SPRING 2009 NEWSLETTER

Now that winter is mostly behind us, everyone seems to be looking forward to spring and camp outs! Judging by everyone's comments, last year's camp outs went exceedingly well. Having our first and last camp outs at West Canada Creek Campsites seems to be a good thing. They are very good to us there and let us get away with a lot! The pavilion comes in very handy if the weather is not cooperating with a perfect warm and sunny weekend. When we put the heater on, I think everyone is very comfortable.

Our Saturday morning breakfasts seem to be a big hit. Let's keep the men working! They did a super job last year and Glen's omelets seem to be quite the hit of the breakfast. This year we are going to try to do something on Friday nights so that everyone can get together for food and companionship and start the weekend off on a good note. The hosts for that month's camp out will decide what they want to do for Friday night's supper. It can be simple like hot dogs and hamburgers, soup and sandwich; or a little more work intensive like spaghetti and salad or a big pot of chili or stew. Whatever works for the host. Of course, if the hosts cannot do a Friday night supper, that is fine too, as long as everyone knows before hand what the schedule will be so they can be prepared. And, I think as we have all found out, there is always someone who is contributing whether they are the host or not. So we usually do not lack for anything.

What can I add about our Saturday night pot lucks. They have been fantastic. It is amazing that with no planning, we always have a wide variety of food and deserts. I don't think anyone ever goes away hungry. Actually, it's just the opposite! I don't know about you, but I'm supposed to lose weight during the summer, not gain it!!

It seems that our chapter has adopted the "Gotcha Game" as its official club game. There was not one camp out where a good game of Gotcha wasn't going on at some time (usually most of the time). The men against the women theme is getting a little competitive. Glen has the bruises to prove it! I want to be on Beth's team because I like to play by "Beth's Rules" if it helps us win!

Some of you have not seen our "Chuck Wagon" It is a reconditioned pop-up camper. We have made it to be used as our cooking facilities at dry camp outs but found it works very well to carry our supplies to every camp out. A new item to our supplies is a 10' x 20' EZ Up type canopy. This will come in useful if the campground we are at does not have a covered pavilion. It will also make good shade cover for those really hot Saturday afternoons that we are going to have this summer. The EZ Up is all one piece (no poles to put together) and has sides and doors so we can not only stay dry but it would be easy to heat too. This cost the club $259.99 and Linda purchased it through E-bay.

Don't forget the theme for this year's Samboree is The Circus. We will be decorating our booth to resemble a circus tent. Anyone who wants to help Sharyn and I would be most appreciated. If you want to wear some kind of costumes, that would be great too. After all, aren't we all clowns?? Joe is going to be our entry in the Ms. NY State contest. We already saw what his legs look like in tights, so I think he has a chance to WOW the judges. If anyone else would like to enter, don't be shy, step right up! Our raffle prize during the samboree will be a weekend at Roger and Carolyn's Bed and Breakfast, along with a Basket of Cheer. The proceeds from this raffle is what we donate to our charities, so let's have our booth well staffed and sell lots of tickets. Of course, the more members at the Samboree, the more people we will have to man the booth so that everyone can take turns and be able to enjoy the other activities as well. It's a nice weekend for a reasonable price and close to home. The only draw-back is you can't run your generator if you need air conditioning. If you have a stack to exhaust your generator over the top of your rig, you can run it no matter where you are parked for certain times of the day. This is used mainly to cool it down for the night. Glen and I find our Fantasic Vent Fans and window awnings do a great job at keeping the temps down in the motorhome. We can run the Fantastic fans for the whole weekend off the batteries with no problems.

CAMP OUTS FOR 2009

May 1 - 3 Ron & Carolyn will be our hosts at West Canada Creek Campsites. Call the campground at 315.826.7390 or 888.461.2267 to make reservations. Be sure to say you are with Center State Sams for the group rate. June 5 - 7 Rich & Sharyn will be our hosts at Royal Mountain Campground, Rt. 29, St. Johnsville, NY. Call Sharyn (not the Campground) at 315.894.0930 to make a reservation. July 10 - 12 NYS Samboree. Herkimer County Fairgrounds. I hope everyone will try to attend, if not for the weekend, at least for the day on Saturday. Go to newyorkgoodsam.com for more information and an application. Aug. 7 - 9 Brian and Mary will be our hosts. They have not as yet been able to contact the campground that they would like to go to . More information will follow or check our new web site www.centerstatesams.org Sept. 4 - 6 Glen and Linda will host our group for a dry (no hook- ups) camp out on the their dairy farm on Silver Street, Ilion, NY. Call Linda at 315.894.3907 to let her know if you are coming. Sept. 25-27 All State Camp Out at Herkimer County Fairgrounds. The State puts this camp out on and provides most of the meals. It is a good time to socialize with other chapters and just relax. Go to newyorkgoodsam.com for an application and more information. Oct. 2 - 4 Joe and Beth will be our hosts at West Canada Creek Campsites. Call the number above for reservations. You can reserve for this camp out starting now. Again, don't forget to say you are with Center State Sams for the group rate.

Last but not least - check out our new web site www.centerstatesams.org. It is a freebie so I hope it sticks around for awhile. I will be updating it monthly to keep everyone posted on what is going on. Don't forget to check out all the sidebar items on the left for news, camp out information, minutes, newsletters, pictures and the calendar. If anyone has any pictures from our camp outs, please e-mail me some so I can include them on the web site.

I will be looking forward to seeing a lot of you at the May camp out. Till then, stay warm and "THINK SPRING"!