SUGGESTED GUIDE FOR CAMPOUT WAGON MASTERS

The objective of the Roadrunners is to have FUN while enjoying a variety of safe, interesting RV trips with our Canyon Lake neighbors. Your work on committees like this one makes this possible! Most club campouts are proposed and scheduled by an enterprising leader or committee at least 4-12 months in advance. If a location reservation has been contracted far in advance with the consent of the board but no committee in place; the Trail Boss (club president) will enlist a wagon master who will assemble a committee of volunteers. This should be accomplished no later than four months in advance to allow time for committee formation and planning to avoid costly cancellations. The "Wagon Master" (campout chairperson/couple) is responsible for: 1. Making reservations at an RV park. Check with the Trail Boss for board approval of your proposal, dates, and contract conditions before finalizing the contract with the RV park. The Trail Boss, Treasurer, and wagon master should all hold copies of campout contracts. All early arrivals or extended stays are to be arranged by individuals on personal credit card, not by the club, and are not to be included on the club contract! (The exception to this rule is if the committee needs to arrive one day early) 2. Enlisting volunteers and delegating responsibilities within the committee for all aspects of the project, then coordinating those efforts. 3. Knowledge of the details of any contracts the club or committee makes relative to your trip. The Trail Boss, Treasurer and the wagon master should all have a reference copy of the RV park contract and any catering or other contracts/agreements proposed by your committee, as no contracts can be signed without board approval, Both the wagon master and the treasurer need to be aware of and responsible for all deadlines and other conditions contained in the contract. 4. Scheduling committee meetings, developing timelines and meeting agendas that will allow for the planning and implementation of your committee decided itinerary. 5. Developing and managing a budget for the whole trip. Part 1: The fixed RV park expenses budget must include discounts, taxes, mandatory fees, clubhouse, etc. Part 2: The "committee discretionary budget," which is determined by the decisions your committee makes about food, décor, activities, and prizes, The goal is to balance low per person cost with a reasonable number of whole group activities, so the total per rig cost for the combined budget remains reasonable. 6. Facilitating communication with the RV park, within the committee, with the general membership, and with the officers of the club as needed. Sign- ups usually occur at the dinner meeting 3 months prior to the campout, and information packets for participants must be prepared and passed out at the last dinner meeting before the trip, or delivered by the committee. 7. Collecting payments and special fees (dog fees, key deposits, etc.) from participants and promptly delivering them to the club treasurer who deposits the funds and dispenses payment. Committee expenses are covered by individual committee members who submit receipts for payment. These receipts usually go through the wagon master so the committee's discretionary portion of the budget can be tracked. The club treasurer prefers to collect all receipts by the end of the campout so his accounting can be finalized. Suggested Operating Procedures" for most Roadrunners trips All contracts require board approval before commitments are made, and contract copies should be provided to the wagon master, treasurer and club president. The whole committee needs to meet 3-4 months ahead to plan the "itinerary" or schedule for the week's events. This allows the time needed to arrange for meeting rooms, restaurants, caterers, golf outings or field trips such as museums, gardens, landmarks or special events. Even if sites reservations have been made far ahead, the wagon master needs to check if the meeting room or space is already arranged or requires separate negotiations or payment. Once planned and budgeted, the committee advertises their trip to the membership at dinner meetings, and then conducts sign-ups and money collection at least three months prior to the event, governed by the policy defined in the CLRR Informational Guide (attached.)Trips are usually 4 nights, 5 days, most often Monday night-Thursday night, with Friday departure. If your committee plans differ, make sure that is well-understood before the sign-ups are taken. Multi-stop trips (called "go-go's") are an option that require some different planning and scheduling. STORY BOARD A story board needs to be made for every campout. The story board is a visuallization of the Campout and is mounted on a poster board. The Story Board will be present at dinner meetings prior to the campout. The Wagon Master will man a station with the Story Board and the campout signup sheet. The Story Board should have information about the campout and activies available for the campers enjoyment. This is a good place to display a copy of the Itinerary. ITINERARY Each participant of the campout will be issued an Itinerary of the daily activities and important times for the entire campout starting with Check-in and ending with Check-out times. Park check-in often involves committee checking in for the group and directing members to committee assigned sites, rather than individuals dealing w/ park office. In this case, park maps are collected for all prior to check-in and either included in packet distributed at the last dinner meeting or handed out as rigs arrive at park. Occasionally, parks want individual check- in and reserve the right to assign sites, so committee simply has informal welcoming responsibilities. Either way, the committee needs to communicate clearly about check-in and check-out times and procedures. Some committees like to arrive a day early to handle things, but most often this is needed only for distant trips, The treasurer (or other designated officer) may need to make the final payment to park at the end of the check-in. The committee needs to call any late comers or no-shows before notifying the RV park to cancel.First day group social hour@ 5:00 pm and a group dinner. This may be a completely committee prepared dinner; or a dinner with the main dish delivered or picked up as "take-out' and sides/dessert prepared by committee; or a "bring your own meat BBQ" with sides/dessert by committee. Another option is a member potluck dinner, or of "heavy appetizers" which many members use as an alternative to dinner. As this affects your committee budget, this decision needs to be finalized at first meetings. 5:00 pm social hours with BYOB format with or without small snacks provided by committee and are usually scheduled 2-4 nights, either in a meeting room or at a centralized location. Often there is a group breakfast, which can be either a member potluck (with committee-designated categories & member sign-ups;) or a committee prepared meal (such as a pancakes and sides breakfast;) or a "continental breakfast." Considerations include the availability of kitchen facilities, sufficient space, and electrical connections, as many members want to plug in appliances for the hot dishes. Providing coffee for refills is a committee option, but the club owns a 30-cup banquet pot for coffee and a smaller one for tea or decaf in storage. They require sufficient electrical outlets and early morning access to kitchen. Occasionally, additional breakfasts are supplied by committee or participants by sign up, at a meeting room or a campsite. For trips with large # of rigs, doing a potluck with everyone participating on the same day often means too much food, and/or insufficient space to set up & serve; therefore a two-day format is used. Dinner on the last night is often a catered dinner; or a "Bring your own meat BBQ" with sides/dessert by committee; or a group reservation at a local restaurant (if catering is unavailable, too expensive, prohibited, or simply not wanted by the committee.) Occasionally a park will not allow caterers or put special conditions on them (such as extra insurance,) On the plus side, some parks can recommend preferred local providers.If choosing a restaurant, make sure they can handle the full number of campers, seated together. It is the committee's choice to arrange this for optional participation with separate checks (if restaurant is willing) Q! to perhaps negotiate a limited menu/fixed price menu or buffet that would be paid for from funds collected for the campout, in an amount comparable to catering costs. If using collected funds, don't forget to include in your budget estimate the tax, 20% gratuity, and special fees such as travel, set-up fees, banquet room fees, etc. You also need to make it clear to participants that this meal was paid for by the fee collected for the trip, but refunds would not be available if they don't choose to participate. In park outdoor games are a standard feature. Participation is voluntary, and scheduling varies between non-golf days, morning or afternoon. Prizes are optional, and may come from the committee budget or from $2-4 per person "pay to play fee." An example of committee financed prizes would be dollar store type silly or thematic prizes, donated prizes, or committee-made prizes. If collecting money, the pot would be divided with usually 1st and 2nd place money for each of two games. The committee needs to plan and implement the game choices, supplies, scheduling, location, formats for determining winners, and prizes. Don't forget to check with the park about permission, available park-provided game options & limitations like traffic, sprinklers and maintenance schedules! Awards usually are given at the last night dinner. The club owns and stores ladder golf, beanbag toss ("cornhole"), and bocce ball (ask the Board for more info.) New ideas from committees are very well-received. Before or after dinner games are a frequent feature, with favorite choices including "Left-right-center," bingo, horse races, simple card games, trivia contests etc. New ideas are refreshing, if they are easily understood. In many locales, a golf outing for interested members is arranged. Someone of the committee is responsible for all aspects including the choice of venue, obtaining group price (& perhaps a package of benefits such as cart rental, food, range use, etc.) signing up committed players from the participants, handling all financial arrangements (separate from rest of trip expenses,) scheduling tee times, decisions about groupings and games, and prizes.Group tours or special events are sometimes planned. Be sure to make communication clear as to how one gets included, transported, and pays for such special offerings. Try to be sure no one is inadvertently being left out when plans are being made. Availability and scheduling of such events may affect the planning of the week's other events. Simply providing a list of interesting options in the area is also helpful to members who want to explore the area on their own. Committee assignments and responsibilities are determined by the event schedule that you decide. That is influenced by the location and the discretionary committee budget that can be added to the fixed expense of the RV park. Expensive parks often require pared down committee expenses for food, supplies, prizes, etc. Prices are always rising, but most recent campouts have been accomplished for a per rig cost between $235-$265 for a standard four-day event. For all campouts, the committee is responsible for advising members of the park's rules and procedures, They supply a packet that contains a complete "Itinerary" or schedule with details about check-in and events, maps or directions with estimated travel time, a roster of participants w/a cell phone contact number, and any other information the committee decides, The committee posts the daily schedule on the white board in a central location; and acts as hosts encouraging new and old members to enjoy the activities. Most importantly, the committee can enjoy one another while working toward a successful campout. Thanks for volunteering your time, energy and expertise!