Region Nine Articles

November 2010

This will be our last article as Region Directors before we pass the torch on to our successors Dave & Joanne Killey.   For the past six years we have been privileged to represent all the members throughout the Region, and during that time we have met and made a lot of new friends both in Canada and the United States.   We have tried our best to represent our Region at the International level at both the Regional Directors conferences and at the NKK office.   We want to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers who have stepped up to the plate to help us keep the Region functioning both at the Provincial and the Chapter level, and also we would like to thank all the members for their support during this time.   When we were first appointed Region Directors we stated that we wanted to include all the members within the Region and listen to what they expected to gain from being members of the Newmar Kountry Klub. We sincerely hope that all of you have enjoyed the fun and fellowship that we have tried to promote.   This year we attended the Regional Directors conference held in Nappanee chaired by the outgoing International Directors Barney & Barbara Barnett.  Some of the topics covered were as follows:- The Konnection Magazine:  A detailed discussion was had, as to how we can keep it afloat and in print; we would like to thank all those Chapters that have agreed to pay the subscriptions for their members.   The NKK website: The website is not being used to its full potential, and Jim Hagedon the Member at Large gave us a statistical run down.  One very important thing that was mentioned to us was that the web copy of the Konnection magazine is derived from the printed hard copy, so we definitely need to keep the subscriptions coming in.   Also the calendar of events is more up to date on the web due to the fact that it can be posted as soon as they are submitted.   Membership: Barney & Barbara gave us the numbers from previous years and informed us that our membership has declined. Newmar Corporation has agreed to install a decal on the inside of all new units leaving the factory; informing new purchasers about the NKK.  For first time members only; Newmar pays for the first renewal of the membership and the Konnection magazine. There is a new membership application form which we have mailed out to the Provincial Directors. This in our opinion will be a great help in our efforts to increase the membership.   Newmar Corporation is managing to keep production going on a steady basis as the orders come in.  The sales team is out actively seeking new dealers.   At the Conference we discussed the plans for the 25th Anniversary rally, and each Director was given all the pertinent information for their assignment. The rally was held at the 4H Fairgrounds in Goshen, Indiana.  We set up the Kountry Klub store and John & Audrey Noblet came in early to help us with this task for which we are extremely grateful.  We also want to thank those members from other Regions who volunteered to help; everyone did a fantastic job A BIG THANK-YOU. The rally was a great success; we then headed back to Nappanee to unload the Klub trailer. After all the dust settled we departed from Nappanee and headed west to attend our first of 3 rallies in B.C.   The first rally was with the B.C. Dogwood Interior Chapter held in Osoyoos. A great job done by all especially Frank & Marilyn McKitrick and Joe & Inga Bridge who filled in as Hosts for Arnie & Carol Penno who were injured in a motor vehicle accident and we wish them both a speedy recovery.  Arnie & Carol we are thinking of you both in our prayers; God be with you.   The second rally was with the B.C. Provincial/Dogwood Lower Mainland Chapter held in Aldergrove, B.C., again another great rally hosted by Dave & Joanne Killey outgoing Presidents.  This was the first time that they had hosted a rally, and they had some great help from Gary & Janice Johnstone.  Thank you for everything! You all did a great job.   Also in attendance was the new B.C. Provincial Directors Bill & Gerri Kruper.   Our third and last rally on Vancouver Island was the Region9/B.C. Dogwood Islanders Chapter.  Although we were supposed to be the joint hosts; kudos must go to Gary & Mary-Ann Tennent, Ian & Lynn Vantreight and Bob & Sandy Smith for organizing the rally in our absence, at the rally we had several guests and they all pitched in to help.  This gave us the opportunity to show everyone what the Newmar Kountry Klub is all about.  We also managed to recruit Kurt & Jonna Ottesen to the Newmar family; Welcome to all the Fun & Fellowship in the NKK.   We would like to thank all the Newmar Dealers both past and present within Region 9, their support to the Region/Provincial and Chapter rallies have been second to none during our term.  #1 RV in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan was very supportive and it was a great loss when they sold their business and closed. Bucar’s RV in Balzac, Alberta came on side right from the beginning. Tee Pee Trade & RV Centre in Camrose, Alberta, are new to the family and unfortunately we did not find time to visit them. Midtown RV Penticton, B.C. Well what can we say about George and his team except a big thank-you on behalf of us, and all the members. Traveland RV Supercentre, Langley, B.C. Dale & his partner Gordon have been extremely supportive, thank you both for everything you have done for the Klub.   As we wind down our duties and pass the torch on we have enjoyed ourselves during the last six years.  We would again like to thank you all for your support especially all the volunteers, Chapter Officers and Provincial Directors.   Last but not least Barney & Barbara Barnett for their great leadership and Vicky & Linda who have worked tirelessly to keep everything on track.   On a very sad note; in closing we would like you to keep Elaine Iles and her family in your prayers as her husband Stan just recently passed away.  Stan was the Past Provincial Director in Saskatchewan and a very enthusiastic team player who will be greatly missed as a friend and a Newmar Klub member.   Although we have several family commitments to attend to in the up coming months, we will be back to join all our friends that we have made over the last few years in the Newmar Kountry Klub.   Safe travels to everyone till we meet again some place, don’t know where don’t know when? God Bless. Dave & Gwen

July 2010

The rally and social activities in the Region are now well underway with more rallies scheduled as the season progresses.   The joint Alberta Provincial/Alberta Wild Rose Chapter was the first out of the block having held their rally and chapter AGM in Castor, Alberta. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the new executive for volunteering their time to help keep the Newmar Kountry Klub running smoothly within the Region. We would also like to thank the dealers who helped to support this event. In the early part of June we had the Provincial Saskatchewan/Prairie Lily rally in Craven, Saskatchewan.   Traveland Supercentre in Langley, B.C. sponsored a wonderful luncheon at their facility for the B.C. Dogwood Lower Mainland Chapter; once again it underlines what great dealers we have in Region 9.   We will be making our way eastward to attend the Region Directors Conference in Nappanee, and then on to the big event the 25th International rally to be held in Goshen.   We would like to thank John & Audrey Noblet for volunteering to be our Team Leaders, to help us set up the NKK merchandise store.  Would members who are attending the rally let us know so that we can arrange a Canadian gathering along with Region 8.   On our return from Indianna we hope to take in some of the Chapter rallies, and also personally thank the Newmar Dealers for their support.   We can be reached at home: 250 245 8071 dgharris@telus.net or Cell: 250 619 6737   In the meantime we wish you all safe travels. God’s speed, and have FUN.

June 2010

Here we are half way through 2010; finally the weather is starting to improve day by day.   We would like to take this opportunity to welcome Tee Pee Trade & RV Centre Ltd., located in Camrose, Alberta to the Newmar family.  They are now the new Dealer for the Newmar towable product line.   The rally season is now under way in the Region with the joint Alberta Provincial/Alberta Wild Rose Klub rally held in Castor now in the history books.   Now that all the members are back from their winter sojourn we have been busy with Klub business.   We will be leaving the Island later this month to attend the Region Directors Conference being held in Nappanee prior to the 25th International rally in Goshen August 16 - 21st.   If you have any ideas concerning the Klub you would like to have brought up at the Region Director’s Conference please contact your Provincial Director or us so that we can have it put on the Agenda for discussion. We can be contacted by email at dgharris@telus.net  home phone: 250 245 8071.   We would like to hear from anyone who is planning to attend the International rally so that we can co-ordinate a Canadian get together with Region 8.   We would like to wish all father’s a Happy father’s day, and hope you receive something to add to your existing toy box.  To everyone celebrating a special event we send our best wishes, and to those recovering from sickness or surgery we wish you a speedy recovery.   Safe travels to everyone and we look forward to meeting up with you as you proceed along life’s highway; Try to avoid the bumps and pot holes.

April 2010

Things have been extremely quiet in the Region over the winter months with a large majority of our members spending the time in the warmer southern climates.   We at home on the North Pacific west coast have endured warmer than normal temperatures, but have experienced a considerable amount of rain which certainly underlines the term Wet Coast which is what it is often referred to.  However the daffodils appeared early along with other bulb plant species, and the grass remained as green as ever.   We have kept in contact with some of our members by e-mail, and are looking forward to meeting up with everyone when they return home to the Region.   We have a busy year ahead of us, and we plan on leaving our Island base at the end of June to head eastward for the Region Directors Conference, and to attend the 25th Anniversary International rally being held in Goshen Indiana August 16th – 21st.   We hope that the members within the Region will be able to attend the 25th as it will be a very special one to mark the longevity of the Newmar Kountry Klub.   As stated in our previous article we will be stepping down as Region Directors at the end of this year, but we understand that we will not be alone as some of your Provincial Directors and Chapter Officers are also considering the same.  We want to encourage all of you to consider applying for one of these positions should they become available in order to keep this great Klub functioning smoothly.  We rely on the valuable input from all members, from the Chapter level up, because this is your Klub.  Please give this matter some serious thought; the great rewards are seeing members enjoy themselves and the lasting friendships made at Newmar Kountry Klub events.   We would like to wish everyone a very Happy Easter. We wish you all good health and happiness, and to those recovering from illness or surgery we wish you a speedy recovery.   Safe travels to you all. We can be reached at 250 245 8071 or e-mail dgharris@telus.net- note new e-mail address

February 2010

We want to start out wishing you all a Happy New Year!! 2010 Already?  It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were all wondering what was going to happen when we entered the new millennium! Remember Y2K and the speculation the computers were going to crash, and everything that relied on them was destined to fail.  Well here we are now 10 years later and everything electronic managed to make it, however we humans have managed to cause a few glitches along the way, but we have all appeared to have weathered most of the bumps.   We would like to apologize to Claire & Dianne Liefso who were the Co Hosts of the Alberta Prairie Dogs rally in Elkwater, an error was made in our December article.   We lost two wonderful members in 2009, Floyd Johnstone, who passed away Oct. 7th 2009 and Joe Zielke who passed away Dec. 26th our thoughts and prayers go out to Dorothy Johnstone, & Beverly Zielke & their families.   Before we know it the rally season will be upon us.   The joint Alberta Provincial/Alberta Wild Rose Klub rally will be held in Castor, Alberta, May 27-30th.   Castor will be celebrating their Centennial year with lots of fun and activities.  Also the Sask. Provincial Directors will be combining their rally with the Saskatchewan Prairie Lily Klub who are planning a special rally to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Chapter, knowing Cliff & May it will be a good one, put this date in your calendar June 10 - 13th at the Craven World Campground, Craven, north of Regina. Then we have the 25th Anniversary International rally in Goshen, Indiana August 16 – 21st, 14th & 15th being the early parking days, if you are planning to attend and wish to volunteer in the store please let us know. Come September the B.C. Dogwood Interior Klub will be holding their rally Sept. 7 - 10th at NK’Mip Campground in Osoyoos. The Alberta Prairie Dogs rally will be Sept. 9 – 12th the location to be confirmed at a later date.  The B.C. Provincial/Dogwood Lower Mainland Klub rally will be Sept. 10 – 13th again the location to be confirmed at a later date.  The last one in our Region will be the Region 9/B.C. Dogwood Islanders rally Sept. 16 – 19th at Vantreight’s Farm in Saanichton.  Let us get out and support these rallies and show your appreciation to the executives and volunteers for all their hard work. We would like to thank all the volunteers who are helping to keep this great Klub functioning during these difficult times.   Don’t forget to send your Love to someone special on Valentines Day. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to everyone who has Irish connections. Get well wishes to those of you recovering from surgery or illness.   This will be our last year as Region 9 Directors, as next year we are planning to go to Europe to visit family & friends in England, Ireland & France.  We look forward to meeting up with you all at the various rallies across the Region. We can be reached at home by e-mail: davegwenharris@yahoo.ca or phone: 250-245-8071. Safe travels.

October 2009

We arrived in Craigmyle, Alberta and met up with Lyle & Marg Dowling to set up for our joint Region 9/Alberta Provincial rally.  Some of the other members namely Dave & Evelyn Walker, Doug & Helen Taber, Dale & Suzanne Sands were already there, and offered to help with the pre-rally preparations.  We were very surprised to hear that Dave Walker was recovering from heart surgery and therefore had recruited Doug Taber as his deputy fire master a task which he carried out; enduring some fun criticism from Dave Walker and others at the rally. We had a total of 18 coaches with one guest coach and one couple from West Vancouver Keith & Sally Gray who we welcomed as first time attendees. A good time was had by all and it was fortunate that Lyle & Marg had found this location where we had the use of a hall which served our purpose admirably.  We would personally like to thank everyone who helped and participated in what we called a recession rally.  We would like to thank Ed Schmidt & Suzanne Sands for the musical entertainment.  We had to endure some rain during the rally, but we all managed to survive.  We stayed over one more day and the weather turned really nasty, and although we managed to catch up on some paperwork we didn’t leave our rig all day as the wind and rain buffeted the coach.  However, the next day the sun came out and we continued on our journey east to Moose Jaw where we visited the Newmar dealer #1 RV we met up with Dale Nestor the principal.  On our way east we called in and visited with Stan & Elaine Iles in Regina before traveling to Winnipeg to visit Ken Langevin the Newmar dealer at Walt’s trailer Sales.  We then headed south down through north & south Dakota into Iowa.  Whilst we were traveling east on I-80 looking for a possible night stop we took the exit at Newton to head for camp Walmart, and as we drove along we passed a sign on the side of the road indicating a Newmar rally, after we had parked we drove back in our car to where the Iowa State rally was taking place and we surprised them all as we walked in as they were finishing up their pot luck supper.  We stayed and talked to the folks and in attendance were Jim & Wilma Weeks the Region Directors for that area, so we chatted till late in the evening.  The next day we arrived in Nappanee late in the evening after encountering several traffic detours.  The next morning we visited the Klub Office to talk with Barney & Barbara, Vicky and Linda.  We made our way to the Miller campsite and prepared for the Region Directors Conference which was chaired by Barney & Barbara Barnett the International Directors.  It was great to see all the Directors again especially Ken Jenkins who recently had heart surgery a few weeks prior. The agenda included a number of items affecting the Newmar Kountry Klub and we can only highlight some of them in this article. Some of the items discussed not in any order of priority were as follows: Membership numbers are down Soliciting new members Recruiting & rewarding volunteers at all levels Low usage of the Klub website Konnection magazine subscriptions not enough and how to keep it in print Newmar Corporation sponsorship for the Klub Adopt a dealer program Newmar Corporation plans to stay in business and survive this economic downturn.  The Newmar Kountry Klub board members were present to answer questions.  The Region Directors had a separate meeting with Matt Miller regarding the Klub and he assured everyone that the Miller family was committed to the Kountry Klub.   After the conference was over we loaded the Klub trailer prior to setting out for Goshen.  Our responsibility this year was the Klub merchandise store, and we would like to thank those volunteers from other Regions who helped us with this task, especially Jim & Annabel Repp (14869) from Georgia who worked with us for the first two days all the time that the store was open without even taking a break.  We cannot thank them enough for their dedication, and we both enjoyed their friendship, Thanks again Jim & Annabel. We had approximately 430 rigs in attendance, and at opening ceremonies we recruited members from Region 7 & 8 to carry the Provincial/Territories flags, and Presidents Bob & Bonnie Schruise (5182) from the full timers Chapter carried the American & Canadian flag, Bonnie was born in Canada, we would like to thank you all for helping us out as we were the only members from Region 9 at the rally.    At the conclusion of the rally we packed everything up and loaded the trailer and headed back to Nappanee where the trailer was again unloaded. We stayed on at the Service Department and got a few things attended to prior to us heading west. We will elaborate in our next article what our itinerary contained as we made our way back home to Vancouver Island.   Until then we wish you all safe travels and happy memories of renewing old friendships and making new ones for that is why we all belong to this great Klub. You can reach us at davegwenharris@yahoo.ca or 250 245 8071

August 2009

We departed from our home on Vancouver Island en route to the Region Directors conference being held in Nappanee prior to the 24th International rally in Goshen Indiana. As the ferry from the Island was late we made our first stop at the Husky car/truck stop in Chilliwack where we stayed the night.  The next morning we set out for Penticton to meet with George Stayberg and his staff at Midtown RV; when we arrived we found out that George was on his way back from the factory after picking up four 2010 units.  We arranged to stay at Midtown RV for the night and we met up with George later that evening when he and the units arrived at the dealership.  We left early next morning and made our way to Cochrane, Alberta, where we stayed at SpringHill RV Park.  The next day we went to visit Bucars RV the newly appointed Newmar Dealer for the Province of Alberta.  We had a very good meeting with Jeff Redmond the General Manager and were given a tour of their facility by Doug Belanger who was familiar with Newmar, and looking forward to being able to offer the Newmar product line.  We also had a good conversation with Dave Westhaver the Sales Manager about the Newmar Kountry Klub and he invited us to come back and talk about the Klub to all their sales staff at some future date when they start to receive their initial units for their Open House launch of the Newmar Product Line in September of this year. We invited Jeff Redmond and his Sales Manager to attend our rally at Craigmyle, Alberta and to come out and meet some of the Klub members.  We also offered our help on behalf of the two Chapters namely the Alberta Wild Rose Klub, and the Alberta Prairie Dogs that when they have their open house some of the members would be on hand to not only promote the Newmar Product line, but also to talk about the benefits of belonging to the Newmar Kountry Klub. We left the dealership with a great feeling that Bucars RV will be a great addition to the Newmar family, and we look forward to them being able to be of service to all the Newmar owners not only within the Province of Alberta but to all who are visiting in their area to every ones mutual benefit. We will have more to report on after our Region9/Alberta Provincial rally and our visits with other dealers in our Region. We can be reached at 250 619 6737 Safe travels to you all.