SUMMER...the one we waited for through all those chilly winter days..That time of the year for barbecues, parades, family gatherings and more..Here in the states we gathered for parties and camp outs. In England the queen was celebrating her Jubilee and in Wisconsin some vanners were planning a little party for a thousand or more of their closest friends....That group of vanners was known as the Dairyland Vanners and the chosen site was the beautiful Walworth County Fairgrounds in Elkhorn Wisconsin....The dates were July 11-15, 2012...Jeff thru a tune on the '88 and Lucy and I packed up and started out on the 1200 mile trip, taking a few days and a brief visit to Rt.66 in Wilmington Illinois.

While our trip was quite pleasant , a number of vanners experienced mechanical problems...Tom Chronister coming in from California with his stunning tandem Deathstar had some brake caliper problems as did Larry Floss in the Luv2Van Dodge out of NY state. A number of others related their tales of woe but still managed to get to the event...Don Noone started out to the grounds with his awesome Pirates of the Caravan but after a few miles or so was forced back to his home and returned with his other van..Many were disappointed not to get to see this magnificent creation.

Lucy and I were particularly excited because we were going to meet up with our son Sean and our Daughter-in-law Peggy who live in Muskogee OK and who just recently purchased a well-known New England show van "Fox Den" Since we live so far apart, we seldom get to spend much time together. This time we spent together was therefore wonderful....While the van does need some work it is still good enough to take a first in their class at the show.
They have been working on it together since they bought it and intend to have it fully restored soon.....At the event they got to meet many vanners ,shared stories, and picked up a series of flyers for events more in their area...

The Nationals are a great source for getting together face to face with many of our vanner friends- people we only see perhaps once a year. Or folks we just met like Erin Edmister and Captain Boogie with whom we spent some pleasant times discussing vans of the past and more . We were helped along by Erin's booth where he was selling a collection of old van magazines...We talked at some length with my old friend Doctor Yukon from Nebraska as we discussed airplanes and such...He is just now finishing up his own airplane he has been building....We visited with Frank Jackson and his wife- friends that again we have not seen very often... We spoke at length with some of the famous customizers of our time. Folks like Marty Soobie and his wife, Frank Costa- one of the giants in our time- and many others.The well known artist and customizer Greg "Coop" Cooper was present but I never got a chance to talk to him...He was pretty busy all weekend/.Scott Croft- world famous customizer was NOT there but is instead back home in Vermont building yet another stunning mid-Ford shorty.

There was so much going on it was impossible to see it..There were about 500 vans on the field. 80 vans entered the van show..110 vans entered the parade and local show in down-town Elkhorn. There were of course the usual line up of vendors like Joe and Bonnie Madonia and Al and Louise Koch...Lord model builder had a grand set up of old van parts for sale including a huge pile of portholes and I saw Peter Lee from England walking back to his camp with a stack of them bound for resale in the UK.

I could probably go on for a long time recounting the stories of this latest National event....Doc Sousa, patriarch of all things vanning in New England,once told me "We all attend the same event and we all see it differently"...He is so right ! So if you were there you may entirely different recollections of the event...So if you were- think back on how wonderful an event it was. If you were NOT there be advised that you missed one terrific national van event and you can only redeem yourself by coming out next year to the 41st Natz in Old Washington Ohio... And if you are one of those fabulous folks who put on such a memorable National Truck-In , take some well deserved time out , relax and know that you are all loved and honored for your efforts......TIETIS

What a great read! Was a pleasure to meet you and your wife Knighty.
Take care and we'll see you next year! Brad

Great write-up as usual Knighty

WoW KnIgHtY - You are so right!!! I think I saw you maybe one time over the week and Doc Sousa, maybe once over the week. Of course, we saw a lot of Joe and Bonnie and Gypsy and Lousie cuz they were on vendors row but we met a lot of new people, got to know some not so new people better and really, really enjoyed, enjoyed, enjoyed, our other friends that we do not see as often as we would like. It was nice to see our Australian friends, meet new and then there was all the others that I know had a great time too! It was a great time!! Lots of thanks to Dairyland for making this all happen and I loved the venue. Elkhorn had it going on! Jewels

Great write up Dad!! We had an AWESOME time at our first NATZ! Of course the highlight for us was visiting and hanging out with you and Mom - just made us miss you more but our time together was just priceless. We were certainly shocked to actually win in our class, we just wanted to meet and mingle with other vanners and hear stories about FOX DEN's younger days! We loved hearing all the stories and were especially excited to receive some old photos - that was SO cool! We met a lot of cool people and are planning on attending a lot more local truck-ins, not a whole lot close to us but we are going to make all that we can. We are planning on going to Summer Blast 2 at Montgomery, MO in August! And we are tenatively planning on going to the next LOST Memorial Day weekend - thats a long haul! Thanks to everyone that welcomed us in - Dairyland Vanners put on a great show!

Knighty and Lucy,
You're right, there was too many people and things to see and do; including not getting a chance to wander over to your side of the world. The old gout problem kept me from moving around as much as I would have liked. Despite personal physical problems, the event was a great time. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to see show-n-shine, I had a wedding to attend. Oh well, on to next year.
Raoul

yeah Raoul, those 'father of the groom' duties have a way in interrupting your whole schedule!

ummm show and shine started at 10:00, wedding was 1:13. hmmmm I know you were parked on the other end and was having trouble walking but.......

just kidding Rauol, glad you attended.