Greetings Charter (Provisional) Washington DC Unit Members!
I just returned from a weekend at the WBCCI National Autumn Leaf Rally where the Washington DC Unit was officially proclaimed a new Provisional Unit by the Region 2 President Wilson Yerk. This was followed with encouragement and endorsement by WBCCI President Ed Elmer. In fact, look in the November or December issues of the Blue Beret for Ed Elmer to introduce our Unit to the club in his column.
So what does this mean? Well first off we are Provisional until July 4, 2000 at which time we will lose the Provisional status and have either been granted permanent Unit status or will be disbanded. However, Mr. Yerk and Mr. Elmer have indicated that we should gain the Board (IBT) approval for permanent status at its next meeting in January 2000. Once we are granted the permanent status then a couple of things also will happen. First off, all the new member and other MAL surcharges will be transferred to our Units account once we are granted the permanent status. I will address this in more detail later in this newsletter. The second benefit is that we will be allowed to send a Delegate to the International Meeting to vote on the club issues. This is the only way in which a member and Unit can really change the status quo and is our opportunity to help mold the WBCCI in a manner in which we would like to see it move.
So as far as the dues, if you have paid your 2000 dues to Headquarters already then you are done and this is the case for all of our new members. However if you have not paid your Y2K dues yet then send in the $45 plus a $10 Unit dues to our new treasurer, Mrs. Ruth Baldwin (6126 Callery Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15206). The $10 was only chosen by me because it equals the MAL surcharge, the exact amount needs to be decided on at our Kickoff Rally in November. Unfortunately we will not be able to collect the VAC dues through the Unit as a condition of our Unit membership so all of our members that wish to continue as Vintage Airstream Club members need to separately send $10 to Pat Ewing (pre52@gte.net) to continue or to begin their VAC membership. Obviously we are encouraging this membership regardless of whether your particular coach is vintage or not.
Anyone else that also wants to join should also send in their WBCCI membership application with a check for $55 to Ruth. Checks should be addressed to the Washington DC Unit. Anyone that now joins will be considered a new member, the original 20 folks that signed up are the Charter Members. Hopefully we can decide on a suitable plaque at our Kickoff Rally to proclaim this distinction. A listing of the Charter Members is attached.
As most of you are aware, our first Rally is the Kick-off Rally and is a joint Rally with a Vintage Airstream Club's Northeast Vintage Fall Fling Gathering. The dates are November 4 to 7, 1999 although I personally will not be able to arrive until late on Friday, November 5th because of work, however Bill Scott will be there early to greet our membership as they arrive. The Unit will have its first business meeting on Saturday, November 6th from noon until ??? We will have Region 2 President Wilson Yerk in attendance as well as the Region 2 Historian. Mr. Yerk will also provide the official installation of the officers.
The Rally is being held in Pennsylvania Dutch Country at the Appalachian Campsites (see http://www.gocampingamerica.com/appalachian; 610/488-6319) in Shartlesville, PA which is located 23 miles northwest of Reading, 35 miles west of Allentown and 45 miles east of Harrisburg just off I-78. The VAC (and hence DC Unit) special rates are $20/night which includes electric, bathhouse, activities center and dump. If you have not already done so, please RSVP by October 15, 1999 to VAC Gathering Coordinator John Dona (#5071) at 716/688-2383. Let John know that you are coming in as a DC Unit member as he understands that this is a joint meeting.
Also, if you are planning on coming and do NOT have a WBCCI badge then please let me know ASAP so that we can order them and have them available for when you arrive. Also let me know the name of your spouse and children as we will also be making badges for each member in attendance.
Since I have to turn in a slate of officers before November 1st, I have put together the following slate,
President - Tom Howarth
1st VP - Bill Scott
2nd VP - Garnett Horner
Corresponding Secretary - Harley Muse
Recording Secretary - Kathy Howarth
Treasurer - Ruth Baldwin
Trustees - Wayne Moore and John McHugh
Newsletter Editor - Tom Howarth
Membership Chair - Bill Scott
The selection of these positions was purely based upon interests and past WBCCI experience. There are also about another half dozen committees that we need folks to help with. In particular we need someone to head up the activities committee. So if your name is not on this slate don't worry, we will always have more positions than bodies so your time will come!
We also need to officially adopt a Unit Constitution and Bylaws. I have written and submitted each and am attaching them here for further comment. Please realize that much of these are rubber-stamped by WBCCI such that I have not been able to input some of our original desires (such as the VAC dues included in the Unit dues). However I have been able to add in that we plan to use email as our means of communication in place of snail mail. This fact alone should help us maintain a low dues structure as overwhelmingly the majority of the dues collected in other Units is used for postage costs. In fact it is my wish that we also distribute the newsletter electronically and this particular note should be considered the first newsletter of the Washington DC Unit.
In terms of our planned Y2K activities, we have several Rallies already on the docket with several more TBD's (to be determined). As far as planned activities, here is what I am thinking,
Fall Gathering (joint with VAC)/Kickoff & Business Meeting = November 4-7, '99 in Shartlesville, PA
Cherry Blossom Rally, Washington DC area, early April '00, campgrounds and dates TBD
Region 2 Rally with Vintage Open House, Kutztown, PA, May 25-29, '00
WBCCI International Rally, Bismark, ND, June 28 - July 4, '00
Summer Fling, Virginia Beach, Outdoor Resorts, August '00??
Joint Rally with the PA Unit, Penn Woods Airstream Park in Clarion, PA, either August 4-6 or preferably, Labor Day weekend, September 1-4, '00. If we do the Labor Day weekend then perhaps we might hold our business meeting then.
Fall Gathering, Shenandoah or MD eastern shore, September, October or November '00??
Note that the Region 2 Rally is already arranged and we will also sponsor a VAC Open House while we are in attendance on Saturday, May 28th. The Joint Rally listed is one that we have been cordially been invited to participate in with the PA Unit and will be held at their campground, the beautiful Penn Woods Airstream Park. Originally I indicated that the August 4-6 dates sound good but if we do that we will miss doing a VA Beach in August which should be a fine time in it's own right. Also if we are able to coordinate a Labor Day Rally then the extra day will be easier for more folks to attend because of the extra holiday. In either case I will finalize this date before our Kickoff Rally.
So, we are off and running. If these attachments do not work on your computer then please let me know and I will retransmit them as text.
Tom Howarth Editor, The Capitol Times Newsletter