Wednesday (Jul 6th) - Bob Bragg welcomed everyone to the 2011 Chapter 400 Summer Rally. After the opening, Bob introduced our rally hosts Lyle & Kaaren Prockish. There are 15 rigs in attendance.

Rally attendees: Buddy & Shirley Barbie, Bob Boxell, Bob and Dot Bragg, Mitch & Renae Butler, George & Susan Cook, Jim & Marge Eckles, Jerry & Terri Hopman, David & Barbara Jacobson, Bill and Peg Jones, Ed and Kaye Lee, Dean & Winnie Murphy, Lyle & Kaaren Prockish, Billy & Sue Ruhling, Bob & Marie Smith, and Paul & Sharon Surhoff.

Kaaren briefly went over the schedule of activities for the week and answered questions.  She then introduced Jon Childers, the RV park manager, who provided a very informative narration on the history of the Amana religion from it's early days in Germany in the 1700's up to the present time.  The community originally settled in western New York State in the 1840's, but had out grown their land holdings by the 1850's.  A committee set out for Iowa and by 1863 seven villages were established.  Their original communal way of life was abandoned in 1932 and they incorporated their holdings into a profit-sharing corporation.

At 6:00 PM, we enjoyed a catered bratwurst dinner, and following dinner, there were card games. TOP

Thursday (Jul 7th) - Today we toured the seven towns that make up the Amana Colonies: Amana, East Amana, Middle Amana, High Amana, West Amana, South Amana, and Homestead.  The group started at the Amana Heritage Museum where we viewed an interesting film and saw many artifacts.  From that point, the groups separated and viewed the remaining towns in their own order.  Some the sites viewed were the Communal Kitchen, Amana Community Church Museum, High Amana General Store, Homestead Store Museum, Broom and Basket Shop, and the Giant Rocker.  At each site, society members were available to give an informative description of each site.  Even after a busy day, there are quite a few additional sites to visit on our own. TOP

Friday (Jul 8th) - Today, most of the group caravanned to West Branch to visit the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library & Museum.  Between films & tour guides, we learned a lot about the creativeness of Pres. Hoover.  He organized food shipments to Europe & Russia, feeding 1 billion children & adults around the world, particularly in Belgium, which won him accolades from around the world.  His engineering & financial expertise earned him the position of the highest paid man in the world as a young man.  He was born in a 2 room house that is surrounded by the 81 acre Library & Museum grounds.  His wife, Lou, designed their retreat home in Virginia.  She was also heavily involved in the Girl Scouts & is known for starting the Girl Scout cookie drives as well as Girl Scout Day Camp.

The group split up for lunch, some spending more time in West Branch while others drove to Kalona for more sightseeing. TOP

Saturday (Jul 9th) - Free Day - a day to relax and socialize, and also to tour around the Amana area on our own.  The audit committee met to review the Chapter 400 books.  At 6:00 PM, we were treated to another catered dinner - this time it was pork chops with all the trimmings.  Following dinner, we enjoyed a game of "RV Bingo" led by Lyle & Kaaren.  It was a fun game with prizes won by each coach.  The grand prize was an item created by Paul Surhoff and won by Dean Murphy. TOP

Sunday (Jul 10th) - Free Day - another day to relax and socialize, and also to tour around the Amana area on our own.  The audit committee again met to complete the review of the Chapter 400 books.  As always, we met for our 4 o'clock and again later for games. TOP