October 2016 Newsletter http://piedmontunit.wbcci.net/welcome/ Region 3, Unit 161 Inside this issue: Membership Report October Rally Report November Rally Region 3 News 2016 Piedmont North Carolina Unit Officers John Becker, President 336-504-8769 john_becker@me.com Jim Hamernick Vice President 910-295-9745 jhamernick@hammar.com Gregory Ray, Corresponding Sec./ News Letter Editor 336-764-0838, gtrnc27107@yahoo.com Shelley Townsend, Recording Secretary 910-734-2233 smactownsend@gmail.com Jerry Shelton, Treasurer, 910-893-9757 nre7ss@gmail.com John Guy, Past President, 704-560-3075 tandjguy@yahoo.com Presidents Corner, My thanks to Ned and Ann Albee for co-hosting with Nancy and me in Boone, NC this month. They were a fantastic help for us given the 45 members that attended. And this was only their second rally with our unit! Because there is so much to see and do at that time of the year, we did not have an pre-arranged tour, but we enjoyed visiting the surrounding area and the festivals, especially the Country Fair at Valle Crucis. Our three group dinners included a trip to the famous (I guess) Dan l Boone Inn. The Boone KOA staff were very helpful and I encourage members to stay there when in the area. Some members could not attend due to flood damage caused by Hurricane Matthew or by other storm damage. Our hopes go out to those affected that the recovery will go as well and as fast as possible. I look forward to seeing some of you at our final rally of the year in November 10-13 at Tanglewood Park. We will be installing officers for 2017 and hope you can join us! See you down the road! John
Piedmont NC Unit Minutes October 14, 2016 Boone, NC The October meeting was called to order by President John Becker who then led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Officers present: John Becker, President; Jim Hamernick, VP; Jerry Shelton, Treasurer; Shelley Townsend, Recording Secretary; Bob Bennett, Todd Stroud, and Bill Townsend, Trustees; John Guy, PP. Jerry Shelton gave the Treasurers Report. Richard Paschall gave the Membership Report. The June minutes were read and approved. OLD BUSINESS: There was a discussion on a flag for the unit which was a carryover from June. Nancy Becker presented three possible versions and a vote was taken. John Becker will forward the winning design to the IBT for approval. This will hopefully take place at the January 2017 IBT Meeting. Once an approved design is in hand we will shop for a flag maker. Purchase of flags will be up to the individuals, it is not intended that Piedmont Unit money will be used. NEW BUSINESS: PP John Guy submitted the proposed slate of officers for 2017. The slate is as follows: President: Jim Hamernick Vice President: Bill Townsend Corresponding Secretary: Greg Ray Treasurer: Stedman Brown Recording Secretary: Shelley Townsend Trustees: Shirley Perryman, 2017-2018; Chris Brown, 2017-2018, and Karen Karakos and Todd Stroud to complete their 2016-2017 terms. Vote was unanimous to accept the proposed slate of officers. VP Jim Hamernick presented the proposed rally sites for 2017. He asked for comments and will firm up the schedule in the near future. A request for hosts was placed on the floor. John Becker announced that The Piedmont Unit received a Merit Award at International for 2015 and it was presented to John Guy. The following also received awards Richard Paschall received First Place for Unit Directory, Nancy Becker received First Place in Custom Jewelry, and Bruce Radford received a Platinum award from the Vintage Airstream Club for his renovation of Betty Lou, his 1956 Safari. 2
Jerry Shelton stated that it had become customary to pay the Rally Fee for the unit s designated representative to International. Approval was given to reimburse John Becker for 2016. Stedman Brown requested someone take over the duties of Unit Webmaster as he was becoming Unit Treasurer. Richard Paschall requested someone assist him by taking over either Membership or the Unit Directory. Thelda Guy gave the Sunshine Report. A motion to adjourn was made, seconded, and approved. Respectfully submitted: Shelley Townsend, Recording Secretary Dinner, Photo courtesy of Richard Paschall 3
NOVEMBER RALLY & OFFICER INSTALLATION November 10-13 at Tanglewood Park Itinerary Thursday November 10 5:00 PM Social Hour at Picnic Shelter 6:00 PM Dinner at Picnic Shelter, provided by host. Please bring drink and setups (plates, utensils, napkins) Evening Campfire Friday November 11 Breakfast on your own 10:00 AM Leave for Reynolda House for 10:30 AM group tour Lunch on your own and free afternoon 5:00 PM Social Hour at Picnic Shelter 6:00 PM Catered Dinner & Officer Installation at Tanglewood Golf Club Grillroom Possible Evening Campfire Saturday November 12 Breakfast & Lunch on your own Free Day 5:00 PM Social Hour at Picnic Shelter 6:00 PM Potluck Dinner at Picnic Shelter bring a dish to share and your drink and setups Evening Campfire Sunday November 13 9:00 AM Breakfast provided by host, prayer for the road 4
Fall Festivals Rally Boone KOA, Boone NC 13-16 October 2016 We had a record (or at least a recent record) turnout for the Fall Festivals Rally hosted by John and Nancy Becker and Ned and Ann Albee. Joining us were Russ and Diane Barberio, Bill and Alice Barefoot, Bob and Marge Bennet, Mike Bizon and Gaile Broom, Chris and Shirley Brown, Stedman Brown, Coleen and Jerry Bureau, John and Thelda Guy, Jim Hamernick and Margaret Banke-Hamernick, Bob and Breena Hodge, Bernie and Ann Lackmann, Dick and Becky Martin, Bud and Donna Moore, Richard and Pat Paschall, Shirley and Lance Perryman, Tom Rydzewski, Jerry and Billie Shelton, Debbie and Todd Stroud, and Shelley and Bill Townsend. We had great weather, even if it was a little cool, so the arrival dinner of top your own baked potatoes and ham/turkey hit the spot. Friday was a day to explore the surrounding area, from the cheese factory in Jefferson, NC to wandering around the Boone Mast General store and other shops in downtown Boone. While we were wandering a group of volunteers (Perrymans, Strouds, Guys, Becker, Barberios, Albees) were warming up our chili in several crock-pots for us to enjoy back at the campground. Saturday was Festival Day, with most of us going to the Country Fair at Valley Crucis, which is sponsored by the Episcopal Church in Valle Crucis to support local charities. There was a wide variety of vendors and food options, including Brunswick Stew. As usual there was a large crowd and it was good to go early rather than sit in traffic! Saturday night was our final group dinner at the Dan l Boone Inn in Boone, NC for a family style meal, followed by another campfire to keep us warm. We wrapped up Sunday with a breakfast and prayer for the road. We want to thank the Boone KOA (especially JoAnn) for being such a great help. They provided their recreation room for two group dinners and our final breakfast. Finally, we want to thank our co-hosts Ann and Ned Albee for all their hard work - this was their second rally with our unit and we could not have handled such a large group without them. John and Nancy Becker 5
October Birthdays Ned Albee Bill Barefoot Marge Bennett Jim Markus Pat Paschall Shirley Perryman Alissa Rydzewshi Terri Sharpe Tom Wrenn Anniversaries Bennett Chassaing-Martin Ferrell-Dressler Mauger Stewart From your Treasurer: We had a wonderful time at the Oct. Rally in Boone. The largest turnout of the year. Thanks goes out to Nancy & John Becker and Ann & Ned Albee for the great job they did in hosting this rally. Good food, good friendship and a great place to tour around. It was great to have Colleen & Jerry Bureau, Brenna & Bob Hodge and new transfers Helen & Rocky Rice attend our rally for the first time. Was also good to see Alice & Billy Barefoot and Tom Rydzewski that have not attended for a while. Hope to see you a lot at our functions. We have had a good response to the 2017 membership renewal. Since my last report, I have received dues from the following. By check: BAREFOOT, C. BROWN, BURAU, DRESSLER/FERRELL, GUY, HAMMERNICK, LACKMANN, PERRYMAN, J.&D. PORTER, RYDZEWSKI, STROUD, TOWNSEND, WOOD. On Line: ALBEE, BAKER, BRASEFIELD, HODGE, MAUGER, RAY, REDFORD, McLEORY, MEEKS, NEWTON, STEWART and STORRS. Transfer to our unit: LLOYD, RICE GOOD JOB, KEEP UP THIS EFFORT. For those who have not paid to date, you can do so ON LINE AT. www.wbcci.org OR by mail. Make your check for $80.00 to PIEDMONT NC UNIT and mail to: JERRY SHELTON 3031 McDOUGALD ROAD LILLINGTON N.C. 37546 With your check, answer these questions: Do you have courtesy parking? Do you wish to receive a printed copy of the Blue Beret and WBCCI directory? Remember your dues must be to WBCCI by 1 Nov. To have your information included in the directory. Don't delay, get your dues in as soon as possible Looking forward in seeing everyone at Tanglewood in November. Meantime Drive safe Jerry 6
MEMBERSHIP REPORT FOR OCTOBER 2016 Our membership is now at 61 members plus 2 affiliate members, two more members than last reported in September! Our newest members are transferring into our unit from other North Carolina units. John and Dee (Juanita) Lloyd joined WBCCI and the Eastern NC Unit but have transferred to the Piedmont. In August, they suffered a major catastrophe with a lightning strike that burned their house in Wilmington on the inside, leaving the outside shell. Fortunately, no one was injured. They are moving from Wilmington, hoping to relocate within an hour or two of Raleigh where they have a daughter with her family. (I told them that our house is on the market and we're about 45 minutes from Raleigh.) When I talked to them on the telephone, they were moving articles that they were able to rescue from the burned home into a storage area until they can find another house. Meanwhile, they are living in a friend's beach house. They hope to join us on the rally trail as soon as life gets back to normal. John and Dee were parked very near our unit at the last WBCCI international rally in Lewisburg WV. Welcome, John and Dee. We are so sorry for the loss of your home but are so glad that you were not injured. John's email address is johnklloyd@charter.net. Another couple transferring into our unit met many of us at the last rally at the KOA in Boone, where they just happened to be camping! Bob and Marge Bennett invited them to our events and they decided to transfer from the Carolinas Unit. Rocky and Helen Rice live in High Point and have a 2016 30-ft Classic that they have named "Paddy Wagon"--they bought it in March! We all enjoyed meeting them at our rally. Their email addresses are rockyr@northstate.net and bigred27262@gmail.com. Welcome them to the Piedmont NC Unit! The list of Airstream sales for September hit my email box just as we were about to leave for the rally in Boone; however, I did contact them all via email and one additionally by telephone. So far, only one of this group of 14 owners of new Airstreams has responded; he joined the Carolinas Unit to be with folks that he knows. I usually follow up the initial contact after a week or two, so we'll see if any of this group might be interested in joining WBCCI. I'll keep letting them know that we'd love to have them join our unit. The October rally in Boone was terrific, thanks to Nancy and John Becker and Ann and Ned Albee, and the mountains and the great weather. We had several new members attending: Jerry and Colleen Burau were there to meet us all and we enjoyed getting to know them. Also, Breena and Bob Hodge rallied with us for the first time. We are so glad to have "first timers" at our rallies, and I hope that more of those who are new to WBCCI will find that our rallies are the best places to get to know this friendly group. On to Tanglewood Park, Clemmons, for the November rally and the installation of our officers for 2017. Richard Paschall, Membership Chairman 7
From the President of Region 3, John Frerking Following the International Rally in Lewisburg, WV, Eileen and I made our usual stop at Jackson Center to visit the Club headquarters and also the Service Center. Then on to Ft. Wayne, IN, to visit with our foster son who lived with us over fifty years ago; on to Lake Geneva, WI, for our family reunion with our three children and their families then to Kansas City for a few days before driving the 900 mile Santa Fe Trail. We read diaries of pioneers along the way and arrived in Santa Fe a couple of days before joining the SW Caravan in Durango, CO. Making the Grand Circle through the Four Corner States, we enjoyed the awesome and majestic sights of countless national parks during the 52 days of sightseeing. The cookouts, dinners, shows and even the drivers meetings were wonderful. Jay and Elna Thompson and Phil and Margie Glassey did a fabulous job as co-leaders. Photographs cannot do justice to the magnificent scenery! And this is what the WBCCI is all about caravanning getting on the road and seeing what s over the next hill and around the curve ahead! Sign up now for a caravan in the near future! You won t be disappointed! We lost a good friend and leader in Region 3 with the death of Dick Martiny. Our thoughts are with Judy, his wife, during these days. My thanks to Jay Thompson for his tribute to Dick in this newsletter. We will see Dick Down the Road. The Region 3 Rally will be held in Hiawassee, GA, on April 26-30, 2017. Make plans now to come and enjoy the sights of the beautiful countryside, many places to visit, good food, excellent seminars, entertainment and The Vintage Club will join us put it on your calendar now. Jerry and Irene O Connell are helping with suggestions for this get together. John Leake and Randy Godfrey, our region VPs have been busy with region business Randy is our Region Membership Chair and John Leake is getting ready for another Alumalina in South Carolina. I thank them both for their assistance! This newsletter is coming to you through Randy s expertise as a terrific communication expert. Thanks also to John for your article in this issue. Congratulations to these Units/Clubs who attained Superior or Merit Awards in our Region for 2015: Merit Award Florida Treasure Coast Piedmont North Carolina South Florida Superior Merit Award Big Bend Florida Carolinas of North Carolina Northern Virginia Palmetto State South Carolina South Carolina Coastal Virginia Western North Carolina Please remember to use the Planning Guide as you go into the fall and chart your future activities. The Award System is phased out after this year. The Mid Winter IBT is in Casa Grande, AZ. You are welcome to attend. There will be seminars, entertainment, food and a whole host of things to see in the area. Use the Blue Beret form to register deadline to register is December 31. If you have any questions or need help with anything, please contact me. Either John, Randy or I will do our best to be of help. My email: ejfrerking@yahoo.com. Our first lady, Eileen, as well as Susan (1 st VP spouse) and Pat (2 nd VP spouse) are part of the team too! We hope you are all having fun! See you down the road! John Frerking, President Region 3 8
Greetings from your 1st VP Hope everyone is well and perhaps enjoying some great Airstream adventure. There is much to see and do in our great country and seems like so little time to get it all in. Here in SC it has been a long, hot summer but fall is finally in the air. Susan and I had the opportunity back in August to take a business/pleasure road trip out to Colorado. With Airstream in tow, it was a great trip where, among other things, we enjoyed a wonderful camp at 10,000 elevation. We woke up to 45* that morning! It was quite a change from the 75* mornings at home and needless to say, we had no cool weather gear with us. On our way westward, about east Kansas, the call came that our grandson, Mason Phillip, had arrived 1 month early. Weighing in at 5lbs, 6oz, Mason and his mom were both just fine and were receiving great care. Mimi (Susan), however, was fit to be tied and more than ready to get home. Truthfully, we both were but I felt obliged to do the "man thing and not let on. With hundreds of westward miles yet to go, then thousands of miles back east to home, we were both eager to meet the newest member of our family. Thank goodness for cell phones and their capability to send pictures. With summer in the rear view mirror and cooler days ahead, we hope you have had a great summer of travel and fun and have a fall destination planned before it is time to pack the Airstream away for winter. Maybe you can join our friends in the Florida units for a long winter s nap. Regardless of your plans, enjoy yourselves, share the Airstream love, and remember to pay it forward, stay safe, and have happy travels. We look forward to catching up with you, down the road. John & Susan Leake Dick Martiny, 1938 2016 We met Judy and Dick Martiny in April 1966 when we both moved to Northeastern Pennsylvania to participate in the construction and start-up of a new Procter and Gamble paper mill. The Martiny s came from Green Bay, Wisconsin and we from Perry, Florida. Immediately we became close friends and our families started traveling and camping together, the Thompson s in our pop-up and Martiny s in their 12 box camper. We camped in New York state parks, Cooperstown, Gettysburg, and many other spots in the Northeast. Dick and I shared an office at P&G, joined the local volunteer fire department, and traveled together on business many times. Both of us transferred to other P&G locations, but in 1987 got back together again as they were living in Andersonville, Georgia when we moved to Tallahassee. After 9/11 we wanted to buy an Airstream and asked them, Why don t you get an Airstream so we can camp together again? They answered, Come down to the barn and look at what we have. It was an Airstream. After a brief search, we found one and the rest is history as we took off traveling together on caravans, first the Polar Bear then at least one or two a year. Even when we couldn t go, Dick and Judy continued, piling up friends galore with their winning ways. Dick and Judy were assistants on Baja and Landmarks West caravans and wound up going on more than twenty caravans. After being active in our local units in 2010 Dick and I were asked to be Region 3 officers. We served together until he had to resign the 1st Vice-Presidency in 2014 because of illness. Dick continued as the Region 3 Membership Chairman implementing new ways to contact and welcome new owners into the Airstream owners club. He was a sincere, honest, and straight-thinking person who spoke his mind to get a job done. We had a great and long family relationship, as we traveled and worked together. Dick will be missed by all who held him in high regard and respected his many talents. - Submitted by Jay Thompson 9
Gregory Ray, KK4MHY Piedmont NC Unit, WBCCI Unit Corresponding Secretary 179 West Drive Winston-Salem, NC 27107 First Class WEBSITE: http://piedmontunit.wbcci.net/welcome/ 2016 Rally Sites: Feb 6 Dinner and a show Dinner followed by Shakespeare s Twelfth Night at the Reynolds Industries Theatre in Durham at 8pm. Host: Perryman April 7-10 Four Oaks Rally Buddy Rally; Raleigh Oaks RV Resort in Four Oaks, NC. (Fun and food with Debbie and Todd) Buddy Rally. Host: Stroud April 20-26 Old Dominion Unit Caravan, Caravan through Virginia to Region 3 Rally (Townsend/Becker led) April 27- May 1 Region 3 Rally Meadow Event Park, Doswell, Virginia June 9-12 th Forest and Sandhills Rally Zooland Family Campground, 3671 Pisgah Covered Bridge Rd, Asheboro, NC 27205 June 28-July 4 or June 23-July 4 if participating in arrival caravan - International Rally WBCCI 59th International Rally in Lewisburg, WV. Bob Bennett will lead a group to the Rally for people in the unit who want to park together. This caravan will arrive June 23rd. August 8-13 - Mountain Music Rally Fiddler s Convention at Cool Breeze Campground in Galax, VA. Hosts: Townsend/Lackmann. September 8-11 - Lake Rally, Buddy Rally; Hibernia Park Campground, Kerr Lake Recreation Area, 2041 Hibernia Road, Henderson, NC 27537. Hosts: Paschall/Barberio October 13-16 - Mountain Festivals Rally Boone, KOA in Boone, NC for the Valle Cruces Country Fair and the Wooly Worm Festival in Banner Elk, NC. We have asked Western NC if they want to join us. (Hosts: Becker/Albee) November 10-13 - Campfire Camaraderie Rally Installation of officers at Tanglewood Park CG, 4061 Clemmons Rd., Clemmons, NC, Host: Moore; cohosts needed. 10