Fleetwood Owners Club Chairman
| Here we have recorded the names of the Club Chairmen, it's thanks to them and their committees that the Club has been in existence for more than 20 years. There have been a number of occasions where the Club has lost committee members, sometimes for health reasons, sometimes from no longer having a Fleetwood caravan and sometimes for other reasons but there has always been a member willing to step forward to lead the Club. |
| Many Chairmen had a theme for their year of office and where known we've recorded this and short quotes from them. |
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In 2014 to commemorate our 25th year, Leigh Fitch presented our then Chairman Allan Jenkins with a lasting record of the Club's Chairmen to date. |
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1989-91 Pat Brown - the Fleetwood Flag was Pat’s theme When the Club was first formed it had no funds and its first Chairman, Pat Brown, had no medal of office to wear. The Club’s Vice Chairman, Sam Dewsbury, made the ‘wooden jewel’ and this was worn by the Chairman until the Fleetwood factory donated the current chain of office. The original ‘wooden jewel’ was passed on to the Chairman’s partner to wear. |
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| 1991-92 Sam Dewsbury |  |
| 1992-93 Les Nicholls - “I am very pleased and proud to be the third chairman of the FOC. My theme for this year is teamwork and with you, the members, we can be a jolly good team.” |  |
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1993-94 Wendy Smith - Wendy for her theme, looked at the initials of the club, and chose ‘Fun Of Caravanning’. “The predominate word being ‘FUN’ because that is what caravanning should be about and in particular rallies where we are all friends and should be having fun as one big happy family, although all families do have their disagreements at times.” |
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1994-1995 Dave Medcraft - He looked on the club as one big family – all friends together. “I am very proud to be the fifth chairman of the Fleetwood Owners Club. My theme for this year is the family and with all your help this can be a true family club.”
In his acceptance speech Dave quoted the following (From our Norfolk Poet Laureate June Emms): |
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For one year onward from today, I’ll do my very best, I’ll do as many rallies as I can, whenever things permit, I’ll be at the seafood rally, my winkles will be pinned, There’s the Golden Oldie rally, now that’s just meant for me, My missus won it last year, that never should have been I think Terry looked inside the car, and saw a bit of thigh, That’s the only way she would have won, that’s why the marks were high. As many rallies throughout the year, new places far and near, |
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1995 – 1996 Mr Terry Wood - “I would like to think I can carry on with the good work that the last five chairmen have done. Also, I would like to continue with the family teamwork and fun which were the hallmark of our friendly club.” “The theme for my year is going to be caravanning” |
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| C – is for caravans because if it was not for them we would not be here A – is for away days in the caravan with all the members R – is for rallies without these there would not be any away days A – is for anniversary, a yearly return of this AGM. I hope there are many more. V – is for venues without them where would we be? A – is for assembly where everybody meets to be together and have a good time N – is for a name everyone knows ‘Fleetwood Caravans’ I – hope that caravanning and fun can carry on N – is for a nice friendly club to be a member of G – is for being a gopher as well as a chairman |
| 1996 – 1997 John Huskins - “The theme I have chosen for this year is the same as a previous chairman and it is TEAMWORK.” |  |
| 1997 – 1998 John Lambert - “I decided to make my theme this year RALLYING because that is what we do isn’t it?” |  |
| 1998 – 1999 Steve Willott - “I did think of ‘Fleetwood Owners do it all the year round’ but chose ‘Friendship, Fleetwood Friendship’ because the Club is like one big, happy and friendly family.” |
| 1999 – 2000 Alan Robertson - “This is a very special and proud day for me. I was with the bunch that got together and started the ‘Fleetwood Owners Club’. To take the office of Chairman as we are entering our tenth year and also the coming of the millennium, to me is extra, extra special.” |
| 2000 – 2001 Pat Brown - “Each Chairman should have a theme and years ago mine was the Fleetwood Flag. The ‘F’ stands for friendship, factory, family and fun. So when you look at the flag, remember that we are a friendly, family fun loving club. F also stands for future and I hope the club will continue in the future.” |
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2001 – 2002 Colin Stockall - “It has been, as you aware, a tradition that the Chairman has a theme for his or her year. Looking back through past Flyers it seems that most have chosen the “f” word. We’ve had ‘friendship’, ‘family’, ‘flag’, ‘fun’ (and frolics) and ‘Fleetwood’. So what is my theme? Well, I have chosen to be different and select the ‘r’ word. So what starts with r? Well rallies for one – and that surely is the main purpose of the club’s existence.” “My theme for the year centres on the words R and O: R for rallies and RO for Rally Officers. These are the cornerstone of our existence and our rally secretary Steve Willmott and I will be doing our best to encourage more of you to run rallies and in areas where we haven’t been to before or have not visited for some time.” |
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| 2002 – 2003 David Turner - “Most chairmen when they take office have a theme but I haven’t actually got a theme this year. There are several things I want to do, I want to get younger people into the Club. I would like to encourage more people to run rallies. These are the two things I want to push forward this year.” |
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2003 – 2004 Pat Brown - “Every Chairman has a theme, my theme has got to be Friendship, because all the people who phoned me and helped me through these troubled times, you are all there in front of me and it’s a grand club for friendship. “ (Pat’s wife Jean was to be Chairman in 2003 but sadly died in 2002 - Read about her Memorial Tree by clicking here) |
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2004 – Oct 2005 Phil Jacobs - “I know how much Pat likes, as his theme, to take the F out of Fleetwood so I would like to continue with this tradition and carry the F forward. I have come up with three F’s. The club will move forward, there will be little chance, I believe, that this club will ever be opened up and I hope that it will always be the Fleetwood Owners Club. The committee are determined that the club will continue but there’s a lot of work to be done. The second F is for the future. The club will have a future whilst the membership wants it to. The club is only as strong as its membership. The third F is for Fleetwood.” Phil took on two tasks in his first year of office: One to make sure the club continued for 12 months and the other to improve the relationship with the Factory. He succeeded in both. Phil was asked by the membership to remain Chairman for a second year, as the Vice Chairman had left the club when he changed his van. It was felt that experience and continuity were most important at this time. |
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He resigned in October 2005 before the end of his two years, he wrote in the Flyer: “I look back over some seven years as an officer of the Club and I am proud of my achievements on behalf of the Club: Introduction of Dealer of the Year; Recognition Award; Life Membership; a set date for the Factory Visit; Club Membership Form in the Factory Handbook; free show tickets; free rallies from a close working relationship with the Fleetwood dealership and the first Club member to be elected for a consecutive year as Chairman.” |
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| Oct 2005 – 2008 Mel Smith - Mel was Acting Chairman following Phil Jacobs’ resignation and became Chairman at the following AGM in 2006. |
| 2008 – 2010 Craig Procter - Craig said he would do his best to move the Club on in the right direction. |  |
| 2010 – 2012 Alan Robertson - Alan said how proud he was to hold the position of Chairman for the second time. |  |
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2012 - 2014 Allan Jenkins - Allan's theme is centred on the 3 F’s. In his speech at the AGM he said "The first F is for Friendship, for both Jackie and myself this comes through loud and clear, that this is what the Club is all about." "The second F is for strong Financials, and that’s important for the long term survival of the club. The third F is for Fun, and boy don’t we like to have fun!! With the first two ‘F’s in place what else is there to do? " At the end of his term Allan said:-"The first year 2012, was all about the first "F", shaping the Club in the direction that would modernise the way we do business/run the Club. By far the most important single action we've taken as a Club is to move towards electronic communications, which is now fully actioned, covering all our publications" "This latter year 2013, has been all about the second and third "F's", it's been a very busy time, all about the arrangements for the Clubs 25 year celebrations. The purpose of the celebrations is two-fold, firstly to honour the Clubs existence over time, and secondly to enjoy more than is normal the Fleetwood Fun & Friendship at each event set up in the celebration programme." |
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2015 - May 2015 Allan Jenkins - As there was no Vice Chairman to move into the role of Chairman it was proposed that Allan continue for a further term of office. The Constitution was amended to make this possible. Allan decided to stand down as Chairman at the end of May. He said he felt his job was done, and had been for some time, the Club being in much better shape than when he arrived on the scene 5 years before.
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June 2015 - 2016 Bill Challis stood as Acting Chairman until the 2016 AGM. |
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2016 - current Ros Barsley
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