Good-bye WBCCI

[moosetags]

I agree. The only requisite should be an interest in Airstreams.

Brian

[johntavares1]

They already have a Good sam Club that allows all types in the club.

[overlander64]

Greetings Randy!

Originally Posted by SilverCabin

If you compare the price and what you get from these "professional touring companies" with the WBCCI caravans, the WBCCI caravans are cheaper and do a lot more. These companies are always trying to steal our itineraries, so we must be doing something right.

If you like caravanning, the WBCCI membership is a great value. You can plan and take great trips solo in your Airstream--I've done that, but you will do and see a lot more on a caravan, because you are part of the group and the leader has scouted out the attractions and activities.

AIRForum rallies are great. One of my Unit members hosts one every year, and we always try to attend. We're trying to simplify our FL Unit WBCCI rallies, but tradition dies hard.

Working for change from within,

Randy

I am with you! Having compared the typical WBCCI Caravan to those offered by commercial sources, I have found the product offered by the WBCCI to offer much higher value for the dollars spent. With a WBCCI Caravan you can be assured that the leaders have a deep personal interest in the area being toured, and they have often worked countless hours cultivating the relationships that permit the Caravanners to visit and tour places that might not be open to the general public. There is also the factor of camaraderie that results from having coaches of similar construction.

I too take in Forums Rallys as well and believe that there is a place for both types of Rallys. Some of my most memorable Rallys (and Caravans) have included extra-cost features that became central to the memories as well as a few of the personal touches provided by leaders including:

• Touring Put-N-Bay Island including the ferry transportation to and from the island. Had I been given the choice, I probably would have missed out on this gem -- but since it was included in the fee, I participated -- and the memories are priceless.
• Touring the Warther Cutlery Factory and Museum in Dover, OH. Granted, most of this was among what could be seen by the general public, but we had the honor of a guided tour provided by the founders' great-grandson.
• Camping in a field behind Lehman's Hardware Store in Kidron, OH -- This was an unusual experience that was available through the contacts of our WBCCI caravan leader -- we were able to enjoy the charm of this Amish Country Village from a vantage point that others may not have been priveledged to experience.

There are many more, but the above is a cross-section of memorable extras. I am not nocking the more commercial enterprises, but I have been exceptionally pleased with the value received for the cost of the WBCCI Rallys and Caravans in which I have participated.

Kevin

[Silverwanabe]

I like the idea of Silver only.
All silver: Avion, Silver Streak, Streamline, Argosy and Airstream.
Who did I leave out??

[Gene]

Silver plus Wally's original cloth or masonite kit trailers and painted silver.

Gene

[Mike Leary]

No slabsides.

[norsea]

Originally Posted by johntavares1

They already have a Good sam Club that allows all types in the club.

I guess this means that this here Airforum is out too because anyone can join here. You don't even have to have a trailer or motorhome, to say nothing of one with the Airstream name on it.

What I am suggesting is that a club should NOT be about what you own or don't own. It should be about that in which you have an avid interest.

Or, am I putting words/thoughts forward that are not really what you meant?

Curiously yours,

Jim

[WineStream]

Originally Posted by moosetags

I agree. The only requisite should be an interest in Airstreams.

I believe we already have this, it's called AIRForums. No membership, no meetings, no exclusivity. You have / love Airstreams, you're in.

[Lothlorian]

Atobols:

I said that earlier. All anyone needs is this fourm.

Brian

[overlander64]

Greetings Brian!

Originally Posted by Lothlorian

Atobols:

I said that earlier. All anyone needs is this fourm.

Brian

I can't deny that I have enjoyed the Forum Rallys that I have attended -- but I certainly wouldn't consider my Airstreaming experience complete without my WBCCI Caravans and Rallys. There is a very different atmosphere at both events, and each has its own group of cheerleaders. My experience with the WBCCI has been that it is something like a large mutli-generational family with some of the same types of internal conflicts. Will the WBCCI survive these internal conflicts -- I don't know -- and, rather selfishly, I suspect that the club will be around as long as I am able to continue traveling.

Kevin

[JimGolden]

Well personally, I'd include any and all of the aluminum riveted trailers, were I creating a new club.

I'd include Airstream, Argosy, Avion, Silver Streak, Streamline, Curtis-Wright, Bowlus/Bowlus-Teller, Drayer & Hansen, Boles, Airfloat, Aero Flite, Traveleze, Great Western, and last but not least Spartan, to name just a few.

The Spartan trailers, even though they have flat sides, have a curved roof, and to me at least, are some of the coolest looking old trailers ever built. They also made some longer more squared off ones as well. All were excellently built.

But, if this is not what the masses want, then so be it. Tin Can Tourists do in fact include all of these classic trailers. But as was mentioned above, they don't tend to do a whole lot.

For me personally, my trailer is technically too new currently to be an official TCT rig, although they don't seem too strict about it. My rig is 22 years old....supposed to be 25 or older.

Being an Avion owner, I can't join WBCCI at all. So I really don't have a dog in this fight, so to speak. The Silver Avion Fellowship was a strong club at one point in time, but if you think your Airstreams are rare among the sea of white boxes, start counting the number of Avion's you see. They're just not out there in the numbers that Wally's rigs are.

Anyway, I am all for getting into a cool club that would appreciate my rig. But if a new club is to be Airstream only and "hit the road if you have a silver cousin", then I'm out.

Good Sam isn't just for trailers....it's for everything under the sun. Pickup campers, motor homes, guys sleeping in the back seat of their car, 45' bus conversions. It's totally wide open. I am a member of it...for the discounts I get. And truthfully, for the savings it's gotten me vs. the small fee I pay, it easily pays for itself.

I had an Airstream. It needed way more work than I could give it at this point in time (look at my old old threads). It needed a new frame altogether. It was buckled. Had separation and sag. I sold it to a nice couple who already had a 25 footer they were using while they were going to do a shell off total on my (their) Excella. Good for them. But for now, I have a very nice '87 Avion that I've fixed up that I get high fives on wherever I take it. I'm looking for a nice small vintage stream to play with. But for now I'd kind of like to share the fun with what I've got with some like minded folks with similar rigs. I see the Avion to the Airstream as like a Dodge to a Ford. I have a Charger, you have a Galaxy, but we can both be in the hot rod club and have fun together. But if you insist on it being a Galaxy only club, then I'm out.

Anyway, I'll be watching this one. Until then, I'll have to park at the other end of the lot and just wave at you from afar

[Silverwanabe]

What about Holiday Rambler's?
HR's are aluminum riveted, aluma frame construction.
Yes, I know they have a club.

[Lothlorian]

Kevin:

I posted earlier several pages ago that most big clubs will have internal conflicts. Small clubs have them and that is such a turn off for me. That is why I like the forums so much. I worked for clubs for years as a professional and a voluteer (My kids activities and for employment). The clubs have good years then bad years. Boards come and go and there is always disgruntled members. I hope the airstream folks work it out because they all seem like such nice people. They just get wound up about politics. I cringe to think they talk about this stuff around the campfire.

I have never been to a rally because of time and money constraints and I hope to make it someday to an outting. I will be in Anna next summer. I am getting ready to build, so my focus is on the big 4 year goal to move to such a beautiful place.

If you guys do a rally near Makanda, Cobden, Cape Girardeu and it is in June let me know. I would like to try to make it and experience the event. I would have to be a guest because I am not a member. There is a rally in the spring down here but I will be fishing that weekend down in the okeefenokee swamp. Me and the gators.

Brian

[buckmaster]

I'd like to see a forums caravan like Wally did it Like minded folks traveling together.

[rgesch]

I know I said that I was going to comment a few days ago, but...

still working on it.

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by HowieE

Gen Disarry

You may get a grievance in Absentia.

Well, that would be like rasselin with a pig.........

And frankly, having taught evolution in south west Oklahoma, I doubt they can come up with worse than I have already seen.

[overlander64]

Greetings Brian!

Originally Posted by Lothlorian

If you guys do a rally near Makanda, Cobden, Cape Girardeu and it is in June let me know. I would like to try to make it and experience the event. I would have to be a guest because I am not a member. There is a rally in the spring down here but I will be fishing that weekend down in the okeefenokee swamp. Me and the gators.

Brian

This year, the Southern Illinois Unit will be having its Children and Grandchildren Rally at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds:

Jun 4-6 – Children/Grandchildren Rally,
DuQuoin St. Fairgrounds, Gate 3, DuQuoin, IL

The details regarding registration and activities hasn't been published yet, but if my memory is correct this is a very informal rally with the main activities targeted at the children and grandchildren.

Kevin

[PeeWee]

Originally Posted by buckmaster

I'd like to see a forums caravan like Wally did it Like minded folks traveling together.

Define.

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by PeeWee

Define.

I suspect that he means like-minded in 2009 terms not 1950 terms. The world has moved on. So should we.

[Lothlorian]

Kevin:

That is a real possiblity. My kids are all adults and dating. No wedding bell rumors yet. As far as kids and grandkids go I will be the kid of this family.

Brian