Wow, what a rally we had, and what a wonderful thing you all did to make a real difference in the lives of those in need in Crystal River.
We all gathered in the beautiful Gulf Coastal town of Crystal River, Florida, for an amazing three days of fun, fellowship, food, and experiences that this town and Sweet Citrus Acres RV Resort have to offer. The staff at Sweet Citrus Acres, led by Dottie Williams, was absolutely top-notch, and our Activities Director, Rhonda Wright, ensured that all our needs were met, and their hospitality and care for us were most certainly recognized.
First, let me give some special recognition.
Even though I may be the President of the Florida Flamingles, I am only one person, and to be honest, putting on a rally takes a village, and that is exactly what we have. I must first give proper recognition to the individuals I turn to regularly to make decisions that impact all of us as a group, and I refer to them as my “Inner Circle.”
I’d like to give a big shout-out to Stewart Swain and Tim Willings for their amazing work on our Florida Flamingles website. They’ve really helped us improve our communication skills, and Tim deserves a huge thank-you for all the hard work he put into organizing the wonderful activities we enjoyed. I can’t express how much I rely on these two individuals. I always count on them for honest and practical advice, and they always end our conversation with: “We got this.”
Next on my inner circle is our Treasurer, Margo Hickman. She’s fantastic at managing our finances and works tirelessly to ensure we’re up to date with what we need to file and maintain as a not-for-profit organization, all while keeping our books transparent so we can share every penny we spend and receive with our members. Along with Margo, her partner and Admin, Joe Gilmartin, supports her in her challenging role. He was actually the one who nominated Margo in the first place, so I think he feels a bit of extra responsibility!
No organization can function without a Secretary, and I’m grateful for Patty Bignoli stepping up to fill the shoes left by our former Secretary, PJ Jones. Patty brings years of experience in this role from other organizations. It’s the Secretary’s responsibility to document what happens at our business meetings so we can accurately convey this information to our members with full transparency. But Patty’s not alone; we’re fortunate to have her husband, Giovanni, who also brings valuable knowledge from his experience on many boards. I consider him a very trusted resource to help me perform my functions during our meetings.
Finally, let’s give a shout-out to our Site Coordinator, Greg Gentry! Greg and his wife, Susan, have been with us for ages, bringing a wealth of knowledge and wisdom about all things Florida Flamingles. They’re the masterminds behind our site selection, and based on all the amazing locations we’ve visited, they’re doing an incredible job.
All these amazing individuals are crucial to everything we do, so the next time you see them, please give them a big thank you! If you’re interested in helping out with activities, site selection, website/communications, or accounting, please reach out, and we’ll connect you with one of these talented leaders.
We were so lucky to have representation from the mothership in Winkler, and we owe a huge thank you to Josiah Wiebe for choosing the Florida Flamingles from all the Travelers Clubs to come down and spend time with us. Josiah shared his extensive knowledge of our LTVs and participated in a panel discussing LTV maintenance, bringing answers and tips straight from the source. He also joined many of our activities and wanted to let you all know how grateful he was for the hospitality shown to him by all our members and how much he enjoyed spending time with you all.
Many of you know that we have some very loyal sponsors, and I wanted to take a moment to thank and recognize them. Without the financial support our loyal sponsors provide, some of the wonderful experiences we get to have wouldn’t be possible.
Our sponsors, Gerzeny’s RV World, always bring brand-new coaches for us to explore and see what’s new. At our last rally, we were fortunate to have Tom Ray representing Gerzeny’s, and he brought the very popular new and improved Unity TBX. If you haven’t had the chance to see and feel one, try to attend a rally or show, or stop by Gerzeny’s to check one out.
SkyMed has been a part of our lives for so long, and we’re so lucky to have the amazing Taylor and Travis. Whenever they rally together, they showcase everything SkyMed has to offer, and you can see their genuine enthusiasm and passion for this important service. I think they managed to sign up about 10 new customers this time, including Scott and Kim!
CTM Customs always brings something special to the table with Matt and his incredible team. This time, his son AJ was there, and he’s such a great young man learning how to provide excellent customer service. Matt also brought along Stephon and his bride, No No, who many of you know. Stephon is in charge of the social media content and put together a video and photos of our weekend, which you might have already seen. We’re so grateful to Stephon for all his hard work and dedication.
And then there’s Lithionics, which always jumps in to help out. Reuben always shows up in his black van, which has enough battery power to run our rally for the weekend! Reuben knows a lot about Lithionics products and gives a very positive and easy-to-understand presentation about something that can be a bit technical and tricky for us, mere mortals, to understand.
At the last rally, we really tried to do more activities, both onsite and offsite. Tim Willings put together an amazing array of activities. We had something for everyone, from bird watching and bike riding to manatee/sunset cruises, a music bingo night put together by Greg and Susan, which was a huge hit, and our final activity, which I absolutely loved, was visiting a local veteran-owned distillery, where we got to taste and chat with some fine-crafted spirits.
However, I have to say the highlight of the weekend was Saturday evening, when we had the opportunity to provide a financial donation to a local charitable organization, Day Star Life Center.
Let me take you back to our Fall Rally, where an idea was brought forward to our members at our business meeting: to give our club purpose and make a monetary donation to a local charity to make an impact on those in need. The decision was made that Day Star Life Center would be the recipient, and several of us toured their facility on Friday morning, which was incredible to see what they were doing for their homeless population. An invitation was extended to their Executive Director to come and have dinner with us to say a few words to our members, so they would have an idea of just how much impact they would make, and that is where the magic happened. It just so happened that our caterer knew the Executive Director very well.
That Saturday morning, she had many leftovers from our breakfast, and a phone call was placed. We later found out that we indirectly took part in feeding 70 homeless individuals that morning at Day Star Life Center. How ironic, or some may believe as I do, how God directed this relationship would be. We presented our donation of $3,000 to the Executive Director, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room, including yours truly. Shortly after, we received a notice that one of our members would like to make an anonymous matching donation, bringing our total to $6,000.
Next up, Matt with CTM Customs, notified us that he would make a $3,000 donation, bringing us to $9,000. Next, our caterer said she would round it up with an additional $1,000. Several of our members then approached with cash donations, and when all was finally counted, the Florida Flamingles had raised over $10,000, which we were then told was the largest one-time donation Day Star Life Center had ever received. Florida Flamingles, you certainly did make an impact in the lives of those in need in Crystal River as planned. The good news is that at our business meeting, our members once again came together unanimously to do it again at our next Fall Rally.
Regarding our Fall Rally, we recently shared exciting news regarding a new location and dates for our Spring Rally. However, we encountered an unforeseen obstacle with the resort contract that we were unable to resolve. Consequently, we are currently collaborating to identify a suitable alternative location and dates. We kindly request your continued patience as we make these arrangements. We sincerely apologize for the initial announcement that did not materialize as planned.
Overall, this rally was incredible, and it’s hard to believe it’s only the fifth rally Kim and I have ever attended. We truly feel humbled to know that we’ve only been part of this family for a short time and are surrounded by incredible members who have been here since way before the big boom in the RV world, especially LTV’s before 2020.
Thank you to all who have come before us and put the Florida Flamingles on the map way before most of us even considered an LTV. By the way, the Florida Flamingles were incorporated only 5 years ago, so we chose that number and provided all in attendance with a decal “Celebrating 5 Years” to display in their favorite place.
Well, that’s a quick wrap-up of what we experienced this past weekend; however, there was so much more that occurred, especially while sitting around our incredible LTVs with friends, and way too much to write about. So, for those who missed this one, we missed you more, and it is in all our hopes and prayers that you can make our next one and join in on all the fun.
Thank you for having Trust in me by allowing me to do what I do, and from the bottom of our hearts, safe travels and enjoy your summer journeys, and we hope to see you out on the road.
Written by: Scott Johnston
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://leisurevans.com/blog/florida-flamingles-2026-spring-rally/