About the Michigan Knights of the Highway
In the 1950s and 1960s many of the coaches of that era were called “House Cars”. For example, Genevieve Jennings L-26 (now Genny Jennings-Luckey) was telling me at the Knights July 2005 rally that it took them from 1959 to 1963 to convert an old school bus into their House Car. As they had 9 children, they towed a trailer with 2 rows of bunk beds to accommodate their family. She said that early FMCA members also converted Flexible busses to House Cars.
The following historical note is from the FMCA web site at http://www.fmca.com/about/history.asp : Ted Austin of Owosso, Michigan, and Dennis McGuire of Alma, Michigan, arranged a meeting of fellow coach owners in Corunna, Michigan. Held on June 2, 1963, it is believed to be the first meeting of any coach owners to take place in the United States, and families in attendance later formed the Michigan Knights of the Highway chapter.
A group of Michigan "House Car" owners organized the June 2nd meeting. According to the June 3, 1963 Owosso Michigan The Argus-Press, "Charles Benore of Durand was elected the first president of the Michigan Courtesy Club, an organization of mobile home owners, at the group's first annual meeting at McCurdy park. Lee Matthews of Vernon was named vice president, Dennis McGuire of Alma secretary-treasurer, Ted Austin and Howard Jennings of Owosso, hosts and Genevieve Jennings of Owosso sociability chairman." Click Here for pictures of this rally.
In April of 1966, The Reverend William Reynders of Weidman Methodist Church extended a welcome and the morning scripture reading of The Good Samaritan, at the Coldwater Michigan rally/meeting. He was aware of how the club members would often stop to help folks in trouble along the highway. In his message of being helpful along the highways of life, the words of reference "Knights of the Highway" arose. It wasn't long before the Michigan FMCA chapter was named the Michigan Knights of the Highway.
In 1965, the Knights became a chapter of the FMCA. In 1978, Knights member Art Moyer became the first Rallymaster for the Great Lakes Area Spring Spree (G.L.A.S.S.) Rally in Coldwater Michigan. Now, 30 years later we completed the 31st G.L.A.S.S. Rally hosted by the Michigan Knights. Three rallies were held in Coldwater, 3 in Centreville, 1 in Allegan and 4 in Marshall Michigan. In 1990 and 1991 the G.L.A.S.S. Rallies were held in Goshen, Indiana. However, both Indiana and Ohio don’t allow out-of-state dealers to make sales in their states. Meanwhile, Knights member, the late John Wicker (then residing in Berrien Springs, Michigan) had been urging the Michigan Knights to try the Berrien County Youth Fairgrounds for the G.L.A.S.S. Rally. So, in 1992, the G.L.A.S.S. Rally was moved to the Berrien County Youth Fair in Berrien Springs, Michigan. This fairground has provided excellent facilities, including power at all sites and water at most sites, for the growing rally.
In 2005, the Knights also celebrated their 40th year as an FMCA chapter.
Over the years, we have grown. As of 08/20/2008, we have about 232 family members. The Michigan Knights of the Highway is still the largest FMCA Chapter in Michigan. If you are interested in joining our FMCA chapter, please Click Here.
Michigan Knights of the Highway Home Page
This page was last updated on 08/20/08