25th Anniversary Party at Pechanga

 

The Shanty Shakers, Chapter 25 of the Escapees RV Club, was founded on August 24th 1989 with 43 members. The name Shanty Shakers was the idea of our first President, Bill Hitt, who had been a commercial truck driver for many years hauling mobile homes. The truckers call these rigs "shanty shakers", a term still in use today. (Would you believe there is another RV group called the Shanty Shakers home based in Delaware?) The chapter is now more than 130 members strong and still growing!

Thirty-three rigs gathered at the beautiful Pechanga RV Resort in Temecula and enjoyed a great time of camaraderie, fantastic weather and of course, good food! Guests included Wayne Lawyer, who was the chapters first vice president and second president.He shared a few words about the trials of getting the chapter off the ground. Another chapter past president, Shirley Warren, treated the crowd to a beautiful rendition to the song "Smile". The crowd couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces as she sang.

Dave and Marilyn Anderson, VCRs, presented a letter of congratulations from Escapees headquarters signed by the founder Kay Peterson to the current club presidents, Garth and Judy Carle.

Marilyn also presented a new (miniature) RV to the chapter.

After happy hour and dinner, evenings were spent around a cozy campfire pit,(thanks to Don R.) trying our luck at the slots or Blackjack table in the casino, watching DVDs (thanks to Herb), playing cards or just spending time with new friends and old, while listening to the coyotes howl in the distant hills. This group truly becomes like family.

We give a tremendous gratitude to the many people who helped  make the rally a success but a special kudos goes out to John and Wendy Pumphrey along with Herb and Dayle Sands for leading the efforts.

Judy presented flowers to Wendy and Dayle.

Herb boiling the brats

And now a message from the new Chapter Directors:

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves to all the great Escapee Chapters, C-BOF’s, and VCR’s.  We are Mark and Dortha Hall, the new Chapter Directors for the Escapees RV Club.  And, along with the Club, we wish Denny and Susie a happy retirement.

We have been RVing since 1994 and full timing since 2007.  We have a home base in Fort Worth, Texas, where we enjoy hanging out with our three children and six grandchildren.   In the winter, you can usually find us at Retama Village in the Rio Grande Valley.  Otherwise, we are out and about traveling this beautiful country.

We are so blessed to have made so many friends across the country while enjoying this lifestyle.  We love working with the Escapees RV Club and are privileged to be a part of a great family of RVers.  We have met many of you over the past several years while working as Escapade Coordinators and look forward to meeting many more of you in the future.

Our hope is that together, we can take the social arm of the club to new heights of success.   We hope you will be patient with us as we learn with you and from you, as we look forward to supporting you the chapters, C-BOF’s, and VCR’s.  We also look forward to receiving support, help, and cooperation from all of you.  And, together we can insure the Caring and Sharing of Escapees will continue to grow.

Please feel free to contact us at chapterdirectors@escapees.com

Hugs,

Mark and Dortha Hall

Chapter Directors

Escapees RV Club