UPCOMING STATE EVENTS:May 1 - 3, 2020 Lynden Spring Meeting: "Up... Up... and Away"June 4 - 7, 2020 Moses Lake Summer Rally: "Fun in the Desert"

September 18 - 20, 2020 Cashmere Fall Meeting: "Apples and Cinnamon: Yum Yum"

Happy Wheels FEBRUARY 2020 VOLUME 36NUMBER 1

www.wastategoodsams.comFacebook: Washington State Good Sams Yahoo Groups: Washington State Good Sams

From the DIRECTORS...

HAPPY WHEELSFEBRUARY 2020

Hello Good Sam Members.

Dee and I want to thank directors, Donna & Dick, for their leadership the past four years. We want to thank Ron Belden for his many years as State Secretary. Also, we thank the few departing State Team members for their years of help making the Washington State Good Sam Club a success.

As I take on the responsibility of Director with Dee by my side, we hope to continue the State Events as well as Donna and Dick did with their Team. We thank all the State Team Members and new State Team Members that will be working with us. We are looking forward to working with all of you, and I will work hard to make this transition go as smooth as possible.

For those of you who don’t know Dee and I, this is a short history of us with the Good Sam Club. We have been Good Sam Club Chapter members for over twenty years. I have been Chapter President serving eight years with two different chapters, currently ending two terms with the Valley Good Sam Drifters. Also, I was an Assistant Director under State Director Dave DeWitt. Dee and I have attended over twenty State Samborees/Rallies in Washington, Canada, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada and the National Good Sam Rally in Phoenix.

We will work hard to make our State Events as enjoyable and fun as possible. There might be new entertainers, games, venders, and seminars, so however the agenda goes, the Events will be fun. I am sure by the time Lynden rolls around we will be ready.

For members that have not attended any of our State Events you are missing out on a fun time. I urge you to come and join the fun. Put the three State Events on your camping schedule. Lynden is a few months away, so fill out the registration form early, send it in, and get your rigs ready. Take part in the many activities offered there, have fun, and make new friends.

You never know what you have missed until you come and take part in a State Event. I hope to see all of you soon and thank you for the opportunity to be your State Director.

Dave & Dee

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STATE DIRECTORDave (Dee) Cluett11919 NE 140 PlKirkland, WA 98034(206) 718-3944E-mail: etno1@hotmail.com

TREASURERJody Mason12206 Banner RD SE Olalla, WA 98359(360) 265-5778E-mail: afchfe9@gmail.com

SECRETARYRon (Pamela) KelleyPO Box 956Deer Park, WA 99006(360) 739-0804E-mail: ronekelley@yahoo.com

WAGONMASTERRon (Doreen) Adams6350 Portal Way #65 Ferndale, WA 98003H: (360) 398-2995 / C: (360) 305-9035E-mail: doreen50@yahoo.com

REGISTRATION Jody Mason12206 Banner RD SE Olalla, WA 98359(360) 265-5778E-mail: afchfe9@gmail.com

SUNSHINEJean Little1406 29th Anacortes, WA 98221(360) 293-5297E-mail: saw.and.sew13@gmail.com

ADVERTISINGVolunteer Needed

RONALD McDONALD HOUSEKathy West11525 173rd Ave Ct EBonney Lake, WA 98391(253) 564-1829E-mail: kj.west@comcast.net

FISHER HOUSE(Through Military Sams)

Diana (Mike) Supler-Varner1603 Brunswick St. SE Lacey, WA 98503-6954H: (360) 455-9294 / C: (360) 790-7366E-mail: dandm1603@comcast.net

DOGS FOR BETTER LIVESMarkey (Ken) Petersen8995 Fruitdale Rd.Sedro Woolley, WA 98284H: (360) 856-5577 / C: (425) 299-7035E-mail: troubles2@comcast.net

FEBRUARY 2020

WASHINGTON STATE TEAMWEBMASTER

Bill (Linda) Brown21903 114th St. E Bonney Lake, WA 98391(253) 862-7352E-mail: bill_brown01@msn.com

HAPPY WHEELS EDITORBarbara (Steve) Erickson14306 SE 49th St.Bellevue, WA 98006H: (425) 746-1094 / C: (206) 387-1694E-mail: bje46@msn.com

SOUND SYSTEM OPERATORJim (Darlene) Hyson2713 Converse Ave SEPort Orchard, WA 98366(360) 620-2781E-mail: whyson@outlook.com

PHOTOGRAPHYJohn (Kathy) West11525 173rd Ave Ct E. Bonney Lake, WA 98391253-307-5867 E-mail: jcwest1@comcast.net

LEGISLATIVESteve (Judy) Brooks2308 114th Drive NELake Stevens, WA 98258(425) 334-1191E-mail: sbrooks@kendra.com

Assistant Directors

HAPPY WHEELS

S. CENTRAL WASHINGTONVolunteer needed for this area

N. CENTRAL WASHINGTON Ken (Karen) BauerP.O. Box 184 Malaga, WA 98828-0184C: (509) 670-1229E-mail: kenbauerhost@gmail.com

ISLAND/WHATCOM / SKAGIT / SNOHOMISH / N. KING

Ron (Doreen) Adams 6350 Portal Way #65 Ferndale, WA 98248H: (360) 398-2995 / C: (360) 305-9035E-mail: doreen50@yahoo.com

GREATER SPOKANE AREARoger (Karen) Beckel14710 E Crown AveSpokane Valley, WA 99216H: (509) 892-2472 / C: (760) 808-5065E-mail: randkbeckel@sbcglobal.net

S. WESTERN WASHINGTON Bobbye (Gary) Simons1041E Timberlakes Dr. E. Shelton, WA 98584H: 360-426-4852 / C: 360-229-0581E-mail: bandgsi@aol.com

PIERCE / THURSTON / S. KINGEd (Benay) Nelson13216 228th St. E. Graham, WA 98338H: (360) 893-5208 / C: (253) 380-6992E-mail: bmistymom1@centurylink.net

OLYMPIC / KITSAP PENINSULAS Holly (John) Byczynski491 E. Phillips Lake Loop RoadShelton, WA 98584H: (360) 427-1229 / C: (360) 490-9779E-mail: hollyjb48@msn.com

FAR EASTERN WASHINGTON Volunteer needed for this area

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John and I are finally being snowbirds and are in sunny Benson, AZ. There is so much history here and in the surrounding area.Thanks to all of you for your generous donations in 2019. Ronald McDonald Houses in Seattle and Spokane are adding more beds to try to meet the needs of the patients. Many are still waiting to get in.You can just imagine the joy of a child when they pick out their own blanket, pillowcase, hat, or even a doll when they are checking in. Many come on an emergency basis with nothing more than the clothes on their backs leaving everything else behind. You can understand how much all donations are appreciated.Keep collecting the can tabs and pennies. There will be a “Penny” trophy for the chapter that donates the most pennies. This has been my first year as RMH representative and it has been a “learn as you go” experience. There have been a few bumps along the way and there will no doubt be a few more, so please be patient with me and if you have any ideas or things that you have done in the past that haven’t been done this past year, please let me know so I can try to get things up to speed. Construc-tive input will be greatly appreciated. See you at Lynden.

Kathy West (253) 564-1829 Email: kj.west@comcast.net

Well, winter is here! Oh, no, it is just Mother Nature reminding us who is in control of the weather. Not us.

As we come to the end of another Good Sam camping year, it’s time to reflect on what has happened. Our state members have stepped up to the plate again to take care of our military and their families. The chapters have raised $8085.32 so that families can spend time with their loved ones and not worry how to pay for food, housing, and other needs while away from home. The Fisher Houses are like Ronald McDonald Houses, only for the Military patient’s family.

A whole lot of blankets and throws were also donated. The blankets bring comfort and warmth to the stressed-out family members or the patient. They are available to whoever needs them.

The families really appreciate your generosity and thoughtfulness in their time of need. You know how to step up to care for others. Thank you for your support of our Military Community!

Hope to see all of you at Lynden in May 2020.

Diana Supler-Varner Cell: (360) 790-7366 Email: Dandm1603@comcast.net

FEBRUARY 2020 HAPPY WHEELS

Ronald McDonald Houses of Washingtonwww.rmhcinlandnw.org www.rmhcseattle.org

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Washington State Good Sams Sunshine

SympathyBarbara Dawson, Tired and Retired Sams

Annie McCabe, Lilac City Sams

CHAPTERS: PLEASE CONTACT JEAN LITTLE, STATE SUNSHINE

TO REPORT MEMBER ILLNESS, SYMPATHY OR DEATH Email: saw.and.sew13@gmail.com.

Coffee in the morning is a ritual with our club. The Club has three coffee urns that need to be transported to and from the Moses Lake Rally and the Cash-mere Campout. A volunteer is needed to take them from the Moses Lake Rally, store them, then bring them to Cashmere. Interested? E-mail Dave: etno1@hotmail.com. There must be someone that can’t go without their morning FIX. This is your chance to step up and take part in this time-honored tradition. Making the morning coffee is easily done by using timers that will automatically turn them on in the morning.

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Cariboo Trail SamsSubmitted by Bob Chiles

HAPPY WHEELSFEBRUARY 2020

Here we go again… the cycle of RVing is starting. Get them ready in the spring for travel and ready in the fall for stor-age.

In the interim, they provide camp out pleasures of getting away, visiting with friends, and visiting the many locations in this great country. What more could we ask?

Our camping outings this year brought us to Church Camp at Conconully, Blacks Beach Resort on Curlew Lake, Maple Grove RV in Everett, Riverbend RV between Twisp and Winthrop, Wenatchee County Park near Moni-tor and our season close-out in mid-October is at member Connie Palmer’s “Fantastic RV Barn” where we celebrate Halloween and, the season’s end.

I don’t know what more we could want at our RV outings. Great conversation is constant, food is plentiful, and deli-cious, scheduled activities are available for those who want to participate or we can just relax during the outings. Our campout business meetings, which are the night before we leave, are always interesting, and allow members to ex-press their interests, and thoughts.

The upcoming winter/early fall months find us at our monthly gatherings with a super dinner prepared by the Ma-sonic Lodge ladies with a club meeting after dinner.

So, another camp out season has been accomplished. Time to think about 2020 events which always take a fair amount of time in planning and orga-nizing.

We certainly don’t know what the win-ter and early fall will bring, but the Cari-boo Trail Sams say, “Be safe, stay warm, and take good care of yourselves.”

VOICES OF OUR LOCAL CHAPTERS

Valley Drifters Good SamsSubmitted by Lloyd Hartley

Happy New Year everyone! This is the Golden Year for the Good Sam Club and for the Valley Drifters Chapter as we both celebrate 50 years of existence. Can you believe it? We don’t look that old, do we? Our chapter was chartered in March 1970, and we have been going strong since then. We look forward to many more years of camping and fellowship.

We ended 2019 with a Christmas dinner at Sizzler’s Restaurant in Tukwila with 29 members attending. Our outgoing president and newly elected State Directors Dave and Dee Cluett will be camping at Fort Worden in February and Dosewallips in March for those of us whose rigs are ready to go. (They camp all year long.) We are encouraging all chapter members to be ready for the Lynden State outing and FunFest in May. Of course, we will be represented at the Samboree in Moses Lake in June. Other adventures in the planning are Whispering Pines, Cle Elum, also in May so we can caravan to Moses Lake, and Pacific Beach in August.

New volunteer officers for 2020 are President Dorothy Hartley, Vice President Chuck Leingang, Secretary Patricia Bostick, and Treasurer Rosalie Fehr. We meet the 4th Wednesday of each month at the Kent City Library at 7p.m. We generally plan our monthly outing Thursday through Sunday so working members are able to attend. If you are looking for an active chapter to try, contact Dorothy Hartley, 253-631-5100, or at: hartley90@comcast.net.

We invite you to join us for an outing to check us out.

Tired and Retired Submitted by Tammy Romanoff

Tired and Retired just finished with a great October camp out at Glen Ayr RV in Hoodsport we had 6 Rigs present.

Our next camp out in November will find us at Elma RV park where we will celebrate Thanksgiving with our tradi-tional Thanksgiving meal.

We are always looking for new mem-bers - we camp from March through November. We meet in December for a lunch.

Our Wagon Master is working hard on getting next year’s camp outs planned.

If you are interested in joining a group who likes to eat and have fun, please contact our President: Jo Boyett at cell: 206-818-4212 or home: 425-481-9208 or Tammy Romanoff, Secretary, at 253-394-8930.

It is time to start thinking of what your Chapter can bring to the Moses Lake Rally to help fill the Goodie Bags. The number of bags to be filled is about 125. Bring your Goodie Bag items in by Wednesday morning, June 3rd and help stuff the bags. You can purchase or make something to add, remember to put your Chapters Logo on it. Members will have more fun digging, rum-maging or just dumping the bag out to find the things in it. The more the better.

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Desert DriftersSubmitted by Renae Koop

Happy New Year! Hello, 2020!

2019 was a year filled with events for the Desert Drifters. Not only did we have some amazing camping trips, but we also had some great celebrations of marriage, a new home, a new grand-baby and even a ”ringing of the bell” after chemo completion for Emily, and so much more! On a sad note, we said goodbye to one of our members, Roger Bettencourt, who passed away in Au-gust. The Desert Drifters also welcomed into the group several new members; the Abrams, Stephensens, Hindes, and Blasdels.

After our last trip of the season, which was at Sun Lakes, we began gathering for our winter meetings at Shooters Sports Bar in Finley. It’s been a great place to meet with plenty of room, good food, (the garlic green beans are amaz-ing!) and great company.

In November we voted on the new board and at our December meeting, the new board was installed. So, we say ”Thank you for your service” to our outgoing board and ”Welcome” to the new 2020-2022 board. At our December meeting, we also enjoyed our Christmas party, and with 34 in attendance, it was filled with fun and laughter! 

Our Wagon Master, Cindy, has a list of campouts ready for us beginning in March with a trip to Pier 4 Resort in Moses Lake. Each month we will ex-plore a new destination, such as Deer Park, WA, Coeur d’ Alene, ID, and Leavenworth, WA, just to name a few. One extended trip will bring us all the way from Osburn, ID to Anaconda, MT hopefully to learn how to mine for Sapphires! We look forward to a new camping season and all the new adven-tures in store for us.

The big question is who will be the next recipient of the dammit doll, and why?

Cheers to 2020! A new year, and a new decade! Hoping it’s the best ever!

Single Sam of WASubmitted by Vicki Lieske & Robert Reichle

Single Sams of Washington is a smaller friendly group of RVers looking for others who would like to join us in our adventures. Our uniform, if you care to look in vogue, is a Hawaiian Shirt. We meet monthly for lunch and trip planning through the winter months at 11:30am till about 1pm alternating between the Sizzler Restaurant at the Southcenter Mall and the Original Pancake House in Bothell.

January and March 2020 luncheons will be on the third Thursday of the month (1/16/20 and 3/19/20). Our February Luncheon will be south on the third Tuesday of the month (2/18/20) at the Sizzler Restaurant. We use the luncheons to plan our camping outings for the months from April through to October. Our Wagon Master Al Franklin passed this last year, so the post is currently open. This coming year’s outings were planned by group ac-clamation, we let members pick a month and plan an outing for the group. Sharing the load seems to be working, at least for now. We plan trips for both sides of the mountains, and even had a trip to the Penticton Area in Canada last year.

While most of us are single we welcome couples to join us, for the lun-cheons or our outings. We also have members who no longer RV but stay in local hotels and join us during the day to share in our adventures. Our outings usually include Happy Hour 4pm each day, a dinner out the first evening, a meeting, games and puzzles if there is a meeting room, taking in local sights or tours, a potluck or two, and breakfast the last day before we break camp. Our current outing schedule for 2020 looks like this:• April 14-17 Swinomish Casino, need to register by March 15th• May 1-3 Sams Club State Rally at the Lynden Fairgrounds• May 4-8 Funfest a the Swiss Sportsman Park near Bonney

Lake• June 4-7 Sams Club State Rally at Moses Lake Fairgrounds• July 21-24 Whispering Pines RV Park, Cle Elum• August 18-21 Copalis Beach Resort, we will be joining the

Beachcombers Chapter • September 10-13 Sams Club State Rally at Cashmere Fairgrounds• October 20-23 Elma RV Park• November 17th we are back for a Luncheon at the Sizzler at Southcenter• December 17th our luncheon and Christmas Party is at the Original

Pancake House in Bothell

If you would care to join us at any of our events, or just need more informa-tion, please call our President, Carol Eggleston at 425-222-7957. Hope to see you at one of our events.

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Three River SamsSubmitted by Delphine Palmer

We concluded 2019 with our annual Christmas party buf-fet at The Clover Inn. Members exchanged gifts with their secret pals and had a great time reminiscing about the fun we had during 2019. In the tradition of our local newspaper, the following are things we would like to see happen in 2020. Most of the following ideas came from Chapter events and campouts throughout 2019.

Happening at the Moses Lake Summer Rally 2020:

• Joretta Heath opens Huckleberry Milkshake stand offer-ing 32 oz. shakes for $1.00.

• Lew Smathers teaches Gun Safety classes.

• Bud Dazey agrees to do 2 hour stand-up comedy rou-tine.

• Char Hicks crafts 5 awesome baskets for charity auction and makes $10,000.

• Roxie Holley confesses her beautiful, thick, always per-fect hair is actually a wig.

• John and Jeanette Jensen’s dog wins obedience trials.

• Elaine Rose, recalling the skunk and mirror incidents at past campouts, trades in her new motorhome for a Tear-drop Trailer.

• Buttons Palmer volunteers to back up and park mem-bers’ 5th wheels.

• Bob and Marcy Newton win $1,000 in Dance Contest.

• Steve Heath tires of fishing and takes up ping-pong. Wins Rally tournament.

• Grace and Gary Hughs sign up 20 new Three Rivers Sams Chapter members.

Our Chapter wishes a Happy, Healthy and Safe 2020 to each of you.

HAPPY WHEELSFEBRUARY 2020

What-Com SamsSubmitted by Patricia Kazarow

In November, we gathered at the Latitude 49 Clubhouse in Birch Bay for a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner. Joining us were special guests who included several new prospective members as well as outgoing State Director Donna (Richard) Amos and incoming State Director Dave (Dee) Cluett. Both Directors shared their thoughts about the joys and challeng-es of this important leadership position.

In December, our Christmas dinner and celebration was again held at the Portal Creek Park Clubhouse where we again welcomed several new prospective members and State Director Dave (Dee) Cluett. In addition to our delicious din-ner, we participated in a fun gift exchange. At our meeting, we reviewed our charitable giving this year to the Ronald McDonald House, Fisher House, and Dogs for Better Lives. We also collected non-perishable items for our local Food Banks.

In January we begin our non-campout meetings at the Fair-way Café in Lynden. In February, we will meet at the Dutch Mother’s restaurant in Lynden; in March, we will be at Bob’s Burgers and Brew in Birch Bay.

We are already anticipating our first campout venue at North Whidbey RV Park in Oak Harbor. The way time seems to fly, it will be here before we know it!

This spring, we again will be the host chapter for the Wash-ington State Rally in Lynden this coming May. Our theme this year is Up, Up and Away! In addition to supporting the theme, we will sell BBQ sandwiches and hot dogs for lunch on May 1 and 2. The proceeds from this activity help to fund our charitable giving. Ann Archer will again offer a craft ses-sion in Lynden as well as at Fun Fest.

In the summer, we will be at Rasar State Park in Concrete in June; in July we may set a record number of rigs (21 regis-tered so far!) at Howard Miller Steelhead Park in Rockport; and in August, we will be in the Group Camp area at Silver Lake County Park in Maple Falls.We are so grateful for all of our fun times together! Happy Trails everyone!

PHOTO CONTEST ON THE WEBSITEWatch for the PHOTO Contest in the State Website. The first person who can identify the photo, and the area where the photo was taken will receive a free registration to a State Event. Check it out. Visit: https://www.washingtonstategoodsams.com/

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Desert Drifters SamsSubmitted by Renae Koop

This has been a great camping season for Desert Drifters!

In July we traveled to Baker City, OR where we stayed at the A-Frame RV Park. While in Baker City we enjoyed the Miners Jubilee. There was so much to learn about mining! We even had an opportunity to tour a mining dredge nearby. As usual we experienced great company and great food. One of the couples in our group was recently mar-ried, so we celebrated the newlyweds with a flamingo themed party at dinner. Congratulations to Jim and Linda Crockett!

August’s trip was to Westport, WA. Only a few were able to attend, and those that did go on this trip reported that it was a fun time!

The final scheduled camping trip for this year was to Sun Lakes RV Park. It was a great trip! There were 10 rigs that went on this trip. The weather was perfect, chilly at night and warm enough for shorts during the day. It was considered “off-season” so the whole atmosphere of the park seemed a little quieter. But we still had lots to do right at the park! Golf, paddle boating and fishing are just a few. One of the highlights of the area was Dry Falls and how it was formed. A definite “must see” if you have the opportunity.

Saturday night we had a delicious dinner of spaghetti and all the trimmings hosted by Rich and Kathy Emery, followed by our meeting and raffle. The raffle always brings fun and laughter, and the money always goes to our chosen charities.

This pretty much wraps up our camping trips for 2019. We will spend the next few months meeting in town mak-ing plans for our 2020 trips. I can’t wait to see where our journeys take us!

Washington Good Sams celebrate 50 years!

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Lilac City SamsSubmitted by Betty Higley

Winter is here with snowfall as I write today. Better to be warm inside than out on the roads. We are not camping in Spokane, so I write you about a man our President, Kelly Rhoads and I met in the summer. Dov, purchased a motorcycle here in the US to ride across the US to NY. Kelly invited him to eat with us after our meeting in Wil-bur. He is from Israel and taking a vacation trip. What a trip that would be. He was to sell this motorcycle in NY and head back home. I had the pleasure of visiting with him while taking a picture of Kelly and Dov. I am finding that those who camp are also the friendly sort and make it a point to meet people along their travels. Welcome to America, Dov.

Toby Hawkins is shown in the picture leaning on the flying saucer. We were camping in Polson MT and this Martian flying saucer was out front of the American Museum. Toby was on a takeover mission as he posed for a picture. He was our man! Protecting us from what he found to be from Mars. Thank you, Toby, for your efforts to save us. Well done!

Candy is Toby’s wife and interested in the town of Polson. She is looking at something special. Being a woman maybe there is shopping on her mind. Yes! Toby and Candy have been RVing for the past 17 years. They love to camp and joined Lilac City Sams a year ago. We are glad to have them as members of our Chapter. We wish every-one blessings in the New Year as we begin 2020.

Dov and Kelly

Tony and his flying machine

Candy

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Roamin WheelsSubmitted by Iva Metz

OCTOBER - Prior to putting our RV’s to sleep for the winter, we camped at Fi-dalgo Bay Resort, near Anacortes, this always seems a wonderful place to end the camping year. This year was especially fun, with 20 people in attendance, Janet planned some new and entertaining things to do. This was to be a Tea Party, ev-eryone was to bring their teacups, wear a hat, it could be Ornate, Comical or Ugly, whatever they chose. I do not know just who won which class, but it was great fun for all. As we drank our tea and enjoyed many of the wonderful goodies displayed on the dessert table, we had many laughs while looking at all the hats. After which we played several different types of games.  What a wonderful, fun way to end 2019 camping year.

NOVEMBER - Our usual business meeting was held at the Pancake House on Everett/Bothell Hwy.

DECEMBER - We celebrated Christmas at the Cedar Valley Grange near Lyn-nwood. We were honored to have the new WA State Directors Dave & Dee Cluett in attendance, along with about 30 members of the Chapter. Of course, the Pot Luck Luncheon was yummy, and plentiful. After our tummies were filled, we held a White Elephant gift exchange, where some gifts were stolen from others, but we all still remained friends. After all that we celebrated our Chapter’s 40th birthday again, with a cake. I was presented with a dozen Red Roses, because I was the only Charter Member left in this Chapter. What a wonderful surprise and a very nice thing for them to do.

Stay well & we will see you down the roads. Happy Camping in 2020.

Play It Again SamsSubmitted by Pam Lyyski

In November, we were at Donna’s for our annual turkey dinner potluck. Food was terrific. The company even better. We did not do our annual auction as the member count is too low to make it matter. We did, however, as a group decide to fold after losing two members this year and everyone, except one, is 80 or more years young. Only three have a rig so it makes it tough to reserve sites to get a club house. So we took a vote and it was decided that we disband as no new members have come forward to help carry on the tradition.

Our December meeting was our last of-ficial gathering as Play It Again Sams. We met at Don and Dottie’s house un-der a beautifully decorated Christmas atmosphere. We had a ham dinner cre-ated by the nearby Albertson’s. Lots of desserts were made by everyone. With being our last meeting, we have decid-ed to stay together as friends and still have a monthly lunch date and maybe a camp out or two a year. The friendships we have made do not go away. Eventu-ally we may drift apart but we will con-tinue our get togethers as often as we can.

We wish for everyone a happy new year and a healthy one. Hold onto your friendships as long as you can. And above all, drive safe and we may see you down the road!

Photos courtsey of

Kitty.

Left: Catered meatloaf for the main course, potluck everything else!

Below: Waiting while the White Elephant gift is being opened.

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Good Sam SneekersSubmitted by Kathy Laird

The Sneekers visited Hood River, Or-egon for our last campout of the 2019 year. We stayed at the Hood River Fair Grounds which has a low-cost RV camping venue at the fairgrounds. They have several sites with water/elec-tric hookups but no sewer hookups. However, they have the best, well-kept (read “very clean”) restroom/showers with heat and large dressing rooms we have ever seen or experienced.

The fairgrounds hosted the annual two-day Gorge Fruit and Craft Fair while we were there. The Fair was fun and had lots of fresh and canned fruit, crafts, floral wreaths and arrangements. We also visited the Hood River Farmer’s Market with more good fruit to choose from. The guys enjoyed the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Mu-seum. They said it was wonderful to see all of the old planes and cars. All are still in good running order and are each maintained and taken out regularly to ensure they are still operating properly. The volunteers are very knowledgeable and friendly.

While the guys enjoyed the museum, the gals shopped the local downtown boutiques and specialty stores. Many special finds were bought to take home for self or for gifts. We also found some great restaurants, wineries and more fruit, especially apples, on the fabled “Fruit Loop”. Despite the sometimes rainy weather that week we had a great time and highly recommend the area.

At our November meeting we elected and installed our new officers for 2020: Tarie Troyer, President; Glen Hogg, Vice President; Kathy Laird, Secretary; Lin Courtney, Treasurer; Bob Stock-well, Wagon Master; Ted Herald, As-sistant Wagon Master; Diane LaRue, Historian; and Jana Lunday, Sunshine Lady.

In December we had our annual Christmas dinner party at the Elks with a special holiday meal, played games, and socialized.

Fort Vancouver SamsSubmitted by Gay Rochel

October 2019 we celebrated with our Harvest Dinner put on by Doug and Bernie Bachelor with the assistance of most of the members. It is one of the highlights of our year.

In November we elected new officers for 2020: Joe Durbin as president, Marge Angell as vice president, Kathy Davis as Treasurer, Doug Bachelor as Secretary. Wayne Davis and Jim Rochel acting as Wagon Masters.

2019 was breathing its last breath when “2020” thrust open the doors and we be-gan a” Century Decade” exciting in its own right! 2020 celebrates our chapter’s 20th Anniversary. We now have 33 members with Wayne and Kathy Davis and Helen Doheny joining us in 2019. 

We at FVGS wish you all the very best and “happy wheels” for the New Year.

Ponder this if you will . . . Life brings us simple pleasures, it is up to us to make them wonderful memories!

ADVERTISEMENT VOLUNTEER NEEDEDThe Good Sam Member that steps up to this position will be the representative for seeking Campground Advertisements to help subsidize the Happy Wheels. Ad fees are posted on the back page.

No experience is needed, good person to person skills will suffice. If you are interested contact the State Director.

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Please Support our advertisers!

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Driving the Happy Wheels News-bus!Barbara Erickson, Happy Wheels Editor

Thank you to everyone who submitted articles for this month's newsletter! I appreciate your promptness and enjoy reading about your chapters' adventures! There are great tips about a wide-variety of RV Parks to visit and enjoy locally and in nearby states.

Logo: This quarter's issue focuses on the Desert Drifter's logo. The Desert Drifters Sams Club was formed in 2008 in the Tri-Cities, WA. Within a few months of the Desert Drifters being chartered, it was discussed and determined by the group that they needed a logo to represent them, and they had a discussion of what that logo might be. So, two of our charter members, Larry Kessie and Dale Eggan got together to discuss ideas as to the details. Together Larry and Dale worked on the basic design. The Tri-Cities being a desert climate, the idea of the logo depicting a RV located in the desert came to mind. Larry sketched the RV in the desert concept, and during a couple more meetings additional details were added to the logo. Once they had the details worked out, Larry, who is an artist, created a color drawing. The drawing was presented to the group, reviewed, and approved by the Charter members in early 2009.

PHOTOGRAPHS: You may have noticed more photographs accompanying the articles lately. I am including photgraphs as I have room. Remember we have a 300 word limit. If I have to increase the size of your column to fit photos in, I will do so as space permits! or I will inevitably have to omit the photo. Space limitations also determine the layout of the articles and size of the photographs. Resolution and size of the photograph you send determine the quality.

STATE EVENTS: Spread the word... State campouts are fun!

FEBRUARY 2020 HAPPY WHEELS

Put the Washington State Campout in Lynden May 1 – 3rd on your camping schedule. Send in your registration EARLY and join us for the first State Event of the new decade. We will be celebrating:

Washington State Good Sam Club's FIFTY YEAR ANNIVERSARY.

Join us at the Moses Lake Summer Rally in June 4 - 7th. Dee and I are starting to make a fun agenda that everyone will enjoy. We have a few new ideas so come to the Rally, see what we have planned, take part in the events and have some fun. Remember please register EARLY!

16 HAPPY WHEELSFEBRUARY 2020

WA State Good Sams Happy Wheels14306 SE 49th StreetBellevue, WA 98006

The Washington State Good Sam Newsletter is the quarterly published voice for Washington State Good Sams Chapter Members. At Large Members may subscribe to a nominal fee by contacting the Good Sam State Treasurer.

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