Tennessee Volunteer Kruisers

Newmar Kountry Klub Chapter 72

Bonus Bonus Bonus!!!

 As agreed to at the last meeting, all members who are paid in full for the 2009 year will have their 2010 chapter dues paid by the chapter.  This means if you paid dues in 2009 (were current) you will now be current until January 1, 2011.  The dues page will reflect this shortly so make sure your 2009 dues are current.

In case you were wondering what this beautiful square is, it is two pictures of the quilt square that Betty Owens, Ruth Grogan and Judy Monoskey made for the Newmar Quilt to be presented at International this year. More on this to come.

Send all info to Merlin@VolunteerKruisers.com

Whew!! Sorry this has taken so long, but when one travels, an Internet connection is not guaranteed. So now it's
time to play catch up.

The 2010 State Rally.

One of the best rallies ever. Of course, it started with Big O's traditional breakfast. Sara and Dale really outdid
themselves this time with great rafting down the river just a few steps from the campground and the summer
temperatures fully upon us this turned out to be the most popular daytime treat.

Dinners were complemented by an excellent concert on dulcimers by the local expert and dulcimer shop owner and a
superb lecture on backwoods search and rescue presented by a retired park ranger with 30 years of experience. The
following night there was another lecture by a ranger with experience in smoky mountains who offered many
suggestions for various trips, and activities in the national parks nearby.

The trip down into the caves was enjoyed by all as the temperature is a constant 58 degrees. A welcome relief from
the temperatures above ground.

The trip to the Titanic exhibit was the highlight of the week. This wonderful exhibit assigns everyone a
personality as one of the passengers of the ill-fated ship. Only at the end do you discover whether you were one of
the survivors. Not only were there the usual artifacts normal for this type of exhibit, but parts of the ship were
recreated full size, including the grand staircase.

Several members brought children and grandchildren, making this a true multigenerational event. In addition, we
welcomed new members Jean and Burt Miller.

From Ann and Big "O"

Hey Everyone,

As most of you know "O" and I are in Crossville from May 20th until June 20th.  They have started the back porch and I took some pictures so you could see the happening!!!!!!!  Out back is a nice shady place to sit. They have planted 4 rose bushes.  The flooring is out of Decking.  There are two stubbed in gas valves.  Not many campers here today but will be packed out this weekend.  We checked out Deer Run and we don't want to go there.

Have a good Memorial Day. Hope to see you in Townsend.
 

Blessings

Ann

Here are the pictures of the improvements behind the meeting room at Spring Lake.

 

 

Sunday-Monday April 25/26

We're Heeere!!! The start of our Rally season at Crossville at the Spring Lake Campground.  Once again the folks at Spring Lake have outdone themselves in making us welcome. Come on over and we'll squeeze ya in somehow!!!

And even though we haven't eaten them yet, we sure do want to thank Charlene and Phil Budd for providing the WONDERFUL Piedmontese Beefburgers for the cook out!!! If you haven't ever tried them, it's enough reason to come to the rally (great company notwithstanding). Check it out at http://www.quietbreezepiedmontesefarm.com/ Thanks Phil and Charlene!!!!

Tuesday April 27

Rain Rain, Go away!!! What an auspicious start to the Pre Rally, Rally. Well, we Kruisers are used to all kinds of weather.  At least the end of the week is supposed to get drier and warmer.  With five coaches already in attendance we're just hangin' out and eating, eating, eating.  Dominoes, Phase 10 and shopping are on today's non-agenda.

Wednesday April 28

Well, finally all the rain has gone and nearly everyone has arrived (except for a couple of guest couples). More than 22 people are ready to enjoy the sunshine and friendship of the next few days. Tomorrow is O's breakfast (as Julia Child would say "Yum") and the first day of the rally. It's really fun to see everyone and find out how their winter was. Most everyone would simply say "COLD".  Good Night all. See you in the morning for breakfast.

Thursday April 29

Goood MORNING KRUISERS!!! Big O woke everyone with his breakfast as usual.  The surprise treat this time was pork chops to go along with the eggs, ham, potatoes, biscuits and gravy. After breakfast the usual camaraderie as some of us prepared to adjourn to the yarn store, others to the cheese shoppe, and some of the guys took off to visit the Crossville sustainability fair (showing off some of the newest low ecological impact, sustainable resource practices and concepts).  By mid afternoon everyone was back at camp to prepare for this evening's buffet dinner at the Cumberland State Park Lodge. We had several guests join us. Joan and Bob Carroll joined us for dinner, thanks to Bob and Judy Monoskey. Len and Flo Braun, long time members and friends of the Kruisers came over from the Gardens to visit for the first time in a couple of years. They sure look great after their winter out west. It was great to renew old acquaintances and make new ones. As always the Volunteer Kruisers' vaunted hospitality preceded us and has made new friends everywhere we go. Boy Tennessee sure has some gorgeous state parks and Cumberland and their lodge restaurant is certainly one of the best.   After a terrific buffet dinner with their renowned cobblers and banana pudding for dessert we once again headed back to camp for . . . you guessed it . . . more Mexican Train and Phase 10.

Friday April 30

With every coach represented and the rules announced Doxie led off the First Volunteer Kruisers Fishing Rally.  More on this later along with the information on the meeting and dinner. Ruth and Tony called the meeting to order at 6:03 pm.  Old business and the reading of the previous minutes were quickly dispensed with along with a brief discussion of the State Rally, the Regional Rally and International. Next the participants in the Fishing Rodeo were recognized and the results were announced.  The largest fish was caught by Doxie Frayser, but since it was an illegal fish caught on illegal bait it was disqualified. Then the smallest fish was caught, also by Doxie Frayser, was an illegal fish, on illegal bait and was therefore disqualified.  Apparently no one told the catfish in the lake about how terrific licorice tastes. Either that or the next time Doxie sees the licorice salesman won't be pretty.  In the meantime, the winners of the tournament were determined by lottery. Tony won the prize for the biggest fish and the Lovely Phyllis won the prize for the smallest fish. Congratulations to everyone who participated and a great time was had by all! The next order of business was DINNER!

Chef Doxie and Chef "O" grilled hamburgers of Phil Budd's special Piedmontese Beef and cooked a few hot dogs to boot. The rest of the attendees supplied our usual cornucopia of salads, side dishes and desserts. Everyone ate heartily after a long day in the sun. Thanks Phil, Doxie, and Big 'O'.  Fishing sure makes ya hungry. 

Saturday May 1st

After an early breakfast of sausage and biscuits we started the tech session off with a detailed discussion of Black and Gray water tanks and the use of Sewer Solution by Doxie.  After this the topic of Battery maintenance and replacement was covered very thoroughly by Doxie and Earl. This also included the advantages of using a Battery Minder to maintain batteries and keep them de sulphanated. This can be particularly important for those of us who don't live in  our coaches full time and "mothball" them between trips. Next was a comparison of the services provided by Speedco for oil changes and grease. Not only are they more reasonably priced than most other venues, but they are much quicker too. Some short discussions of using circuit breakers instead of fuses to protect 12 volt circuits ensued as well as some discussions about the poor workmanship and engineering we have all encountered from time to time and how to overcome such weaknesses. By this time the weather had turned into a torrential downpour and we "chewed the fat" for a while longer. One of the excellent suggestions from Earl was to put an inexpensive smoke detector in the outside compartment where the refrigerator is. This is the site of many fires from Dometic and Norcold refrigerators. Hopefully, if anyone were to have a fire the alarm would give them a few seconds or possibly even minutes of warning, allowing us to escape. The issue of refrigerator fires and recalls occupied some time. Finally the rain slacked up a bit, everyone adjourned or joined a game of afternoon dominoes.

By 6 pm everyone began to show up again for dinner and some closing remarks by Doxie.  Then it was time for Big "O"s soup and some side dishes including a few excellent desserts.  Tomorrow we'll mostly be leaving for home if the roads we need aren't blocked by rain, flooding, mud or rock slides.  But we'll get a chance to see everybody in June and the State Rally.