Why Not Rally? (Part 2)

(This is Part 2 of a previous posting, so scroll down for Part 1 - if you want.)

We did attend a few seminars - "RVing to Alaska", "New Oil, Fuel & Filtration", and "Clean Holding Tanks" - but would skip them next time. Some of the most popular events at the rally would have to be the 2 free ice cream socials where they gave you an ice cream bar at noon, outdoors in a grassy area, and the Frustrated Maestros played music. The free coffee and doughnuts from 7 to 9 AM was popular, again with music playing on the stage. I thought it was pitiful the second morning when they served free muffins in 6 different varieties (the really large ones) and I heard attendees complaining to the volunteers that they wanted doughnuts, not muffins. The muffins were good and they cut them in half if you wanted.

The volunteers we met were all friendly, although I heard at least one RVer complain about them. The rally wouldn't happen if it weren't for the volunteers. I'm sure the volunteers get some benefit (maybe a free dinner?), but the chapters that attend do participate by volunteering.

We looked at the artsy-crafty classes being offered and decided to skip them. All the arts and crafts you can think of are offered in the community where we live. If they'd had something new and exciting, maybe. Some of the offerings were iron-on sparkler t-shirt, pop tab weaving, stuffed fabric pumpkins, Spanish moss wreath, lace picture hangers, placemat handbag, and rubber stamped cards. All the craft sessions had a price of $10-$22.

Probably THE most popular activity was THE PARADE, with floats and participants from about 8 different chapters walking and riding a short distance, throwing candy to the on-lookers. The theme of the rally was The Wonders of Ancient Egypt so everyone in the parade was wearing a white sheet-type Egyptian costume. The King Tut look. Most entrants had music blaring and they "performed" drill team moves that still needed lots of practice. All in all, we thought it was really silly, somewhat stupid, and not what we consider fun, but the entrants and the on-lookers lining the very short parade route had a good time. At the end of the day they gave out awards and I think every chapter received a trophy.

There were 3 nights of entertainment. The first night was a country music singer, Jack Jackson and his All Star Band presenting Shadows of the Stars or Echoes of Legends. They paid tribute to the first 12 inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame. They had 2 large video screens playing original video and photos of the long-deceased musicians while they sang. I thought it was fairly good, but most of the songs were from the 1930's, 40's and 50's.

We skipped the second night of entertainment and watched a DVD that friends Tom & Jo loaned us. We watched Tropic Thunder and as silly as it was, we figured it couldn't have been any worse than the solo clarinetist, Larry Linkin, and the singer, Tom Leadbeater, performing ballads from the 40's and 50's. Both musicians are listed as performers for the senior community.

The last night of entertainment was the headliner act - The Platters. Well, actually, only one original member from the group, Monroe Powell, lead singer. Monroe, a woman and 2 other men, joined him on stage for their hits "Twilight Time", "Only You", "The Great Pretender", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", as well as others from the 1930's, 40's and 50's. I knew their number one hits, but many of the other songs were not familiar. Rick and I both thought the headliner act was not that great.

This rally felt like some of the last cruises we took when we didn't get off the ship to go into a port we'd visited 3 times before. It was more enjoyable to stay on the ship and enjoy what was happening in our cabin.

Rick and I agree that the best part of this rally was being with our friends. However, we could do that anywhere and save the cost of a rally. Going on to Quartzsite next week will give us the opportunity to connect with many friends we haven't seen in a year. As long as someone doesn't organize a parade.