Kansas Bound--Day 6

It has been pointed out to us that in our blogs we appear to spend a lot of time posting about the places we go to eat and the food we had. This is probably true. It appears that in this country when friends get together the tradition is to dine together. Actually this goes back to biblical days and there are many passages about people "breaking bread together". So a quick update: Thursday evening, after we arrived, a group of us went to a local restaurant here in Hutchinson, the name of which escapes me at the moment. It is owned and operated by the same people who have the Carriage Crossing Restaurant in Yoder. The food was "home cooked" and excellent. Friday evening this same group went to a place next door to the fairgrounds called Skeats. Again we had an excellent meal. As mentioned in the previous blog entry we ate at Carriage Crossing in Yoder. Sunday night it was to the Wild Hog Bar-B-Que across the street from Skeats. I have to admit this was some of the best Bar-B-Que we have ever tasted.

Sunday was the scheduled day for most of the coaches to arrive, or that would be the case with most RV clubs. With Monaco America that is not the norm. The majority of our members arrive early to get started having fun. Our crack parking staff usually starts working two to three days before the rally is scheduled to begin. This time by Sunday about two thirds of our attendees were already here. We have so many people coming in early it has become a tradition to have a pot-luck dinner the evening before the start of the rally. In the past our rallies would officially kick off with a Meet & Greet, with light food, on Monday evening with the pot-luck on Sunday. This rally is starting a day later than normal so the pot-luck was on Monday evening. As is normal in these affairs, the food was delicious and abundant. The women in the club out did themselves again. Here members Ann & Dale Lemons visit with Judy Wagner prior to the Monday evening pot-luck.

Monday was the time to really go to work. We got the dining hall set up for the dinners to be served by the caterers starting on Tuesday morning. We also got our information center up and running. This is the area I take my stuff to work during the rally. We have volunteers to man the information center during the run of the rally. Here Nancy, Jeanette and Joanne wait for the first arrivals to come in to pick up their rally packages and sign up for volunteers duties. In the back corner is where I have set up my computer and printer to take care of the financial records of the rally and the club.

Today, the first official day of the rally has arrived. The coaches are all parked and everyone is ready for the first get together in the evening. At 3:00 pm our rally entertainers, Ron & Kay Rivoli, regaled us with a gospel music show in the auditorium of the building we are using. We always enjoy the music of Ron & Kay. (This couple will be our main entertainment tomorrow night with their Rivoli RV Revue.) Over the years this couple have become very special to our club as we have to them. At 5:00 the bar opened for happy hour and then at 6:00 we opened up the food line. Tonight was a baked potato bar. Baked potatoes for everyone with plenty of toppings. This went over very well with our members and everyone had plenty to eat.