GOOD LIFE NEWS. January Jacksonville Rally! Our 2014 Season Kick-off. From Our President! WBCCI FLORIDA UNIT (027)! MARCH 2014! !

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1 WBCCI FLORIDA UNIT (027) MARCH 2014 GOOD LIFE NEWS January Jacksonville Rally Our 2014 Season Kick-off Our 2014 rally schedule was kicked off at Hanna Park in Jacksonville. We had 8 rigs with 15 folks attending. The weather was brisk and we overcame that obstacle by having most of our meals/gatherings inside the comfort of Lee Hall, a building in the campground. What a great place to meet and eat when the weather won t cooperate. We had three delicious meals prepared by volunteers at this Rally. Ron & Chris Allen along with Dave & Betty Wenger prepared us a hot breakfast on Friday morning. The menu included an egg, cheese, and ham on an English muffins, fruit, orange juice, and some steaming hot coffee made by Dave Wenger. Our President Brad McGloin and his First Lady Janet made us mouthwatering sausage biscuits and gravy on Saturday morning with fresh fruit cups and coffee. Friday Night Jeff Krabel wowed us all with a seafood dinner fit for a king. With the help of several of our participants chopping the ingredients Jeff jumped right into cooking his meal consisting of fish chowder and shrimp étouffée. Along with the prepared meals we visited Grinders Café for breakfast on Sunday, Singleton s Fish Shack for a nighttime meal, and a great pot-luck dinner on Sunday night. A local attraction we visited as a group was the Jacksonville Maritime Museum downtown at the Jacksonville Landing. The Director of the Museum gave us an introduction to what each section of the Museum represented and then showed us two short films dedicated to the Armed Forces in the area. After that we took some time to research the Museum on or own. While downtown at the Landing, we took the opportunity to lunch at the Koja Sushi Restaurant on the St. Johns River. There were those who enjoyed the sushi and others who found the other cooked seafood meals or traditional beef, pork or chicken selections very tasty. Continued on Page 4 From Our President It s a warm, slightly balmy evening, the sky is mostly clear with stars shining through the lightly scattered clouds. You can hear the low rumble of the distant conversation of those in celebration. As you look out in the distance you see party lights that have evolved to include striking laser light displays. On the table next to you is a tropical beer with lime, the bottle glistening with the evening humidity. You think carefully about how fortunate you are to be sitting next to your Airstream with a laptop computer actually on your lap writing about your experience at Alumaflamingo. I have met old friends and made many new friends at this event. As with most rallies those attending are quite diverse. I have an increased appreciation for the vintage Airstreamers and find them to be very interested and interesting. Everyone is always so friendly and willing to share and help. Another very important aspect of Airstreamers is they are always so willing to give. Alumaflamingo offered opportunities to give to a local food bank and a blood drive. The Florida Unit is also very giving with our contributions to the Orange County Park System (Fort Christmas) and the Wounded Warrior Project. I am very pleased and privileged to be a part of this organization. Continued on Page 3 PAGE 1

2 A Big Welcome To Our Newest Members Benn & Meribeth Aaronson 4575 S Atlantic Ave, Unit 6204 Ponce Inlet, FL (386) meribethaa@yahoo.com WBCCI# TBA John & Carole Fredricks PO Box 1265 Sorrento, FL (407) carolebirket@iag.net WBCCI# 9992 William Siff 1255 N Gulfstream Ave #604 Sarasota, FL (941) docsiff@gmail.com WBCCI# TBA Please welcome our newest Full Members: Al & Missy Waschka 432 Riverview Ln Melbourne Beach, FL (321) awaschka@bellsouth.net WBCCI# 1322 Dante & Carol Quatrano 1333 County Road 13 South Saint Augustine, FL (904) dantequatrano@gmail.com WBCCI# TBA We hope to see and get to know all of our new members at a rally soon President Brad McGloin #2185 (904) mcglointrio@comcast.net Recording Secretary David Barr #2936 (904) davidlbarr@bellsouth.net Treasurer Frank Carson #23343 (321) fc23343@aol.com First Vice President Tom Maciejczyk #2453 (727) tmaciejczyk@yahoo.com Second Vice President Chris Allen #3433 (904) ronchrisallen@bellsouth.net WBCCI Florida Unit Trustee Daniel Maciejczyk #1279 (571) oldtruckfarm@prodigy.net Trustee Dave Wenger #1393 (407) davewenger@hotmail.com Corresponding Secretary Joan Carson #23343 (321) fc23343@aol.com Membership Chairperson Joan Carson #23343 (321) fc23343@aol.com Legislative Chairperson Frank Carson #23343 (321) fc23343@aol.com Immediate Past President J. Ron Allen #3433 (904) ronchrisallen@bellsouth.net Newsletter Editor Randy Godfrey #7591 (321) rgodfrey1@cfl.rr.com Webmaster Janet McGloin #2185 (904) mcglointrio@comcast.net PAGE 2

3 FROM OUR PRESIDENT (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1) One of the highlights of the rally was an informal pot luck lunch coordinated by Ron & Chris Allen. In keeping with the non-wbcci sponsored nature of Alumaflamingo the lunch was all fun and no business. I am planning a short meeting at the upcoming Bluegrass Rally just to keep everyone informed about some of our unit s activities. The Bluegrass Rally is a fitting example for our unit: a little bit of business, a little bit of volunteer work and a whole lot of fun Janet and I look forward to seeing everyone in March at Fort Christmas. -Brad McGloin Our Next Events in 2014 BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL RALLY; MARCH 12 17; FT. CHRISTMAS, FL Come join us at Fort Christmas, Florida for the Bluegrass Festival Rally. Fill out the coupon in the back of this newsletter, and mail your registration back to Frank Carson by March 5, or call him at (321) to let him know you are coming. This rally is by reservation only since the Unit must buy provisions for the meals ahead of the rally. The rally fee is $10.00 per person. Parking is free with rally electric and water. Six meals are included in your rally fee: Wed., hoagie supper; Fri., barbecue pot luck dinner, (everyone bring a side dish to feed 6 to 8); Sat. a.m., pancakes and sausage, lunch, p.m., pot luck, (everyone bring a side dish to feed 6 to 8); Sunday a.m. pancakes and sausage; and lunch. Attention Weekenders: If you can only come for the weekend, there is no rally fee. You may come anytime on Friday, but you must be onsite by 9:00 a.m. Saturday. THE NEW FLORIDA STATE RALLY; APRIL 2 7; SUNSHINE KEY, FL The new Florida State Rally is being hosted by Tom and Dan Maciejczyk of our Florida Unit. The rally will be held at Sunshine Key Resort at mile marker 39 on A1A. The park has 360 views of tropical island life. There are amenities such as a swimming pool, tennis court, game room, fishing pier and a café on the grounds. Boat slips at the marina await your fishing adventure, also kayaking and canoe tours are a great way to see what island birds and sea creatures inhabit the Florida Keys (charters and tours are available at extra cost). The 2014 Florida State Rally attendees will enjoy the historic sites and charm of Key West. A trolley tour will get you around the most southern city of Key West. Airstreaming seminars, flea market, dinner and entertainment await your return to camp. The cost for this rally is $ based on 2 people per unit (one person $221.00). Included in the Rally Fee: 5 nights in the Florida Keys, parking with 5 point hook up (water, 50 amp electric, sewer, cable and Wi-Fi), use of trolley, seminars, a dinner and entertainment. Attendance in 2014 is limited to 120 full service sites, so this will be first come, first serve. For those wishing to come early or wishing to stay later, an extra day s fee at Sunshine Key Resort will be $30.00 per night. There is a sign-up coupon in the back of this newsletter, and more information can be found in the latest edition of the Blue Beret. CEDAR KEY BUDDY RALLY; MAY 22 26; SUNSET ISLE RV PARK AND MOTEL. This park is old Florida and has tons of charm. It is located right on the water and has several small docks for fishing. In addition there is a very good breakfast/lunch restaurant on the property. Your site will include water, sewer, electric, cable TV and Wi-Fi. The park is pet friendly. A pancake breakfast in the restaurant will be included and we are planning a progressive dinner. There will be other activities planned and announced well in advance. Downtown Cedar Key is a small area encompassing several blocks full of restaurants, shopping, lodging and other activities. There are opportunities to go fishing off shore, air boat rides and other tourist activities all at discounted prices. We are looking forward to spending time with the Florida Springs Unit who will be joining us for this rally. To sign-up, see the instructions on the coupon in the back of this newsletter. Because Cedar Key is a popular destination, reservations are preferred before April 1st. Reservations after April 1st will be possible as space permits. PAGE 3

4 JANUARY JACKSONVILLE RALLY (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1) No Rally would be complete without playing a round or two of joker. Training sessions were held to teach Dave & Patsy Barr along with George (Bill) and Bess Edwards how to play this Airstream game. Some of the happy hours were held around the campfire along with others at Lee Hall. George Millis was our resident Scout Leader and hero showing us all how to get a fire started and blazing using wet and unseasoned wood. Unit merchandise items were also put on display and several items were sold to benefit our club treasury. The Rally was a small enough group that we got the chance to get to better know some of our members and appreciate what a fine group of folks we have in our unit. We are looking forward to more fun at our future scheduled events for this year. -Ron Allen, Rally Host The Chef (center) and his sous-chefs preparing dinner at the Jacksonville January Rally FLORIDA UNIT POT-LUCK LUNCH AT ALUMAFLAMINGO PAGE 4

5 IT FOLLOWED US HOME. CAN WE KEEP IT? We are new retirees, Al in June, 2013 and Missy in December. We backpacked when we were younger and lived out west. Years ago, when the children were small we rented a Class C and toured Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco north to Oregon and back, stopping at Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park. Since then, no camping, but retirement put a bug in our ears and a gleam in our eyes. We started off looking at all the shiny new SOBs, but circled around to Airstreams and found AirForums where we started haunting the classifieds. All the good ones sold in 2 or 3 days, and were very far away. How to buy a good one? Enter Land Yacht Harbor. Al remembered a park full of Airstreams that was once at the Melbourne Airport and is now off John Rodes Boulevard, so off we went. We drove around the loop so many times looking at all the trailers, hoping to find one for sale, that a resident came out and asked if he could help. He was probably thinking we were casing the place. Confirming our suspicions that for sale signs were not allowed, he told us about the bulletin board in the community center where we found an ad for a Safari 25. We called and ultimately got together to look at the trailer. Wow A 2001 Safari, the outside of which looked like it had just rolled out of Jackson Center. Ed and Sonya, the gracious owners, were sorry to see it go, but it followed us home. Imagine, after looking at ads all over the country, we found our trailer 8 miles from our house. Well after some cleaning, systems checkout and a few minor repairs (self-inflicted wounds) we were ready to go. Al went to weigh the empty trailer and discovered some excess weight that he is still trying to track down, but we loaded it up with a limited amount of gear, clothes, and food and headed out for Sebastian Inlet, where Al had made a 2-day reservation for a shakedown cruise. We got a great site right along the inlet. Except for the fact that the weather was lousy, we had a great trip. We got to grill a steak one night between showers, and slept like rocks. We ran the air conditioner the first day and the furnace the second night. Everything worked right, at least after Al got the water filter right side up in the canister. We didn't break anything, and we managed a tank dump with no incidents. The newbies did it We are looking forward to participating in Florida Unit events, but will be low profile until after April 5th when our daughter is getting married in Jacksonville. See you down the road -Al and Missy Waschka& PAGE 5

6 BRAD, JANET AND ROBERT S 1966 AIRSTREAM SAFARI, PART 3 I am finally getting some time to work on the trailer and am loving it. I thought it would be so much hard work but now that I have started I cannot believe how much I am enjoying it. I now have many resources and a more certain direction in the renovation. I am definitely going to keep as much original as possible but will redo the finishes to make them like new. The first thing I am doing is making the environment safe. I have removed the remains of a shattered window that was taped but deposited shards of glass in the interior with regularity. I have also removed all of the non-airstream additions by former owners to include hooks, blinds and creepy curtains (cannot imagine they looked good, even when new). The next step was a thorough vacuuming of years of debris. Next is the cleaning of all surfaces with anti-bacteria/anti-mold solutions. I am still in this process as there are many nooks and crannies that need attention. I plan to clean the whole interior twice just to be sure it is safe. The interior aluminum details will be cleaned with steel wool to bring them back to their new condition. I have also cleaned the exterior removing years of debris and the green moss like stuff that grows on what was probably the north side of the trailer when parked. In all of my research I have discovered there are some items that are just not available anymore. Fortunately, my trailer has most of these items intact. There are a few items I do want and I was fortunate enough to find a source while at Alumaflamingo. I met a couple from Tennessee in the vintage section. They have several Airstreams sitting in their back forty. One of them is a similar model to mine but one year newer. The trailer is reported to be scrap but does have the original curved Corning windows. I am planning a trip to Tennessee this weekend to see what I can recycle from this trailer. It should be a fun trip and good part of the restoration experience. -Brad McGloin WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT (WWP) UPDATE We are working to collect donations for the In addition to the Swap Meet success we want to Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) at every Rally thank Susan & Tom Thompson for thinking about attended in In February we had a group of WWP at their open house when they used this our Airstream Unit Members attend the venue as another chance to capture donations. Alumaflamingo in Sarasota, FL which gave us a perfect opportunity to work our magic to bring in $ This brings our 2014 total Unit contribu- The total collected for at Alumaflamingo was money for this important community project. tions to $ We are well on our way to having a At the rally s scheduled Swap Meet we set up a healthy check for our President to take to International in June, table with miscellaneous donated items with signage that all proceeds would benefit the WWP. We If you are interested in opening your rig up for want to thank Brad & Janet McGloin who gave us a open house tours to benefit WWP at the Blue backpack of items they received for the WWP Grass Rally at Fort Christmas in March, be sure to headquarters that we sold for donations. Along let the parkers know so you can be parked in the with these items we had a few household gadgets front of our group for easy guest access. that also brought in some cash. See you down the road. -Chris Allen, Wounded Warriors Project Committee Member REGION 3 RALLY; ASHEVILLE, NC; APRIL 29 MAY 4, 2014 Our Region 3 officers have planned a great event for us in a new, scenic location. Everyone is invited and several members of the Florida Unit are planning to attend. The cost of rally is $60 per adult plus $20 per night for camping with 3-pt hook-up, or $10 per night for boondocking (no hookups). You can sign-up on line by clicking this link, or use the form in the back of this newsletter. PAGE 6

7 MEMBERSHIP NOTES Joe Kucowski& Joe has had quite an adventure. Joe was operated on January 23, 2014 for a long 7 hours.a tumor had grown out of his sciatic nerve inside of the spinal cord. The tumor was encapsulated inside a cyst which was also entwined in the sciatic nerve. The tumor had ruptured and bled into the cyst. The neurosurgeon said it looked like an angry plum. Joe spent January 23 29, 2014 in Jefferson Hospital; Philadelphia, PA. Next was a stay in The Elm s at Cranberry, a rehab near home, where he arrived on January 29. He has learned how to move correctly as he was not allowed to bend, reach or twist for 4 to 6 weeks as he healed. We hope he will be home on February 6th. He is doing well and appreciates all of the prayers and support. He hopes to return to work in April. I am glad it is winter and he will not be tempted to try to get his garden and flowers planted. I think he will be content to stay warm and inside. Needless to say, his sense of humor was not removed and he kept everyone, pardon the pun, in stitches with his comments and antics. We are thankful for all the prayers, cards, and support during this time. -Betty Kucowski TRAILER FOR SALE 1995, 30 foot Classic, rear queen. Needs work. Air conditioner needs replacing. $3, Body, normal age wear, no damage to body. Trailer is owned by Henry Lappen and is in Melbourne, FL. Questions? Call Frank Carson at (321) PAGE 7

8 SUNSHINE LIST Please keep Joe Kucowski on your prayer list as he recovers from surgery. Don Benham a former member of our Unit, has been very sick with flu like symptoms. He is better but his daughter feels it is time to move him to an assisted living near her in Ohio. Wait till he gets a taste of the northern weather His daughter Judy has not made up her mind if she wants to sell the trailer or keep it and have it moved to Land Yacht Harbor to use as a winter residence. There were no additional cares and concerns reported to your editor for this edition, so we hope everyone else 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 4/25/2014 Please send your editor any articles you have for publication in the May 2014 edition of our newsletter by April 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 them to fit in the newsletter as needed. Please items to: rgodfrey1@cfl.rr.com. You can also send hard copies of items for publication in our newsletter to: Randy Godfrey, Newsletter Editor 2148 Auburn Lakes Dr Viera, FL Or, FAX to (321) , but call first so the FAX Machine can be turned on Calendar January Unit Rally; Jacksonville, FL March Bluegrass Festival Rally; Ft. Christmas, FL April 2 7 New Florida State Rally; Sunshine Key, FL April 30 May 3 Region 3 Rally; Fletcher, NC May Buddy Rally; Cedar Key, FL June 28 July 4 International Rally; Gillette, WY October Unit Rally; Port Orange, FL October 25 Annual Meeting; Port Orange, FL December 3 8 Cracker Christmas Rally; Ft. Christmas, FL December 4 Unit Dinner/Meeting & Installation of Officers for 2015; Ft. Christmas, FL PAGE 8

9 Bluegrass Festival Volunteer Rally March 12 17, Fort Christmas Road; Christmas, Florida Name(s) Address Cell # WBCCI Number Vehicle type Vehicle size Place a check-mark ( ) in the day you will be arriving: The rally fee is $10.00 per person if coming for the full rally. No rally fee for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday only. Water and rally electric and free parking. Dumping can be arranged at Christmas RV Park. Rally fee includes six meals including two pot luck dinners. Everyone must be on grounds by 9:00 a.m. Saturday. No vehicular traffic through park on Saturday or Sunday between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Remember, this is a Volunteer Rally, and your help will be greatly appreciated. Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Parking Crew Only Reservations and payment if required, are due by March 5, For late reservations call (321) Make checks payable to WBCCI Florida Unit and mail with this coupon to: Frank Carson; 43 Alpha Ln; Melbourne, FL Cedar Key Buddy Rally May 22 26, 2014 Sunset Isle RV Park & Motel State Road 24 Cedar Key, FL Name: Spouse: Address: City: State: Zip: WBCCI #: Number of Guests: X $ = Home Phone #: Cell Phone #: Rally Fee: $18.00 per person, ($36.00 per couple). Site reservation costs $25.00/night. You must make your own reservations with the park. To reserve your site please call between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. daily. Be sure to let them know you are part of the Airstream Rally so we can be located together and get the discounted price. Reservations are preferred before April 1st but late registrations can be accommodated if space is available. Please call/ me if you have any questions: mcglointrio@comcast.net Make checks payable to Brad McGloin and mail with this coupon to: Brad McGloin; 776 Peppervine Ave.; Saint Johns, FL PAGE 9

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