The Watkinses of Kansas receive membership number F300000

By Todd Moning
FMCA.com editor
October 2001

FMCA has changed and grown dramatically through the years, but the friendships formed and nurtured by motorhoming continue to be the hallmark of the association.

Clifford and June Watkins, of McPherson, Kansas, joined FMCA in September 2001 and were assigned family membership number F300000. They were drawn to the association after their friends Jack and Delores Mathes, F13780, also of McPherson, invited them to tour their new 37-foot Newmar Dutch Star. 

“We went in to see their new diesel pusher and they gave us a membership application,” June said. “We’ve been planning to start getting more into motorhoming, and when we saw their motorhome, we got more excited about it.”

The Watkinses have owned a 34-foot 1989 Vogue for 10 years, June said. They enjoy driving it to Kanopolis Lake in central Kansas, approximately 30 minutes away from their home. Managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, this 3,000-acre recreation area is “an excellent place to take big rigs,” she said. Clifford likes to take the motorhome on hunting trips to Kanopolis State Park, where approximately 11,000 acres are open to the public for hunting.

June is an American Horse Shows Association steward. Several times a month she drives the Vogue to Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado and other states to officiate at the shows. The conveniences of the motorhome make the trips easier and more comfortable, she said.

June retired a few years ago from a quality control staff in a plastics factory. Clifford retired in January 2001 from CNC Climate Control, where he installed and serviced heating and air conditioning systems. They’re looking forward to more frequent motorhome trips with their three children and six grandchildren.

Now that they have more time for motorhoming, they may be in the market for a new coach, said June, who was impressed by the slideout on the Mathes’ motorhome. She would like a larger motorhome with more space. “I want it to be comfortable,” she said.

McPherson is 30 miles north of Hutchinson, site of FMCA’s 39th summer convention scheduled for October 1, 2 and 3, 2002. One local attraction that is a must-see, June said, is the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center (www.cosmo.org) in Hutchinson.