEE $110.00 (Includes HST )
Gates open at 9 AM, Friday, Aug.30
Make cheques payable to: “2013 FALL OPA”
Send registrations to: Marilyn Rosenberger 3500 Chilligo Rd. RR#2
Name:__________________________________________ Address___________________________________ City______________________________ Prov/State________________ Postal / Zip Code_______________Email_______ Chapter you wish to park with:_____________________________ Handicapped: Y____N______ Project Table_______________ # Adults______ # Teens______ # Youth______ Motorhome_____Tralier- 5th Wheel______ Tent________
Breslau On. N0B 1M0
