[VAC] WBCCI membership revisited

[Alexkensington@xxxxxxx]

More two cents worth on membership -

Before I was a carny I was a commercial photographer and an English major and 
worked on lots of national magazine layouts, and I must concur that the Blue 
Beret is for an audience that asks for very little indeed. It definitely 
comes from a pre-desktop sensibility. I have in desperation fantasized of 
sending in camera ready pages myself just to liven it up. But wondered who 
I'd be impressing? Anyway it is too easy to dismiss. 

What do I get out of the WBCCI?  Well,... I have been lucky that the outreach 
in my local unit (Region 5; 041) has been enthusiastic towards me a much 
younger person, and single to boot. The wives dote on me asking about my 
sweethearts, and the guys include me in their circle despite the age, and 
income differences. They really have taught me a lot. Not only about 
trailering, as most of these guys had rigs of my vintage once, way back when, 
but how to find satisfaction in a pleasant and simple life style by example. 
These folks are happy campers (at least in my group), and are cheery, despite 
fading health and agility, watching their contemporaries pass away, and    
shrinking memberships. Few people they have met have been so completely a 
gypsy as much as I, and I have been totally accepted into the clan, and I let 
them. I have heard that it doesn't always work this way. Maybe I am just 
lucky. 

The rally issue impacts me a great deal. The time constraints apply to me, 
and I am the only VAC person in my local group. I haven't even met but a few 
other VACers ever. So as an outdoor event professional, I have thought about 
organizing rendezvous opportunities and see who'd come. A trial run was made 
last spring and was pleased to learn about the event insurance coverage for 
WBCCI members and secured it. It was extremely easy to do given the 
parameters. 

But my biggest payoff was staying at a nonprofit park built for and by WBCCI 
members. One of the Land Yacht harbors. There the community was truly 
remarkable, and beneficial. I attempted to do a bit of polishing while there, 
and actual got little done as so many folks came up to ask questions about 
the year of the trailer, how I got it so shiny, could they do it too? And 
most gratifying was to hear how wonderful it was to see the old trailers 
being taken care of, and younger people taking an interest. Their simple joi 
d'vive was being acknowledged, and hope for the future seemed at hand. 

I think of the WBCCI in parallel terms with other fraternal organizations 
such as the BPOE, the eagles, the redmen, elks, and such. All are facing 
decline and seeming lack of relevancy in today's world of increasing 
isolation. But I am enjoying it. I come to it as a person who does a lot of 
living history as well, and I am seeing a glimpse into another simpler, 
quieter time through these people. 

VACers restore Airstreams to their inherent splendor. Some of us include all 
the original conveniences, and frustrations, and even short comings that 
contemporary trailers have solved. This is a different end goal than the old 
time WBCCI. Hence the disparities we feel. Car restorations folks probably 
don't run into this as much as trailers can be homes (much to Wally's ire), 
and the personal and emotional attachment much more profound.

I do lots of research in my line of work and once for giggles I went to the 
library to read the headlines of the summer my trailer was first used to get 
an idea of what that first family was vacationing from. The findings were 
bizarre! Try it yourself. 

The two foci of the WBCCI and VAC are as different as they are the same. I 
feel I have enjoyed the best of both. And even a poor carny can afford it. 
For things in hand the money is indeed rat holed. But the experiences are 
great. And speaking as someone who has made and lost two fortunes, 
experiences are the one thing you can't have taken away from you. 

Alex in Indiana
1966 Safari & Overlander
WBCCI # 8728