We're back again as with this issue of the Capitol Times, the Washington DC Unit is entering its second year. Last year at this time we were celebrating the issue of our Provisional Charter and now this year we continue to look forward to a bright future as we continue to Airstream along. Before we begin our topics, please remember that all the WDCU news, past newsletters, activities and other information are always available on the WDCU web site.
WDCU Treasurer Ruth Baldwin has asked me to get this reminder right up front, Dues are due! For those of you who have not yet paid your dues for 2001, the time is now. Please send a check for $55 for regular members or $10 for affiliates payable to WDCU-WBCCI to
Ruth Baldwin,
6126 Callery St.,
Pittsburgh, PA 15206.
Please include your WBCCI #, email address, phone number, and mailing address. The deadline for receipt of your dues is November 10 to guarantee having your name listed in the 2001 WBCCI directory.
Ruth tells me that the WDCU is continuing to grow with many new members joining in. Last year we celebrated our Provisional Charter with 20 Charter Members while one year later we have the very real possibility of approaching 50 members with 30 affiliates! So let's please get each of our dues sent in so that we can all be counted.
Now onto a recap of our most recent outing. The WDCU had its Installation Rally in Newport News, VA over the October 6 to 9, 2000 weekend. This Rally was hosted by 2nd VP Garnett Horner and coincided with the Newport News Fall Festival. Garnett ordered us a perfect weekend including wonderful weather, spacious wooded sites at the Newport News Community Park, nightly campfires, daily continental breakfasts and nightly feasts including a Saturday night blue crab picking. We had nine participants including members from New Hampshire, London (UK), North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Region 2 President Wilson and First Lady Cindy Yerk then performed the WDCU Installation for the 2000-2001 Officers as elected at our last Business Meeting at our August Pennsylvania Rally. The Installation was a casual and comfortable ceremony as we gathered around the campfire where Wilson presented each WDCU Officer their new badges and a new Unit flag for each Officer. Our Officers for 2000-2001 are:
President: Tom Howarth
1st VP: John McHugh
2nd VP: Garnett Horner
3rd VP: Wayne Moore
Treasurer: Ruth Baldwin
Corresponding Secretary: Harley Muse
Recording Secretary: Kathy Howarth
Trustees: Bill Scott & Karen Waldo
Our next outing, which is the final 2000 outing, is a joint Rally between the Washington DC Unit and the Vintage Airstream IntraClub. The WDCU is hosting this 3rd VAC Northeast Gathering over the extended weekend of November 2nd to 5th, 2000, at the Harpers Ferry KOA and Conference Center in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (http://www.koa.com/where/md/48107.htm). This event is being organized and hosted by John Gilliland and Harley Muse (301-725-2983; hcmjdg@airstream.net). The campground is located adjacent to the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park which is at the junction of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. Nearby are Antietam and Gettysburg battlefields, the Appalachian Trail & C&O Canal and numerous forms of entertainment including the Charles Town Races. It promises to be a great weekend, so come on out and enjoy a part of your Nation's history as well as the well known WDCU and VAC hospitality! We have 35 spaces reserved for this year's event and will be given their winter rate a month in advance. The costs are $25/night for two people per unit with an additional cost of $3.95/night for each adult and $2.95/night for each child. For those of you who aren't able to bring your Airstream with you, there are various sized cabins available for which reservations must be made in advance. To make reservations, please contact the Harpers Ferry KOA and tell them that you are coming for the "VINTAGE AIRSTREAM CLUB" rally and will be parking with the group. You need to make your reservations directly with the KOA. Upon arrival and check-in, each attendee will receive an additional 15% discount. This event is rapidly filling up so please hurry and get your reservations in so that you may be included too.
The WDCU will also hold a Business Meeting on Saturday, November 4th from 10 am to 11 am to shore up our 2001 Rallies and events. Right now we are looking at holding the 2nd Annual Cherry Blossom Rally during the first weekend in April in conjunction with the National Cherry Blossom Festival. We are looking at two Rally sites in DC and one in Maryland. Our next Rally, after the Region 2 Rally for May 2001 in Toronto and the 2001 International Rally in Sioux Falls, SD, will be a Rally in New Hampshire being organized by our 3rd VP Wayne Moore and his wife Linda. We are then planning on once again hosting the 4th Northeast VAC Rally in conjunction with our 2001 Installation Rally at the eastern shore of either Maryland or Delaware. Details and plans for each of these events will be further discussed at the Business Meeting.
I have just received the following post from Merrill & Dorothy Erler of the Mid-Atlantic Unit looking for WDCU Musicians: I'm writing to find out if there are any other local musicians in our area who might be interested in playing with the WBCCI bands at International Rally time. My wife and I, who have been professional m musicians in the DC area since 1944 and enjoy our free time traveling and playing with many community organizations all around the US. Our goal is to encourage people who may have played band or orchestra instruments in the past to get going again and join with us in having fun. If any of your unit members would like to discus rejuvenating their former musical life, we would be more than pleased to talk with you. We live in Falls Church and are members of the Mid-Atlantic Unit. Feel free to e-mail us at mjdot18404@aol.com or phone 703 532-4278.
See ya 'streaming in WV next month,
Tom Howarth Editor, The Capitol Times Newsletter