WHO ARE WE

Good Sam Seahorses of Florida

The Good Sam Seahorses of Florida camping chapter #55 received their Charter on September 14, 1979 with the official name Good Sam Seahorses of Hialeah .  The club was the brainchild of seven Masons from the Hialeah , Florida Masonic Lodge. The original charter members were Milton Walston (Sue) President; Clyde McClearn (Leona) Vice President; Mack Popejoy (Peggy) Wagon Master; Mary Yergey (Frank) Secretary; Peggy Popejoy (Mack) Treasurer; Frank Yagel (Eleanor) Chaplin; Ken Asburry(Virginia) Charter member; The ASD was from West Palm Beach Jim Douberly(Myra).

Under the tutorage of then President Fran King the Chapter’s name was later changed to our present name as our group expanded to other parts of the state, and we no longer had any members living in Hialeah .  We still have one Charter member of the original Good Sam Seahorses of Hialeah, Ken Asburry, who is an active member of the Florida Good Sam Seahorses. Through the years, Ken has held different positions within the Chapter, multiple times, including President, Vice President, and Wagon Master.  By official vote, we have made him an Honorary Life Time Member of our club.  Ken Asburry continues to work in transporting children to the Shriner’s Hospital in Tampa . He has brought many patients to this facility, and finds these trips very rewarding. We are very proud of him.

Our club has three Samborees that we attend yearly as a group. Fall Samboree at Wekiva Falls RV Resort in Sorrento, FL in November, Winter Samboree at Withlacochee Blue Grass Festival Grounds in Dunnellon, FL in February and Spring Samboree at Okeechobee KOA Resort in Okeechobee, FL in April. Reservations for the Samborees must be made well in advance directly with Good Sams of  Florida, Inc. Applications can be down loaded from their web site.

We meet monthly for a group camp out usually the third weekend of the month in January, March, October, and December.  We also have a group camp out on the Memorial Day (May) and Labor Day (September) weekends. We do not hold a group camp out in the summer (June, July and August).  Some of us do get together either individually or in a small group during this time

To become a member you must attend three campouts a year.

Reservations must be made in advance to our Wagon Master.

Wagon Master

 Fred Bissel

F CELL (305) 815-7680

FBIZZY1@bellsouth.net

Our Club holds an official meeting at each outing, we have a daily Social hour and a Pot luck Supper at least one night during each outing. Other things include a group walk, games and fundraisers.

GOOD SAM SEAHORSES SUPPORTS “DOGS FOR DEAF”

The President of the club sends out each month a “Message from the President”, and we send out a newsletter, SEAHORSE SEZ………            (A Publication for the Florida Good Sam Seahorses), each month which can be viewed on our web site.  www.goodsamseahorses.org

Many years ago, a member of our chapter, Drew Elson, had a pop up camper.  When he came to the campout he would consistently forget to bring the crank along, as a result he would have to use a wrench to crank the popup to the open/closed positions.  After many times of forgetting the crank, as a joke, to lighten up the situation a chapter member Drew created a plaque with a gold painted crank attached to it.  As a result, the “Hapless Camper Golden Crank Award” was created.  This award is given to any chapter member who has a major Mechanical or accidental mishap going to/from a campout.  The recipient has to transport it in his RV until he can pass it off to another member who has such a “Hapless incident” occur.  When the award is passed off to the next chapter member, it has placed humor into many an otherwise frustrating situation and brought laughter and delight where otherwise aggravation and irritation might be the case.  Once a chapter member receives the award he hopes to keep it forever meaning no new Hapless incident occurs to any of his fellow chapter members.