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Enjoyment of the whispering winds, the zephyrs, the airstreams of the Sierra Nevada and Great Basin areas of the United States in a recreational vehicle.

Sierra Nevada Unit

SNU Rallies at Ft Churchill – main campground

September 1999 – Rally Review

5 SNU, 1 guest - Total Rally Participation

Frank & Steve Burnham

The rally at Fort Churchill State Historic Site was a quiet relaxed weekend. Five trailers came for the three day weekend. They were the Burnhams, Cordiers, Grosches and two Leipper trailers. Others came out for dinners. On Thursday Elenere Amidon and a potential new member, Fred and Ann Hersey came for dinner. On Saturday we had the Gallions, Pete Rinne, the Pauls, Lee Brown, and Alma George. There was plenty of food and everyone had a good time. We voted to do it all over again at the same place next fall. The success of a rally is in the participation of members. Everyone who came with a trailer helped with the food. The Leippers made coffee, Marge Grosch and Beverly Cordier cooked vegetables and made salads, Burnhams did breakfasts and cooked the entrees, Virginia and Diane Leipper did the bacon and sausages, Virginia Leipper provided a salad, and most impressive was Virginia Leipper’s gorgeous birthday cake for the Saturday birthday celebrations. Marge Grosch scrambled the eggs which were supplied by Diane’s chickens. A special thanks to all!!

1999 Ft Churchill Participants

May 2002 – Rally Review

1 SNU - Total Rally Participation

Fred and Ann Hersey

Dateline Ft Churchill, NV, Sat 5/18/02 3pm, Bryan & Diane Leipper having spent Fri night with the spooky spectre of Ft Churchill ruins standing guard over their ‘75 Ambassador in Camp Site #8 are greeting the occupants of a red pickup and camper (...or could it be a mini fire truck?) No it’s Don & Mary Lou Damoth, home at last from their recent wanderings and anxious to share the highlights. They are just in time to witness a cloud of dust moving eastward along the Ft Churchill road, and forecasting the arrival of the now grimy green Legacy Wagon of (let’s take a different road going home) Fred & Ann Hersey. After exchanging salutations all around, unloading a folding table & chairs, and settling into the shade and comfort of the Airstream Awning, the gathering of members of the Sierra NV Unit commenced a somewhat relaxed discussion of membership recruiting and retention. Rumor has it that various and sundry MR & R tools are available, we need to obtain samples to evaluate according to current needs of the Unit. One fortunate suggestion that can be made use of right away,is to distribute to current members, two copies of the monthly newsletter instead of one. The purpose of the extra copy being to pas it along to any prospective member you are fortunate enough to meet. Another suggestions was to include more info regarding future Unit events rather than only next month. (Gee whiz, I shoulda thoughta that.) Evenually, appetites prevailed over discussion. Culinary items were unveiled, and placed in hand spots on the available tables, just in time to pacify the salivations of the brainstorming group. Truly an enjoyable repast. (Mark it down as let’s do it again,,,) After dinner, satisfied that the world’s problems had been properly engaged...if not solved, it was time to adjour until next month and mosey down the road. It was a good skull-session, and an even better feast. See you all next month, pahdnuh.

2001 Ft Churchill Participants

Note: This rally was on the SNU calendar of events for September 2001. The only participants were Bryan and Diane. There was no mention of the “rally” in SNU newsletters

2002 Ft Churchill Participants

October 2014 - Rally Review

5 SNU, 1 guest - Total Rally Participation

Wheels Wheeler

The Ft. Churchill rally was the perfect fall rally. There were crisp cool mornings around a warm fire. We were surrounded by tall cottonwood trees dressed in the finest fall colors – bright yellow. Light breezes caused some yellow leaves to gently fall to the ground. Stronger winds on Saturday afternoon had the leaves dancing and swirling in many directions. Saturday’s winds also prevented an outdoor meal on Saturday evening. As usual the majority met for the meal in Jerry’s trailer. We had six rigs there and were blessed with a visit by Roger and Jan Jeppson. Some of us took the time to renew our Senior Resident Pass for NV State Parks. Some also took the time explore some of the hiking trails; visit the old fort ruins and the Museum. Others enjoyed the warm afternoon and quiet surrounding by taking a nap or reading.

Diane Leipper

This is what fall camping is all about! Participants at Ft Churchill included: Gary & Anita, Jerry & Dyann, Gene & Carmen, Bryan & Diane, Wheels & Doris and Warren & Merna. We also had a visit from Roger & Janet on Friday. See the President's report for more on the Ft Churchill rally. Wheels, Doris, Warren & Merna had just gotten back from attending the Region 12 rally in Pahrump. They shared stories of their adventures. Sounds like it was a great rally. Approximately 6 SNU members attended. For at least 2 of them, this was their first Region Rally. It appears that the SNU dominated the raffle drawings. Almost every SNU member in attendance got a basket. Marlene was the grand prize winner. She got the specially made quilt. At Ft Churchill, Merna showed off a new flamingo she picked up at a hardware store in Pahrump. It is like one Doris got a while back that moves to macarena music. The great weather at Ft Churchill on Friday enabled us to enjoy our shared meal outside. As usual, lots of good food. Merna shared some of the treats from the basket she won at our Friday dinner. The last time the SNU had a rally at the main Ft Churchill campground was in 2002. I think after this one, we'd all prefer not to wait so long to come back again.

2014 Ft Churchill Participants

April 2016 – Rally Review

6 SNU - Total Rally Participation

Diane Leipper

We had six rigs at our April rally at Ft Churchill including affiliate members Bob and Nancy from Hunington Beach, CA. Jerry & Dyann had arrived on Wednesday and greeted the rest of us as we arrived. Other rally participants included Gary & Anita, Bryan & Diane, Wheels & Doris and RoyLaine & Jim. For the most part the weather cooperated. Thursday and Saturday were just about perfect. Friday a few scattered showers and wind gusts motivated us to have our dinner in Jerry & Dyann’s MoHo. Saturday we had dinner outside. Former SNU members, Fred & Ann Hersey joined us for dinner. They brought some of their notebooks about petroglyph sites they have visited. They have some great pictures and Fred has done an excellent job of documenting the photos and the sites they visited. Bob and Nancy took full advantage of being at Ft Churchill. They took the trail down to the river, which is flowing nicely this year. They hiked around the ruins of the fort buildings and visited the museum. They also took a tour of Buckland Station which has seen a lot of improvements since we were there in 2006. Dyann got a new solar light which turned out to be pretty appropriate. It’s a bear holding a honey pot which lights up at night. It so happens that a real bear has been hanging around Ft Churchill lately and the rangers have set up a bear trap near the campground entrance. Very unusual to have a bear in this territory. In addition to the bear solar light, Jerry went all out and set up his solar lights. Not to be outdone, the Wheelers and Leippers also got solar lights set up. The campground looked pretty neat after dark. Dyann & Jerry also picked up a new pink flamingo which decorated our picnic table. Morning campfires, shared dinners and lots of visiting made for a very enjoyable rally. Bob and Nancy decided to take a little tour of other SNU rally sites, including Hickison before heading home. We hope they had a good trip and look forward to seeing them again sometime this year.

Full Circle – According to an article in the September 1999 SNU newsletter written by Frank Burnham about the rally at Ft Churchill, he mentions that “prospective members, Fred and Ann Hersey came out for dinner.” Seventeen years later, we were delighted to once again have Fred and Ann join us at Ft Churchill for dinner. It was so good catching up and also sharing memories of times past.

2016 Ft Churchill Participants

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