Archive for June, 2008

Delegates’ Meeting – Bozeman June 30

The Delegates’ Meeting finished at 11:31 am.  The following is the 2008-2008 slate of International Officers

 President Jerry Larson, unopposed

1st Vice President Tom Collier, unopposed

2nd Vice President Norm Beu, unopposed

3rd Vice President Barry Heckenswiler defeated Robert Thompson by a vote of 4,851 to 1,199, with 14 abstentions

Recording Secretary Carolyn, unopposed.

Treasurer, unopposed.

Nominating Committee top two vote recipients were Sandra Poast 4,776, and Phil Risher 4,238.  Floor-nominated Patrick McFadden 1,328, and Leo Garvey 1,590, and 196 abstentions.

 By a vote of two-thirds majority, an amendment was approved to the WBCCI Constitution, Article XII, adding a Section 7 which clarifies the voting procedure to the Nominating committee when there are two, and more than two candidates for the two positions.

June 30 2008 | News and Rallies | No Comments »

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly – Bozeman June 29th

The Good:  The ambulance call mentioned in my last post reportedly was for a fainting due to wrong meds and the person is OK.  Region 7 Luncheon was well attended and yummy food.  I was good to see many people we hadn’t in a loong time.  Also, Thomsons no longer have their 34 foot Classic, as they traded it in last month for a 2008 30 foot Classic.  If all goes to plan, the Thomsons will have Show & Tell at the Stump Lake Rally at the end of July.

The Bad:  As typical at the International Rallies, we are being treated to unseasonably high temperatures.  As we are in the 3 amp section, we were cooked out of our trailer yesterday afternoon and went for a drive around the valley to stay cooled.  The main rally site has no A/C.  But on the bright side, when the sun sinks to the horizon, the mercury falls in the thermometer quite rapidly, making it quite nice for sleeping, even when parked on the asphalt.

The Ugly:  Someone wrote an unwelcome note about North Dakota on our bulletin board message pad.  Finding no humor in the comment, I remove it.  Goes to show there are bad apples in every basket.

June 30 2008 | News and Rallies | No Comments »

Opening Day at Bozeman, June 28th

Busy, Busy Saturday!  I went to a seminar on the WBCCI website for updates and how-tos.  Larry went to the presentation by Larry Huttle from Airstream Inc.  He said that Thor (parent of Airstream) is debt-free and will weather the RV market downturn a lot better than its counterparts.  He said that the classic trailers make up only 20% of their sales and their focus is more on the higher volume lines like the Safari and International.  Got the directory and newsletters entered into the competitions.  The Opening ceremony was warm and steamy and the WBCCI orchestra was fantastic!

In a few minutes we will be heading for the Region 7 Luncheon to meet up with old friend.  Ambulance just was directed into our parking lot – hope nothing serious…..

June 29 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments »

Day’s End – June 27th, 51st Int’l Rally at Bozeman

Lots and lost of Airstreams!  Watched the Vintage Parade roll into Silver City  this morning – it was hard to pick a favorite, but the ’36 Caddy pulling the highly polished 50’s model trailer got my vote.  Saw the Carlsens from Regina in the parade.  The Tetzlaffs are two trailers away from us, here in Green 2.  Got the bulletin board in place to prove out unit was represented here.  Signed up for the Region 7 luncheon, picked up the paperwork for the delegates meeting and the unit publications contests.  Larry went shopping at the Airstream Store – his spare parts inventory has been replenished.  It’s cooling off quite nicely; it was in the upper 70’s today and most likely the furnace might have to be turned on sometime during the night.  There’s still snow to be seen on the mountain tops, and the Yellowstone River is still flooding.  Hey – you know that water pours into the Missouri and helps the level on Lake Sakakawea.   To answer the question everyone is wondering, when we checked in, they said there were about 650 registered units here as of last night. 

June 27 2008 | News and Rallies | No Comments »

Friday June 27 – Sunrise in the Bullpen

The sun must have just cleared the mountains to the east of Bozeman, as there is a wicked gleam off a little, highly polished vintage Airstream here in the Bullpen at the 51st International Rally on the campus of Montana  State University.  And my camera is out in the pickup!  The 30’s model caddy just pulled up alongside his shiny vintage, too.  Looks like he went for a qick heavy duty coffee and a sprucing up at the local car wash – there’s some serious polishing going on over there..  The Vintage Parade is this morning, though we will likely miss it, as we were told to be ready to move out of the Bullpen by 8am.  The  sun’s relection is getting pretty strong now on that polished aluminum.  It looks like it’s going to be a BEAUTIFUL day here.  Bulletin Board is ready to go and we are looking forward to getting checked in.  Check back here daily, as I will try to update this to keep you informed of all the happenings and gossip at this 51st International Rally in Big Sky Country!

June 27 2008 | News and Rallies | No Comments »

Why do we take our Airstream out on the road these days?

Got an eye opener this past weekend as we drove to the southwestern part of the state, staying the night in Reeder.  We took the Enchanted Highway and saw the awesome sculptures along the way, and battled 30-40 mph direct crosswinds and rain the entire way.  Stopped for gas in Regent and noted that diesel was $4.82 a gallon.  Due to the lovely winds that did not abate the next day, we topped off gas in Belfield and was surprised that it was only $3.82 a gallon.  The eye-opener came when we were talking with our friends who had reservation at one of the  few hotels in Medora.  They got one of the last rooms available for $169 per night – the rest were $189 per night.  I sat there and did the quick math: we had, by far, the cheapest and nicest accomodations.  Is that what hotels are going for these days?!  Even with the voracious headwinds we had, we still came out way ahead on costs.  At $4+ a gallon, we can get a long way on the money for just one night’s stay in those hotels.  Our RV site was $30, with full hook-ups, WiFi and cable TV.  

June 17 2008 | News and Uncategorized | No Comments »

June Issue of Prairie Rose Newsletter available for download

The June issue of our unit newsletter has been released and is available for download.  In this issue are an abridged version of the tremendous schedule of activites planned for the 51th International Rally at Bozeman and the rally schedule for the upcoming Region 7 Voyageur Rally which  be held in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada August 11 – 15, 2008.  To view and dowload, click Prairie Rose Newsletter – June 2008

June 08 2008 | News | No Comments »