This letter was written to Helen Byam Schwamborn in 1975. The spirit of the WBCCI is written on the page by Ella & Bob Mager #1593.
Today, year 2009, this letter is important. Read it! And please understand what the Club means to today's members through the eyes of a member 34 years.
This is what I am hoping to find once my WBCCI membership is (finally) processed. Unfortunately, I think the perspective has changes in the 34 years since that letter. Perhaps it will come back a bit due to how the family mindset is changing as of late (i.e. less income --> family time is more valuable --> family adapts to single income & quality time vs. getting the second income back). However, back when Wally was "the man" and everyone knew he was the guy that started it all, it was easy to identify him and follow him. Now, I have no idea who the WBCCI president is. I only know the Region 4 pres. (JJ) because I have been so outspoken on these forums about my skepticism in joining the WBCCI and JJ stepped in at the beckoning of another fervent airforums and WBCCI member.
I think now, like many other clubs which were formed 30-50 years ago, there is little interest in banding together. With things like the internet, email, cell phones, texting, picture and video sharing at the touch of some buttons; there's less emphasis on coming together for a common cause. Yeah, political causes and people opinions and views will always cause grouping / banding, but that's for competition and basically boils down to yelling at each other about why you're right and the other one is wrong. So who wants to get together to go camping??? I mean, I can go 20 min. from my house and find 10 campgrounds and 1000s of campers. But, how many of them will have Airstreams or appreciate the fact that I have one? Yeah, not many. So there's my drive for putting my money into the WBCCI, at least for now. My drive is to meet, be with, and enjoy the company of others who enjoy airstreams and have the bug that has infected all of us who own. I'm still skeptical based on what I've found to-date with local WBCCI groups / rallies and I can't say that after being a WBCCI member that I will still be one 10 years from now. I need to get to some rallies and see how things go. Hopefully after a few years of rallies I will be writing such letters of joy that Mr. & Mrs. Mager felt compelled to write back in 1975. We'll see. But, like someone else on here pointed out to be in my tirades about joining the WBCCI...one cannot complain when they have not particiapated and tried to influence the things that bother them rather than just complaining about perceived things that they haven't seen first hand. I know this and understood it even before it was written, but I wasn't just going to hand over my $55 just because someone says, "you have an airstream, join the club"
After 58 Years the Fun, Message, and Love is Still There
In 1951 Wally introduced me to the Wonderful World of Airstream. I have had many years of a fun-filled life that can not be enjoyed anywhere else.
The core values that Wally Byam and Helen Byam Schwamborn wanted for us hasn't changed. I can attest to this.
This has been affirmed at several rallies. The most recent being the Cherry Blossom Festival with the Washington D.C. unit. Earlier this year the Texas Vintage Rally in San Antonio; last year the Bozeman International; the Springfield, MO International; the 50th Club dedication in Nova Scotia; two Four Corners' Unit rallies; and the Vintage Trailer Rally in Breckinridge, CO. And fun time with VAP casts.
Frequent e-mails from my Airstream friends, and telephone calls.
How you use your Airstream, how you use your life, and how you participate in the Club will sum up the fun, your friends, and your dedication to the greatest thing available today.
This is what I am hoping to find once my WBCCI membership is (finally) processed. Unfortunately, I think the perspective has changes in the 34 years since that letter. Perhaps it will come back a bit due to how the family mindset is changing as of late (i.e. less income --> family time is more valuable --> family adapts to single income & quality time vs. getting the second income back). However, back when Wally was "the man" and everyone knew he was the guy that started it all, it was easy to identify him and follow him. Now, I have no idea who the WBCCI president is. I only know the Region 4 pres. (JJ) because I have been so outspoken on these forums about my skepticism in joining the WBCCI and JJ stepped in at the beckoning of another fervent airforums and WBCCI member.
I think now, like many other clubs which were formed 30-50 years ago, there is little interest in banding together. With things like the internet, email, cell phones, texting, picture and video sharing at the touch of some buttons; there's less emphasis on coming together for a common cause. Yeah, political causes and people opinions and views will always cause grouping / banding, but that's for competition and basically boils down to yelling at each other about why you're right and the other one is wrong. So who wants to get together to go camping??? I mean, I can go 20 min. from my house and find 10 campgrounds and 1000s of campers. But, how many of them will have Airstreams or appreciate the fact that I have one? Yeah, not many. So there's my drive for putting my money into the WBCCI, at least for now. My drive is to meet, be with, and enjoy the company of others who enjoy airstreams and have the bug that has infected all of us who own. I'm still skeptical based on what I've found to-date with local WBCCI groups / rallies and I can't say that after being a WBCCI member that I will still be one 10 years from now. I need to get to some rallies and see how things go. Hopefully after a few years of rallies I will be writing such letters of joy that Mr. & Mrs. Mager felt compelled to write back in 1975. We'll see. But, like someone else on here pointed out to be in my tirades about joining the WBCCI...one cannot complain when they have not particiapated and tried to influence the things that bother them rather than just complaining about perceived things that they haven't seen first hand. I know this and understood it even before it was written, but I wasn't just going to hand over my $55 just because someone says, "you have an airstream, join the club"
You will see in these links that I am coordinating a White Water Rafting Trip as part of the Region 4 Rally on Friday May 22nd. That should put some adventure back into WBCCI, but even if that does not appeal to you there are many other tours and activites planned that can also be found via the above links (the Greenbriar Bunker, Cass Scenic Railroad, Golf, Larry Huttle of Airstream talk, etc.). If any of this sounds intersting to you, come check it out. We'd love to have you.
P.S. As a working member of WBCCI, I too am outspoken and want to promote some level of modernization within the club, but we have enjoyed many WBCCI events over the last 5 years as it currently exists. And we plan to continue to do so into the future. Just remember that it only takes one or two enjoyable events a year to make it worth the price of membership. I hope you find a Unit that is to your liking, because Unit events provide many WBCCI members with their best satisfaction. If the first one is not a great fit, you can always try another.
__________________ Joe
Vintage Airstream Club Historian WBCCI/VAC #5533
'55 22' Safari / '63 28' Ambassador / '94 28' Excella
Last edited by 66Overlander; 04-22-2009 at 08:26 AM.
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