2017 UNIT OFFICERS PRESIDENT 919-906-9014 susanneappraiser@hotmail.com 1ST VICE PRESIDENT Anne Seslar 704-308-4326 anneseslar@bellsouth.net 2ND VICE PRESIDENT Rocky Johnson 336-971-0971 rjohnson153@triad.rr.com CORRESPONDING SECRETARY John Corriher 980-234-2566 jcorriher5@carolina.rr.com RECORDING SECRETARY Marcia Thompson 336-817-0892 mthompson@yadtel.net TREASURER Bruce Thompson 336-998-1658 thompbruce@gmail.com IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Margaret Van de Ree 704-728-6040 mvanderee@gmail.com PRESIDENT S CORNER Hello Carolinas unit members! Our rally at Natural Bridge was a true success. I counted 20 CUNC units in attendance. A great turnout! The rally was held at Natural Bridge KOA just outside Lexington, VA and just down the road from Natural Bridge State Park. The campground was well shaded & on the side of a hill. There was a pool and a covered pavilion with picnic tables for our meals. Overall, a great rally site. Anne and Bob Seslar did an excellent job selecting the site and arranging the unit activities (meals, happy hours, etc). The Saturday night potluck dinner was great. Bob and the cooks prepared hamburgers and everyone contributed veggies, salads, and desserts. An excellent model for future rally dinners. On a sad note, the Terkel's (Amy and Arnold) announced they are moving to Texas but will be around for a while. Some ridiculous excuse about grandchildren-go figure!!!! They plan to attend the International rally in July. Everyone visited the Natural Bridge State Park. The following section was copied from the Virginia State Parks website: Once owned by Thomas Jefferson and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the 215-foot tall Natural Bridge is a limestone gorge carved out by Cedar Creek. The newest Virginia State Park is more than just the bridge. Beautiful forests, open, rolling meadows showcase the area s karst terrain, and vistas of surrounding mountains and the James River valley display nature s splendor. Access these via 6 miles of hiking trails, including the accessible Cedar Creek Trail that leads from the bridge to the Monacan Indian Village and Lace Falls with its 30-foot cascade. Living history programs connect you to the past and cover how people once used the area s resources for survival and inspiration.
There was an excellent ranger talk providing great insight into the history of the park. It was quite amazing to find out that US Hwy 11 actually goes over the bridge. Several years ago, the bridge developed some cracks and some of the limestone was falling on the pedestrian walkway below. Engineers were brought in to stabilize, reinforce and seal the bridge to prevent further erosion. Some of us visited the town of Lexington, VA, established in 1777, and home to the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and Washington and Lee University. Although the city population is only about 8,000, the two colleges add an additional 4,000 students and about 500 facility and staff. We had the good fortune to visit when the two schools were on summer recess so traffic, parking, and access to restaurants was easy. It was interesting to walk around the town, with many building dating back to the late 1700s and early 1800s. After the rally, several of our members didn't want to go home yet & wandered to Highland Haven for several days. We were joined by a few members who came up from Winston-Salem for the annual Floyd craftsmen open house tour. A bunch of our members took the tour last year and enjoyed so much they decided to do it again this year. I'm sure they were not disappointed. The next rally will be held on August 3-6 at the Cool Breeze Campground in Galax, Virginia in conjunction with the Galax Fiddlers Convention. I'm sure it will be a great rally with lots of good food and great music. However, the next big Airstream event is the annual WBCCI International rally at Escanaba, Michigan on July 23-29. The CUNC will be well represented by 15 units. The highlight of the rally will be the induction of our own Jim Cocke as President of WBCCI. The CUNC will host the post installation reception and dance. In addition, Marcia Thompson has organized a caravan from North Carolina to Tee Pee campground in Mackinaw City, MI and then on to the Escanaba fairgrounds for the WBCCI International rally. Way to go Marcia!!! Because of Marcia's efforts, our members will be able to park together. A real benefit in a sea of strangers although all those folks are fellow Airstreamers. Looking forward to the rally, your President's first. On a personal note, Susanne and I will spend some time in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan after the International rally before heading into Canada, just north of Detroit, on our way to Niagara Falls & then Penn Wood Airstream Park as we turn south. We will then meander toward Highland Haven for the unit rally in September and on to Tanglewood Park for our October rally. Please stay safe in your travels. See you down the road. President, CUNC ---------------------------------------------
Special note on Airstream maintenance: The next time you are on the road in your Airstream and it's a rainy day, pick up a screw driver and tighten every screw you can find, including hinges, drawer pulls, and window frames. Then, maybe next time you drive down less than smooth roads, you will not be greeted by a screw or two on the floor of your trailer and wonder where they belong. Susanne just found a set screw on the bed that came out of a hook mounted on the wall above the bed. The set screw belonged in the bottom of the hook mount. Not all the screws you find in your Airstream were left behind during the Airstream assembly process. Mimi, Margie, and Bob at Highland Haven Look! We re in the TOP 10!! Escanaba, here we come! Source: http://escanaba.wbcci.net/
CUNC 2017 Schedule 60 th International Rally: July 22-29 2017 Escanaba MI 937-596-5221 August Rally: August 3-6, 2017 Cool Breeze Campground Galax VA.866-342-0300 September Rally Sept. 14-17 2017 Highland Haven 6517 Highland Haven Road Copper Hill, VA 24079 Phone 540.651.9050; call to reserve a site. www.vahighlandhaven.com No credit cards (checks & cash only). November Rally: November 2-5 2017 Ocean Lakes Family Campground 6001 S Kings Highway Myrtle Beach, SC 29575 Reservation in Section HH Rally Name Carolinas Airstream 2017 Sites released first come first serve basis. 50% deposit required on all reservations. 30 sites reserved. 877.510.1413 www.oceanlakes.com December Luncheon Date and Location TBA Niagara Falls Adventure Sept 17 22 2017 Contact Anne Seslar if interested in joining group! October Rally: October 5-8, 2017 Tanglewood Park 4061 Clemmons Rd. Clemmons NC 27012 336-703-6400 Carolinas Unit of North Carolina Order of Business June 3, 2017 Natural Bridge / Lexington KOA, Natural Bridge, VA A. Opening Ceremonies Invocation was said by Charlie. Pledge of Allegiance was said using the USA flag displayed by Anne B. Roll Call of the Officers/Directors: Officers : Anne Seslar Bruce Thompson Marcia Thompson John Corriher Margaret Van de Ree Rocky Johnson Directors: George Lamb - absent Jim Turner - absent Phil Drake Margie Lamb - absent C. Approval of Minutes Minutes from the last meeting was published in the newsletter D. Reports of Officers and Committees Bruce reported the current checking account balance to the Board and has sent the Treasurer s report to Keith E. Sunshine Report Nothing was reported for the Sunshine Report
F. New Business o Keith announced that Jill has been appointed to the nominating committee for the Region 3 2 nd VP officer. Keith asked if anyone was interested in the Region 3 2 nd VP position to please see Jill. Keith announced that our Unit nominating committee would be comprised of one Director, the current 2 nd VP, and one non-officer member. The nominating committee for our Units 2 nd VP and two one-year Director positions will be Rocky, Phil, and Susanne. Marcia asked for those who are caravanning to the International Rally to gather after the meeting. Keith announced that the name change initiative has been resumed at of the Region 3 Rally in April. WBCCI and Region 3 would like us to consider including the word Airstream in our name. Keith said that new members would likely use web based searches and having the word Airstream in their search would make our Unit easier to locate via web searches. He said the membership would vote on a name for this Unit. Charlie inquired about how those that don t get email could vote. Keith responded that they would receive a ballot in the mail. Susanne said she knew of one member that did not receive email. G. Announcements Speaker Jill asked to speak about the Urban Air rally concept that was presented at the Region 3 Rally in Hiawassee, GA. A Unit, or several Units, could gather to park in a downtown area requiring boondocking. This type of rally would support the chosen community. She described having an Open House where the community could visit the Airstreams and vote on their favorite with canned food to be donated to the local food bank. Jill describe the Urban Air as a method to share our abundance. Keith suggested Jill head up a committee to research a location to hold an Urban Air rally, and asked Jill to research a potential site for a 2019 Urban Air rally. Region 3 President Frekering wants all Units in Region 3 to have an Urban Air rally. Keith announced that John would not be available later in the summer due to attending the Southwest Caravan with Margaret Keith asked if anyone could help John with the newsletter during this time. Keith announced that Randy Godfrey prepared his Units every other month newsletter, much longer than ours but includes product reviews and such. Our Unit had the second highest member attendance at the Region 3. Rally. o Ray Combs spoke briefly about WBCCI caravans. Ray directed everyone to speak with Jerry and Anne since they were veteran caravanners. Ray announced that he and Carol has been on WBCCI 6 or 7 caravans. o Ray assured everyone that caravans are not a convoy. Most caravans are like mini rallies o He said that another misconception is that everything is on a strict schedule, but many are very relaxed and include opportunities to explore the area being visited. Caravans like Alaska require a lengthy time to arrive and to return to NC, so there were many chances to explore the US on the way and one the return. o Caravans are much less expensive than a professional caravan since all the WBCCI caravans are led by volunteers. Ray recounted a story of meeting a non-wbcci member on the way to the Alaska Caravan in an Airstream Bambi trailer. He was in a gathering of large motor homes and knew nothing about WBCCI and its caravans. The cost of his caravan was more than double what Ray and Carol paid for the WBCCI caravan. o Ray state that the most complicated thing was signing up for the caravan, the list in the Blue Beret can be overwhelming. And many will say that they are Standby Only. Ray encouraged everyone to simply determine which caravan looked interesting, even two or three years out to simply call the leader to put your name on the list. Because of this method, many caravans will be posted as full just because so many are on the list and as the time of the caravan draws near, they back out. So being on a standby list is not a bad thing, you can often quickly move up on the list as people drop. o WBCCI is also looking for new leaders to caravans. Ray and Carol are considering leading the Taste of the Blue Ridge caravan in 2019. o Ray also shared the enjoyment of meeting new friends on a caravan. o Keith highly recommended the Cajun Caravan in Louisiana. The meeting was adjourned.