Ok everyone, it is time to mark your calendar and start working on the specifics of your attendance at the next FMC Motor Coach Rally.  It will be held in Felton, California at the Cotillion Gardens RV Park, http://tinyurl.com/l6wt5m , which is nestled amongst redwood trees near Santa Cruz.  The formal rally will be from Friday Nov. 6 to Sunday Nov. 8, 2009.  Early arrivals and late departures are encouraged as there are many things to do in the area.

This is going to be a rally that will be talked about for some time as we will be having a guest speaker that has a unique connection to FMC Motor Homes.  The speaker will be Earl Anderson who was the Assistant Sales Manager of the FMC Motor Coach Division for the entire time that coaches were being sold.  Since he was one of the top level managers, he was included in all significant management meetings and, therefore, has a broad view of how the division was operated and why some of the decisions were made.

At this rally we will have sales and management represented by Earl and we will also have the manufacturing side represented by Jim Black.  It should be interesting!  Earl says that they had this great chart that showed how they could sell the coaches at a price that was at a loss and that the volume would quickly increase and costs would go down and they would be making a lot of money.  You can ask him how the chart worked out in the real world.  You can also ask who suggested eliminating the driver’s door as a cost saving move.  You can also ask him what it was like riding in a coach at the Riverside Raceway with Mario Andretti at the wheel while they were setting the “World Land Speed Record for motorhomes”.  You will also learn which project he vetoed that he now regrets and wonders what would have been if he had said “It’s a go!”.

Earl enjoyed his time with the division and is proud of the design of the coach.  He also enjoys talking about what they did to overcome various problems that surfaced and what it was like getting the phone calls from FMC headquarters with questions he had to answer as he reported directly back to FMC headquarters rather than the local division manager.  It is now time for him to answer to YOU, the current owners of the coaches, but for him to answer to you, you have to actually be there to ask your question.

The general schedule for the rally is as follows with details and specifics still being worked out:
Friday, Nov 6                 Arrival and check in with dinner on your own or in a local restaurant as a group(s)..
Saturday, Nov 7             Whale Watching cruise on Monterey bay followed by a catered dinner and presentation by FMC Asst. Sales Mngr, Earl Anderson with Q & A session.
Sunday, Nov 8               FMC Club meeting followed by hugs and goodbyes.

We will be having everyone make their own space reservations directly with the park so feel free to call them and make your reservation for the FMC rally for the days you will be there at 831-335-7669.  When you have made your reservation, please advise Greg Miller at gregmiller@pobox.com that you have done so.

I will be there on Thursday so I will see you there.

The Felton Rally is getting close and everyone is preparing their coaches.  I still have to wash mine, but that is last minute.  We are holding at 11 coaches and will have a couple of people in addition that will come just for the day/dinner for warious reasons. 

Tonight I will give another call to one more person whom I hope to get to come.  Long shot, but we will see.

Come and enjoy the fun. YOU can still get here from Texas or other such places if you hit the road. 

We will "keep the light on for you".

Attend the next rally in your area and the Mega Rally coming up next June and you will forever be thankful that you did.  View the pictures and if you were there, may they trigger the good memories of the time we had and if you weren't there, may it give you an incentive to be at the next one!

Keep the white line moving,