Some of
you may have been selected to receive a recent survey concerning the Family
RVing Magazine. Questions revolved around the magazine with the
exception of the last few, like the one below:
Question
15 on the recent magazine survey asks:
Do you
agree with the decision to increase dues to help fund the FMCAssist Medical
Emergency and Travel Assistance Program?
This
question is very misleading. At no time has the
Executive Board entertained a dues increase to “help fund” the Assist
program. The EB has no intention to raise dues within the 2021 budget.
I want to
make it as perfectly clear as I can that the current annual dues are
$75. If you have questions or concerns, please contact me.
Sincerely, Lon Cross President, WMHA National VP, FMCA lcross@fmca.com
Dear FMCA Member:
It is with great disappointment that we must announce that the Western Motor Home Association (WMHA) Executive Board (EB) has decided to postpone our upcoming 33rd Western Area Rally, which was scheduled for January 6-12, 2021, at the Riverside County Fairgrounds and National Date Festival, Indio, California.
The Executive Board (EB) has been working diligently for the last few months in planning for the rally, but we ended up facing too many obstacles that were hard to overcome, the main one being the availability of the Riverside Fairgrounds. During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two main buildings at the fairgrounds were set up as a triage to treat virus patients and as an overflow for the hospital in Indio. Another building is being used as a supply storage point. There are also equipment and vehicles stored on the fairgrounds. This Federal COVID-19 support station is still in place at the fairgrounds and will remain so in case of an expected recurrence of COVID-19 cases. The earliest expected removal is not until December 31, 2020, and may go beyond that date. We just cannot work around that schedule.
While we all would like to come together once again for the Western Area Rally, the health and safety of our members must be first and foremost. With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing and forecast to worsen as cooler months arrive, the WMHA EB determined it would be in everyone’s best interest to postpone the event for 2021.
We are happy to report that the 33rd Western Area Rally will be held January 12-16, 2022, at the Riverside County Fairgrounds and National Date Festival, Indio, California. We will be using the same theme chosen for the now cancelled 2021 rally, “In The Land of Oz.” We are confident that by sometime next year this awful COVID-19 pandemic will be behind us, we will be returning to normalcy, and we can once again pursue our favorite RVing lifestyle.
We wish you all a happy and healthy year and for those of you who are able to get out, safe travels to you all.
Sincerely,
Lon Cross
President, WMHA
Area VP, FMCA
661-886-5077
Bob Golk
President (elect), WMHA
Area VP (elect), FMCA
Rally Master
661-599-3548
The COVID-19 Waiver and Release is optional for Chapter rallies. It is up the Chapter to decide if they will use the Release form. FMCA was asked to provide the form for Chapters to use and its use is not mandated by FMCA.
Per our Western Area President: “The C-19 Waiver from FMCA is NOT a mandatory document and is up to each individual chapter if they want to use it. Rally organizers and attendees are welcome to use this waiver if they so wish. The health and safety of FMCA members remains a priority.”
With recent health concerns related to COVID-19, FMCA has been asked for a waiver or release from liability form that could be used for FMCA rallies. Rally organizers and attendees are welcome to use this release. The health and safety of FMCA members remains our priority, and we encourage you to check with the rally facility and/or hosts to see whether the rally is still scheduled as planned.
The Form is 2 pages, please download and print each page. Each Rally attendee needs to complete a form, one per person. Completed forms to be kept by the Chapter.
Richard Gibbs passed away peacefully during the evening of June 3, 2020. Dick, as everyone called him, was a wonder husband to Char and father to Tim and Steve and was a great friend of FMCA and members in the Western Area. Dick was 84.
Dick served as Western Area President and FMCA National Vice President, Western Area from 2014-2016 and was currently the Immediate Past President.
An email will be sent out later to when Dick’s Celebration of Life will be held.
I want to thank Dick for showing all of us what great fun there is to RVing with family and friends and the rewards for serving the members in the Western Area and FMCA. His guidance and friendship will be greatly missed.
