I first became interested in WBCCI when a caravan came to my home town of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia in 1966. At the time I was 6 years old. A group of us kids would sell raspberries and blackberries to the caravanners. Quite often we were shown the insides of the trailers and given cookies and sodas and told stories of far away places at the time we could only dream about. This was fascinating stuff. My parents never owned an Airstream. In fact nobody in our county did. It made a lasting positive impression of WBCCI on me. During that 1966 Eastern Canada Caravan I decided to list the WBCCI red numbers,the license plate numbers and where each trailer was from so I would know the following year if I had seen them before.
Each subsequent year I continued to list the trailers I had seen even as I entered adulthood. I attended my first WBCCI International Rally in Bozeman, MT in 1982. Let me tell you, after being used to listing 100 to 300 rigs in a caravan, the sheer size of listing almost 4000 trailers was overwhelming. Not to mention it took around 4 or 5 long days to do it right. It was too much and I gave up. A decision I have since regretted many times. In 1989 I decided to try it again. Once more it was in Bozeman and this time I got all the units listed. During that rally I ran across many caravanners that had been to my home town back in the 60's and 70's. It just strengthened my admiration for the club that you could meet so many great people from so many different backgrounds ALL with one common interest (WBCCI) One of the couples I had known before, Bill & Shirley Paul (30197) from Idaho, took me to some of the programs and gave me the skinny on what the rallies were all about. They introduced me to Clay & Esther Garrison (1133) and their close friends Willard and Marilyn Turner (312).
The following year, 1990 was big. My first wife and I were married in Wyoming with the Pauls standing in for us. We took a 4 month honeymoon traveling through the US and ended up at the 1990 WBCCI International Rally in South Bend, IN. We looked up Clay & Esther. When we arrived at their rig they were being interviewed by the local TV station and newspapers. Esther introduced us to the reporters and told them of my hobby. The reporter from the South Bend Tribune was very interested in my story and took pictures. When we got the paper the next morning we were surprised to see a front page colour picture of us and our story. We instantly became mini celebs at the rally and were recognized everywhere. It really snowballed from there.
The Garrisons (1133) and Turners (312) took me under their wing. Marilyn Turner referred to us as her kids. At the time I was much younger than most Airstreamers (30). After the newspaper article, several people in the club wanted to meet us and I even gave a presentation at one of the region luncheons. At some of the International Rally programs we were seated on the main floor with the Airstream brass. We were introduced to several WBCCI Past International Presidents and several future ones. We also met lots of Region Presidents and other WBCCI executives. Many were already familiar with 'that guy who walked around the rally site listing numbers' and invited us to drop by for visits. One of particular interest came from Max Connett (104) the 1976 International President for the largest WBCCI International Rally in Louisville Ky (4493 trailers). Great story teller. He told us about how he was a musician in the big band era and I think he was in Jimmy Dorsey's band. One night they were invited to Al Capone's mansion to play privately for him. I found these stories so interesting.
This is also the rally I got to meet Dave Reed. A very busy guy but to his credit, in future years until he left home office, he always made time for me. The following year Trailer Life picked up on my story and it appeared in an issue in 1991. I was very proud that my “odd” hobby (my wife used to say unique) was generally being accepted at rallies. It wasn't always that way as some people thought I had some other reason for listing the numbers. One guy in 1989 didn't believe it was a hobby and even suggested I was listing the numbers, had access to a directory, would see who was at the rally, contact "my gang" and rob the homes while the members were at the rally. So it was not always easy for me at rallies listing the numbers and to some extent it was expected and understood.
I have attended many other International Rallies including Bismarck ND in 1993. The infamous rally that in future people would ask fellow members if they were Bismarcked because of the severe hail storm that took place that year pock marking quite a few Airstreams. In 1995 I finally purchased my rig and suburban and joined the club. It was great being on site at the 1996 rally, meeting the neighbors and enjoying the programs and nightly get togethers.
The year 2000 brought some personal changes. These changes have precluded me from attending WBCCI International Rallies and participating in other activities. Things are are looking up though. In 2002, I met my second and forever wife Krista, fell in love, got married and in 2003 Krista gave birth to our son Jared. A bundle of joy and a priority changer. Krista and I are members of the Sierra Nevada Unit and although our travel is curtailed for the time being, we have been contributors and supporters of the SNU and WBCCI in many other ways. We look forward to the day when we will be able to attend rallies again, including the International. In the meantime I continue to collect information and maintain my books of statistics on WBCCI Membership numbers.
In 2005 I was able to attend the ceremony in Kentville to commemorate the 50 year anniversary of the establishment of the Wally Byam Caravan Club International (WBCCI). It was a great opportunity to renew some old friendships and to once again, realize what a special organization WBCCI is.
Mike Orchard WBCCI #32083, Member since 1995. Sierra Nevada Unit #157
Sierra Nevada Airstreams home page -|- Destinations -|- Memories -|- Owner's Guide -|- Community -|- Commerce -|- Zephyrs weblog for the RV enthusiast -|- Whispers weblog of touchy subjects -|- Our tip jar- support this website
|
copyright 2005 Leipper
Management Group. All rights reserved Please address comments
or questions to webmaster@leipper.org
Last updated
|
supporting and using open software |
Sierra Nevada Airstreams - photograph policy - |
|
note: all photographs on this site are for personal, private, and non-commercial use only. All other copyrights are retained by the individual photographers. See our policy. Disclaimer: any advice or suggestion presented is provided for informational purposes only and is correct and accurate only to the best of our knowledge at the time it was written. Anyone using such information does so at their own risk. Errors or omissions may exist and additional sources of information or appropriately licensed or qualified personnel should be consulted in deciding a course of action. We assume no liability or obligation by providing this information and warn any users of this information that they do so at their own risk. All links or references to commercial vendors or other sources of information and equipment do not intend or imply or convey any endorsement of that source or the product. They are provided strictly for informational purposes to illustrate the topic at hand. Sierra Nevada Airstreams Enjoyment of the whispering winds, the zephyrs, the airstreams of the Sierra Nevada and Great Basin areas of the United States is a personal, nonprofit, noncommercial web site intended for educational and recreational use only. This site is supported by volunteer effort and contributions. Donations accepted thanks to the Amazon.com
