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2015 Annual Reports

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

December 2015

NWTFC continues to have a robust membership and an active calendar.  We realize the uniqueness of the Trek motorhome gives identity to the club and a cachet to new members.  There is still not a premium short coach on the market that meets the needs of the motorhome public like a Trek.  Our membership continues to be around 64 because we meet the needs of our members and continually attract those who have discovered the Trek.

It is important to have materials that promote NWTFC and encourage new members to participate.  The website, newsletter, and now a brochure about the club are all resources for members to use.

2015 began with some improvements to our operating procedures.  Financial guidelines were adopted so standardized financial procedures and practices could give greater confidence to the membership.  Revised rally guidelines were adopted to clarify rally procedures for wagon masters.  A key goal was adopted:

A goal of NWTFC is to have at least three rallies a year (one of which may be a pre-rally to an FMCA event).  The objective is to spread rallies among spring, summer, and fall and distribute rallies among the various geographic areas served by NWTFC.  An annual rally calendar is to be established and published by March each year.

A list of rally mentors was established.  These are experienced wagon masters who can come alongside new wagon masters and provide assistance and counsel.  An effort has been made to have two couples serve together as wagon masters. A rally planning packet of helpful tools was also put together.  All of this was done so that the task of planning a rally could be more easily accomplished and not seem overwhelming to new wagon masters.  As a club we want to see more people involved.

Four rallies were held in 2015.  Spring in the Yamhill Valley with Ken and Helen Anderson and Steve Webber-Plank was held at McMinville with a visit to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum as a highlight.  Oregon Coast Rally with Al and Virginia Zimmerman was held at Winchester Bay and also served as a pre-rally to the FMCA NW Area Rally at North Bend.  In August club members gathered at the Bremerton Elks RV Park for Shining Waters Rally with Gary and Irva Cooper and Ken and Helen Anderson serving as wagon masters.

The “Where in the ‘el is Ohanapecosh Rally” was held at Mt. Rainer National Park.  Dean and Sue Bjornson along with Ken and Helen Anderson were wagon masters.  Treks were made for dry camping and national parks.  We gathered around the campfire and huddled together for warmth at times.

This is a “fun club” and our thanks are extended to Ken and Helen Anderson as rally coordinators for such a fun year.

Honorary members were adopted as a new membership category by the club.  These are members who no longer own a motorhome, but desire to continue to enjoy the fellowship of the club.  Honorary members are recognized only by NWTFC.  They are nominated by the membership and approved by the executive board.  Current honorary members are:  Stan and Barb Shackell, Bob and Barb Brown, Doug and Vera Clark, and Rich and Lois Piispanen.

Because of the addition of honorary members and some housekeeping matters, revised bylaws were submitted to FMCA and approved.

NWTFC was involved with the FMCA Area Rally held at the Mill Casino in North Bend, Oregon.  Led by Steve Webber-Plank, NWTFC took on responsibility for the FMCA store and registration.  With the involvement of members plus additions from California, Oregon Trail Drivers, and the Oregon River Ramblers we fulfilled our assignment.  Special thanks to Bobbi Radford for making the registration process succeed.  In 2016 NWTFC will only be responsible for the store at the Albany FMCA NW Rally.

There is a special love for Treks built on the Isuzu chassis.  In 2015 action was taken to include an Isuzu Trekkers Newsletter on the NWTFC website.

One of the challenges is to keep the NWTFC website current and to maintain the website on a modern platform.  Mary Carlson, websmaster, brought the need for an improved platform for the club website.  NWTFC has authorized Mary to take steps to update the website platform.

As the departing president, I want to extend my personal appreciation to all those who served NWTFC during this past year.  Throughout the year there was a sense that we were all working together and seeking to improve the club in any way we could.

2015 will bring new leadership as Steve Webber-Plank begins his service as president.  We look forward to great year in 2016.  A great slate of rallies is planned for 2016 with a traveling rally to Lake Chelan and Grand Coulee, pre-rally, Port Townsend, Wallowa Lake, the Antique Powerland in Brooks.  Happy Trekkin to one and all.

Al Zimmerman
President

VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Ken and Helen Anderson served along with me on this year’s Nominating Committee.

The following slate of potential officers and committee members was provided for elections:

  • President:   Steve Webber-Plank
  • Secretary:   David and Sue Pierce
  • National FMCA Director:  Al Zimmerman
  • 2016 Nominating committee members:  Paula Shull and Bret Medbury

Elections were held and the vote was unanimous in favor of the slated names.

Many thanks to Ken and Helen Anderson for serving on the 2015 Nominating Committee and for those people who volunteered their time to be officers and committee members to further the success of the Northwest Trek Fun Club.

Respectfuly submitted,

Dean Bjornson
Vice President (2014-2016)

SECRETARY’S REPORT

Another busy year, Electronic Meetings, Newsletters, ByLaw Changes, Club Officer Elections and many well attended Rallies. Low fuel prices continue providing many miles of adventurous exploring.

Our membership currently is 64, having lost 5 members and gaining 7 new ones last year. There are also four Honorary Members on record.  Most of our new members are attracted by the information and experience to be exchanged with other Trek owners, but are usually retained as members by the excellent rallies and friendships that ensue.

David and Sue Pierce, Secretary

TREASURER’S REPORT

2015 NWTFC Income Statement

 

FMCA NATIONAL DIRECTOR’S REPORT

1. FMCA NW Area Planning Meeting at Bonney Lake, Washington. April 21 – 23, 2015

Representing NWTFC were Al Zimmerman (president) and Judy Schindler (temporary delegate).

 FMCAssist and Michelin tire program are helping add new members, though FMCA is continuing to lose members.  It is noteworthy that FMCA is not retaining members.  Best recruitment tool is the internet.  There are 411 active FMCA chapters.  There are currently 13 inactive chapters. Past FMCA members who no longer own motorhome can continue as Associate Members and benefit from FMCAssist program.

FMCA Family Reunion in Madison, WI – July 29 – August 1, 2015.  Charlie Adcock (president) and John Walker (vice president) ran unopposed.  Percy Bell ran unopposed for treasurer. Vicky Ferrari and Gaye Young ran for secretary and Gaye was elected.

One proposal to be considered at the national rally affecting NWTFC was a policy change allowing each chapter to decide if voting on chapter matters will be one vote per adult member or one vote per coach (F number).  This is a reversal from the proposal adopted last January.  The proposal to let chapters decide on the appropriate voting process was adopted at Madison.

Much of the time at the meeting was spent planning for the Coos Bay rally in June.  NWTFC agreed to work with Oregon Trail Drivers club on staffing the store and the registration/information booth.

After a pre-rally at Winchester Bay, NWTFC members caravanned to the Coos Bay rally on Monday, June 22.

2.  The second FMCA NW meeting was also scheduled in Bonney Lake for September 22 -24, 2015.  The NWTFC was represented by Al Zimmerman (president) and Ken Anderson (alternate national director). The main thrust of the meeting was planning for the FMCA NW rally at Albany to be held in June of 2016.  At the Albany rally the NWTFC will be responsible for the FMCA Store:

FMCA member benefits – discount program with Office Depot has now been extended to Staples because of company acquisitions.  FMCA  Road Assist is a road service program similar to Coach Net and is available for purchase through FMCA.

Some chapters provide the chapter’s delegate to the national rally some funds to partially cover travel expenses.

FMCA NW officers elected

  • Sr. Vice President                Don Schleuse, Northwest Country Coachers
  • Vice President (2 yr)            Judie Lehenbauer, Great American RV Club
  • Secretary                               Karen Pratt, Columbia Basin Cruisers
  • Vice President (1 yr.)           Dennis Martin, Pacers Northwest

Key upcoming dates

  • January 7 – 10, 2016           Western Area Rally, Indio
  • January 16 – 24, 2016         Quartzite
  • March 17 – 20, 2016            FMCA 93rd Family Reunion, Perry, GA
  • April 18 – 21, 2016            FAMCA NW Planning Meeting, Albany
  • June 23 – 26, 2016              FMCA NW Area Rally, Linn County Fair, Albany
  • August 3 – 7, 2016              FMCA 94th Family Reunion, West Springfield, MA
  • September 19 – 22              FMCA NW Planning Meeting, Cowlitz Cty Fair, Kelso
  • February 8 – 11, 2017          FMCA 95th  Family Reunion, Chandler, AZ
  • April 11 – 13, 2017               FMCA NW Planning Meeting,  Cowlitz Cty Fair, Kelso
  • June 22 – 25, 2017              FMCA NW Area Rally, Cowlitz Cty Fair, Kelso
  • July 12 – 15, 2017                FMCA 96th Family Reunion, Indianapolis, IN
  • June 21 – 14, 2018               FMCA NW Area Rally, TBD
  • June 20 – 23, 2019              FMCA NW Area Rally, TBD

Submitted by Steve Webber-Plank, FMCA National Director

WEBMASTER’S REPORT

2015 has been a very busy year for this webmaster!  Harry and I are now traveling five months out of the year and spend a good part of that time in the beautiful Pacific Northwest – away from the heat of Nevada summers.  The big challenge is having internet service when I need it!

This year saw a major website issue rearing its head.  We have known for a while that our website needed to be updated but wanted to wait until it was necessary.  This was made very clear when the Trek Tracks portion of our website went down this summer and then soon after we lost the Member’s Only area.  The website was created using FrontPage 2003 and Access 2003 – neither have been supported by Microsoft for several years now.  And now our hosting company will no longer support those programs either.

I was able to meet with the Executive Board at the Bremerton Rally and explain our options to them and then to the membership.  I received approval to do what needed to be done for a short-term solution and to then work on the ultimate issue of updating our website to a supported platform.  I moved pages around on the website so we now have access to everything but the membership directory piece.

I am currently writing a Request for Proposal to submit to several website developers after the first of the year.  We will work together to update the website to a newer, supported platform and restore the functionality of those areas we lost.  I will keep you posted on the progress.

Happy Travels to you all!

Mary Carlson

RALLY COORDINATOR’S REPORT

The goal for 2015 was to have four rallies… and we did!!!

The first rally of the year was “Spring in the Yamhill Valley” and 35 people (19 coaches) attended it at McMinnville, OR at the Olde Stone Village RV Park in April. Visiting the Evergreen Air and Space Museum, where the Spruce Goose is on display, was the highlight of this rally. The wagon masters were Steve Webber-Plank and Helen and Ken Anderson.

The second rally, “Oregon Coast Rally”, was held at Winchester Bay, OR at the Winchester Bay RV Resort in June.  It was the Pre-Rally to the FMCA NW Area Rally. Twenty-one (11 coaches) Trekkers attended this rally. The attendees enjoyed a presentation on the history of the south coast as well as an RV workshop presented by Gib’s RV Service. Many of the attendees continued on to the FMCA rally in Coos Bay. Virginia and Al Zimmerman were the wagon masters.

The third rally, “Shining Waters”, was held at the Bremerton Elks Club in August. Forty one (21 coaches) Trekkers participated in this rally. Many activities kept us occupied–an early morning visit to a local coffee roaster with a light breakfast at Coopers, lunch at the Clearwater Casino, a tour of a local distillery, walking tour of Poulso, Russell Warren (a member) gave us the history of Bremerton, a visit to the Keyport Underwater Museum, a brewery tour, and bingo after dinner. Irva and Gary Cooper and Helen and Ken Anderson were the wagon masters.

The fourth rally, “Where in the ‘el is Ohanapecosh?”, was at the Ohanapecosh campground in the Mt Rainier National Park near Packwood, WA in September. The weather was on the cool side and rainy, but Zimmermans were kind enough to bring tents to protect us from the elements.  We even had a few campfires! There were no hookups for this rally nor any planned activities—just time to be together.  Sixteen (8 coaches) Trekkers attended this rally and 2 guests attended. Sue and Dean Bjornson and Helen and Ken Anderson were wagon masters

For 2016 four rallies are already planned. We can always do more if there are people who want to take on the planning! Just get in contact with me.

  • May – NWTFC Traveling Rally – 8 nights in Eastern Washington—Lake Chelan, Coulee City, Grand Coulee. Wagon masters are Sue and Dean Bjornson and Helen and Ken Anderson
  • June–Pre-Rally to the FMCA Area Rally—Brooks, OR. Wagon masters are Pat & Tom Wilhelm
  • August—Port Townsend at the Port Hudson Marina. Wagon masters are Ron Mahugh and Mary Burchett
  • September—Wallowa/Joseph, OR. Wagon masters are Paula and Bill Shull, Nancy and Dick Harris, and Marie and John Turner

Check out the NWTFC website under rallies to find out more information.

As with all of our rallies, we enjoyed spending time together whether it was sharing a meal, sightseeing, or relaxing at the camping ground. Here’s to more companionship in 2016!

Helen Anderson