Menu Close

2008 Annual Reports

President’s Report – Stan Shackell, State of the NWTFC Chapter, December 31, 2008

2008 was a fun year! The Beer’s and Block’s regimes dealt with several organizational matters that a new club inherently has, during their terms,. They resolved them so well, we were able to enjoy a year of fun and relative calm insofar as club business was concerned.

Rallies are the events we look forward to. It is about the only time we can get together. Attendees at the past rallies this year have been unanimous in their praise of the fun and fellowship experienced. These were organized almost single handedly by our rally master Lee (and Judy) Keeler. There was the Champoeg pre rally to the FMCA “Christmas in June” rally, headlined by Ed & Jeannette Block organizing the NWTFC door prize booth, and Peggy Beers organizing our parade entry. Lee and Judy Keeler hosted a “Beans and Bones” rally in September (pre rally to Monaco homecoming) at their ranch. Many comments “best rally to date”. If they host another, you won’t want to miss it! Lee Keeler then decided to try a supplier sponsored rally at Brazel’s Performance Center new RV park. It was again a fun and successful rally with many positive comments from the attendees. Brazel’s pulled out all the stops as hosts.

This year we established a liaison with Renton Technical College through the efforts of Bob Beers and Lee Keeler. The college sponsors 2 programs a year “Introduction to RVing”. We were invited to participate by making presentations on relevant subjects. Bob gave a class on “Computing on the Road” and “Boon Docking”. Lee Keeler gave another class “RV Web Sites”. Besides providing assistance to the college, there was obvious goodwill for NWTFC, FMCA and RVing. The course is ongoing in October and April each year. If you could contribute by being a presenter of a topic you are comfortable with, please consider offering your services.

Rally plans for next year are underway. Take a look at the web site for further information and updates. Subsequent notice and details will be forthcoming from Lee Keeler, who has generously agreed to be our rally master again this year.

There are 3 people retiring from the board this year, VP Lee Keeler (but remaining as Rally Master), Treasurer Lucien Eddy, and Secretary Cherry Haas. Also remaining are Judy Keeler and Peggy Beers , reps for the FMCA liaison. Barbara Brown, the membership director has kindly agreed to continue. I say thanks to everyone for your kindness and generous support. The club owes you their profound gratitude. We welcome our new Treasurer Colleen Wright, Vice President Rodger Wright, and replacement Secretary Terry Dalla Santa to the Board.

What more can I say about our web site and web master Greg Hollister that hasn’t already been said! The site continues to be a credit to our club, and this year Greg added a forum. The site has been a resounding success, the “guest counter” eclipsing previous years by a huge margin 19,300 vs 9500 last year. Thank you again Greg for your generous contribution of time and expertise.

Before I sign off, I want thank the membership for your support and encouragement this past year. As my term as president is a 2 year appointment, I am looking forward to being around for 2009, and chatting with you at our rallies.

Respectfully submitted

Stan Shackell

President NWTFC


Vice Presidents Report Year End 2008

December 31, 2008

Our 2008 rally year started rather slowly, but once we got started it ended up a great rally year. Many of the attendees commented that it was the best rallies they have ever attended.

Our first rally was held June 1 & 2 at Champoeg State Park where we gathered prior to the FMCA Northwest Area Rally, which was held on June 4th – 7th at the Linn County Fairgrounds in Albany, Oregon. We had 15 coaches gathered at the RV Group area, a little tight, but we all enjoyed great fellowship and also enjoyed a great pot luck with three types of BBQ meats and many other very tasty dishes all provided by those in attendance. As usual when we rally, we eat.

Ed Block led the caravan to the Fair grounds in Albany, and as in the past, all went well and we again enjoyed great parking for the volunteers.

On September 18th – 21st we again circled the coaches for a great Beans ‘n Bones Rally at the Keeler’s Ranch in Salem. This was a pre-rally to the Monaco Home Coming rally. We had 13 coaches and 25 attendees. Two of the coaches were investigating our group and I am pleased to know that they have joined our club. We had fantastic food and the weather was outstanding. We were blessed with a seminar on boon docking hosted by Doug & Vera Clark and another seminar hosted Rob of Henderson Alignment. One of the great highlights of this rally was the show and tell on the changes and improvements that many have done to their coaches. Even though it was a lot of work Judy and I enjoyed cooking the many meals for everyone and look forward to doing this one again.

On October 22nd – 24th Brazel’s RV hosted a rally at their new RV Park that is adjacent to their shop facilities in Centralia. The RV Park is very nice and Brazel’s provided great meals during the Rally as well as great service to our coaches. Again we enjoyed good weather through most of the rally and it is nice to have others to visit and share stories with as our coaches are being worked on. I am sure this is a rally that we will repeat in the future.

On October 25, Bob Beers, Stan and Barbara Shackell, and Lee and Judy Keeler participated in the Renton Technical College RV School. The college sponsors 2 programs per year in April and October. Bob hosted a class on Computing on the Road and Lee & Judy hosted a class on RV Web Sites. The Clubs plans are to support the efforts of RTC and if any of you would like to be a presenter and share some of your knowledge and expertise with newcomers, please let Bob Beers or myself know.

That kind of ends it for 2008. I want to thank all of you who helped and especially those who attended and shared with us all.

God Bless and Happy Trekking in 2009

Respectfully Submitted

Lee Keeler

Vice President, NWTFC


Treasurer’s Report Year End 2008

December 31, 2008

The NORTHWEST TREK FUN CLUB continues to be in a positive financial position. We started the year with a balance of $1,357.21 and ended with a balance of $1,277.31.

Through November 30, we added income of $190.00 coming from member dues. $70 is attributed to the AON promotion at the FMCA rally in Albany which paid for seven member’s dues for 2009. The remaining $120 includes three new member’s dues and late 2008 member dues. Expenses of $269.90 included FMCA rally program ad, FMCA rally prize, ID postage, stamps & envelopes & web site renewal.

BALANCE SHEET (1 JAN – 30 NOV 2008)

BEGINNING BALANCE – 1 JAN 2008 $1,357.21

INCOME

CLUB DUES

3 NEW MEMBERS & LATE 2008 DUES   $120.00

PRE-PAID FOR 2009 – AON PROMOTION   70.00

TOTAL INCOME           $190.00   $1,547.21 

EXPENSES

NWMH ASSN                   FOR FMCA ALBANY RALLY PROGRAM AD   $60.00

ID POSTAGE                    JEANETTE BLOCK  $14.76

FMCA RALLY PRIZE        JEANETTE BLOCK  $50.00

DUES REFUNDED –        PRE-PAYMENT FOR NEXT YEAR NOT ACCEPTED BY CLUB   $45.00

STAMPS & ENVELOPES       LOU EDDY      $18.52

POSTAGE                          JEANETTE BLOCK   $ 9.69

WEB SITE RENEWAL       GREG HOLLISTER  $71.93

TOTAL EXPENSES           $269.90   $1,277.31

ENDING BALANCE – 30 NOV 2008 $1,277.31 

**DECEMBER CLUB DUES**     $220.00     $1,497.31

 

Respectfully submitted,

 COLLEEN J. WRIGHT

Treasurer, NWTFC


Membership Directors Report, Year End 12/31/08

Members as of January 1, 2008:  57

New Members:  9

Total membership as of 12/31/08:  66

Notes: The year-end membership count includes all members who paid dues for the calendar year 2008, even though some may have sold their Trek during the year.

A new January 1, 2009 report will be generated on March 31, 2009, which is the absolute cutoff date for our receiving 2009 dues renewals.

Respectfully submitted

Barbara Brown

Membership Director


FMCA NATIONAL DIRECTOR’S REPORT Year End 2008

December 31, 2008

Another year comes to a close and what a great year it has been for the NWTrek Fun Club family. There have been and continue to be serious challenges facing the whole motorhome industry. Our very own Bob Beers and webmaster Greg Hollister put together an excellent website for all National Directors and Alternate National Directors to communicate with one another. A big “thank you” to both of these gentlemen!

We started our year in April planning for the Northwest Area FMCA Rally to be held in Albany, Oregon in June. The theme for this rally was “Christmas in June”. As it turned out, it was appropriately named. The weather for the rally was cold and rainy. Our Club had a pre-rally at Champoeg State Park in Oregon to kick off our rally season.

Peggy Beers, our Club’s Alternate National Director, attended the FMCA rally in St. Paul, MN, and provided an excellent report of the events.

In September, Lee and I attended a Northwest Area planning meeting in Moses Lake, WA for our FMCA NW Area rally for 2009. The rally will be in June and will again be held at the fairgrounds in Albany, OR. The theme for this rally is “West is Best”. Our club will again manage the FMCA Prize Booth under the very capable direction of Ed and Jeannette Block. In mid-September, Lee and I had the privilege of hosting a pre-rally to the Monaco Homecoming Rally at our home in Salem. What a great bunch of people belong to our NWTFC. We had a great time and look forward to making this an annual event.

In October, the Club met at Brazel’s RV in Centralia, WA for a rally. Most everyone had something added/fine-tuned on their coach. A good rally for us and for them! Bob Beers, Stan and Barb Shackell and Lee and I attended and participated at the Renton RV School held on the Renton Technical College campus in Renton, WA.

As this year closes and we begin 2009, FMCA as an organization faces some serious challenges. How to maintain membership; how to increase revenue and decrease expenses without increasing membership dues or cutting membership benefits; how to maintain/increase corporate membership. These are a few of the challenges. One item recently discussed and voted on by the FMCA Executive Board was whether to have one or two conventions in 2010. The majority vote was for two conventions, a winter convention in Albuquerque, NM and a summer convention in Redmond, OR. If possible, we should all try to support both conventions.

Thanks to all of you our Club is great and just keeps getting better each year!

Respectfully Submitted

Judy Keeler

FMCA National Director


 

NWTFC Historian Report Year End 2008

Bob and I attended the rally held at Brazell’s, this was a first in many ways. Our first to a NWTFC rally and the first as Historian for the group. I was able to take and print pictures during the rally for all those in attendance to view. When we finally returned home I was able to email the webmaster with all of the photos, unfortunately I didn’t tell him what the pictures were all about. Definitely a learning experience this Historian stuff. If anyone attends a function and takes photos and would like them in the album please feel free to send them to me. sandi@frontiernet.net

Respectfully Submitted

Sandi Gilson

Historian, NWTFC


NWTFC Web Site Report, 12/31/2008

The year 2008 was another good year for WWW.NWTFC.COM . We experienced no down time and of this writing have had 29,665 visits. The increased attention to the site can be attributed to greater member participation, a better search engine visibility, and good exposure on the TREK TRACKS message board.

Cost of the site for 2008 was $82.86. Of the 9 new members applications submitted this year, 8 were submitted through the site. So we can again say it paid for itself. The 2009 cost will decreased by $9 for 2009 the NWTFC board has authorized the expense to continue the WEB Site.

A members only forum was added to the website in 2008. While not yet heavily used it is in production and functioning properly. There are currently 41 member accounts active in the forum.

The NWTFC has provided space and support for two additional forums.

  1. The FMCA National Directors forum. It’s purpose is to provide a meeting and discussion area for FMCA National directors. It is a private forum and access is strictly controlled. Member Bob Beers is the Administrator of the ND forum with assistance from your Web Master.
  2. In November of 2008 Microsoft announced that it was closing the MSN Groups web service. That service hosted TREK Tracks – an extremely valuable resource for TREK owners and TREK owner wanna bees. After an thorough search for a replacement the TREK Tracks managers decided to build their own forum/message board. We developed the forum specifically for TREK Tracks and are hosting that forum on our web space.

Note: No additional cost has been incurred by the NWTFC

There are currently no enhancements planned for 2009, however if identified we will attempt to provide whatever is need for the betterment of NWTFC.

Our World Wide Web presence continues to be a success and we will, with your help, continue to have one of the best TREK related Website out there.

If any member has suggestions to enhance the site please feel free to contact me at Webmaster@ NWTFC.COM .

Respectfully submitted,

Greg Hollister

Webmaster – NWTFC