Mo's Musings

Hello from Mo

May 2019

Hope this message finds all of you well and enjoying yourselves to the fullest.  
Our new president, Mal Ford, has taken office and is starting to get things rolling.  
Thanks again Mal for making this effort to keep our club alive and well.

Pat and I joined Metropolitan in 1998, so we are relatively new to the club.
We immediately realized that this was a great group of individuals that shared our interests
and were fun to be with (for the most part).

We have since made lifetime friends with most of the members that have since come and
gone in Metropolitan.  Realizing that FMCA chapters provided great opportunities to meet new
people and explore different parts of our great country, we soon joined the Cape Codders,
Twentieth Century Wagoneers, and the Northeast chapters.  Here we met many more
interesting people with New England and New Jersey accents and offering many different
venues to further allow us to meet more wonderful people and enjoy more real estate.
Communication was difficult at first since we have NY accents, but we got over the language
barriers and now enjoy a long list of new friends that are very dear to us.

Enough about us, let us know how you are doing, where you are so we can all catch up and
keep our wonderful group together.  I know Mal will publish whatever you have to offer
(minus and four-letter words).

If any of you are ever in our area in Lewes, Delaware, we have an acre of property and
three full hookups for your rig and 2 dump stations. Campsites are like hens' teeth in the
summer here so you always have a stopping place or spend a few days.
(We will tell you when it’s time to leave).  Would love to spend some time with you.
We may also plan a small rally this summer or fall since we can park at least a dozen
dry camping spots.

Peace be with you all.  God bless America where all of this is possible.

                                                                                        Mo and Pat Magliocchino

Hello from Mo and Pat

It’s been an interesting winter for us as usual.  We added a few new twists to our normal snow bird itinerary this year.  Weather here in Florida has been warmer than normal for the most part, and not much rain to speak of. 

As usual, we start our tour in St Augustine where our daughter lives.  Our first stop after that was the Southeast Area which was held at a new location this year at the Ringling property in Sarasota.  Since this was the first time at this location, things were a little chaotic at times, but it all came together very nicely.  Not as many vendors as we would have liked to have seen, but that seems to be the new norm.  The entertainment was exceptional all three nights.  We meet a few old friends from the Northeast area and our Metropolitan chapter as well.

This year, George and Gil Hicks decided to join us for a while.  Their wives both stayed back in the frigid North working.  Are these guys’ geniuses or what?   They attended the rally with us and then we traveled together to the Everglades where we visited more friends from the Northeast area. Interesting that everywhere George and Gil traveled; they were immediately labeled as a gay couple!

We traveled on to Homestead where we spent time with fellow Metropolitans, Ken and Joann Domey.  They were in the process of moving to The Great Outdoors in Titusville, where their new home was being constructed. 

One of the perks of the Southeast rally, was an offer of 3 free nights at Silver Palms RV resort in Okeechobee.  And of course, I never turn down anything that is free.  The resort is very nice and a lot better than any of the others in that area.  We toured the lake and explored the area.  Definitely the best tasting veggies in Florida, which tend to be tasteless since they never get a chance to ripen on the vine.  Plus they grow in sand in most places, which pretty much adds to the tastelessness.

From there we moved on to Titusville and The Great Outdoors where we enjoyed more time with our friends and of course the Domeys who were patiently watching the rednecks moving at their typical southern pace.  Hopefully they will get in their magnificent new home soon.

And so completes the circle as we are now back in St Augustine and thinking about heading back to normal tasting water, pizza and all the other goodies that we Yankees take for granted.

We are both looking forward to Metropolitans 40^th anniversary rally.  Hope to see you all there.

Natural Disaster Bring Out the Best and Worst in Us                       

Mo Magliocchino

No denying that Sandy is rated as the worst storm in modern history.  What bothers me is how we

 act in these situations.  We have the media who seem to thrive on bad news, dire predictions and

the creation of overall panic.  Unfortunately, this time the media was spot on.  The first thing that

happens is people flocking to the grocery stores and cleaning the shelves of every imaginable item,

whether they need it or not.  More disturbingly is the manner in which they go about it.  They cut

you off in the parking lots; they run their shopping carts up against your Achilles tendons, they cut in

 the express lane with 50 items, and then back to the parking lot for more rudeness. Mind you,

these are the same people who were sitting in church with you last Sunday.   The storm hits,

 devastation occurs, people are hurting, confused, in need of help.  Here comes the Politicians

 making all kinds of promises that even Jesus would have a problem fulfilling.  Then comes all the

 helpful organizations, some of them excellent and well organized, and then you have the

Government- sponsored groups who usually get their act together 6 months down the road.  It gets

 worse.  Other states send convoys of trucks to help with downed trees and electrical repairs, except

 most of them end up parked in some shopping center or side streets due to lack of leadership on

 the part of the local utility companies.  So they ventured many miles, wasted lots of workers time

 and consumed thousands of gallons of fuel for naught.  Fuel, which we now have to line up for, for

hours,  not because there is a shortage, but because there is no emergency delivery plan in effect.

  Then come the evil doers, the scammers who prey on the people in need of genuine help, the

looters who seize the opportunity to steal whatever earthly possessions these unfortunate people

have left!  We really don’t have to fear terrorism as much as we do, we have ourselves, the most

 advanced nation in the world, without a game plan on how to deal with natural disasters.  We were

 without power for 7 days, which is tame compared to what many others have experienced.  Thank

 God for the motor home, the generator, the wood stove and the strength to keep them all going.

  We survived another one.  Thank you Lord.