About Us
If you own an Airstream product, we invite you to become a member of our local family. Membership in the Northern Illinois unit will give you more opportunities to use and enjoy your Airstream.
We have approximately 80 families and hold 10 to 12 local activities per year. Our Motto is “Fun, Friendship and Adventure”. We hold five or six weekend rallies at various types of locations, from Fairgrounds to State Parks, from April through October. The rally fees are just cover the cost to put on the rally. If the club makes the reservations and pays the parking fees, it is wrapped into the rally fee. For rallies at state parks, you pay the camping fee directly to the state. Unit Rally fees include cost of communally cooking or catered food plus the cost of door prizes and entertainment, if applicable. Typically, 15 to 25 trailers attend.
We also conduct caravans, visiting local attractions and/or traveling to the International or Region Rallies. We hold three luncheons in the off season to continue our friendships. Northern Illinois membership dues are only $10 per year, and includes a subscription to our local Newsletter and annual Directory. We are an entirely volunteer run organization to keep our cost low. Our membership is quite diverse, but the majority of us are retired, giving us more time to enjoy our Airstreams. We try to cater our rally schedules to weekends to account for our working members. Our events are family friendly, for those bringing along kids. We encourage you to come to one or two of our outings to determine whether a membership in the Northern Illinois will be of benefit to you.
To become a full voting member of our local unit, you must also join the International club. Membership in the International gives you the opportunity to participate in the county wide caravanning program and attend the big special event rallies. You will also receive a subscription to the Blue Beret, courtesy parking, regional rallies, and the right to attend any of the local rallies across the country. Membership to the International is $65 per year. If you do not wish to associate with any local unit, International “Member at Large” dues are $85 per year. Hard copy subscriptions to the blue Beret are offered at $25 per year. The Blue Beret is also offered on line free. See our links page.
WBCCI is a nonprofit RV club headquartered in Jackson Center, Ohio. The only criteria for membership is that you own an Airstream RV. It is named for Wally Byam, who was the inventor of the “Airstream” travel trailer concept in 1931. Wally built his first aircraft structure riveted aluminum trailer in 1936. Production stopped during WW II but started again in California after the war.
Wally Byam conducted his first group RV Tour (Caravan)in 1951, . He did it to promote adventuring using travel trailers and also used the experience to further develop his trailer designs.
This first Caravans in the “50’s traveled to Mexico and were open to all brands of trailers. Later, the caravans were limited to only “Airstream” trailers. Wally operated Caravans to almost everywhere in the world. In 1955, on a Caravan to Eastern Canada, the “Wally Byam Caravan Club” was formed by the members of that caravan.
The mission of the club is to foster “Fun, Fellowship, and Adventure” through the use of Airstream RV products. The club at one time had more than 25,000 family memberships. Wally died in 1961,from cancer, but the club continued. In 1964, the club was reorganized into: Units, Regions (several states), and the International level. There are currently about 6,400 family memberships in 140 Units in 12 Regions.
