GOOD LIFE NEWS. Unit Caravan Fun and Adventure Canoeing and Kayaking at Three Florida State Parks, August 4 10, 2015

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1 GOOD LIFE NEWS Unit Caravan Fun and Adventure Canoeing and Kayaking at Three Florida State Parks, August 4 10, 2015 This Unit Caravan was full of adventures. There was a core group that included Tom & Susan Thompson, Jeff & Mary Krabel, and Ron & Chris Allen that started and completed the Caravan overcoming weather challenges, wildlife threats (Mary is now known to us as the alligator wrestler) full rapids, intense Joker games, local cuisine and subzero water temperatures. Our meet up point was O Leno State Park located in High Springs, FL. We arrived just in time to get invited to a hotdog lunch provided by the Thompsons in the comfort of their motorhome. Nothing beats air conditioning and a mosquito free area when you are deep in the woods. This luncheon gave use the opportunity to map out our plans for the week. After lunch we drove into town and quickly found a canoe/kayak rental shop located on the Santa Fe River and scheduled our rental and departure for the following day. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that the parks along the Santa Fe River, where we paddled, Continued on page 5 It s Time to Renew Your Florida Unit Membership As you can tell from the contents of this newsletter the Florida Unit is very dynamic, offering a large variety of activities for you to enjoy across the great state of Florida. You will want to keep your membership current and WBCCI as well as the Florida Unit wants to make it easy for you. During September you will receive individualized renewal instructions by mail. The package will have instructions and a form from WBCCI. All you need to do is complete the form, choose your method of payment and return the form in the postage paid envelope provided. For those who have already paid their dues, you will just need to complete and return the form. The cost is the same low price it has been for years, just $75.00 ($65.00 International and $10.00 Florida Unit). Please complete your renewal as soon as possible. Renewals processed by October 31, 2015 will have the opportunity to be included in the WBCCI Membership Directory. PAGE 1

2 A Big Welcome To Our Newest Full Members! Tom Dirst & Carol Schumann 8099 Sanibel Blvd Ft. Meyers, FL (239) WBCCI# Maggie Haynes 3658 Casitas Dr Jacksonville, FL (904) WBCCI# Rod & Mary Whelan 1279 Etruscan Way Indian Harbor Beach, FL (321) WBCCI# 2615 Chuck & Marilyn Hogan Walnut St Green Cove Springs, FL (337) (337) (cell) WBCCI# 7067 Michael & Mary Anne Swegles PO Box 15 Kingston, NH (603) WBCCI# Bob & Jeannie Whitter Meadowfield Bluffs Rd Yulee, FL (904) (904) (cell) WBCCI# The Swegles are moving to Florida in October, so this is a temporary address. We hope to see and get to know all of our new members at a rally soon! President Tom Maciejczyk #2453 (727) tmaciejczyk@yahoo.com Recording Secretary Mary Krabel #2980 (352) mandj@bellsouth.net Treasurer Brad McGloin #2185 (904) mcglointrio@comcast.net First Vice President Chris Allen #3433 (904) ronchrisallen@bellsouth.net Second Vice President Daniel Maciejczyk #1279 (571) oldtruckfarm@prodigy.net WBCCI Florida Unit Trustee Frank Carson #23343 (321) fc23343@aol.com Trustee Dave Wenger #1393 (407) davewenger@hotmail.com Corresponding Secretary Joan Carson #23343 (321) fc23343@aol.com Membership Chairperson Frank Carson #23343 (321) fc23343@aol.com Legislative Chairperson Frank Carson #23343 (321) fc23343@aol.com Immediate Past President Brad McGloin #2185 (904) mcglointrio@comcast.net Newsletter Editor Randy Godfrey #7591 (321) rgodfrey1@cfl.rr.com Webmaster Janet McGloin #2185 (904) mcglointrio@comcast.net PAGE 2

3 Annual Member s Meeting; 3520 South Nova Road, Port Orange, FL Please join us for the Annual Member s Meeting and Elections of the Florida Unit #027 WBCCI Airstream Club. The meeting will be held at the Port Orange KOA Campground Meeting Room on Saturday, October 24, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. during the Daytona/Port Orange Rally. A complimentary lunch will be provided on site following the close of the meeting. Hope to see you there. -Chris Allen, 1st Vice President 2016 EXECUTIVE BOARD NOMINATIONS President Chris Allen Recording Secretary Mary Krabel 1st Vice President Daniel Maciejczyk 2nd vice President Jeff Krabel Treasurer Brad McGloin Two Year Trustee Randy Godfrey One Year Trustee Susan Thompson Immediate Past President Tom Maciejczyk Corresponding Secretary Joan Carson Membership Chairperson Frank Carson Legislative Chairperson Frank Carson Newsletter Editor Randy Godfrey Webmaster Janet McGloin FLORIDA UNIT # PROPOSED RALLY SCHEDULE March Sebring Buddy Rally, Highland Hammock State Park,Host: FL Suncoast & S. FL Units March Blue Grass Festival Volunteer Rally, Fort Christmas, Host: Frank Carson April 6 11 All Florida State Rally/Sunshine Key Resort, Host: Dan Maciejczyk, Co-Host: Frank Carson April Region 3 Rally, Date and Location TBD May Unit Rally, Wilderness RV Park, Silver Springs, Hosts: Janet & Brad McGloin June 2 5 Unit Rally, Dunedin RV Resort, Dunedin, Host: Pat & Randy Godfrey June 28 to July 4, International Rally, Lewisburg, West Virginia September 15 18, Unit Rally, Blueberry Hill RV Resort, Bushnell, Host: Susan & Tom Thompson October 26 30, Unit Rally, Location TBD, Host: Chris & Ron Allen October 29 Annual Member s Meeting and Elections, Location TBD November 30 December 5, Cracker Christmas Volunteer Rally, Fort Christmas, Host: Dan Maciejczyk December 1 Unit Dinner/Meeting & Installation of Officers for 2017; Fort Christmas DAYTONA/PORT ORANGE ANNUAL MEETING & RALLY AGENDA OCTOBER 22 26, 2015 Thursday, October 22nd Arrive at campground and set-up 4:00 p.m.happy Hour at Host Camper Dinner on your own Friday, October 23rd 8:30 9:30 a.m. Breakfast at Campground Meeting Room 10:00 a.m. Executive Board Meeting Campground Meeting Room 1:00 p.m. Meet at Host Camper to carpool to TBD group activity 4:00 p.m. Happy Hour at Host Camper Dinner on your own Saturday, October 24th 10:00 a.m. All invited for Annual Meeting and Elections at Campground Meeting Room 12:00 Noon Lunch provided directly following meeting in Campground Meeting Room 4:00 p.m. Happy Hour at Host Camper Dinner on your own Sunday, October 25th 4:00 p.m. Happy Hour at Host Camper 5:00 p.m. Pot Luck at campground meeting room followed by an ice cream social PAGE 3

4 Our Next Events in 2015 WHITE SPRINGS RALLY; STEPHEN FOSTER FOLK CULTURAL CENTER; WHITE SPRINGS, FL; OCTOBER 8 12, 2015 This Florida State Park is located on the banks of the Suwannee River. The Cultural Center is named in honor of American composer Steven Foster. The park has several historic buildings on the grounds including a 97- bell tower, the Carillon. The Carillon plays the music of the composer throughout the day. We will have a tour of the museum and historic buildings that feature artifacts and exhibits of the many famous Foster songs. The Rally will be held during Arts in the Park. The park will be filled with crafters and local demonstrators in the historic village. Events planned for the weekend include the following: We will have park ranger Kevin Pttman, giving us a program on Wilderness First Aid. Local music educator,tonda Griffis, a young lady in full period costume, who interprets and sings Stephen Foster compositions will perform in the historic main hall playing the autoharp. Brownie Akers, a park ranger and local historian, will give a talk on the Famous Foster stories and give a performance in the museum. We have the café available on the grounds, and a catered Sunday dinner with a special entertainer. One of the parks local craft square demonstrators, Diane of the Pottery Cabin, is scheduled to give our group a class on making a special hand made clay Airstream souvenir. All this within the grounds of one of Florida s oldest state parks. Located in the old historic town of White Springs Florida. A local walking tour can be had right out of the park s gate, where a view of many homes having architectural significance of the period can be found. This is a Rally you won t want to miss! WE ARE INVITED TO A FLORIDA SPRINGS UNIT RALLY, OCTOBER 15 18, 2015 The Florida Springs Unit is having a rally this fall at Travelers Rest in Dade City, FL. There will be two tours, lots of evening games, two meals per day, and no rally fee. Anyone wanting to attend please contact Dale Edwards at or dalensarah@gmail.com. DAYTONA BEACH KOA UNIT RALLY; PORT ORANGE, FL, OCTOBER 22 26, 2015 Time to sign-up for our Daytona Beach Unit Rally. On the previous page of this newsletter is a schedule of the activities planned for this rally and a registration form is in the back. Note, there is plenty of free time to explore the area on your own. With a rally fee of $20.00 per person, and akoa site cost of only $25.00 per night, this is a great value. So if you want to enjoy four nights of camping, lots of available activities, and the opportunity to get to know or catch up with the adventures of your fellow Airstreamers, and be a part of your Unit s decision making, sign-up today! If you can t make it for the Rally, we hope you can make it to the Annual Members Meeting scheduled for Saturday, October 24 at 10:00 am at the campground. A complementary lunch will be served to all attendees after the meeting. Look for the rally registration form in the back of this newsletter. We look forward to receiving your signup so that we can plan accordingly. UNIT RALLY; KISSIMMEE, FL; NOV Details to be provided in our next newsletter. CRACKER CHRISTMAS VOLUNTEER AND INSTALLATION RALLY; CHRISTMAS, FL; DECEMBER 2 7, 2015 Starting December 2 will be our annual Cracker Christmas Rally. This will be our 17th year assisting Fort Christmas Staff. There is no rally fee for Florida Unit members and affiliate members (fee for other WBCCI members is TBD), and the fee, if any, includes approximately eight meals including a great group potluck dinner with the living history actors at the Bee Head Ranch House on Saturday night. Parking is free. You will have water and Rally Electric (enough electric amps to keep your batteries charged, and watch TV). During the weekdays, we assist the employees at Fort Christmas with decorating and cleaning the houses. Our afternoon happy hours are a great opportunity to get to know your Unit members, and ask questions about your Airstream and the WBCCI. On Thursday evening we have our Unit dinner followed by the installation of officers for Florida Unit members, f you can t come for the rally, please try to join us for Thursday s dinner. On Saturday and Sunday, one of the largest craft shows in Central Florida happens just steps away from your Airstream, and you will be asked to volunteer for three hours each day as a docent at one of the many restored and reconstructed homes at Fort Christmas. Cheat sheets are provided to help you answer questions. Look for more details and sign-up information in our next newsletter. PAGE 4

5 UNIT CARAVAN FUN AND ADVENTURE, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 were closed for the day making the trip down the river very peaceful. We had a picnic lunch partway down the river, did some swimming in the springs and got to meet Naked Ed a local legend at Lilly Springs. Before leaving O Leno State Park, Brad Mc- Gloin arrived at the park in time to join us for our Wednesday night pot luck dinner and to camp for the night. Our next park was Manatee Springs State Park located in Chiefland, FL. After checking out the park facilities, we were joined by Roland & Nancy Christians and Joe & Karen (friends of Jeff & Mary Krabel). Happy Hour was spent catching up and mapping out our meal plans and water adventures. After Happy Hour we all met for a delicious barbecue dinner at Bills Barbecue in Chiefland, FL. Our time in the water at Manatee Springs was limited due to the wind and rain but that didn t stop us. We still launched our canoes and practiced our rowing skills in between rain showers. Roland & Nancy, who live in Chiefland, departed the caravan the next day since they were only a few miles away from their home and Brad also left during this leg of the trip, for home and back to work. Rainbow Springs was our last stop for this trip. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that we had private parking for our rigs in the volunteer park area with full hook-up. It doesn t get any better than that. Tom Maciejczyk, his daughter Elsie, and her friend Tara met us at this park. We kicked off this location with a Happy Hour and a Pot Luck meal. The next morning, our core group launched their canoes around mid-morning, first paddling upstream before turning downstream to get the full run experience. Tom and the girls were joined the next morning by Tom s friend Francesca and family. They chose to leisurely tube down the run. After our time on the water we all met for cool drinks and appetizers at Swampy s Fish Shack. We wrapped up our Caravan with a group dinner at a local restaurant called Blue Gator, located on the riverbank. Everyone that was a part of this caravan will agree that this was a fun adventure full of activities, great food, superior joker games, and most importantly good company! -Chris & Ron Allen We received a thank-you note from the Wounded Warrior Project on August 13, They thanked our Unit for the generous gift of $ which they received on 7/31/ The letter was signed by Steven Nordizzi, Chief Executive Officer, WWP COMMUNITY FUND RAISER For the past several years we have been collecting donations for the Wounded Warrior Project, a community fund raising effort directed by WBCCI International. Since this project doesn t seem to be continuing for 2016 we as a club need to select a community project that we feel would be a good fit for our Unit. We can always continue with the Wounded Warrior Project since they have ongoing needs or we can pick a project on our own and work towards raising donations for this coming year. What are your thoughts? This topic will be on the Agenda during our Annual Members Meeting in October at the Daytona Rally and I wanted to give everyone a chance to think about this and bring your suggestions to the meeting for discussion and vote. We look forward to hearing your suggestions. -Chris Allen PAGE 5

6 KIM AND KATE S FIRST ADVENTURE As newbies with our 23' Flying Cloud, we were understandably nervous about our first long trip away from home. Our three week adventure took us to parts north: Cincinnati, Cleveland, and the southern tier of New York State. Our x4 Toyota Tundra pulled beautifully through the mountains of West Virginia. We had one small hiccup with the electronic brakes lights working but no brakes but 15 minutes and $15.00 later we were back on the road with everything working properly. We drove about four hours a day and found the AllStays App to be very helpful in planning stops for the night. Although we were unable to get to Jackson Center on this trip, we did stop at the Penn Wood Airstream Park. And, in an amazing coincidence, we stopped along I-80 at the Natural Bridges, VA KOA for the night, and who pulls in but some neighbors of ours heading north to DC! What a small world. -Kate & Kim Coast REEDS SUMMER TRAVEL We chartered a fishing boat out of Key Largo over the July 4th weekend. Gerald caught a barracuda. Great fun but very hot that time of year. In August, we took the two youngest Grandchildren on a trip through Illinois where the grandchildren attended Little Galilee Christian Assembly camp. This is where we met 60 years ago, so we gave them the camp experience we experienced so many years ago. We also took them to Springfield, Il. The capital and library/museum of Abraham Lincoln. That was a very inspiring and interesting trip. We then went to Top,of the Rock in Ridgedale, Missouri where we hiked, climbed, and took a golf cart through the caverns and hills. This is the Frosty Café at Big Cedar Lodge in.ridgedale. A luxury lodge with an Airstream snack bar. You could get root beer floats, milk shakes, hot dogs, and other good oldies. -Gerald & Meriam Reed VIKING TRAIL 2015 Pat and I have just reached the end of the Viking Trail 2015 after spending nearly six weeks in Newfoundland. Newfoundland was a surprising place, with great scenery, good seafood, an interesting history, and many stories, some very tragic. The summer weather set records for low temperatures this year, and we had several days of RDF (Rain, Drizzle, Fog) would have liked more sunshine. We were impressed with the friendly, welcoming, ready to help attitude of the people, and of course enjoyed the camaraderie of the other Airstreamers from all over on the caravan many who we have met on our previous caravans and National rallies. Look for a slide show at one of our upcoming events. -Randy Godfrey PAGE 6

7 SNAPSHOTS OF OUR SUMMER TRIP OUT WEST I attended a national church meeting of my Order of the Daughters of the King in Midway, Utah, about 50 miles from Salt Lake City at the end of June. I toured Salt Lake City a day before going to the conference, and was very impressed with the cleanliness and beauty of the city, which is completely surrounded by mountains. After the church conference, I flew to Albuquerque, New Mexico where David, accompanied by our black lab, Inkey, drove our motorhome to meet me. We then drove to Santa Fe, Abiquiu, Taos, Eagle s Nest, and Angel Fire, New Mexico. We stayed at Los Suenos De Santa Fe RV Park in Santa Fe and the Golden Eagle RV Park at Eagle s Nest. We went to Abiquiu, New Mexico where the artist Georgia O Keefe lived part of the year, and where she Our former family cabin outside of Taos, NM painted most of her landscapes. On our way to Durango, Colorado, we decided to drive a northern route which At Golden Eagle RV Park, Eagle s Nest took us to Red River, site of another ski area, and around over the Rio Grande River outside of Taos and then up through the northeast corner of New Mexico across the Colorado border. The highways were twolane, but again we traveled through some really beautiful mountains. The Rio Grande Bridge We arrived at a beautiful park about 15 miles outside of Durango, Colorado. It was a Passport America Park. We decided to take our Mini Cooper and drive to Silverton, CO. We had ridden the Durango/Silverton train several years ago. More lovely views and three 10,000 foot plus passes. That s pretty high up for two Flatlanders from Florida! Silverton, CO PAGE 7

8 We continued our trip southwest down through the four-corners area on our way to the Grand Canyon. The Four Corners is now a park monument and you pay admission to go see it. It is amazing, however, to see where four states meet. Williams, AZ, on I-40 west of Flagstaff. They had a train available that you could ride to the national park about 55 miles north of us. We decided to drive our Mini Cooper and got in the park free thanks to our National Parks Passport. I have seen many pictures of the Grand Canyon, but you truly have to see it in person to appreciate its majesty. We made it to the Grand Canyon area where we stayed at the Grand Canyon Railroad RV Park in We were going to conclude our trip by driving south to Tucson to see the Air Museum at Davis- Monthan AFB, but realizing that Tucson was probably 120 degrees in the shade, we decided to drive back through Albuquerque and then east across Texas and home to Florida. In Albuquerque, we did ride the Sandia Tram up to the top of Sandia Peak and had a delicious meal at the restaurant on top. -David & Patsy Barr MEMBERSHIP NOTES Mike & Grace Michaelsen Working on cleaning and emptying our 34 ft. Excella getting ready to sell. Hope to find a B-Van for a reasonable price so we can stay with WBCCI. Can t afford a newer Interstate. Call ( ) or (gmichaelsen@verizon.net) if you have any leads. -Mike PAGE 8

9 SUNSHINE LIST Our thoughts and prayers are with Betty and Joe Kucowski on the loss of his younger brother Tom Angelini has had some heart problems this summer. He also had another bout of a rash from his Hog Weed experience last year. Hog Weed (also called Wild Parsnip) resembles Queen Ann s Lace, but grows much taller. If you get the sap of it on you, you get terrible rashes which resemble severe burns and blisters. We met Tom s business partner at a campground in Intercourse, Pennsylvania, and he mentioned Tom s problems. Fred Mount is improving after his open heart surgery. We wish you a speedy recovery, Fred Danny King spent the months of June and July in the hospital and at a rehabilitation center. He had a kidney infection and other medical problems. Danny is starting to feel better. Jean French has had some health problems this summer. She recently had two surgeries and will now be starting chemo. Jean, you are in our thoughts and prayers. Roxanne Nix is having back problems. Charlie Nix just had surgery around his eye. Vic Smith is well on his way to becoming the bionic man. He will have knee replacement surgery on his right knee on September 15. This will make two hips and one knee replaced. We will be praying for you Vic. We wish you a speedy recovery There were no other cares and concerns reported to your editor for this edition, so we hope everyone is well and enjoying the good life. Please let your editor know of anything that needs to be published here. DEADLINE FOR THE NEXT EDITION OF GOOD LIFE NEWS WILL BE 10/25/2015 Please send your editor any articles you have for publication in the November 2015 edition of our newsletter by October 25, All news and items of interest to members of our Unit are welcome. in most any form is acceptable: text files (.txt,.rtf), Word documents (.doc,.docx), Pages documents (.pages), photos (.jpg). Send photos at large or medium size so they can be scaled to fit in the newsletter as needed. Please items to: rgodfrey1@cfl.rr.com. Or send by US Mail so they arrive by the deadline to Randy Godfrey 2148 Auburn Lakes Dr Viera, FL Calendar February Unit Rally; Sertoma Youth Camp; Brooksville, FL March 3 8 All Florida State Rally; St. Augustine, FL March Bluegrass Festival Rally; Ft. Christmas, FL April 9 12 Unit Rally; Cedar Key, FL April 29 May 3 Region 3 Rally; Ladson, SC May 28 June 1 Unit Rally; Dunedin, FL June 26 July 4 International Rally; Farmington, NM August 4 10 Unit Caravan; North Central Florida October 8 12 Unit Rally; White Springs, FL October Unit Rally; Port Orange, FL October 24 Annual Meeting; Daytona Beach KOA; Port Orange, FL November Unit Rally; Kissimmee, FL December 2 7 Cracker Christmas Rally; Ft. Christmas, FL December 3 Unit Dinner/Meeting & Installation of Officers for 2016; Ft. Christmas, FL PAGE 9

10 Stephen Foster Folk Cultural Center Lillian Sanders Dr.; White Springs, FL Oct 8 12, 2015 Name(s): Address: Cell #: WBCCI # Trailer MH Length Additional person(s) Rally fee is $ per unit with two persons for Florida Unit 027 members (full and affiliate) and $ for non-florida Unit members, $20 each additional person. Fee includes campsite for four nights of camping, a continental breakfast and coffee each morning, and a catered Sunday dinner. Lunches will be on your own. Saturday is Art in the Park, so you will be on your own to enjoy the park. Also included is a campfire with the park rangers and tour of the park. We have 18 campsites reserved available on a first come basis. See you there for a great weekend of camping and festivities! Please make check payable to Brad McGloin and mail with coupon to: Brad McGloin 776 Peppervine Ave. Saint Johns, FL Daytona/Port Orange Annual Meeting & Rally Registration October 22 26, 2015 Daytona Beach KOA; 3520 South Nova Road; Port Orange, FL (386) Name: Spouse and/or Guest(s): Address: City: State: Zip: WBCCI # Number of Guests: x $19.50 = Home Phone #: Cell Phone: Check here if you are only coming for the Annual Meeting and Lunch on Saturday, October 24. Included in the Rally Fee will be Breakfast on Friday, a group activity, lunch on Saturday and an ice cream dessert on Sunday. The Rally agenda is included in this Newsletter. Rally Fee: Complimentary for Full and Affiliate Members of the Florida Unit all other attendees are required to pay $19.50 per person, ($39.00 per couple). Site reservation/parking is $25 per night. You must make your own reservations with the park by calling (386) and mention you are with the Airstream Club to ensure you receive the discounted price. This Rally Reservation Form should be completed and received by your Rally Hosts Ron & Chris Allen by October 16th to help us prepare for activities and meals. Any questions call Ron or Chris Allen at (904) or ronchrisallen@bellsouth.net. Florida Unit #027 Full/Affiliate Members need only mail the completed Registration Form using the address below. All other attendees should mail their check payable to WBCCI Florida Unit #027 with this completed coupon to: Ron & Chris Allen 1633 Flintlock Ct Jacksonville, FL PAGE 10