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Veteran
Location: Kingsley Michigan | A late breaking development----the folks at the Pioneer Village have agreed to give us the discounted camping rate for the FMC Owners of $15.60 a night instead of their normal rate of $26.55 for any days we stay there before the Mega Rally---or After!! See Ross Woods (800-445-4447) at the motel/campground to get the rate---and make your reservation now for those extra days!
On to Minden!!! | |
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Veteran
Location: Kingsley Michigan | To Everyone----
The recent FMC Motor Coach Mega rally that Connie and I attended near the middle of this country, in Nebraska, and it was an overwhelming success. It was held in the little town of Minden where their big attraction is the Pioneer Village which is listed as the largest private collection of antiques, machinery and goods from this country during it's struggle to gain a foothold as it grew westward.
We were part of that collection during the time we were there. The local people, having seen our coaches in the local paper, The Kearney Hub, and on TV came out in droves to see our 17 machines. We accommodated them with tours and from the 22 owners present, an ear full of information on the coach. Thanks to the local Chamber of Commerce, we had our vintage motor coach tour posted on the local banks marque. They also provided us with a couple of very informative and interesting people from their hospital to give us some of the latest procedures of basic first aid and life saving techniques as well as a general vehicle safety procedure practiced by the local school district. I didn't know how well this all was going to go with our very knowledgeable crowd but they seemed riveted to the seminars and came away with a refreshed view of life on the road.
The variety of people was wonderful to see all collected together to share their life's experiences as well as their similar---but at the same time---wildly different machines. Their were a few that didn't bring their coaches, some that broke down on the way there and a lot of them that got repaired there. We even left a big chunk of rubber somewhere on the road in Iowa on the way home but meet some of the greatest of people on a Saturday afternoon in this little town of Atlantic who owned the Firestone store and fixed our problem and made me drink beer with them------
Now, back at home, we have some great experiences and memories of a much larger group of friends and characters. Lets face it, you have to be something of a character to own and drive one of these coaches, but we are grateful for their participation and devotion to maintaining this association.
This Mega Rally of 2010 will go down in history as one of the largest of it's kind for the FMCers and will always bring a smile to our faces.
Stay healthy, happy and in touch; Barn | |
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Expert
Location: Cottage Grove, OR | First, I want to thank Barney and Denny and anyone else that helped organize or orchestrate the Minden Mega Rally as I concur with everything Barney has said above. I had a really, really great time and met some more wonderful people whom I hope to see at future rallies or just as either of us are traveling. We are fortunate to have varying talents among our members. One of those members is Bill Rogers. He took some video footage of the process of getting to the rally, being at the rally and also going back home after the rally. He has been gracious enough to put together two video clips, post them on YouTube and provide the links to them so we can all enjoy them. He has given me permission to post them here. I have included his viewing instructions as well.
The updated Minden Rally videos are finished and uploaded to YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agR-jkuE5Fo
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9ZeVQ-gp6M
If you have a high bandwidth connection, try watching in high definition: Click on the button at the lower right corner of the video window that says something like "360p" or perhaps "480p" and select a higher resolution.
Your playback quality will vary depending on the speed of your connection, your screen resolution, and the speed of your PC. If the playback is choppy, even after the clip has finished downloading, try a lower resolution or window size (the widgets with arrows at the lower right corner of the video window).
Bill Rogers, coach 0839
Fort Collins, CO
Great videos Bill. Thanks! | |
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Expert
Location: Cottage Grove, OR | And here is another video that you can watch! Barney Martin was able to contact the local news media and arranged to have a reporter come to the Minden Mega Rally and shoot some video of our gathering for a spot on the area television station. Those of us that were at the rally learned that Jim Evans can talk when unleashed. It worked out well as Jim did a great job of being the person interviewed for the camera. Here is the link to the broadcast which has been uploaded to YouTube. You can watch it full screen by clicking on the expand button with the four arrows pointing outward on the lower right. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tnDIsLqhyI I would like to compliment the reporter, Zack, who did the filming and editing of the program. I think he did a very good job as he caught the essence of the coaches and of being at a rally in the very limited time that a TV story clip allows. This is about a minute and a half which is as long as these things run. Most are shorter so he must have liked us. After this showed on the local television station (both for the evening news and the late news), the number of people driving by and through the campground to view the coaches increased markedly. A few that came through the campgroud stopped to see more and someone would give them a tour of a coach or two. And yes, Bill, I will oil that squeaky door! | |
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Mega Rally Update!!!