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News & Views
Season's Greetings
from the
WBCCI Electronic Communications Committee
December, 2014
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About the New WBCCI Digital Directory
The WBCCI Corporate Office and the ECC are proud to announce that all members with a current email address (who did not opt out of having their name included) will receive an invitation to download a Digital Directory in PDF Format. Very shortly you can have the WBCCI directory with you on all your devices, whether in your car, truck, Airstream, or at home - wherever you are when you want to look up your WBCCI friends.
This invitation allows recipients to download the Digital Directory five times during a 90-day period. After that time the link will expire. The Digital Directory can not be downloaded online.
The WBCCI Digital Directory contains the current name, membership number, physical address and email of all regular and life members of WBCCI who did not use the email or Blue Beret invitation to opt out of the directory. In the interest of file size and search time, it does not contain information about offices held or caravan history. It does contain a Courtesy Parking section with phone numbers. Two security measures are in place to ensure that the directory's content does not become public.
The Digital Directory also contains instructions on how to search for a member's name or number on a variety of devices. It was created by volunteers at no cost, with no distribution cost. All new members will be sent a current directory and an updated version will be sent to all members quarterly. The ECC welcomes your suggestions for improving the next version of the Digital Directory.
Additional information about the Digital WBCCI Directory is posted on the ECC web site.
If you did not receive an invitation to download a directory, and you did not opt out, please contact jrethman@wbcci.org to be sure the email on file for you is correct.
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New "Free Day" at the 2015 International Rally
Monday, June 29 will have no scheduled rally activities so members have time to tour the many attractions in the Four Corners area. Tours at Farmington 2015, by Teresa Taylor
After the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Glenn and I traveled to the Farmington area to arrange tours for International. Here is a run down of some of the tours we have set up so far or are working on. All the tours we are planning will be during the Rally, June 25-July 3rd, so join us for a Southwest experience during the Rally and your own Southwest travels before and after the rally.
 * Be sure to bring your golf clubs; one of the top 4 public golf courses in the U.S. is Piņon Hills Golf Course. We are planning a best ball tournament. Get a team together or sign up at the Tour table for a team to play with.
* We are planning a
Durango/Silverton tour for June 29, Tour Day at International. The full-day tour starts in Durango with a
bus tour up the spectacular Million Dollar Highway, rated one of the top ten scenic drives in the U.S. Tour the mining town of
Silverton with an option to take a jeep tour into the mountains to the ghost town of Animas Forks. On the return trip you will travel by
coal burning, steam-powered train on the same tracks miners and cowboys took over a century ago as you wind through the spectacular and breathtaking canyons of the Animas River Gorge!
Dinner in Durango for those that would like to join us. Also in Durango we are planning both a half-day and a 2-hour raft trip on the Animas River. For those of you interested in exploring the history and culture of the Ancestral Pueblo ruins, I have organized guided interpretive tours of Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde National Heritage Park. Both of these are all-day tours. Sit back and relax, no driving or parking nightmares. As Glenn and I found out visiting Mesa Verde, parking is at a premium. Both tours include lunch.
 We will also have two late-afternoon Mesa Verde carpool tours: A living history tour of Cliff Palace and the Cliff Palace Photography Tour. The Cliff Palace Living History Tour will give you a chance to meet a character from Mesa Verde's past on a 90-minute evening tour of Cliff Palace. This is a unique opportunity to learn about North America's largest cliff dwelling through the eyes of the people who found and preserved it in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This tour begins at 7:15 pm at Cliff Palace. The cost is $12.00 per person and is limited to 20 people.
The Cliff Palace Photography Tour is at 7:15 pm. Photographers, here is a chance to spend 90 minutes in Cliff Palace with a park ranger in a small group setting. Dramatic sunset lighting will appeal to both amateur and professional photographers as well as those seeking a deeper connection with this extraordinary archeological treasure.
Tour limited to 10 people. Price: $20.00 per person, all ages.
 I will reserve both Mesa Verde group tours when I get dates for the 2015 season. Please email me at ttdesign@ymail.com to reserve your space.
More tours and details will be coming as we finalize dates and prices.
Teresa & Glenn Taylor #29827
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What's a "Field Find?"
It's that long-abandoned Airstream you spot when you least expect it, looking at you like a forlorn puppy, saying "Take me home, please."
Many Vintage Airstream Club members are familiar with this chain of events. Here's Teresa Sherley's Field-Find Story. Send the ECC yours. Heading to Ohio, I spotted a 1963 Trade Wind Land Yacht in a field about 15 miles from my home in Indiana.
After returning from Ohio I asked my husband Greg to go on a little road trip. He was reluctant to go but did; we took a look and got the number from the For Sale sign. We called on the trailer and made an appointment to see it, but Greg could not go so I took my father-in-law. He took one step into the trailer right onto a squishy floor, looked around and said he would not buy it, nor could he really help in refurbishing. He had too much on his plate at the time.
Everything was still original in the trailer. It just had some 70s updates like the orange shag carpet and a loud print for the gaucho beds. I could see past all of that and I just couldn't get the Airstream out of my mind. About a week or two later I purchased the trailer.
That was the Summer of 2007. Knowing my husband and I were capable of working on this trailer but also knowing it would be a miserable time doing so, I found a gentleman out of state to restore the trailer. Our main request was to have it water-tight in case money ran out and we needed to pick it up and let it sit outside. After two years I picked up the trailer from the restoration guy. The money was dwindling away with not much done. The first night home it rained and I went out to check on the trailer. It had water coming in everywhere! (The restoration) turned into a small nightmare: water issues, paint issues, cabinet issues, some original parts got thrown out, the black and gray tank issues. Let's just say Greg and I ended up having to work on this trailer together.
 
Our first task was polishing.
 
Next came the interior.   In the summer of 2010 we took our first trip, to Alumapalooza in Jackson Center, OH. And this is the part of the story you need to know. Neither Greg nor I had ever been camping in our lives. And Greg especially had no desire to go camping, ever. This was all my idea.
Central Indiana Unit
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By Popular Demand: Technical Seminars Expanded at Farmington Rally At the 2014 International Rally at Gillette the Technical Seminars were standing-room only and the audience filled even the halls. It seems there is a huge interest in learning about Airstreams, so back by popular demand, here are the offerings for 2015 in Farmington, New Mexico. The offerings have been expanded and the venues are bigger, though still limited, so get there early! Click HERE for more information about the following Technical Seminars at the 2015 International Rally 1. THE CARE AND FEEDING OF YOUR RV 2. BATTERIES, CHARGERS, INVERTERS AND SOLAR SYSTEMS 3. TROUBLESHOOTING AND REPAIR OF WATER HEATERS, FURNACES & REFRIGERATORS 4. TROUBLESHOOTING AND REPAIR OF YOUR AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM 5. SETTING UP A TYPICAL TOWING SYSTEM 6. HOW TO RUN AN OLD FASHIONED MAINTENANCE RALLY & WHY YOU SHOULD EVERY YEAR 7. TRAILER AND MOTOR HOME ROUND TABLE |
 | Submitted by Terry Esrael
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What You May Not Know About Identity Theft
by Debbie Wood
A seminar on this topic will be presented by ECC members at the
2015 International Rally in Farmington.
 After reading an article in AARP Magazine about identity theft, I decided to do some research about how to better protect myself and my parents. I was surprised to find that, contrary to popular belief, most problems are not due to internet usage and presence. Thieves get our information from the most ordinary places: our trash and mailboxes. Once identity thieves have a few key pieces of personal information, they have wonderful tools available to them on the internet to utilize the information and wreak havoc with our lives.
The article I read in AARP Magazine entitled "She Stole My Life" told about a woman who had her identity stolen to the point that she had trouble proving that she was herself. It got me thinking about what I could do to be better protected. More importantly, it got me to thinking about how to improve my parents' security.
Like the woman in the article, my parents are prime targets. They have no Internet access or presence. They use paper statements for everything. Their statements arrive to an unlocked mailbox. They pay all bills with paper checks. Although they shred financial statements, they throw credit card solicitations and the like in the recycle bin.
Click HERE to read the full article about how to protect yourself from Identity Theft.
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RVs for Veterans Program Reaches Milestone
http://calcoastnews.com/2014/11/rvs-veterans-program-reaches-milestone/
By BECKY JORGESON November 9, 2014
 We donated our 30th RV to a homeless veteran here on the (California) Central Coast on Saturday.
Many thanks to all donors who opened your hearts to our veterans who can't be helped through other avenues. Because of you, more veterans who were living on the streets are now in their own little homes, safe from harm and out of the weather.
Some are parked in mobile home or RV parks; some are at private clubs (Elks, American Legion, Moose); some choose to be mobile and stay in private, county, state, or national campgrounds. Some have left the state for greener pastures.
After three years, Hope's Village is turning this successful program over to Paso Cares. Vice President Cherie Michaelson has mechanics on board who volunteer their time to work on RVs needing repair.
It's a simple program - no money exchanges hands, no liability incurred, no lengthy paperwork or process. We hook the donor up with the veteran in need. They go to the DMV, change title, and get the vehicle registered. Insurance is purchased, and off the veteran goes with his or her home on wheels.
We get calls from all over the country about this program. We advise others how to start it up - with a desire to help, a telephone and a computer. Thanks to the simplicity and success of this program, people in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Diego counties are starting their own RV's for veterans program!
Please call Cherie at (805) 712-7067 with any information or questions. And thank you all for caring...what a way to honor our veterans (http://www.pasocares.org).
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Did Your Airstream Have a Former Life?
Some recent posts in Airforums made for interesting reading.
By gomotomoto (used with permission) "I can't help but think about the life our 1964 Ambassador has lived. The previous owner told us that it was covered in graffiti and was being used as a mobile tattoo parlor. I'm sure it's changed ownership several times, each a chapter in its life."By Air-Quarius (used with permission) "oh boy....Ours was formerly owned by a lady who was a model. There is leopard skin print carpet in here. And three interesting paintings. They say she used it to keep her clothes in. The paintings are one of a high heeled shoe...the other is a set of coffee cups and the other small one above my bed is a glass press of a fern branch. Send the ECC your interesting stories about your Airstream's former life, with pictures if you have them, and we'll share them with our readers.
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 | Carolyn's Christmas Present, "Airiel"
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