If you spend the winter in central Florida, this chapter is for you.
By Peggy Jordan, Associate Editor
August 2017
You don’t have to be rebellious or even a Southerner to join the Roll’n Rebels chapter. It does help to live or winter in Florida, though. “The majority are Northerners who moved down. Very few are born-and-raised Floridians,” noted Laurie Wilson, who works to increase membership in the group.
Many Roll’n Rebels members live in the Tampa area. And the chapter is a real mix of people. Their ages range from 50-ish to 80-plus. Their former careers include attorney, accountant, and even rodeo bronco rider. And as anyone in an FMCA chapter will tell you, friendship is the tie that binds.
Rally activities vary. The group has taken a boat ride that featured live music, and has traveled up to St. Augustine to tour the town on a trolley. If the rally location has a winery or brewery, “We are checking it out,” Laurie said, “with our designated driver!”
This coming October when the rally season starts again (rallies are held on the third weekend of each month from October through May), a Halloween-themed get-together is planned. A full schedule of this fall and winter’s lineup can be seen at the chapter’s website, www.rollnrebels.com. Any potential new members are welcome to attend the rallies; contact wagon master Chuck Mentzel (352-497-1497). If you do visit a rally as a guest, you’re not charged the rally fee.
Roll’n Rebels Aid Many Rallies
Southeast Area rallies, as well as FMCA international conventions held in Perry, Georgia, have been aided by volunteers from the Roll’n Rebels for many years. Seminars, plus parking and trams, are the chapter’s specialties. “We frequently caravan together to the SEA Rally or Perry convention,” Laurie said. There, they park as a group and get busy. In 2013, the chapter caravanned all the way to an FMCA convention in Gillette, Wyoming.
Some members make their own itineraries with chapter pals. “This is a nice chapter in that people have made good friends they travel with. We’ve been to the Keys with two other coaches,” Laurie noted.
Every year members contribute to K-9 Companions, whose services include training dogs for military veterans. “It’s something very important that we’ve been doing. We have a lot of veterans in our group,” Laurie said.
There are 40 families (approximately 77 people) in the group, and the chapter has been around for a long time. “First in Florida” is their slogan, because they were FMCA’s first Florida chapter, chartered in 1968. Next year they’ll celebrate their 50th anniversary.
Chapter dues are $10. More info can be obtained at the chapter website, www.rollnrebels.com, or by contacting Laurie Wilson at (847) 721-8147; ljtwilson@embarqmail.com.
For general information about FMCA chapters, contact the Chapter Services Department at (513) 474-3622 or (800) 543-3622; chapters@fmca.com.
If you would like your chapter to be featured in Chapter Spotlight, contact FMC associate editor Peggy Jordan, (800) 543-3622, ext. 212; pjordan@fmca.com.