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June 26, 2001 We slept in until 11:30 a.m.! My throat is still pretty sore. It’s been nearly a week and it’s still hanging around. It might be my allergies, but I’m taking Allegra so maybe it is a sore throat from a cold. It’s icky whatever it is! Today is the day of the Vintage parade. It’s always a fun event. This time we had a full police escort to stop traffic for us from the mall to the Sioux Falls fairgrounds where all the Airstreams are parked. Upon arriving, we paused long enough to put up our flags (an American flag, an Ohio flag, a Cleveland Unit 2nd Vice President’s flag, and a Vintage Club flag. Then the “man your vehicles!” call went out and the parade began. Other WBCCI members line the parade route through the fairgrounds to wave, smile, clap, and shout to show their admiration for these older rigs. To be ‘vintage”, trailers must be 25 years old or older. The oldest one in this parade is Dr. Holman’s 1935 Airstream that he built from plans he bought for $5.00. Everything works, it’s roadworthy, and still looks great. Dr. Holman, Sr., is in his 90’s now and has an aide that takes care of him. Dr. Holman, Jr., does the driving. This year they were at the head of the parade! The next oldest Airstream in our parade today is a 1948 Liner restored by Bud Cooper (from Michigan), founder of the Vintage Airstream Club. The next oldest is probably the Howarth’s 1953 21-foot Flying Cloud. There are other Airstreams from the 50’s here, I’m just not sure exactly what year each of them were made. Then there’s our 1960 26-foot Overlander and others from the 60’s, including but not limited to the Emerick’s 1968 30-foot Sovereign and Kevin Allen’s 1964 26-foot Overlander. There are also Airstreams in the parade from the 70’s up to those made in 1976. Each rig is a tribute to the history of Airstreams. After the parade, we lined up in our parking area. Parkers line you up and stop you when your hitch is over a particular marker that has been laid out well in advance of our arrival. It just so happens that there are two huge trees in our parking area and we are parked to one side of one of the trees. Our neighbor to our right is on the other side of the tree, so we do in fact have plenty of room for our awning ropes! Good deal! And we have good shade for the hottest part of the day, too! Fantastic! The Emerick’s are on the other side of us and Kevin is on the other side of them. Close fellowship! In fact, when the Emericks’s pulled out their awning and we put up our individual window covering awnings, they almost touch! That’s close! But that’s how they can most efficiently fit all these Airstreams on the fairgrounds. We all gathered for a much more pleasant happy hour under a much bigger tree (not the one next to us). However it’s still much too hot to think about cooking in the trailer, so the Emerick’s, Kevin Allen, and we went out to eat. The restaurant is called Culver’s. They serve Butter Burgers, which are great hamburgers served on buns that have been buttered and grilled. And for dessert we had what I think was the best chocolate ice cream I’ve ever had! Mmm…Mmm! What a great day to end the day. --Scott & Lise <>< S.L.SCHEUERMANN@WORLDNET.ATT.NET |