Du-Bol Winnies

Local chapter
By Gloria Caffrey

On a beautiful Tuesday morning, 7 Du-Bol Winnies coaches met at the St. Augustine rest area on I-95  and headed south in an impressive caravan to the 35^th Florida state Winnie-Gators Rally in Orlando.  We were met by 3 more Du-Bol coaches at the Orlando Fairgrounds, and got parked and settled as early arrivals for the rally.  We were later joined by 7 more coaches, and members Ed & Marion Graveline, who drove down for one day and left their sick coach at home.  We welcomed our guests, Bob & Dottie Terry, who became our newest members.  Many of the Du-Bols enjoyed dinner out at the Outback Steakhouse, then turned on the heat in their RVs as the temperatures dropped into the 40s.

On Wednesday we watched as several hundred more Winnebago and Itasca motorhomes pulled in and filled up the fairgrounds.   On a beautiful, sunny afternoon we conducted our business meeting outside, and prepared for our club’s assignments to prepare the coffee pots, serve ice tea, and serve some meals for the rally.  That evening we feasted on dinner at Red Lobster and celebrated Blanche Norman’s birthday with delicious chocolate cakes.

On Thursday, the rally got into full swing following the opening ceremonies.  For travelers who have had the pleasure, the Florida state rally provides non-stop activities for over 3 days.  The Florida Winnebago/Itasca dealers brought in a large variety of beautiful new coaches to tour and dream about owning.  There were many informative seminars to attend, vendors to visit, crafts to admire, meals to enjoy, prizes to win, games to play, and evening entertainment to keep everyone happy. 

The rally theme “Wildlife of Florida” took on new meaning for one of our members, Mabel Moorhead.  At the Saturday real wildlife animal exhibit, Mabel got up the courage to give a hungry “baby” tiger his bottle.  Club members Donna Weitzel and Jim Hoffren good-naturedly represented our club at the “toilet bowl” competition.  This year none of the Du-Bol Winnies won any big prizes, but the absolutely perfect weather along with the fun and fellowship made us all winners.  We departed the Fairgrounds on Sunday morning, happy to have participated in the success of another great Florida state rally.