June 2016 Rally

Dates: June 24-26, 2016

Location: Staunton, VA

Campground: Walnut Hills KOA


No matter how well you plan, or how far in advance you plan, the one thing you cannot plan is the weather! This sentence was used for the May rally report and applies for the June rally as well! We didn’t have the washout that we “enjoyed” at Smith Mountain, but e did have some heavy rain at opportune times such as bedtime and early morning.

Happy Hour is always “happy” and Saturday evening was no exception.

The rally was co-hosted by the Matthews and Meltons. Those attending were: Evelyn and Dave Crabtree, Deni Dillon and Kamal Rojiani, Karen and Janelle Lohr, Felicia Jones, Sharon and Tim Seaman, Bill and Cheryl Brown, Betty Ketron, Steve and Lynn Bowers and nephew Aaron, Ric and Cindy Roberson.

Deni, Carol, Judy, Cheryl, Evelyn and Lynn spent Friday afternoon and part of Saturday making two-faced dolls for missionaries to use in their teaching. Even though Deni and Carol are self-professed non-crafters, they were a big help in cutting bodies and drawing on faces. In an effort to add additional interest on our rallies, we talked about having a book discussion group. Deni has more to say about a possible 1st for us to try a little later in the newsletter.

It is not surprising to report there were the usual die-hard golfers out on the links on Friday. A great time was had by all three—Dave, Timm and Gene. As is the norm, they gave each other a “razzing” during Friday night wine time or was that whine time?!

Friday night we enjoyed supper at the Ming Garden in Waynesboro. The cuisine included everything you could think of related to Chinese dishes and then some. One of our newest members, Dennis Sarmento, joined us for supper even though he wasn’t able to camp with us at Walnut Hills. While in the restaurant, it rained so hard we went out to a lake in the parking lot, but we all got out safely even though a little wet.

Saturday had everyone going their separate ways. There was a wine festival at the Frontier Culture museum attended by our wine loving friends. Dave, Evelyn and Felecia had lunch with Connie Bradley, one of our special previous members. The Farmers Market in Staunton also was a draw for some of our attendees. And if that wasn’t enough there was always a time to rest and relax.

We tried another new event: auctioned off the left over supper items. Made an additional $25+ for our future charitable projects and events. We will continue to do this, so bring your money to the Saturday supper!

Friday night was a resurrection of “game night” with people enjoying drinks and popcorn as we learned a new game – Mexican Train. Had so much fun that we voted to abandon the planned campfire on Saturday night and have a repeat performance of the Train.

We closed our rally with devotions by Paul Melton after a great breakfast and then we all headed home waiting for another great rally.

Submitted by Judy Matthews