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So, you want to have a rally near you..

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furpod View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote furpod Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: So, you want to have a rally near you..
    Posted: 18 Jan 2016 at 5:58pm
There has been some backdoor questions and PM's about why there isn't a rally in a certain area, or how to get one in "your area"..

I am going to hope other past rally hosts chime in here, but the solid basics are, pick a campground you like, in an area that's easy for you to work with and in, hopefully with interesting stuff to do..

Figure out when you want to camp there. And post it. Simple as that. They will come.

We have several repeating rallies now, from coast to coast, that started out just like that. The ERU and the Kentucky minimini are just a couple. (I post those because they are ones I have been to several times)

As a rally host, or as they are known in most pod circles, "The Unleader", you can choose to work up a schedule of events that runs the gamut from "Camp with Friends" to an 8 page schedule of events including planned and group meals, tours of local interests, etc. It's up to the unleader to decide. Campers will come, some will do anything and everything planned, some won't. As a minimum, most every pod rally I have been to has had at least one "podluck" dinner, and most often a dog night. As a host, i brought dogs and buns, rally attendees brought various sides or desserts..

A quick note about "Pod Rallies" vs "Forest River Rallies" If FR is involved, FR equipment will be all that is allowed there for them to help support the rally. And they will if you ask, and if they can. FR themselves put on several rallies every year, I really suggest if that is the kind of rally you want, you should try one of theirs. From the beginning, Pod Rallies have almost all been "and friends".. We have people no longer in a pod who we want to camp with, people we camped with before we were podders, etc etc, who we want to be and feel welcome.

If you have questions about hosting, feel free to bring them up here, and we will do our best to get you started on the path of unleaderness..
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HuronSailor View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote HuronSailor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Jan 2016 at 7:34pm
Some history, completely factual and unbiased and fact checked, for the most part.

The repeating Eastern Roundup has been going on since the first year of the rpod's production. Back in the early days of yore, we early adopter owners flung out messages into the ether via the only common means of communication available to us at the time, the Rpod Nation, sponsored by the visionary Jeff Couch of Couch's RV in Ohio. The only Rpod factory was in Indiana, and rpods were slowly working their way out into other areas of the country. There were none west of the Mississippi river.

Therefore and thus, since the rpod had only been in production for one year, most of the known rpod owners seemed to live in a relatively small area of the country, from Michigan to Kentucky, Indiana to Virginia. There were discussions on Rpod Nation years ago where we all disclosed where we lived and tried to decide the optimal place to hold a gathering for all of us to come together. No such thing had been done yet and a few owners decided it was about darn time we had a rally because we all liked our weird little campers and wanted to be like our rich cousins the Airstreams. But no consensus was reached as to date and/or location.

And then, the pioneering leader of the first rally, who I will not name but their forum name is Pepperpod, decided it was to be in Kentucky on such and such a date, and so it came to be. It was called Eastern Roundup because we all lived east of the Mississippi river. Thus it has mostly been in KY. Except for last year it was in West Virginia. Oh, and this year it's in Michigan. I suspect it will return to its roots in KY next year. Whoever volunteers to be the leader will decide. Subject, of course, to the approval of the Eastern Roundup Board of Directors. (Just kidding about that last part.)

Forest River sent representatives to several of these early rallies just to see what the heck was going on here. The light bulb came on for someone and they thought maybe they could capitalize on this camper camaraderie. So from this came the Forest River Owner's Group and the various FROG rallies held throughout the country.

So if you want a rally in your area, be like that early pioneer: roll the dice and start one. You might tap into an enthusiastic pool of podders and your rally might become an annual thing. You might start a snowball rolling down the hill like the first Eastern Roundup. You might meet some interesting people, and some of them might become your friends. 

This WILL be on the test.
.: Mark & Beth :: Silverado 5.3L :: 2018 rPod 180 :.
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furpod View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote furpod Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Jan 2016 at 8:14pm
2013 was in North Carolina..
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Post Options Post Options   Quote jato Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Jan 2016 at 9:46pm
If memory serves correctly 2012 ERU was at Lakeshore State Park, just north of Port Huron, Michigan. The "unleaders" did a phoenominal job!
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Post Options Post Options   Quote furpod Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Jan 2016 at 10:12pm
Originally posted by jato

If memory serves correctly 2012 ERU was at Lakeshore State Park, just north of Port Huron, Michigan. The "unleaders" did a phoenominal job!


Nope.. the 2012 ERU was at Kentucky Horse Park.

Oh, and yes, I also believe next year will be in Kentucky...
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Post Options Post Options   Quote jato Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Jan 2016 at 9:30am
ok, I stand corrected.  It must have been in Michigan in 2011.  Mark and Beth were our exalted leaders.
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Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake
"...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."
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Post Options Post Options   Quote HuronSailor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Jan 2016 at 9:40am
I forgot about North Carolina, and I was there. The Blue Ridge Mountains were gorgeous.

The 2012 rally in Port Huron wasn't the "official" Eastern Roundup. There had never been a rally in Michigan so my wife and I decided to throw a couple that summer. We appreciate your comment about the un-leaders.
.: Mark & Beth :: Silverado 5.3L :: 2018 rPod 180 :.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote furpod Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Jan 2016 at 9:54am
Originally posted by HuronSailor

I forgot about North Carolina, and I was there. The Blue Ridge Mountains were gorgeous.

The 2012 rally in Port Huron wasn't the "official" Eastern Roundup. There had never been a rally in Michigan so my wife and I decided to throw a couple that summer. We appreciate your comment about the un-leaders.


Yes you were there.. cost me like $75..


"The CLAW!!"

LOL
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Post Options Post Options   Quote jato Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Jan 2016 at 11:54am
We had a great time then, meeting you as well as all the other podders! That was my first encounter with the 'corn hole.'  Haven't played it since.  Ok Mr. Smith, enlighten me about the "CLAW"
God's pod
'11 model 177
'17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost
Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake
"...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."
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furpod View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote furpod Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Jan 2016 at 4:48pm
Originally posted by jato

We had a great time then, meeting you as well as all the other podders! That was my first encounter with the 'corn hole.'  Haven't played it since.  Ok Mr. Smith, enlighten me about the "CLAW"


The CLAW!!
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