Well, the 35th Annual Grand National Rally, the largest ever with 1600 motor homes attending, is history.  Of those 1600, six  were Funtimers, Halsteads, Gengs, Moores, Madsens, Meekmas and our newest members, the Stoddards.  It was a good rally, but we missed not having the rest of you guys there with us!  The weather was hot, but no severe storms, which we were thankful for.  Had an inch of rain on Tuesday night, but that didn’t interfere with any daytime activities.

     Evie and I got there on Friday, and attended the State and Local Chapter Presidents dinner that evening.  Started with a business meeting, then dinner, and then we were entertained by the “Surround Sound” Barbershop Quartet.  Those guys can really sing!

     Saturday morning the Florida Winnie-gators entered their float in the big parade uptown, and did such a great job of building their float that they won first place!!

     Sunday night was the usual parade down the John K. and Luise Hanson Boulevard of Flags, to the Amphitheater for the opening ceremony.

     Monday morning was the start of the bean-bag baseball tournament, and would you believe Florida won the championship??  We beat Canada in our fourth straight win for the championship.  I think most people thought Canada would win it all, but we showed ‘em!!! Monday night we were entertained by "The Saline Fiddlers," 24 kids all from the same high school in Saline, Michigan, which they say is a real small school in a small town.  Don’t know where they got all the great musicians from that one little school, but they sure put on a great show for us.  They’ve even played at the White House a couple of times, so that shows how good they are.

     Tuesday afternoon everyone had their usual “State Row” parties, and because many of them carry on into the evening, there was no scheduled entertainment for Tuesday night.

     Wednesday night we were entertained by Barbara Fairchild (and her husband, who wasn’t even mentioned as being with her, but was actually better than she was).  They put on a good show.

     Thursday afternoon we had the ice cream social, and then that night, were entertained by Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers.  They put on a great show, but because of threatening weather, I think they cut their performance short!  Only one hour!          

     Friday morning brought the closing ceremony, and then the mass exodus, as usual.  It was a good rally, but again, we missed you guys that couldn’t be there with us!

     We’ll be looking forward to seeing all of you again at our 10th anniversary campout in November at Little Willie's in Arcadia.

Take care and God bless! Ted & Evie