NOVEMBER 2011

Volume31      No.4      www.socalgoodsam.org         samagram1@gmail.com
 

JAY’S CORNER: The story goes that change is good. Well, sometimes yes, sometimes no. Don Loschen, our great Wagon Master and his wife, Shirley, who has been our corresponding secretary, have retired from staff. They have served for 15 years. We thank them for their dedicated service. They were presented a plaque at last weekend’s State Committee Meeting and given our sincere thanks for a job well done. We are all very sorry that their health won’t let them continue. Howard Remsen will now be our State Wagon Master and Flora Strickland has agreed to be our corresponding secretary.
Also in the moving on vein: After several years of keeping the Sam-A-Gram alive and kicking, the publishing of the Sam-A-Gram will change hands after this issue. Dee & Jeanne Diederich and Marion Scott have worked hard to keep it a useful and informative tool for all of us in SoCal. Four years ago, the SAG was dead. No one wanted to take the reins. Dee, Jeanne, Marion and of course Lucy Huddy, stepped up, to keep our newsletter alive. Their tireless effort in keeping the paper going is truly appreciated. They have set a very high bar for Paul Bjornrud who has stepped up and volunteered to be our new Sam-A-Gram editor. There will surely be artistic input from Becky, his wife, too. A huge thank you goes to our
retiring SAG staff and our incoming editor.
Third in the big change category is the Winter State Committee Meeting. It’s no secret that attendance is down for the past couple of years. One of the main complaints has been the cost of attending. In an effort to keep the cost down we are moving to Lake Park in Elsinore. Another issue was having it in January. In
an effort to move to a more convenient date the State Committee meeting will be February 17th – 19th with an early bird day on the 16th . The sign-up sheet is part of this Sam-A-Gram. It will also be on our website www.socalgoodsam.org . I hope many more of our chapter presidents plan to attend. It’s important for them to be there and manage the business of The State.
Some things haven’t changed at all. Our 2011 Samboree was very successful. Good attendance and terrific participation are two huge reasons. For 2012 the 5th Wheelers will again be doing breakfast three mornings, The Sam’s Radio Hams and the Past Presidents will have evening meals too. All for nominal fees. It’s
great to be able to stay put and not have to run around for meals. Thank you to the cooking chapters!
A new thing for this year’s Samboree is going to be a cookie contest. It will be part of the arts and crafts show on Saturday morning. We ask that you prepare homemade cookies and have a dozen of them for display and judges sampling. Bring out your best cookie recipe. Have a printed recipe card with them and we will publish the winning recipes.
Our new Samboree Commercial Vendor Coordinator, Eric Kaminsky has big plans
working for 2012. More vendors, different items for sale and even an RV show if
plans work out.
Please join us for our planned events. We, your SoCal Staff, enjoy what
we do for you and the more people who attend, the merrier. Follow the
Yellow Brick Road to Lancaster in April. JAY

MINUTES of the    So. Cal. State Committee Meeting 
                             Golden Village Palms RV Resort
                             October 29, 2011

The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag was given, after whichthe meeting was called to order at 1:33 PM by StateDirector JoAnn Yett.
Introduction of Staff – All present except the Rudd’s, who were excused.
Minutes of the previous meeting, April 8, 2011, were read and a motion was made and seconded by Bill Lessard and Dennis Mihm to accept the minutes as read, and passed.
Roll call of Chapters found 16 present.
Financial reports: State Treasurer Rudd report given by Director Yett
                             Samboree Treasurer Report by Carmela Remsen, the April Samboree netted $6388.
                             State Store report by Flora Strickland
                             Sam-a-Gram report by Marion Scott
                             Door Prize report by Isabelle Kaminsky
A motion was made and seconded by Diane Koirth and Kerry Keener to accept the financial reports. Passed.
Staff expenses were reported and a motion was made and seconded by Peggy Van den Akker and Carl Geier to pay the Staff expenses.
2012 Samboree announcements: There will be an evening meal available on all four nights, chili on Wed.;
something by the Radio Hams on Thurs; picnic fare on Fri. Carnival night; and the BBQ’ed Tri Tip Dinner on Sat by Grillmaster extraordinaire Howard Remsen and crew!
Get the Chapter raffle or sales form and the Carnival night game form on the website or in the Sam-a-Gram.
Correspondence: Letters from Dee and Jeannie Diederich and Marion Scott on retiring from working on the Sam-a-Gram. November will be their last issue. Paul Bjornrud has accepted the position of Sam-a-Gram Editor.
Any member can receive the Sam-a-Gram, free of charge, by submitting their email address.
The Diederich’s and Marion Scott received a round of applause for their work for the Sam-a-Gram!
Good Sam changes-moving Headquarters to Kentucky from Ventura, changes to Highways magazine, Staff
volunteers at Camping World for Good Sam promotion. Explanation of Camping World button on our website, it refers you directly to the Camping World site and we get a small fee if any sales are recorded.
A plaque and much gratitude given to Don and Shirley Loschen fortheir many years of service as Staff members, upon their retirement.
Howard Remsen will take over as State Wagonmaster and Eric Kaminsky will take over the job of Commercial Vendor Coordinator at the Samboree.
Explanation of old radio problems and wanting to try out new Family band radios. Motion made and seconded by Carl Geier and Bill Lessard to shop for new Family band radios, not to exceed $500. We might be able sell old radios. Motion passed.
Explanation of Camping World, Good Sam promotion by Staff. A motion was made and seconded by Jessie
Hansen and Amy MacBride to buy Staff a red Good Sam T-shirt. Motion passed.
Explanation about condition of Sam-a-Gram printer and need for a new one. Motion made and seconded by Peggy Van den Akker and Diane Koirth to purchase a new suitable one. Motion passed.
A motion from the floor was made and seconded by Jessie Hansen and Frank Hughes to raise the Staff mileage reimbursement to $.75/mile, from $.50/mile. A lively discussion ensued, both pro and con. Including whether IRS would consider amount over standard deduction as income. Motion made and seconded to table original motion. Motion to table until next meeting passed 11 to 5, by a count of hands.
Brief discussion on banking and IRS practices.
Isabelle Kaminsky thanked the Chapters that donated to the Door Prize fund and asked for continued support from all Chapters.
Director Yett thanked the Fifth Wheelers for volunteering to fix breakfast three days at the upcoming Samboree and the Radio Hams for volunteering to do a dinner at the Samboree and the Past Presidents for also doing a dinner next year. And the Jewel Jipsies have volunteered to help by being on the Parking Crew. Along with the continued support of the Sequoia Sams manning the Trams. And the
continued support of the Rolling Singles with the Ice Cream Social. Thank you all.
Announcement of the Rally in Phoenix in March.
Request for more volunteers for Samboree.
Motion made and seconded by Frank Hughes and Peggy Van den Akker to adjourn. Motion passed.
There being no further business before the body, the
meeting was closed by Director Yett at 2:30 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Steven R. Graves, Recording Secretary 

CHAPTER NEWS


 

5th  WHEELERS

Pres: Carl Geier            Editor Carolyn Rayke
The September outing was held at Pismo Coast Village In Pismo Beach. Sunday, we arrived to a
foggy & cool afternoon. Several members were on long trips, so the group was smaller than usual. The
Geier’s & Pacatangs were the trailbosses and did an outstanding job at keeping us busy & entertained.
The theme for the campout was PATRIOTIC. All the decorations were in red, white and blue. We had a
coloring contest and turned them in before lunch. We had the birthday & anniversary lunch and had red,
white, & blue cupcakes and ice cream.
Remembering September 11, we went around the table & told what we were doing when we first heard
or saw the news and how it affected us personally. A few tears were shed as we reflected. After dinner we
played cards & games in the clubhouse. Tuesday many of us went on a tour of Madonna Inn. That
afternoon we had a treasure hunt in the clubhouse. Wednesday started off with a walk for cinnamon
rolls. We had a craft class and made safety pins beaded flags. Thursday we had our pancake break-
fast. Then we did a patriotic word search. The meeting was held after breakfast. Games were
played, then it was time for dinner, then more games.

CENTRAL COAST SAMS
President: Bob Garvin            Editor: Donna Lamphier

August was the great “Cowboy Campout” The clubhouse was decorated with checkered tablecloths
and little buckets with battery operated candles in them. After arrival the puzzle people set out a jigsaw
puzzle, the card players did their thing and the fellas gathered to spin their tales. After Happy Hour
Cowboy Card Bingo was played with Yahoo being called out by the winner. The winners were rewarded
with silver and gold nuggets (Chocolate, that is). Wednesday teams of 5 picked their cowboy kerchief
color and came up with as many uses for a kerchief as they could think of. 25 uses won the game. Later
on the team challenge was to lasso horses. Horses being soda bottles and rings for lassos. In 5 tries
apiece, the winning team lassoed 6 horses and received two bags of licorice ropes to share. Last but
not least, the team had to herd cattle. The cattle were balloons and with the use of the end of a broom
handle, fly swatter or cane they had to herd them from one side of the room into a pen on the other
side. The winners did it in 23 seconds. All of this was followed by a Pot Luck Chuck Wagon Banquet.
That evening we were given line dance lessons. Some of the group had to nerve to get up and give it a
try. In September twelve rigs gathered at Morro Dunes in Morro Bay. Once again we enjoyed our cards,
puzzles and talk and Happy Hour. Wednesday after a Continental Breakfast our Day Trippers set out on
their adventure. That afternoon Sherry and Ken set out a group of items for us to try to identify. We
also had a jar of Tootsie Rolls to guesstimate. There was a three-way tie for the “Name the Item” game
and the number of Tootsie Rolls was missed by one. Halloween was the theme for October at San Lorenzo
Park in King City. The tables were decorated with little Halloween flower pots our hostess had painted.
Along with the norm, our hosts had planned Bean Bag Baseball, a Halloween Trivia game and a word
game to see how many words can be made from “Halloween”. Along with Old Fashioned games like
Pick-up Sticks, Jacks, Old Maid and Checkers on Wednesday there was a tour of the History of
Irrigation Museum on the park grounds. After the meeting the table decorations were raffled off along
with 50/50. Fifteen rigs and one guest enjoyed this outing.