Northern Illinois Airstream Club

Five N. Illinois units attended the 34th Region 5 Rally at Hobo Haven. Wayne Kortum stood in for our President. Jim and Bobbi Matkovich ran the Hobby Show/Swap & Sell. Wayne also supervised Tables & Chairs. Bob Koch acted as the coordinator. Anita Koch and Lillian Kortum ran the Door Prizes. Everyone (including Ron and Mary Dahlberg) helped distributing gifts. Bonnie Nester attended. She still continues to take parliamentary classes.

We went to a Civil War site at Corydon, IN (the only skirmish above the Mason-Dixon line). We had a chicken dinner buffet at the Ohio Overlook Restaurant. Following dinner, we went to the Scout Mountain Winery for some wine tasting. We stopped at The Red Barn in Corydon to do some “antiquing” on the way home.

The Southern Illinois Unit has recruited 4 new members from  AirForums  Bobbi Matkovich was 1st place winner at Joker. The entertainment was 4 star quality – all 3 nights : Blue Grass 101; Jim Roberts, Humorist, and the Juggernauts.

Tom and Norma Collier (incoming International president) invited us to “Explore and Discover” at the 2010 International Rally in Gillette, Wyoming.  Region 5 President for next year, Louise Humble and her husband Jerry invited us to attend the 2010 Silver Bullet Shootout in Du Quoin, IL next September 15-19th. A good time was had by all 70 units attending. Written by Anita Koch

Eighteen of us ( 8 trailers & 1 bvan) met at the Goyke’s Oasis. The weather was perfect. Highlights included: food (cooked over an open fire with a tripod), croquet, and fireside chats. We saw a 72 cow carousel at the Fair Oaks farm, where 2,800 cows are milked 3X per day. Everyone who went saw a live birth. The Kochs got to see a twin birth. We also saw a 3D movie and got some delicious ice cream.

The corn festival was on in Hoopeston. It’s a steam engine operation with all the “Bells and Whistles”. A fantastic dinner was available a little further down the roast at “The Beef House”.

The Earl Park Fair is celebrated each year during the week before Labor Day. Since she had no children, when a wealthy inhabitant died she left her substantial property to the city,as long as it was to be used a park for the people.

Our video projector was put to good use. We saw “Welcome to Mooseport” on the side of White’s trailer and on the next we saw, “North by Northwest”, in “wide screen”, on Mayo’s new trailer.

A good time was had by all. A lucky few got to see the latest 4 week old kittens. Mama cat objected strongly. There are 11 cats at Goyke’s, but no mice. Reported by Anita Koch

This weekend was another one of extremes. We had 11 units come and go at various times. Most of the people that had endured the Kieler experience were there. Thursday night till Friday morning at 10:00AM we had 2.5 inches of rain in the campground. When the Sun came out on Saturday and Sunday, the temperatures soared to 98 degrees with humidity to match, because of the all the evaporating water sitting in the campground. Those with air conditioners were running them full blast.

Whites had 5 grand kids, of various ages, packed into their trailer. Kraners had brought their inflatable powered Zodiac boat to do a little fishing with their grandson. Kochs brought 2 grandsons. Dwight brought his kayak, while Monique Clark and Warren Dutton waded out to reach the deeper waters to do a little bass fishing. The Clarks and and many of the kids enjoyed biking in the park.

Houzengas bought 120 ears of excellent locally grown sweet corn and Dwight did his corn thing twice with a turkey fryer. Bob Whitesell had up to four ears at each setting. Friday’s wiener roast over an open fire produced some good eating. All the ladies out did themselves, providing mountains of food for the big Saturday evening Pot Luck feast. After the Saturday meal, president elect, Carol Dixon, brought us up to date on work she has been doing for the upcoming events. Due to the heat, the movie was canceled.

Many of our survivors from Kieler have made initial contacts with their insurance companies and are still in the process of deciding what to do after their initial emergency repairs. Dwight replaced the windows in their ’63 and bought some equipment to experiment with trying to minimize the largest of the Kielers. For those with nothing to lose, Dwight showed how some of the dents could be minimized with a little work. Some of the largest ones were helped with the aid of a suction cup. Some of the smaller, but deeper, ones required the use of the “Ding King” hot melt adhesive and puller frame. Dwight worked a little magic on Whitesell’s, Dutton’s, and Jamison’s trailers. Timeless Travel Trailers, of Colorado, says that 70% of the hail damaged trailers they quote never get repaired, after the owners accept damage payments from their insurance companies. Many of our members, with more “seasoned” units, are likely to do the same.

Here is the link to the August- September newsletter click here.