Idaho Good Sam State Organization
Newsletter
June 2017
Halfway through the year already! I’m not sure where Spring went, it
seems we went from Winter to Hot but at least we don’t have to bundle
up and shovel the warm weather.
We will be traveling soon to Coeur d’ Alene for the Samboree/Rally, please remember to
bring your Bean Bag Baseball boards and Swing Golf games if you have them. The Agenda
will be on the state website at idahogoodsam.org under the Calendar tab in the next few days.
Lots of fun things are planned, so come and join us. Whether you are a member of the Good
Sam Club or want to join, you are most welcome. You don’t have to be a chapter member.
You will have fun, enjoy the entertainment, and perhaps learn some things about camping you
didn’t already know. You will definitely meet some great people. See you there.
Upcoming State Events: Don’t forget to bring a pantry item to be distributed to someone in the
community. And, be sure to let Dave Bruyette know if you are in need of a minor repair to your RV while at
the Samboree ([email protected]).
Samboree at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds, Coeur d’ Alene, June 14-18, 2017. If you haven’t already
registered, you can go to idahogoodsam.org, click on Calendar and get registered! We will see you there.
Gale and Sue Chipman, Assistant Director Area 6 are planning some fun things for us at the Fall Round Up,
September 13-17, 2017 at the Jerome County Fairgrounds in Jerome. The theme is “The Magic Harvest of
Idaho”. They are asking that you bring at least one item from your home area that is produced in Idaho.
John Lounsbury has already secured the fairgrounds in Blackfoot for the 2018 Samboree Rally, June 6-10,
2018!
We have a lot to look forward to so be sure to keep an eye on the state website, Calendar, for further
information. If you have ideas or would like to volunteer your help for any of these events, please contact the
Assistant Director in charge.
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A suggestion was made at the Spring Fling business meeting that we eliminate the Spring
Fling event and expand the Samboree and Fall Round Up to five days each with one day of
the Samboree set aside for the business meetings usually conducted at the Spring Fling. A
good discussion was held and reasons in favor were: Snowbirds have a difficult time
returning home through the mountains sometimes, and therefore attendance is affected;
Northerners are more affected by the weather than those of us in southern Idaho in that they
cannot fill tanks with water unless they de-winterize and re-winterize upon return home due to
a later Spring in the north and freezing. Good point. This also affects attendance. A
preliminary vote was taken and surprisingly was overwhelmingly in favor of eliminating the
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REGULAR REMINDERS:
Spring Fling and having two meetings per year instead. The general meeting participants
were polled with the same result. Discussions will be held in Chapters and a final official
vote will be taken at the Fall Round Up for the record.
Are you going to the Oregon Samboree after ours? It is not too late to let Karen Manning
know if you would like to join her caravan from Coeur d’ Alene. At this writing, there are
nine rigs going. You can visit their website for additional information at
www.oregongoodsam.com.
While no one has yet stepped up to volunteer for Store Manager, Bill and Jeannie Blattner have offered to pull
the state Store Trailer to the Samboree and Judy Heinbach has volunteered to organize and run the store there.
Thanks to these members for being so generous with their time and efforts.
Flags: Be thinking about our American flags, yours, your neighbor’s, your friend’s, one you happen to see in
front of a business, that has served and is time worn and needs to be retired (be sure to ask permission to take
it). Bring them to the Samboree in June or give them to a Military Chapter member. They will be retired with
military honors during a ceremony at the Samboree.
Chapter News:
Chapter Presidents: Don’t pass up the opportunity to share your Chapter highlights and adventures
with the rest of our members. Send in your stories!
CHAPLIN CHAT:
Hi everyone, I pray your summer travels are going well for all of you. I would like to extend a
special thank you to Mr. Paul and Miss Toni Loll for allowing us to leave our trailer at their
place so we did not have to tow it back and forth to North Idaho. On a second note, you are
all invited to attend our church service here as well as the early service at the Samboree. I
will be inviting my church folks to join with us at the Samboree as well. Lastly, I am honing
my Dutch oven skills and have two pots to now cook in. So, looking forward to seeing all of
you in just a couple weeks.
Seeking to serve, Pastor Dave
UPDATE: In last month’s Newsletter I mentioned the Activities Director of the Birds of Prey Chapter, Harold
Griener, President (Harold and Carol are the Grandparents of the Chapter officer). At that time I didn’t have the
picture I needed to include for your enjoyment.
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I’m sure you will all agree that the cute
factor is way over the top!
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Picture 1: Mila Brasher playing Bean
Bag Baseball.
Picture 2: Mila Brasher dancing.
Correction: Last month the Military
Chapter members who built a wheelchair
ramp for a Glenns Ferry Purple Heart
Veteran were incorrectly identified.
They are left to right: Jack Haynes,
President, Sandy Main, wife of Veteran,
Alan Christopherson , Veteran Darrell
Main, Roger Heinbach, and Ken
Tetrault. The picture was taken by Dave
Bruyette
KAVEMEN TRAVELERS, Betty Brown, President: The Kuna Kavemen
Travelers entered the 51st annual Exchange Club Parade America parade on
May 21st. They represented their Chapter and the Dogs For The Deaf, their
Chapter charity.
Warehouse Manager and Area 4 Assistant Director Bob and Bev Amos
entered the state warehouse trailer in the same parade. Great Advertisement!
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SEAPORT SAMS, Pat Trautman, President.
During a campout at Myrtle, Idaho on April 27th, the chapter held a surprise congratulations party for the
campground host, Norman Jensen, age 83, to show their appreciation for his years of service. The United States
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Cottonwood Field
Office nominated “Norm” for the “Making a Difference” Lifetime Achievement
Award. Norm has volunteered for the Cottonwood office for 13 years, and
counting, at numerous camp sites along the Clearwater River. Subsequently on
May 18, 2017, Norm was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award which he
received on May 24th. More than 225,000 campers and recreationists passed
through his campgrounds during his years of service, some reporting that they
traveled to Idaho annually simply because of the relationship they established
with Norm. The Seaport Sams honored him with a cake, cards and warm
congratulations.
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The large signs on
both sides of the
trailer are of Good
Sam waving. The
signage includes our
website address.
June Holidays:
6th
14th
18th
20th
D Day WWII
Flag Day
Father’s Day
Summer Solstice
THE GOOD SAM CLUB PLEDGE
As a member of the Good Sam Club, I pledge to give aid to others in
need, respect nature and the environment, give back to the
community and those less fortunate, treat others with dignity and
respect, and to wear a smile (like Good Sam and Good Samantha’s)
and promote the pledge of the Good Sam Club to others.
-joyce
SMILES SECTION:
ONLY IN AMERICA!
2016 Stella Awards
For those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after the 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot
coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald’s in New Mexico, where she purchased the coffee. You
remember she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving. Who would ever
think one could get burned doing that, right?
That’s right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S. The kind of cases that
make you scratch your head. So, keep your head scratcher handy.
7th Place: Kathleen Robertson of Austin, TX was awarded $80,000 by a jury after breaking her ankle tripping
over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The toddler was her own son.
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5th Place: Terrence Dickson of Bristol, PA was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage.
The automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open. Worse, he
couldn’t re-enter the house because that door locked when he pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight days and
survive on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dog food, he sued the homeowner’s insurance company claiming
undue mental anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company had to pay Dickson $500,000 for his
anguish. Still scratching?
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6th Place: Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles, CA won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran
over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently didn’t notice there was someone at the wheel when he
tried to steal his neighbor’s hubcaps.
4th Place: Jerry Williams of Little Rock, AR was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on
the butt by his next-door neighbor’s beagle – even though the beagle was on a chain in its owner’s fenced yard.
Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at
the time because Williams had climbed over the fence and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun.
3rd Place: Amber Carson of Lancaster PA was awarded $113,500 when a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant
to pay her after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on the
floor was because Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.
2nd Place: Kara Walton of Claymont, DE sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city because she fell from
the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through
the window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. The jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000 plus
dental expenses. Go figure.
1st Place: The first place Stella Award winner was; Mrs. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, OK who purchased
a new 32 foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven onto
the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70mph and calmly left the driver’s seat to go to the back of the
Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, after crashing and overturning, Mrs. Grazinski sued
Winnebago for not putting in the owner’s manual that she couldn’t actually leave the driver’s seat while the
cruise control was set. The OK jury awarded her, are you sitting down?, $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home.
Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives
who might also buy a motor home.
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Submitted by Mary Allen