Region 9 Rally Report

[Pahaska]

I just returned from the Region 9 rally in Canton, TX. We had about 225 Airstreams attending. While there, I met Tin Hut and Ed&Debbie who frequent this forum.

Canton is the home of the "First Monday Flea Market", one of the largest anywhere. Canton is a small town that swells to about 750,000 people once a month and becomes the eighth largest city in Texas for a few days.

We stayed on the Flea Market grounds, mostly with full hookups and met in the Civic Center. Vintage folks were in a separate area and held a Concours d'Elegance open house one morning.

I toured the vintage trailers and took a few photos which I will post here. The vintage unit that most impressed me was a 1947 Curtis-Wright that was built by Wally Byam in the Curtis-Wright factory. Early 1947s were badged Curtis-Wright and late 1947s were badged Airstream.

Of note in the CW are the aluminum wardrobe and overhead cabinets. The original icebox is still there, used as a pantry. Later additions are a refrigerator and the dresser by the entrance door. Here are some shots of the CW.

[Pahaska]

Another shot of the neat aluminum wardrobe in the 1947 Curtis-Wright.

The condition of this trailer is amazing for something nearly 60 years old.

[Pahaska]

This trailer really looked comfortable.

[Pahaska]

And the best shine job of all the vintage units. I'll bet that AC really keeps this one cool.

[Pahaska]

We had a talk by Larry Huttle at the rally. He spoke of the work being done with Nissan Design, the Base Camp, the upcoming Classic Motorhome, etc.

The new dealer in Dublin, TX brought 6 units for display ranging from the new Interstate Class B to a 390 XL motorhome. Huttle said that he and and his wife travelled to the west coast in an Interstate, but I found it to be terribly cramped for more than one person. I think that it would be difficult for two people to coexist in one and erecting the table effectively cuts the unit in half so that you can't get past.

Some things that interested me as a Classic owner are that the new Classics will have polished metal in the galley area and that the Corean counter tops that are currently being done in-house will be contracted out in the future.

[Silvertwinkie]

Very nice John...thanks for sharing!

Eric

[norbert]

wow!...fantastic blend of new and old...
norby

[Pahaska]

Our unit won the best bulletin board contest

One day, all the units put on a carnival midway as a fund raiser for a terminally ill child in Lansing.

Our unit won the prize for the best midway event; we put on a cakewalk and made a few hundred dollars.

Our unit lost out in the first round of the turtle races. We had a tiny turtle that almost won a heat, but missed out by about a foot. One unit lost their turtle and brought in an alligator snapper they found in a ditch on the grounds. They had a pole and a big net to snatch it up if it got away; it just went in circles though. For anyone who hasn't seen a turtle race, it is a real hoot.

Lastly, but not leastly, my cat won a blue ribbon in the pet show for the second year in a row.