Keystone Kourier May 2017 Page 1 of 5

May 2017

Keystone Kourier Keystone Unit - Region 2 - WBCCI

President’s Message We’ve hit the road again at last! Several

Keystoners attended the annual

Maintenance Rally last weekend at the 4-H

Park in Centreville, MD. Attendees from our

unit included Rick and Andy Pitts, Don and

Phyllis Harrington, Wayne and Sharon

Fitzgerald, Jody and Sue Dietz, and Howard

and Arry Mergelkamp. In addition, we were pleased that our

newest members, Wendy and Pete Wait, were able to join us.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to welcome them properly with our

usual marching band and parade since they didn’t arrive until

11:00 pm. They are both still working in the finance and accounting

field and are avid Penn State fans. In fact, they use their Airstream

to attend Penn State tailgate parties.

Welcome to the group Wendy and Pete!

An added

treat at the

rally was

the arrival

of Jody

and Sue’s

daughter,

Michelle,

daughter-

in-law, Jennifer, and grandson, Logan on Saturday. It was great

meeting them and seeing a young Keystoner-to-be begin learning

the ropes.

Many thanks to the Delmarva and Mid-Atlantic units for hosting this

annual event. They provided two excellent breakfasts and a

delicious nacho and chili dinner on Saturday night. Our unit

Upcoming Events

May 19

Joint Rally with Central Penn

Shady Grove Campground

Lancaster, Pa.

June 1

Region 2 Rally

Pine Creek Campground,

Newfield NY

July 22

WBCCI International Rally

Escanaba, Michigan

Stay connected

http://keystone.wbcci.net/

Keystone Unit Webpage

Rally coupons available here

https://www.facebook.com/

groups/KeystoneUnit/

Follow us on Facebook

Keystone Kourier May 2017 Page 2 of 5

prepared and served the breakfasts and assisted in the cleanup at the end of the rally. Many

thanks to our members for their help in this. Our unit is a well oiled machine when it comes to

delving in to make a rally go smoothly.

Our hosts not only provided the good food but also much of the technical expertise, tools and

supplies that we were able to take advantage of in preparing our rigs for the travel season. I, for

one, took advantage of their assistance in tightening up loose bolts on my hitch, inspecting the

break-away switch and sniffing for gas leaks.

There were only a couple “hiccups” at the

rally that marred an otherwise smooth event.

Arry lost her phone! She interrupted my

conversation with Rick and Andy Pitts in a

panic and, of course, I went to the trailer to

locate it by calling her from my phone. I

made the call and was relieved to hear it

ringing in the trailer. Unfortunately I couldn’t

find it. It wasn’t in the kitchen or bedroom

and the sound kept moving as I searched for

it. Finally, increasingly frustrated, I reached in my pocket for something and, what do you know,

there was Arry’s ringing phone! Having sheepishly admitted what happened in front of the Pitts

and Arry, I suffered from the “laughing stock” syndrome for the rest of the rally!

The other glitch occurred during cleanup after Saturday’s pancake breakfast. As I said, our unit is

a well-oiled machine when it comes to cleanup and serving. However, one of our members

apparently is not adequately trained in the more sophisticated culinary fine points and may have

to be sent for remedial training. Sorry Rick! Following breakfast people were chatting, others were

cleaning up when suddenly someone yelled loudly in a panic-stricken voice across the room

“STOP, STOP, HOLD IT, STOP!” Several of us thought someone was about to be hurt or the roof was

caving in. Almost as bad, Rick had actually started to pour the remaining Log Cabin syrup into a

bottle of Real Vermont Maple Syrup. This was obviously a serious faux pas! Whoever has heard of

contaminating “the real thing” like that! Rick, of course, threw the contaminated bottle away and

looked for a corner to hide in. We forgive you Rick! (By the way, I like Log Cabin better anyway.)

Our pastor-in-residence, Don Harrington, gave the Sunday service accompanied on guitar by

Bruce Purcell from the Delmarva Unit. It was an interesting and touching service. Thanks Don for

your inspiration!

Our next event is a Joint Rally with the Central Penn Unit on May 19-21 to be held at the Shady

Grove Campground in Denver, PA. Rick and Andy Pitts are organizing this activity and it sounds like

there will be a good turnout from both units. Many of us will arrive on Thursday so that we can go

to an interesting farmer’s market on Friday morning. Details are provided at the end of this issue.

Looking forward to seeing you down the road,

Howard Mergelkamp

Keystone Kourier May 2017 Page 3 of 5

Sunshine Report

Spring has brought its healing touch with

Don, Caryle and Vaughn progressing

well.

Howard’s kidney stone procedure was successful and

he is back to leading us with full gusto.

It would be helpful if folks would e-mail Peg

(pspahn1@verizon.net) if they know of anyone in the

club who is ailing, or needs some sunshine, so we can

include it here in the Kourier.

Anniversary

June 9: Andy and Rick Pitts

June 21: Peg and George Spahn

Birthdays

May 4: Cheryl Cattell

May 7: Don Weaver

May 12: John Arabanick

May 15: George Spahn

May 19: Bud Cattell

May 25: Phyllis Harrington

May 29: Will Kushto

June 11: Harvey Arter

June 14: Barry Heckenswiler

June 17: Jonathon Schau

June 25: Sharon Fitzgerald

June 30: Bea Buscaglia

Special thoughts from Peg and George:

George and I would like to thank all of our Keystone friends for the many cards, kind

thoughts and presence at our daughter's service on April 2. It was very comforting for our

family to know that you all care so deeply. This is certainly a very important reason to

belong to such a wonderful club. Your thoughts, prayers and presence helped us through

a very difficult time in our lives. Thank you all so very much.

Keystoners: Watch your mail for an updated edition of the Club’s

2017 membership. This info will be mailed to club members only.

Please review and send changes/corrections to Rick Pitts.

Keystone Kourier May 2017 Page 4 of 5

A transition note from Peg & George

As you all should know by now, Jody and Sue Dietz are now the

owners of our Airstream, and are planning to attend the

Maintenance Rally. We are sad that we will no longer be able to

attend rallies with you all, but plan to be at the winter luncheons,

and any other functions we can get to.

We realize that the time comes for us all, when we can no longer

deal with getting the Airstream ready to go on the road, and for

the sake and safety of you all, we hand the reins over to Jody

and Sue.

Please be aware that all should go well from here on for

you all. Our first international rally in Bismarck, South Dakota, sent us a hail storm which caused

$12,000 worth of damage to the Airstream. The last one we attended, in Lewisburg, W.VA., we

were blessed with a flood. So you all should feel safe attending as many International rallies as

possible, since you should all be safe from harm at this point. Go to as many as you can, keep

those wheels rolling. Remember, the more nights you spend in the Airstream, the lower the cost

per night! We got ours down to about 25 cents a night. Not bad! Can't get a motel room with all

those amenities, for that price. Happy camping, friends.

A Story in

Stickers

When Jody and Sue Dietz

recently took ownership of

the Spahn’s 1990 Excella,

the Airstream came with a

story in stickers. Peg

Spahn shares the

memories of 30 years of

Airstreaming.

“Keep in mind, all this was

accomplished without the

use of a GPS - only the

original ones,

George and Peg Spahn”

Keystone Kourier May 2017 Page 5 of 5

Upper left: At the end of the Landmarks, South caravan in 1994, the end of the caravan

took in the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, NM in Aug/Sept., 1994. Same for the

round sticker with balloons. George sent me on a hot air balloon ride for my birthday at

the Fiesta. WOW.

Sticker with :I drove the marine highway: Our caravan to Alaska, with Cindy and Wilson

Yerk, and Clete and Bettie Landis, in 1998. Left the Int'l in Boise on July 5 and returned

home mid-August, stopping off at the State Rally in Centre Hall. One of the entertainers

gave us and Yerks a Tape of her music, since we had come the farthest to the rally! Of

course we didn't come from home, but Alaska!

The WBCCI R-231 was a rally starting in Tucson, AZ, I think in 1997, Jan/Feb Which took in Las

Vegas, Death Valley, Palm Springs and Indio, Cal. with Jim Franklin, who went on to be Int'l

Pres some years later.

The sticker with the miner, "Death Valley Scottie" was another caravan in Jan/Feb with Jim

Franklin which started in Vegas and took in the Roy Rogers museum in Victorville, CA, and

again Palm Springs and some other stops.

The Lighthouse caravan in 2004 circled around the lower Peninsula of Michigan, visited

about 31 lighthouses, some of which we climbed - sure could not do that today! Gotta do

these things when you are young enough. Some of those we dry camped at, which is

when you make use of the inverter for electric power.

The green triangle with the yellow dot is from the 1994 Caravan - Landmarks South. If you

went on the first leg, which led up to the int'l Rally in Brandon, Manitoba. This leg of the

Landmarks caravan was called Landmarks West, and some folks did both. If you did that

part also, you got another colored dot along with the yellow one. We did only the South

leg. We had left home on June 9 and worked our way to the Int'l with Jack and Jan

Carbutt who also were on the caravan with us. After the rally in Manitoba, we meandered

west taking in many sights, and attending the Potlatch rally in Land Yacht Harbor, Lacey,

WA. The caravan met up there and we left there on Aug. 22, at the start of the caravan.

The only reason I know all this is because I kept a journal whenever we traveled in the

trailer. Some times on a line or two, sometimes many paragraphs. It really helps, especially

when you get home and look at some of the pictures you took along the way. If your

camera has a date feature on it, you can match it up with the journal. Also you can refer

back to good and bad places to eat or stay at - also helpful.

Peg Spahn

P

Sign-up now for the joint Central Penn - Keystone Airstream campout at Shady Grove Campground in nearby Denver, PA - in the heart of Lancaster County (http://www.shadygrovecampground.com)

Shady Grove is located at 65 Poplar Drive, Denver, PA just off the Reading exit of the turnpike (#286). Exit and drive past Rte 222, turn right on Rte 272, turn left at Rte 897 light, then 2nd left onto Poplar Dr. Check-in time: 2:00pm (arrival after noon is okay, but site may not be available) Check-out time: 1:00pm Rate per night $55 (veterans - buy 1 night, get 1 night free this Armed Forces weekend) Good Sam discount of 10% is available (but not on buy 1, get 1). Cancellation policy is 48 hours and $10 processing fee. Credit card required to hold site (no charge until campout or cancellation/no show) Please have coupon information below and then call with credit card: Refer to May Airstream Rally for convenient site location Shady Grove Campground (attn.: Christine) (717) 484-4225

Joint Central Penn-Keystone Airstream Rally

Name: _____________________________________________ Address: __________________________________________ Email: __________________ __________________________________________ Phone: _________________ Check-in date: __________________ Check-out date: _______________________ RV Type (trailer, motorhome): _____________________ Unit length: ______________ Number of adults: Number of children:

Friday May 19 through Sunday May 21

Consider coming a day early!!!! Shady Grove is very close to Green Dragon Farmers Market (only open Fridays – and it’s best to go early!) (http://www.greendragonmarket.com)

After registering please email Rick so we can provide updates on activities r_pitts@verizon.net

Area attractions include:

. Antiques, antiques, antiques

. Stoudt’s antique mall, restaurant & brewery

. Shady Maple, Reading Outlets, Lititz and much, much more