Four days of fun and festivities best describes our Albany, Georgia GetAway. Despite the cool weather and light rain, we were high and dry in the Albany Civic Center.

The Albany Civic Center meets all of our club needs with plenty of meeting rooms and space for dining and dancing. We hosted more than 350 club members on Welcome Night! Banners bearing our National RV logo were provided by the Albany Beverage Company and were displayed throughout the facility. Mayor Willie Adams, Jr. stopped by to welcome us to his charming southern city and we were also treated to an Uncle Remus story-telling by Tony Ford. Our first night in Albany prepared all of us for a really fun and informative rally.

Our Question & Answer session with the National RV Service Technicians is always a "must" for the whole group and we all appreciate the time and effort put forth by Steve Roddy's service team. We've decided that at our future GetAways we will have an additional meeting with the Service Technicians for all of the ladies in our group. They will be encouraged to ask questions and participate 100%. This will be our ladies opportunity to get answers to all of the questions they've been waiting to ask.

At the Albany event, the new Tradewinds made it's National RV Owner's Club debut and everybody lined up for their first look. The Islander as well as the dual-zone living Dolphin were also on display and our members were able to take their time viewing our latest coach models.

With seminars, an ice cream social, craft classes and a craft show, we had something for everybody at this GetAway. Our "Say Cheese" photo session was a big hit and what a great looking group we have! We've never seen so many handsome men and lovely ladies. Everyone showed up to have their picture taken with their National RV friends. We will be arranging to take a group picture at all of our future events, so come wearing your biggest smile for this great photo-op!

The golf tournament at The Flint River Golf Course was well attended in spite of the inclement weather. Roy Snead, the course manager, surprised all of our players with a large cake welcoming them to the course. Roy also arranged for the Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Albany to welcome the players out. This town really knows how to treat their guests and everyone greatly appreciated their hospitality.

Cutting Edge Catering handled all of our meals, but the most talked-about and appreciated was the Friday brunch. What a feast! Our members had a chance to have that last leisurely cup of coffee in bed before strolling into the Civic Center for a great meal and a full day of activities. The brunch was extremely popular and it is something that we will work into future rallies whenever possible.

Thursday night was our bingo and drawing night and it exceeded all of our expectations. We gave away a total of 116 gifts! In addition to prizes given by National RV, we were delighted to have Camping World Ambassadors "C" and Bryan Beamon as our guests, and they came loaded with gifts for our rally attendees. Camping World gave away everything from water filter systems and purifiers to prize bags with portable vacuum cleaners and AquaChem products. We can't thank them enough for their generosity. Our grand finale prize was the St. Patrick's Day "Pot of Gold." The lucky winners were Ries and Pat Behling from Wisconsin. The Behling's were last-minute sign-ups for the event and they turned out to be our big winners! Their pot was filled with fuel cards, gift cards, National RV clothing certificates and a free rally pass among other great gifts. Between bingo and our drawing, almost everybody was a winner Thursday night.

The entertainment for the rally covered an amazing range of talent. The Rivoli RV Revue with Ron and Kay Rivoli had everybody roaring with laughter. Their RV parody songs were huge hits with the audience - something we could all relate to. They even composed a song for us titled "Buy A National RV" which was available on CD. On Friday evening Karla Sands and the Reflections Band treated us to a variety of music. From "Georgia" to line dancing, Dixieland, and blues. They did it all. There was even a dance exhibition put on by Harold and Joel Adler. Definitely not Fred and Ginger!

Many of our members also visited to the RiverQuarium and the Parks at Chehaw. They shopped the downtown area, plus the mall. All of the attractions kept our club members busy and entertained.

Our party received coverage on the local NBC affiliate with interviews with Brad Albrechtsen, President of NRV, and Joel and Annette Adler regarding the RV lifestyle. The following evening Fox TV interviewed Harold for the evening news. This made us feel like celebrities.

As usual, we know better than anyone that all of this would not be possible without our volunteers. You know who you are and you know how much we appreciate what you do. Thanks to each and every one of you for all of your hard work and dedication to the success of our club.

We are having to end this article on a sad note. One of our club/family members, Joe Allen of Wedowee, Alabama, passed away during the event. Our heartfelt condolences go to his wife Joy and her family, and our deepest thanks to Joe and Elaine DeSantis and Randy Shollenberger, for being there for Joy when she needed their help.

Our best regards to everyone,

Harold and Marie Upton