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The Good Sam Club

The Colorado Good Sam Club

Chapter
News

New Officers for 2012!!
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Upcoming Events

December 4th
Christmas Party

click here for full schedule

Updated June 2011

Guess which Colorado town this is...

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Travel Checklist

Take a look at this terrific checklist page provided by the National Good Sam Club.

Good Sam Club
Travel Checklist

Hints, Tips, and Tricks

During Colorado winters, RV's get limited use if any. Generators should be run once a month for at least 15 minutes to keep them exercised.

more info

History of The Good Sam Club

The Good Sam Club is an international organization of recreational vehicle owners. Its stated primary goals are to make RVing safer and more enjoyable, and to save members money through Club-endorsed benefits and services. It claims over a million members.

The name comes from the Bible Parable of the Good Samaritan  which tells of a traveler from the region of Samaria who helped a person along the road who had been robbed and beaten.

The parable of the Good Samaritan is a parable told by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke (10:25 - 37). In the parable, a traveler, presumably Jewish, is beaten, robbed, and left half dead along the road. First a priest and then a Levite come by, but both avoid the man. Finally, a Samaritan comes by. Samaritans and Jews generally despised each other, but the Samaritan helps the injured Jew. Jesus is described as telling the parable in response to a question regarding the identity of the "neighbor" which Leviticus 19:18 says should be loved.

Portraying a Samaritan in positive light would have come as a shock to Jesus' audience. It is typical of his provocative speech in which conventional expectations are inverted.

Some Christians, such as Augastine, have interpreted the parable allegorically, with the Samaritan representing Jesus Christ, who saves the sinful soul. Others, however, discount this allegory as unrelated to the parable's original meaning, and see the parable as exemplifying the ethics of Jesus, which have won nearly universal praise, even from those outside the Church.

The parable has inspired painting, sculpture, poetry, and film. The colloquial phrase "good Samaritan," meaning someone who helps a stranger, derives from this parable, and many hospitals and charitable organizations are named after the Good Samaritan.

Credited with the more recent development of the Good Sam Club is Art Rouse, founder of TL Enterprises, a California-based publishing company responsible for Trailer Life Magazine, Motorhome Magazine, and Rider Magazine. Rouse and his two sons acquired the organization in 1968 and further developed member benefits and RV-related services for which the club is known. Rouse sold TL Enterprises in the 1980s and died on June 19, 2007 following head injuries suffered as a result of a fall, at 89 years old.

Good Sam Club is currently owned by the Affinity Group, Inc. which also owns Trailer Life Publications, Motor Home Publications, Camping World, Woodalls Park Directory, and Camp Coast to Coast.

Good Sam Club is based in Arapahoe County, Colorado near Centennial.

help!

Finding any historical references to the Good Sam Club prior to it's purchase by Art Rouse in 1968 has been a problem. If you have any literature or know of any internet resources citing earlier Good Sam history, please contact me at:

ejim@aol.com

The Aspen Leaves chapter loves camping, playing indoor and outdoor games, sitting around a campfire, and sharing great cooking.

We play Boche Ball, washer toss, bean bag toss, bola (ladder) toss and other outside games. Indoors we like cribbage, train dominoes, Phase 10, and many other board and card games.

At each campout we hold a Saturday night pot luck dinner and each Sunday morning, a pot luck breakfast. There is usually a volunteer to make pancakes Saturday morning.  







Evening sunset and campfire at Cherry Creek State Park in June, 2010

Ron, Darlene, and Pat visit at the Old Neighborhood restaurant.

Favorite Travel Spot

Do you have a favorite spot? A destination few others know about? What was your most memorable location? Let the rest of the Aspen Leaves in on your secret.


Click below to read about one of Jim and Renee's favorite trips:

more info

On October 15 of 1980, a meeting of Good Sam was held at the home of Gene and Bonnie Reisdorph to discuss organization of a new chapter in the Good Sam Club. In attendance were:

Richard and Helen Friesen - President
Ken and Linda Fligg - Vice President
Gene and Bonnie Reisdorph - Secretary/Treasurer
Tom and Margie Moss - Wagonmaster

Guests were:
Dick and Betty Michael - Colorado State Director
Wayne and Ruth Maynard - Assistant State Director

The group selected the chapter name of Aspen Leaves, and they combined by-laws of the Aristocrats and the Roadrunners for the new chapter. The color of burnt orange was chosen for the vests. The patch was voted to be a blue background with four main leaves representing the charter members of the chapter.

In 1981 the officers were:
Richard and Helen Friesen - President
Ken and Linda Fligg - Vice President
Gene and Bonnie Reisdorph - Secretary/Treasurer
Toma and Margie Moss - Wagonmaster

New members added in 1981 were Pat and Millie McCart (in April), Fred and Jan Runyon (in May), Jerry and Maureen Monberg (in May), Gordon and Flrence Peecher (in August), and Art and Jean Richards (in September). Resignations that year were Gene and Bonnie Reisdorph (in December)

Club Officials - 2012

President
Jim and Renee Pope

Vice-President
Sheryl and Ron Martinson

Secretary/Treasurer
Sheryl Martinson

Wagonmaster
Fred and Sandy Trzos

Historian
Ruthie Hasselblad

Charities
Chairperson
Open position

Webmaster
Jim Pope

• Friday evening - we often go out to a local restaurant and sometimes have a pot-luck dinner

• Saturday - there will be a general club meeting sometime during the day. The evening features a planned meal, usually potluck with the weekend hosts providing the meat. During the day the chapter members participate in many different types of games and activities. Sometimes a tour to a local site of interest will be planned.

• Sunday Morning - we hold a potluck breakfast, a non-denominational devotional, and then wish each other fond farewell and safe travels until our next get-together

Members enjoy a game of "Bean Bag Baseball"
Lone Duck Campground
Near Cascade, Colorado

Schedule                Location                Hosts
                                                

2011  Schedule

January 15  at 11:30   Old Neighborhood Restaurant      Martinsons

February 12                 Country Buffet                               Kerns and Hann

March 19                     Apple Creek - Aurora                    Popes
                                     11:00 AM to 1:30 PM

April 15-17                   Greeley RV Park                            Martinsons

May 20 - 22                 St. Vrain St                                      Martinsons          

June 17 -19                   Cherry Creek State Park             Popes and Hasselblads

July 29 - 31                   Mountain Dale RV Park              Trzos
                                        cancelled

August 19 - 21              Riverview - Loveland,CO             Picketts

September 15 - 18        State Samboree - Rocky Ford Colorado
                                                  Sept 14 - early bird day

September 23 -25          St.Vrain State Park                       Martinsons

October 7 - 9                 Greeley RV Park                           Martinsons

November 19                 Jim and Nick's BBQ                       Hasselblads
                                           Southlands Mall

December 4                   Christmas Party  12:30 - 4 P.M.     Martinsons and Popes
                                         White Fence Farms

2012  Proposed Schedule

January 21                  The Old Neighborhood                    Martinsons
                                     Arvada - 11:30 A.M.

February 11                  Armadillo North - 11:30 AM          Kerns
                                      104th and I-25

March 10                      Apple Creek Aurora - 11:30 AM    Popes
                                            ( To miss St. Patrick's Day)

April  27 - 29                 Greeley RV Park                             Martinson
                                             date changed because the park was not
                                             available on the desired weekend

May  18 - 20                  St. Vrain State Park                        Martinson 

June 15 - 17                  Cherry Creek State Park                Popes and Hasselblads

July 20 - 22                    Riverview RV Park                        Trzos
                                        west of Loveland, CO

August 24 - 26               Arrowhead RV Park                        Brudos
                                       north of Buena Vista

September   21 - 23       State Samboree - Pueblo County Fairgrounds

October  5 - 7                 Greeley RV Park                           Trzos                     

November 17                  TBD                                                Hasselblads

December  2                  Christmas Party                               Martinsons and Popes
 Sunday                           White Fence Farms