Good Morning Good Samers!
Donna and I want to wish you the best in health and Happy Holidays this year. We both hope you are staying well and continue to look forward to a new year of camping that will be a bit closer to normal than this past year has been. We have lost some good people this year and several members have come off the “road” from camping for various reasons. The other side is thousands if not 10’s of thousands of new people have taken to the RV lifestyle and let’s hope we can attract some of those to our camping club and activities. This email is going to be long but there is a ton of information to get out to everyone. Donna and I will be in Florida until Jan 22, 2021 to visit our girls for the Holidays. Stay warm if you are hanging out in the cold and white of Mass.
First for some rumors and other related topics that seem to continue to live in our camping club community and family. The Good Sam organization continues and will continue to exist into the foreseeable future both at a National level as well as a local level in most states. The leadership of Good Sam has not asked us to disband or shut down our Good Sam state or local operation, simply put we were put on hold while both the country and the business tried to figure out this COVID situation. The communication out of Good Sam has been incomplete at best early on leading to concerns and other rumors about shutting down the camping club operation. The following are the facts as they stand on 12/22/2020:
Good Sam has updated the “Logo” through a series of marketing and research programs. They continue to evolve the logo and marketing work and we will see additional changes going into the new year. While I understand change is not always welcome, the logo changes don’t change the passion and community spirit we bring to the Good Sam Family RVing and community. Early next year you will also see significant changes in the media properties including magazines, campground guides, Highways, and online properties. (coming soon https://www.rv.com/)
Greenfield updates – The fairgrounds, as other business and event venues, has been very hard with COVID, the earlier landslide, and several storms this past summer, but that said they continue to march on with great community support. I have spoken with the fair board and they continue to seek federal, local, and private grants to help cover the costs of this years impacts and the Massachusetts Good Sam Camping Club will continue to support them in any fashion we can within our abilities and resources. In some cases this is as simple as a letter supporting their grant applications others include gathering up volunteers to help out with the fairgrounds. In speaking with the fair board they are as anxious as we are to get the 2021 year moving ahead. The board doesn’t have any better visibility into next year than we do, but we will keep in contact on a regular basis with possible changes or updates. Our loudspeaker/sound system vendor (Larry Wahl) has decided to hang up his microphone after many years of business. The fairgrounds has not yet decided on a direction for sound system within the grounds at this point, we will continue to stay in contact with them to determine the best route of action.
Chapter Updates – Please update the Chapter Officer worksheet to ensure we have updated roster and contact details going into 2021.
Word File: http://massgoodsam.com/files/chapter_2021.docx
PDF File: http://massgoodsam.com/files/chapter_2021.pdf
Rally update – Rally registration form is now available online for download. Under advise of some legal counsel we have added a COVID disclaimer, and we ask that people use common sense and if they have symptoms that align with generally recognized symptoms at Rally time they remain at home in the safety of their home. We do not yet have a complete picture to what may or may not be allowed in May of next year, but we will attempt to keep it as close to normal as possible. We will publish a new Program outline shortly with some additional notes on what may or may not have to be adjusted based on changes from the local Board of Health, CDC Recommendations, and the state health regulations. I 100% expect to be camping in Greenfield this coming year, even if it means some changes are required.
PDF File: http://massgoodsam.com/files/2021MassRallyRegistration.pdf (Print Landscape and the pages will come out fine)
Available on the website shortly at http://massgoodsam.com/2021Rally.html
Online registration maybe delayed this year as we work on some changes to the web registration portal that are required.
Website and Domain issues continued to plague us this year due to some issues outside of our control, including impacts on our provider due to COVID. All of these challenges have been removed and we now have the domain back registered properly and assumed administrative control of the accounts. No future interruptions are expected. **NOTE: The renewal and update of the account had been paid for through a generous donation this year so that eliminates one bill that we might have otherwise had to cover. I will be making website updates this week.
Last, but not least I am still looking for members who represent and live the Good Sam spirit on a daily basis. One example might be a chapter member that is continuously searching out new chapter members to join! “If we don’t grow, we go”
Thank you
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Walter & Donna Swenson
Mass State Committee Meeting
TBD
49th Mass Good Sam Family Rally
May 28th - May 31st, 2021
50 Years of Mass Good Sam Club!
Franklin County Fairgrounds
87 Wisdom Way
Greenfield, MA 01301
Welcome - State Directors Message
Welcome and thank you for your interest in the Mass Good Sam Club. We are Walter & Donna Swenson, Mass Good Sam State Directors. If you are visiting for the first time, we hope you check out the website and see what the Mass Good Sam Club has to offer. While we strive to provide you with as much information as possible; it is impossible to show you all the friendships, fellowship and fun that we enjoy, in such a limited amount of space on the web. So enjoy your visit with us and if you would like more information about the Mass Good Sam Club, click on the ABOUT US link above, or better yet contact one of the Mass Chapter Presidents listed on the Mass Chapters page.
The Mass Good Sam Camping Club has been in existence since 1971. Serving community and our members for 48 years.
Massachusetts Good Sam is comprised of Chapters throughout the state.
2021 will be the 49th Anniversary of the Mass Good Sam Lobster Rally.