Hope you enjoyed the 2018 WARE Rally !

Submitted by Dianna Simons

Well, another Western Area Rally for Escapees has come to an end. The rigs are packed and they are on their way to parts known and unknown. We had 85 rigs and a lot of very happy people being that the events were all inside in an air-conditioned facility. It was record temps here in Las Vegas reaching all the way into the 90’s.

The RV Boot Camp classes held by Jim Koca had lots of attendees and plenty of questions. This was a first-time rally for a few and they were very happy to have such an RV specialist there to answer their questions. They really enjoyed being able to get to all the classes that were offered as Jim had the room to himself. Thanks for a great job.

The Geeks on Tour, aka Jim & Chris Guld, were off and running from start to finish, even holding another One-on-One session on Thursday morning. Keeping up with all the new and old technology is not an easy thing for some of us old timers. It was nice to have a classroom all to themselves to be able to answer questions and show them how things work.

Lots of prizes and gifts were won by anxious attendees. The $500 Penny Raffle prize went to Frank Hinman who was kind enough to share some of his winnings to take the auction item, a hand painted watercolor by Gene Stout, to $300.00. The picture is now in the possession of John and Wendy Pumphrey. 

Lots of other prizes were awarded like a week at Timber Valley SKP Park won by Jerry Simon, a one week stay at Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe won by Bob and Judy Kominski, 2 1-yr memberships for Passport America won by Ted Ladd and Donna Cole to name a few. There was a raffle for an electric Scooter won by Mary Campbell.(picture below) It was fun to see the winners. These were just a couple of the wonderful things that Escapees do. Sharing and Caring is part of who we are.

The 50/50 daily raffle proved that where cash money is involved, tickets get sold. After all this was Las Vegas!! The first night winner, Mike Page, (Vendor) gave back all but his buy-in to the Positively Kids. 

A  total of over $800 went back to some lucky attendees. This amount along with other donations enabled us to write a check for $1000.00 to Positively Kids. They couldn’t thank us enough. 

This local charity was chosen by WARE Co-Director Ron Bessette and his wife Sandy, who are the President and CEO of Las Vegas RV Chamber of Commerce. 

Thanks to Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall for their donations for the winners of the Slot Machine Tournament; a 3-day 2 night stay the Hotel won by Frank Hinman, a $100 gift certificate at the Angry Butcher won by Marilyn Anderson and a $75 gift certificate to Big Mess Bar-B-Q won by Judy Kominski. 

 The continental breakfast on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday saved attendees having to make breakfast. The Western Style Buffet on Wednesday was the best. The catering chef and crew did an awesome job.

SHANTY SHAKERS HAPPY HOUR 😎

 

According to the evaluation sheets, it sounded like a good time was had by many. An interest in having the WARE Rally every other year was well received. The results will be sent corporate.

Thanks to all my helpers who kept me in line and made this event happen.

BIG Escapee HUG to all who attended. Who’s next???

Dianna Simons

SKP# 9316, Rally Director

From Wayne and Lynn, Chapter 25 Co-Presidents:
We are so proud of Dianna & Bob, Ron & Sandy for the outstanding job they did producing this Rally. Dianna said many times if you are bored "it's not my fault" and that was so true !
Dianna turned out to be a very entertaining Mistress of ceremonies and Ron was a fabulous DJ. Bob and Sandy worked behind the scenes to keep things running as smooth as possible. Applause to all of you !

We can't close without mentioning the fun entertainment by Mama's Wranglers. Overall this Rally is going to be a hard act to follow !