Annual Calendar
We book the rallies at least 12-16 months out with RV parks that can accommodate our size group and have amenities that we need for a successful gathering: big rig sites and rally hall , etc. When we book a rally, we sign a binding contract with the RV Park for a specific number of sites to be held on reserve for our rally. Please be mindful...if you sign up and don't let us know that you need to cancel, we are held responsible for at least one night's site fee!
The annual calendar is posted on the
www.texasboomers.org website by November of each year to allow those who are still working time to co-ordinate their vacation schedules accordingly. We book rallies around major holidays such as Easter, Memorial Day, Labor Day so those still employed can incorporate that extra day off from work to travel while a few rallies throughout the year are scheduled on a weekend.
Locations and Rally Hosts
We typically host 9-10 rallies a year and vary the locations around the state centering in a triangle between Ft Worth/Dallas area, the Hill Country Area and the Houston area. This enables members to attend as many as they can within a reasonable distance from their home. Members are welcome to attend any of the rallies regardless of where the location is. We completely understand that time and distance play a major part in attendance to any given rally.
Rallies are hosted by various individuals or teams and have a theme according to the time of year: Valentines Rally in February and the Christmas Rally is hosted the first part of December so as not to infringe on the hectic holiday season. The hosts will develop the meals and activities for their specific rally and posts the announcement on
www.irv2.com with all the necessary information for signups at least 6 weeks prior to the rally.
Rally Sign-ups
We announce the various rallies on Face Book and Texasboomers.org,
but we only accept signups for the rally on www.iRV2.com – it is too complicated to keep track of signups on all three media avenues and by using one location to sign up decreases the chances of error!
One or two RV parks require members to call their office and pay by credit card for the first night site fee to guarantee your name on list of reserved sites, while other RV Parks want the rally hosts to send in a listing with all the attendee information. This sign up information will always be posted on the announcement so you’ll know what to do. Either way, a listing is posted on the signup thread so the rally hosts will know who is attending to better plan for all the aspects of the rally.
Rally Activities
The announcement thread will always let you know what the specific theme is for the rally and what activities are planned: example: Leiderfest is an annual rally in October hosted by the Rally master and Assistant Rally masters. Included in the weekend activities is the Garbage Can Dinner which is prepared on site for a nominal cost per person for the meal. It is typically followed by the annual Auction where we raise needed funds for the club for the next year.
The rally hall is always open during the day to play cards, games, tournaments, etc. Everyone is invited to join, but no activity is mandatory! If there is something of interest going on in the area, we will post the activities and everyone can come and go as they desire. Typically, we will have a group activity after the meals to go along with the theme of the rally: example, we’ll have a traditional Christmas dinner followed by the Christmas Gift Exchange.
Rally Meals
The heart of a home is the kitchen and the heart of a rally is sharing our meals together! We love to decorate the tables coordinating with the theme of the rally and meals are planned and posted on a separate thread on iRV2.com explaining what the meal is and when it is planned. Sometimes we prepare a meal “on site” where the food is purchased ahead of time, prepared and served for a nominal charge to each attendee.
Other times a thread is posted for a meal where attendees sign up to provide a dish that will feed 10-12+ people for that meal . The menus are streamlined with each rally to 1) be economically proportionate for each attendee and 2) ensure that there is enough food in each category so that everyone can sample what’s on the serving table!
BYOB (bring your own beverage of choice- alcohol is allowed) to each meal as well as your own tableware (plates, napkins, utensils, etc). Coffee is always served at the breakfasts with cups and condiments provided by the club.
Meal Hosts and Clean Up Crews
Schedules and “job descriptions” for the meal hosts and clean up crews are posted in a separate thread on iRV2.com and private emailed ahead of the rally as well as printed and posted in the rally hall for each rally. The rallies are “events” that require a lot of prep work and “Many hands make light work”.
With this plan in place, each crew spends less than ½ hour helping with the necessary chores during the course of the entire weekend!
Linear Mode
