Heartland Highlights

35
Heartland Highlights 2012 Q-3 Page 1 News & Information Volume II Number III 2012 3rd Quarter

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New and Information for Heartland Owners Club Members

Transcript of Heartland Highlights

Page 1: Heartland Highlights

Heartland Highlights 2012 Q-3 Page 1 News & Information

Volume II

Number III

2012

3rd Quarter

Page 2: Heartland Highlights

Heartland Highlights 2012 Q-3 Page 2

IN THIS ISSUE

From The Desk Of…. 15 Jim Beletti, Club President

Club Manager’s Corner 16 Julie Hancock

Quarterly Safety Tip - Tires 26 David Gray, Safety Reporter

Forum Statistics 6

North American Rally Wrap Up 35 Gillette, Wyoming

Southeast Region News Report 4 Dave Yocum, Director

Northeast Region News Report 8 John & Debbie Bylinski, Directors

Canadian Region News Report 10 Wayne & Gayle Wilson, Directors

Central Region Report 12 Jay Coffman, Director

Rally Pot Luck Recipe 18 Ann Walker, Recipe Reporter

Heartland Gives Back Initiatives 24 Initiatives Scheduled for 2012

Heartland Ambassadors 29

Ask The Moderators 21 What was your most embarrassing moderator moment?

On The Cover - Driftwood Art

Holiday Trav-L Park, Virginia Beach

Heartland Highlights published quarterly for members of the

Heartland Owners Club

All Heartland RV logos and graphics are

used with the expressed permission of

Heartland RV’s LLC

Duplication and printing for

personal use only and not for distribution.

All content submissions shall be sent to the

editorial staff at the following address

[email protected]

Editor

Deborah Bylinski [email protected]

President

Jim Beletti [email protected]

Content Submission Deadlines

Any comments or suggestions related to

this publication shall be addressed to

[email protected]

Heartland Highlights is a Heartland

Owners Club membership benefit and as

such is distributed only to Active Members

Q-1 January 1st

Q-2 April 1st

Q-3 July 1st

Q-4 October 1st

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Region Rally - Pacific Region 8/10 - 8/12

7 Feathers RV Resort, Canyonville, Oregon

877-839-3599

Region Rally - Northeast Region 9/28 - 9/30 Copake KOA, Copake, New York

518-329-2811

Multi-Chapter Rally

North Carolina & South Carolina 10/12 - 10/14

Creekwood Farm RV Park, Waynesville, North Carolina

800-862-8110 or 828-926-7977

Chapter Rally - Vermont 8/2 - 8/5

Pine Hollow Campground, Pownal, Vermont

802-823-5569

Chapter Rally - Wisconsin 8/16 - 8/19

Country Roads RV Park, Lake Delton, Wisconsin

608-253-2132

Chapter Rally - Michigan 8/23 - 8/26

Hidden Ridge, Hopkins, Michigan

877-787-8297

Chapter Rally - Maryland 8/24 - 8/26

Castaway’s RV Resort, Berlin, Maryland

410-213-0097

Chapter Rally - Ontario 9/7 - 9/9

Rideau Acres Campground, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

613-546-2711

Dealer Rally - Campfest 2012 - Wisconsin 9/7 - 9/9

Wagner’s RV Sales, Manitowoc, Wisconsin

920-434-2380

Chapter Rally - Alberta 9/7 - 9/9

Aspen Crossing, Mossleigh, Alberta, Canada

866-440-3500

Chapter Rally - Illinois 9/13 - 9/16

Lena KOA, Lena, Illinois

800-562-5361

Chapter Rally - Minnesota 9/21 - 9/23

Riverview Campground, Owatonna, Minnesota

507-451-8050

Chapter Rally - Missouri 9/21 - 9/23

Mark Twain Cave & Campground, Hannibal, MO

800-527-0304

Chapter Rally - Central California 9/21 - 9/24

Jackson Rancheria RV Park, Jackson, California

Send Forum PM to TessaM for information

Chapter Rally - Delaware 10/5 - 10/7

Yogi Bear’s Delaware Beaches Resort, Lincoln, DE

302-491-6614

Chapter Rally - South Texas 10/5—10/7

Alamo Fiesta Resort, Boerne, Texas

800-321-2267

Chapter Rally - North Texas 10/12 - 10/14 Mill Creek Ranch Resort, Canton, Texas

866-599-7275

Chapter Rally - Mississippi 10/18 - 10/21 Paul B. Johnson State Park, Hattiesburg, Mississippi

601-582-7721

Chapter Rally - Michigan 10/4 - 10/7 Wild Cherry Resort, Lake Leelanau, Michigan

231-271-5550

Camp Out - Oregon 10/12 - 10/14 Casey's RV Park, Westfir, Oregon

541-782-1906

Chapter Rally - New Jersey 10/19 - 10/21

Seashore Campsites, Cape May, New Jersey

609-884-4010

Chapter Rally - Nevada 10/19 - 10/21

Oasis RV Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada

702-449-0692

Chapter Rally - Southern California 10/26 - 10/28 Riverside County, Lake Skinner, Temecula, CA

877-786-0722

Chapter Rally - Oklahoma 11/8—11/10

WinStar RV Resort, Thackerville, Oklahoma

580-276-8900

Camp Out - Florida 11/2 - 11/5 Dry Camping

Daytona Int. Speedway Good Sam’s National Rally

877-749-7122

Camp Out - South Carolina 11/17 - 11/24

Hosted by the NE Region

Willow Tree Resort, Longs, South Carolina

866-207-2267

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Southeastern Regional Rally - Pine Mountain,

Georgia, This was the Regional Rally for the South-

east. Pine Mountain area had a great many things

for the attendees to do and see. The campground

folks were very easy to work with and helped us

with all the aspects of the rally. We had great food

and entertainment at the Activities Center with mu-

sic and dancing into the night.

Virginia Rally - Virginia Beach ,VA - Held at the

Holiday Travel Park Chapter Leaders Gus and

Debra Funderburg hosted and they had a potluck

dinner with games and prizes for everyone. This

was one of the best attended rallies with 40 rigs

from all over the country.

Tennessee Rally – Held in Southaven, Mississippi,

Nathan and Byrd hosted a nice rally in a

campground that was close to everything, with pot-

luck dinners and a tour of the hot spots in nearby

Memphis, TN. I was told that they did not find

Elvis during the tour.

Hilton Head, South Carolina – The South Carolina/

North Carolina multi state rally was hosted by Chap-

ter Leaders Larry Bandstra and Terry Deal with Dale

Heuer acting as Wagon Master. There were 22

Heartland rigs in a beautiful South Carolina setting.

Good rally guys.

Alabama/Mississippi Rally - Gulf Shores –The Ala-

bama/Mississippi Rally was held at Gulf Shores Ala-

bama, hosted by Chapter Leader Hogan & Donna

Cooper. The Alabama state park was without a doubt

one of the finest that we have camped in. The sites

are large, full hookups and free wifi that was really

great. Nice job, Hogan and Donna putting on this

rally.

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Heartland North America Rally – Gillette, Wyo-

ming. This was the big event for the year. Heartland

and Jim Beletti put on a great rally as they always

do. Heartland sent the fixit specialists and a trailer

filled with parts to repair any problems that the at-

tendees might have. The service crew did a fantastic

job in less than perfect conditions, with the wind

and dust everywhere. The food was great and the

entertainment was the best. Coley Brady made a

special trip to attend and tell us about the future at

Heartland as well as the announcement of a new

Landmark to be built in the fall of 2012. The semi-

nars were very informative and there was even an

exercise class for the ladies.

Upcoming events in 2012:

October 12-14

North Carolina/ South Carolina Joint Rally

Waynesville, NC

October 18-21

Alabama /Mississippi Rally

Hattiesburg, MS

November 2-6

Heartland Campout

Daytona Beach, FL

Update on the status of membership in the

Southeastern Region:

198 members, 11 new members joined this quarter.

That is a 20% increase!!!

Until the next time,

Dave Yocum, S.E. Regional Director

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As many of you know the Forum has

been going through some upgrades and

related growing pains.

We appreciate your comments and

patience during the recent outages and

slow downs.

We assure you we are working to im-

prove the site and continue our long

history of providing one of the best RV

Community Forums on the net.

Jim Beletti & Michael Kidd

CANADA

Alberta 13

British Columbia 14

New Brunswick 4

Ontario 33

Quebec 6

Saskatchewan 3

US - CENTRAL

Arkansas 13

Illinois 37

Michigan 70

Minnesota 12

Missouri 35

Ohio 32

Oklahoma 14

Texas North 5

Texas South 107

Wisconsin 50

US - NORTHEAST

Delaware 5

Maryland 26

New Jersey 23

New York 54

Pennsylvania 36

US - PACIFIC

Central California 24

Northern California 26

Southern California 32

Nevada 18

Oregon 29

Washington 22

US - MOUNTAIN

Colorado 33

Wyoming 10

US - SOUTHEAST

Florida 46

Georgia 26

Mississippi/Alabama 17

North Carolina 28

South Carolina 14

Tennessee 19

Virginia 48

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Where is the Summer going? Seems just yester-

day we were hoping for Winter to be over and

now we’re mid-way through Summer. We

hope everyone has been out there camping and

enjoying themselves.

We have some exciting news to report as Judy

and Calvin Hicks have graciously accepted po-

sitions as Maryland Wagonmasters for the rally

at Castaway’s. Michael and I are excited to

have their enthusiasm, ideas, and assistance.

You Can Visit

Ocean City Beaches

and Boardwalk

————

Assateague Island

“Home of the

Wild Ponies”

————

FREE SHUTTLE

BUS

What a wonderful addition to the Maryland Chap-

ter.

Calvin and Judy jumped right in with both feet

and scheduled a campout at Tall Pines Harbor in

Temperanceville, VA. The event included a “Wet-

n-Wild” weekend and those attending have not

stopped talking about this event.

Plans are in the final stages for our rally August

24 – 26, at the Castaways Waterfront

Campground. Wow, we have 42 rigs signed up to

attend! The Campground allotted us 30 sites and

somehow was able to come up with 12 additional

sites to accommodate everyone. We are happy to

announce that thanks to a very generous donation

from Leo’s Vacation Center, we will be able to

provide two meat selections for our Pot Luck din-

ner.

We ask that you please remember our charity —

the Worcester County G.O.L.D. (Giving Other

Lives Dignity), Inc. whose goal is to improve the

quality of life of local citizens. It is a nonprofit

organization providing financial aid to children in

foster care, vulnerable adults, and families in cri-

sis. Being our rally is in August right before

school begins they suggested donations of school

supplies or gift cards for WalMart or Food Lion.

Michael and I, along with Deb and John Bylinski,

will be attending the Fall RV show at Timonium,

MD, Saturday, September 15th. We will be set up

with Leo’s Vacation Center so if you can please

come out and join us to say hello and help spread

the word about the benefits and the good works of

the Heartland Owners Club.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone

at the Castaways—“Down the ocean hun”. Until

then, happy camping and safe travels to everyone!

Rally on…

Ann & Michael

Maryland Chapter Leaders

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June begins with

21 rigs signed up

for the Pennsyl-

vania Chapter

Rally in Bedford,

PA. We had a

great time and

many visited the

Flight 93 Memo-

rial on Saturday. Thanks to Nona and Dave Gruner

and congratulations on a successful 1st rally as PA

Chapter Leaders.

The following weekend we head up to Lake

George, to the NY rally hosted by Beth and Greg

Dean. 32 rigs signed up for a great weekend includ-

ing an “Island

Cruise” on the

Mohecan. Con-

gratulations to

New York on

another great

rally!

John and I made a second trip to Gettysburg for

contract signing with Drummer Boy Resort. Thanks

again to Bill & Jerry Stewart for their hospitality.

While there we obtained a great deal of information

that will help us with planning over this winter.

Back in New Jersey we set our sites on Sea Pirate

Campground and a

week long campout

with 5 rigs attending.

Activity included the

pool, ice cream,

beach, ice cream,

shopping and ice

cream! It was a great

week of 100 degree

temperatures spent with friends.

July 20th we moved south to

Tall Pines Harbor in Temper-

anceville, VA to a campout

hosted by Calvin and Judy

Hicks. Judy enrolled us in

the raft regatta and the SS

Bighorn finished 3rd.

Thanks to Judy & Calvin for organizing this event.

It has been a busy early season for the Northeast.

The end of April we were

off to Delaware for a camp-

out hosted by Cheryl & Jim

Horst. There were 7 rigs

and lots of fun at Killens

Pond State Park. During the

event Cheryl arranged for

a passing of the flags cere-

mony for our new Dela-

ware Chapter and Penn-

sylvania Chapter leaders.

May started out with a very successful trip to Gettys-

burg, Pennsylvania on a campground search for our

2013 Northeast Region Rally. We want to thank Ma

& Pa Stewart (PA members) for their gracious hospi-

tality during our visit.

In mid-May a group a 14 Northeast rigs arrived in

Virginia Beach for the Vir-

ginia Spring Rally. We had

a great time in a beautiful

campground and we want

thank our friends in Vir-

ginia for their Southern

hospitality.

Memorial Day Weekend was a trip to up to Copake,

NY visiting area attractions and getting to know the

local area in preparation for

the 1st Northeast Region

Rally. We were met by our

New York Chapter leaders,

Greg and Beth Dean and we

had a great time while firm-

ing up our September plans.

Deb & John Bylinski, Directors

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The first weekend in August will be a Rally in

Pownal, Vermont at Pine Hollow Campground.

This will be the first Heartland Rally held in Ver-

mont and we are all excited with this effort. Con-

gratulations to Carol & Fran Ouellette for stepping

up as wagonmasters for this event and providing

assistance to Beth and Greg Dean. There are cur-

rently 8 rigs signed up to attend.

The Maryland Rally will be held at Castaways Re-

sort in Berlin, Maryland on August 24-26. This

event is also a sell out! Mike and Ann Walker have

a great reputation for being “crabby” and we expect

another good time in “Crab Country”!

Labor Day weekend will be spent in Copake, NY

with all the final details of the Region Rally being

taken care of during our visit. There are sites availa-

ble so if anyone would like to join us you are wel-

come to call the Copake KOA and make a reserva-

tion. Everyone is welcome!

The Delaware Rally will be held at Yogi Bear’s

Delaware Beaches in Lincoln on October 5th-7th

and we look forward to the first Delaware Rally.

The NJ Rally will be held October 17th in Cape

May and they are one site away from a sell out!

Tom & Mary can be very proud of their efforts thus

far.

September Show Schedule:

We will have a Heartland presence at the following

Northeast Region RV Shows.

September 13-16 - Hershey, PA Show

September 15 - Timonium, MD Show

September 22 - NJ Dealers Showcase, at Great Ad-

venture in Jackson, NJ.

To work the club table at the Hershey PA Show

please contact Dave & Nona via email to

[email protected] To work the club table at the Timonium, MD Show

contact Mike & Ann Walker at

[email protected]. To work the club table at the NJ Dealers Showcase

please contact Deb & John Bylinski at

[email protected].

As this issue goes to print, we have reached the

deadline for our sites to be held. We have 31 reser-

vations at this time and our other 19 sites have been

turned back to Copake KOA. You may still register

for the rally if sites are available, but you may not be

guaranteed a site with the group. Cathy will attempt

to put late registrations as close as possible.

Many items and documents will be posted on the

forum and emailed to rally attendees within the com-

ing weeks. Please stay tuned for all the information

you will need to plan your trip and make the most of

this beautiful area of our region.

If you have any questions or concerns please send us

an email to [email protected] and

we will be glad to help you out.

Our shirt order goes in August 15th so if you haven’t

given us your sizes please email them to us prior to

the 15th.

WE’LL SEE EVERYONE IN NEW YORK!

Copake is located in the foothills of the beauti-Copake is located in the foothills of the beauti-

ful Berkshire Mountains bordering New York, ful Berkshire Mountains bordering New York,

Massachusetts and Connecticut. The entire Massachusetts and Connecticut. The entire

area is rich in history with 100’s of attractions area is rich in history with 100’s of attractions

within a 45 minute drive from camp.within a 45 minute drive from camp.

Pot Luck

Dinners

Men’s Sewer

Hose Toss Competition

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CANADIAN REGION We hope everyone is having a good start to the summer season. We were disappointed that we were not able to attend Gillette this year. Many other com-mitments like a daughter getting married the first week in July threw a wrench into things. I spoke recently with Bob Fournelle from On-tario and he tells me there are a few Ontario members making the trip, and I am sure they had a good time and a wonderful trip. (More further along.) The Canadian region has some news, in that due to personal reasons, our Ontario Chap-ter Leader has had to resign his position. So we are actively searching for a replacement for Rick and Joanne. They have jumped right in and have had things going well. They will still be handling the annual rally at Rideau Acres RV in Kingston the weekend after labour day, Sept 7 to Sept 9/12. We hope to meet many new members as well as meet old friends at the rally. Our Chapter Leaders in Quebec, Robert Letourneau and Louise Nadon are planning a group get together between Aug 3 and Aug 10/12 to plan future activities and rallies.This is their first get together since forming the chapter and are looking forward to meeting people All Heartland Owners are welcome regardless of their location. Hopefully most members from Quebec will be able to make it, as well as anyone from neighboring prov-inces including members from surrounding states. The event is being held south of Mon-treal at Domaine Madalie in St Charles sur Richelieu. www.domaine-madalie.com

We hope they receive lots of support from eve-ryone. Unfortunately we are committed else-where at that time. Don and Jania Ewert our Saskatchewan Chap-ter Leaders are working hard to start the SK chapter and have contacted all members and forum users and are unable to spark interest from anyone. It anyone has any friends in Saskatchewan please give words of encour-agement to your friends. Laurent Caissie and Barbara Robins our New Brunswick Chapter Leaders are working to have their first get together and to date have made no announcements. There are a few members in the New Brunswick region so hopefully they will have participation and will move forward Our Chapter Leaders in British Columbia Rand and Beverly Lutman have held past rallies and are hoping to have another successful one this year. Doug and Lynne Ollis our Chapter Leaders in Alberta are also busy. They have attended the National rally in Gillette with three other rigs. Doug and Lynne are planning their rally for September 7/12 once again in Mossleigh. Hoping they will receive goods support from their members as well as any Heartland own-ers in neighboring provinces or US states. One of our members sent a recap of the Na-tional rally in Gillette, WY. I thought it would be interesting for those who were unable to attend to see it in print. Here is what Bob and Chris-tine Fournelle from Ottawa, ON said about the rally: “We’ve compiled the following for your information: Another successful North American Heartland owners rally! This year’s rally in Gillette, Wyo-ming was held at the Cam-Plex facility. The place is huge! Each rig had 2 sites with full facilities and this allowed you to pull-thru which was a bonus. There were 133 rigs in attendance, the majori-ty from the western states with Texas as usual

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Owners Club Apparel Owners Club Apparel Owners Club Apparel

Wear it proudly!Wear it proudly!Wear it proudly!

The online store for

Heartland branded apparel and gear

is managed by Martin Marketing.

Visit the store online at

http://www.companycasuals.com/hoc

Or call

888-729-0198

being well represented. The Canadian rigs were situated in section F, high on the hill over-looking the Boxelder camping area. There were 4 units from Alberta (including Chapter Leaders Doug & Lynn Ollis), 4 from Ontario, and 1 from Saskatchewan (Chapter Leaders Don & Janina Ewart). An early arrivals dinner was held on Tuesday at the Chophouse Restaurant in Gillette which was attended by 54 individuals. The Chophouse al-so served as caterers for the event. The weather was great with the exception of wind! Many of us did not sleep Sunday evening and a number of units pulled in their slides. Ap-parently “wind” is common in Wyoming and can be quite intense at times. We even saw a few tumbleweeds!

A service crew was in attendance having trav-elled from Goshen, Indiana. They were fantas-tic! Service work was performed Monday until noon on Thursday when they headed home via a chartered bus. A 22 hour trip we were told. On Thursday, the rally officially began. There were a number of Heartland RV models to tour along with the vendor marketplace. A potluck dinner was held that evening and as usual was a big success! On Friday evening, door prizes were presented following dinner. The entertainment for the evening was Kenny Miller who performed songs by Elvis, Marty Robbins. Merle Haggard, Way-lon Jennings, Kenny Rogers and Roy Orbison. Saturday morning, buses transported attendees to tour a local coal mine. In the evening, the grand prizes were presented which included 3 televisions. No winners from Canada this year! Sarah Getto provided the evening entertain-ment. She plays both the piano and violin and has a fabulous voice! This is quite amazing in that Sarah is blind and was born with a cleft mouth.

The rally ended Sunday morning following breakfast. The 2013 rally will be held in Go-shen, Indiana next year from June 18 – 23 (Tuesday until Sunday). We were told that they were hoping to accommodate 300 rigs and to be on the lookout for registration in early December. I’ll see you at the Ontario rally. Cheers, Bob Happy Trails Wayne & Gayle Wilson Founding Directors Canadian Region Heartland Owners Club

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At the rally in Gillette, Jim B. and I talked about my

being promoted from Chapter Leader of Texas to Re-

gional Director for the Central Region, consisting of

16 states stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to Can-

ada. These states, Arkansas, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana,

Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,

Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South

Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin represent a huge chal-

lenge but I believe we are up to it!

I was gratified to see Tom and Marti Mangum take

over the South Texas Chapter, and Terry and Carol

Hershberger volunteer for the new North Texas

Chapter. We recently attended the inaugural rally for

the new Oklahoma Chapter while on our way to the

rally in Gillette, and are looking forward to attending

as many rallies in our new region as we can next

year.

We had scheduled other activities for the remainder

of 2012, but with the new year, we will begin with

our annual events in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.

We are planning another Owner Meet and Greet at

the great Retama Village facility and a Dealer Open

House at Ron Hoover in Donna.

We are in need of Chapter Leaders in several states

in our Region and I would love to talk to anyone

willing to volunteer for this duty. If you are interest-

ed in having a rally in your state, please contact me

and we will get something going. You can contact

me at [email protected]

I am really excited about this new job and looking

forward to meeting as many of you as I can.

Jay Coffman

We would like to extend congratulations to Jay on his new position and wish him much success in the year to come!

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Greeting from Cheyenne Wyoming!! Mary and I are on an extended trip through parts of the mid west attending the Heartland North Ameri-can Rally in Gillette followed up by the Wyo-ming state rally in Cody. We had a great time in Gillette, good food and new friends, along with some of the Northeast Region members. This was followed by an interesting trip OVER the Bighorn Mountains to the Wyoming rally which had 3 New Jersey Rigs in attendance. Our gracious hosts were Dave and Amy Tar-diff, first time chapter leaders. We got a lot of good information and tips from both of them. Speaking of rallies, plans for the New Jersey rally are going well with a few select sites re-maining. Thanks to the work of John Miller we now have a Heartland Gives Back - the Cape May Zoo. Please check the New Jersey rally thread soon for a complete list of donation items. I have to apologize for not keeping up to date

with the rally on the forum. Throughout our travels internet and phone service has been spotty to non existent. Now that we are home-ward bound I found that I loaded some out of date files into my new laptop.

Cody Wyoming Rally Group That’s all for now. We hope to see you at the Northeast Region Rally and then at the New Jersey Rally at Seashore Campsites. Tom & Mary Steib New Jersey Chapter Leaders

Breakfast

Pot Luck

Planned Activities

Reservations are being made by

email to [email protected]

New Jersey Chapter Leader

VISIT

Wildwood

Boardwalk

&

Victorian

Cape May

720 Seashore Road

Cape May, NJ

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On the heels of the National Rally in Gillette we had our chapter rally in Cody, Wyoming. What a blast - 29 rigs in all. Plenty of food, lots of new friends and the weather couldn’t have been any nicer. Everybody went their own way during the day but we got together for breakfast and supper to find out what interesting things folks found. Kim and Dottie Miranda got off the beaten path and found a beautiful red rim rock canyon, Pat D’Amelio took some really nice photos of the wild mustang herd close by, and a lot of at-tendees visited the Buffalo Bill Historical Cen-ter, Old Trail Town, and Yellowstone National Park. A big “Thank You” to our hosts at Ponderosa Campground. They were outstanding! One of our favorite organizations is Reaching Hands Ranch. The founders are Jenny Cramer and Tracie Crawford. They rescue abused, ne-glected, and needy horses. They also mentor to at-risk kids. With a brief explanation to the Ral-ly attendees, I put out a donation boot. We raised $446.00. Thanks so much to everybody. If you would like to learn more you can follow the link below. http://www.reachinghandsranch.org/index.html

We’re at the height of haying season here so not much RV’ing planned but we will be attending the Colorado rally in the fall and are planning our vacation after that.

Thanks to everybody for making our rally a huge success.

Dave & Amy Tardiff

A Sincere “thank you” from

Reaching Hands Ranch! We are deeply touched by the generosity of

your wonderful club at the Cody, WY rally!

Your kind support is greatly appreciated as

we are feeling the financial crunch from

feed and veterinary costs this time of year.

Your blessings in Dave’s boot gave us the

“leg up” we desperately need!

Thank you and may all of you be blessed

and safe in all of your travels!

Sincerely,

Jenny Cramer

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Hello Heartland Owners Club Members,

How’s your summer going? Ours is going well. The highlight of our early summer was the 2012 North American Heartland Owners Rally held in Gillette, WY in mid-June. What a great time we had with 133 rally units there. Read more in my Gillette Ral-ly report in this issue.

Many of you have shared your Spring and Sum-mer camping plans with other Heartlanders on the forum (link). As you look ahead to the rest of your summer and into fall, consider sharing your plans and your camping and campground experiences with fellow Heartlanders.

Nancy and I continue to stay busy, having recently arrived home from our 5-week trip out west as part of our trek to Gillette. Looking ahead, we’ll be fly-ing to the Pacific Northwest and Northeast Region Rallies, taking the RV to the Hershey, PA RV Show and Chapter Rallies in Wisconsin, Minneso-ta, Michigan and North Carolina. We look forward to meeting many Heartlanders at these events.

I know that many of you have already been to one or more Chapter Rallies this year and maybe even a Regional Rally, not to mention those of you who made it to the big one in Gillette. If you have not made it to a single rally this year, it’s not too late. As I look at the Event list (link) for the rest of 2012, I’m seeing 22 more Chapter Rallies in 2 Canadian Provinces and 18 US States and 2 more Regional Rallies. Our Chapter Leaders and Regional Direc-tors have been working hard to plan their rallies all over North America in the hopes of putting one in your path.

For those who have been wondering when the next “Back Home” rally will be, I have good news. The 2013 North American “Back Home” Heartland Owners Rally will be held June 18-23, 2013 at the Elkhart County 4H Fairgrounds in Goshen, Indiana. We are plan-ning for 300 rigs to attend and we expect to start taking registrations this December. Fol-low this link to discuss this rally and to stay abreast of the plans.

It’s not too early to mention, for those of you who plan to attend, that the Hershey RV show is coming up this September 12-16 in Her-shey, PA. It’s a huge RV show and can be a lot of fun to attend. Follow this link for more information on this show (link). As we’ve done in past years, It’s planned that we’ll have a Heartland Owners Club table setup in one of the Heartland product areas. Watch the RV Shows and Schedules section of the Forum (link) for more information on this show as well as volunteer opportunities to work the table with other Club Members.

I’d like to share some recent Forum and Club appointments with you. At the Gillette Rally and subsequently on the Forum, the following announcements were made: Jay and Stella Coffman, formerly our Founding Texas-South Chapter Leaders and Heartland Ambassa-dors, have been promoted to Founding Re-gional Directors for the Central Region of the Heartland Owners Club. Tom and Marti Mangum have been promoted to Texas-South Chapter Leaders, replacing Jay and Stella Coffman. Terry (Forum Moderator) and Carol Hershberger have been promoted to Founding Texas-North Chapter Leaders. And finally, Dan Mayer has been promoted to Forum Moderator. Please join me in congratulating these fine folks who give their time to volun-teer in a great organization for the benefit of Forum Members, Heartland Product Owners and Heartland Owners Club Members. Have fun Heartlanders, keep making memo-ries with your Heartland RV and we hope to meet up with you on the road!

Jim Beletti

From The Desk of

Jim Beletti, President

Page 16: Heartland Highlights

Heartland Highlights 2012 Q-3 Page 16

Hi, Everyone:

I hope that everyone is well and enjoying summer and camping!

We are now home after a fantastic Heartland rally in Gillette, Wyoming. It was won-

derful to meet so many new people and to put faces with the names of folks I’ve only

emailed in the past.

The Heartland service crew outdid themselves this year given that they were hundreds of miles from home.

The service provided at the annual international rallies is a major draw for these rallies and everyone who

utilizes this offering speaks very highly of the level of expertise and professionalism displayed by the men

and women in the crew. Thank you, Heartland!

All in all, even though it was a long journey (from Virginia to Wyoming), it was well worth it.

Speaking of rallies or campouts, how many have you attended so far this year? Are you planning on going

to one soon? Check the Events on the Portal page and see if there is one near you.

If not and you know of the perfect campground for an event, here’s what you can do: Start a thread on the

Forum saying that you will be camping at such and such a campground on such and such a weekend and

invite people to join you. Look at that: an instant Heartland campout. Campgrounds can be private or state

or federal, just let people know what services are provided, i.e. full-hookups, water and electric only, etc.

If you would like to put the campout on the Events listing check with your Chapter Leader and they can

help you post your campout.

As you know chapter boundaries are typically state or provincial borders, although Texas and California are

split into multiple chapters. That’s right; I said Texas, Terry and Carol Hershberger are now the Texas-

North Chapter Leaders. The Texas-South Chapter Leaders are Tom and Darlene Mangum now that Jay and

Stella Coffman have moved up to the Central Regional Director position. One thing you have to say about

the Heartland Owners Club is that it is constantly evolving.

So are you in a state or province that does not have its own chapter leader? Are there others in your area

who would be interested in getting together for a campout? Don’t know? Post a campout in a nearby

campground on the forum and see what happens. You don’t need a lot of people to have your own chapter.

One or two is all it takes as long as someone is willing to become the official Chapter Leader.

Here are the states and provinces that do not have a Chapter Leader and have 2 or more members: Manitoba

-2; Kansas-3; Indiana-9; Louisiana-6; Iowa-12; South Dakota-2; New Mexico-3; Utah-2; Connecticut-3;

Massachusetts-10; New Hampshire-2; Rhode Island-2; Arizona-3; Idaho-5; Alabama-9; Kentucky-3. Come

on. . . have a campout. Think about the food! Try it, you’ll like it!

As always, Happy Camping and Safe Travels.

Julie

Page 17: Heartland Highlights

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April weather in Gulf Shores, Alabama was just about perfect for our springtime Rally. We think we may have set a

record for most states represented at a chapter rally; Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee,

Virginia, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Jersey; hope I didn't forget anyone. We had 30 rigs total including two non-

HOC member couples that we hope will join us again. Celebrities too: Jay Coffman and Stella, Heartland Ambassa-

dors led a contingent from Texas; Dave Yocum, our Southeastern Regional Director and Julie Hancock, our Club

Manager joined us from Virginia, and Jim and Nancy Beletti brought their new Key Largo from Tennessee to join

the fun.

A highlight of the Rally actually occurred on the day before the Rally officially started; many had come early to go

to Pensacola Naval Air Station to watch the Blue Angels precision flight team practice their airshow routine. We

were right there on the flight line as the beautiful F-22 Raptors created their artwork above.

Our Meet and Greet "Ring the Blue Bell" party on Thursday evening featured Blue Bell Ice Cream, Brownies, Fresh

local strawberries, Home-made Hot Fudge, and all the toppings. After indulgements, everyone took turns introduc-

ing themselves.

Friday morning, Jim Beletti put on an impromtu breakfast "Pot

Luck". Wow, what a great breakfast; everyone brought a break-

fast food to add to the tables; Great get-together.

Later on Friday morning, Bob Mansolino, Bobemuzzy from

Hartselle, AL presented a hands on demonstration on "How To

check and lube wheel bearings" and "check and adjust brakes".

This presentation fostered many of the attendees to do their

own bearing and brake checks after the rally.

Friday afternoon, Mickey Meridith, Mickey on the forum and

chapter leader from Florida, presented a great program on

"Boondocking" - living off the grid and shared the modifica-

tions he has made to his rig to enable camping without having

to be hooked up at a campground. His use of solar panels, gen-

erator, on-board battery storage and inverter for 110 power is

quite extensive. Mickey explained how to maximize the assets

you carry on your rig; fresh water, power, propane, black and

grey water storage to extend your stays off the grid.

Saturday evening, we enjoyed Alabama barbeque, pulled pork,

beef brisket, and chicken along with potato salad, cole slaw

and baked beans. On Sunday morning, Terry and Ann Adkins

led a devotional service before departures started.

Many of the attendees mentioned they would like to return

again to Gulf State Park, so our next spring rally has been

scheduled; April 25th-28th 2013 at Gulf State Park, Gulf

Shores, Alabama. Maybe we will get lucky and have the Blue

Angels perform again.

Page 18: Heartland Highlights

Heartland Highlights 2012 Q-3 Page 18

Ann Walker, Recipe Reporter

Sweet-n-Sour Slaw

Submitted by Judy Hicks Makes about 12 Servings

Ingredients:

1 large cabbage finely shredded (about 8 cups)

5-8 green onions, minced

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup butter

2 packages ramen noodles (discard soup flavoring)

1/2 cup sesame seeds

Dressing:

1/2 Cup oil

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 Tblspn Soy Sauce

Remove seasoning packet from noodle packages

and break up uncooked noodles.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high

heat; add noodle pieces and almonds. Cook stir-

ring constantly, approximately 5 minutes or

until toasted. Remove from heat.

3. Whisk together oil and next 3 ingredients in a

large bowl. Add cabbage, tossing to coat. Sprin-

kle with toasted almonds and noodles before

serving.

Heartland RV’s Bighorn Captures Market Share Offering consumers an attractive price point and a variety of

functional floorplans, Heartland Recreational Vehicle LLC’s

full-profile Bighorn fifth-wheel line continues to build market

share, garnering the No. 3 overall brand ranking in the May

report from Statistical Surveys Inc.

“Our Bighorn line generated impressive sales during the first

five months of 2012,” said Coley Brady, vice president of sales

for the Elkhart, Ind.-based builder, noting that Bighorn was the

No. 1 selling fifth-wheel through May in the hotbed states of

Texas, Florida and Alabama and the top full-profile line in

Canada. “It confirms that we are building product that consum-

ers recognize as a discernible value in the high end of the fifth-

wheel marketplace with the right combination of residential-

style amenities backed by superior fit and finish.”

According to a press release, a key factor driving sales is

Heartland’s decision to market the Bighorn as a full-time

coach. Eleven models, with base MSRP’s starting at $59,900,

feature laminated roof, sidewall and floor construction that

reduces noise while providing the structural integrity and ther-

mal insulation required for four-seasons RVing.

“Our use of seamless laminated construction really sets us

apart from the competition at the price point that we’re hitting

with the Bighorn,” said General Manager Kary Katzenberger.

“It meets the demands of a growing full-time demographic,

which is mushrooming with the influx of Baby Boomers and

people that are using their RV as a mobile office.”

Katzenberger reported that Heartland would be debuting three

new configurations in the Bighorn line at this year’s Elkhart

County RV Open House set to run Sept. 17-21.

Of equal importance to Bighorn’s early 2012 success was the

addition of the Silverado by Bighorn series that was unveiled

to dealers during last September’s Open House.

“The Silverado addresses a key segment in the marketplace,”

said Katzenberger, noting that base MSRP’s start at $44,900.

“It provides the upscale interior amenities of the Bighorn at an

aggressive price point while also offering extended stay, three-

seasons construction. We are not only selling to seasoned

RVers looking to upgrade, but also first-timers that want to

enjoy the benefits of a full-profile fifth-wheel.”

Silverado, which includes four couples coaches, also addresses

large families with two bunkbed floorplans.

The Bighorn and the Silverado share several key features, in-

cluding stackable washer/dryer hookups, Heartland’s industry-

first 88-degree turning radius and a universal docking center.

Lengths for the Bighorn range from 35 to 40 feet while Sil-

verado models run 33 to 40 feet.

Anyone wishing to submit a

recipe for publication can send

their detailed recipe to

Ann Walker, Rally Reporter at

[email protected]

Page 19: Heartland Highlights

Heartland Highlights 2012 Q-3 Page 19

We just returned from a great trip to the North American Rally in Gillette. There were not many Oregon members there, but there were a lot of Pacific Region folks. This was our first North American Rally and now we can’t wait to make it to a “back home” rally in Elkhart. The service team did a fantastic job checking over repairing minor problems with our rigs. Jim Beletti and the crew (too many to mention by name) really did a fine job with all the organization. We had a won-derful time seeing old friends and meeting new ones including some people from Oregon who had not made it to a prior rally . The Pacific Region Rally will be August 10-12 at Seven Feathers Resort in Canyonville, Oregon. Since we are the hosts, we would love to see lots more Oregon Chapter members signed up to at-tend. You can still register if you do it now. Check out the rally thread on the forum and fill out the registration form. All of the directions for mailing in the registration are on the thread. We really hope to see you there! We are still contemplating a campout in Septem-ber so if you have ideas about that we would love to hear them. You can always reach us by email or forum PM to username Ziggy. Kristy Carlson, Oregon Chapter Image taken while traveling to Wyoming

The Texas Chapter held another Spring Rally at Rayford Crossing on April 22-24. We had 23 rigs with attendees from Louisiana to New Mexico represented. There were 6 Landmarks, 11 Bighorns, 2 Big Country’s, 1 Sundance, 1 Elk Ridge and 2 North Trails. There were sev-eral first time rally attendees and we were de-lighted to meet them. Our rally was sponsored by Ron Hoover RV in Katy, Texas. They brought over 2 units for dis-play and sent a master technician to perform minor service at no cost to attendees. We were in awe of the door prizes furnished by Ron Hoover which included a new yeti cooler that keeps ice for up to a week and a Winegard Carry Out antenna. On Saturday morning, Ron Hoover sponsored a breakfast for everyone. We all loaded up and drove over to the Furr’s Fresh Buffet for a huge breakfast. In the afternoon we had a speaker from Sky Med. This is a medical evac-uation service and several of our attendees were interested in this service. As with all of the other rallies, we had a lot of fun with our friends, both old and new, with plenty of food whether it was from a restau-rant or at the potluck dinner. Please join us at our fall rally in Boerne, Texas at the Alamo Fiesta RV Park. Submitted by

Jay Coffman

Page 20: Heartland Highlights

Heartland Highlights 2012 Q-3 Page 20

The 2012 NYS Heartland Chapter rally was held at the Lake George RV Park in beautiful Lake George, NY .

On Thursday, June 14th a large bunch of early rally goers (approx. 48 peeps) traveled to the Docksider Restaurant on

Glen Lake for a very yummy dinner buffet on the back deck (Tip: If you are ever in Lake George, check this place out.

The food, staff and atmosphere are all wonderful). After dinner we all traveled back to the campground for a bon fire.

Friday morning brought fresh bagels, cream cheese, OJ and coffee for breakfast. Campers enjoyed a free day to see the

area. At 6:30 pm a huge Heartland potluck dinner was enjoyed by all. After dinner the “special entertainers” arrived.

Greg and Beth Dean, NYS Chapter leaders, are also known as Pickles and Freckles the clowns. A few of the children

from the campground joined in and fun was had by all as Freckles and Pickles performed magic, juggled and joked

around. After the entertainment was over we all enjoyed a bon fire.

Saturday morning breakfast was the famous “Erie John” frittata, toast with jelly, OJ and coffee. Hey Greg, how much

bacon did you cook? At 2pm the whole group (65 peeps) gathered on the dock at the Lake George Steamboat Compa-

ny for a 2.5 hour island cruise aboard the “Mohican”. After the cruise the group was treated to a NYS dealer sponsored

BBQ dinner in the pavilion back at the campground. Local BBQ company T-Ray’s BBQ served up BBQ chicken,

pulled pork, BBQ brisket and all the fix’ns . A big THANK YOU to the following NYS dealers for their support of the

HOC: Wilkins RV (Bath NY), Oliver’s Campers (Norwich NY), Herman’s RV (Walton, NY), Ballard’s Camping Cen-

ter (Hamburg NY). After dinner we all enjoyed another bon fire.

Sunday morning brought farewell breakfast for some

HOC members but a large group remained behind for the

late stayers cocktail hour and pizza dinner. Another bon

fire was enjoyed by all.

We had a wonderful time. It was great to see our Heart-

land family again. Save the date, 2013 rally: July 19-21

at the Villages at Turning Stone, Verona NY.

Hope to see you there.

Greg & Beth Dean

Page 21: Heartland Highlights

Heartland Highlights 2012 Q-3 Page 21

Question - What was your most embarrassing moderator moment? As the technical moderator, I work within the guts of the software where a lot of the 'Are you sure' dialogs

don't exist. As such, on August 3, 2010... I accidentally deleted the 'Who posted this' information for ALL

Forum posts with a simple press of the <enter> key, when all I really wanted to do was re-assign a post to

another member.

You can read the forum announcement by clicking HERE

Through restoring a database backup from the night before, and sleuthing through all of Jim Beletti's mailbox

(He and I receive copies of every forum post via email), I was able to reconstruct all but 58 posts in an auto-

mated fashion. This is a pretty good success rate considering the forum has over 200,000 posts!

Out of all my snafu's, this is by far the one that had the biggest exposure to our Heartland Family.

Michael Kidd, Forum Technical Moderator

Page 22: Heartland Highlights

Heartland Highlights 2012 Q-3 Page 22

WISCONSIN NEWS

THE CHEESE HEAD CHAPTER

The Cheese Heads have been on the move. Our

chapter was well represented at the Heartland North

American Rally, Gillette, WY. A total of 11 rigs

represented our chapter. They came from WI, MI,

MN, and IA. A big thank you goes out to Peter and

Merrie Gott for hosting the WI Chapter Meet and

Greet at their site. The attendees brought delicious

dishes to share, and a great time was had by all. The

chapter also welcomed guests Hoyt and Mary

Maisck and Jim and Pat Doggett. Thank you for

joining us. The WI Chapter would like to express

our deepest sympathy to Peter and Merrie Gott for

the loss of their dog during the national rally.

Plans are moving forward for the annual WI rally,

August 16 – 19, at Country Road Motorhome & RV

Park, Lake Delton, WI. This year the featured event

will be the Tommy Bartlet Air, Land and Water

Show on Saturday evening. If you are registered for

the rally, and plan on attending the Tommy Bartlet

Show, please be sure to notify the chapter leaders.

The rally will offer plenty of time to explore the WI

Dells area, attend a steam engine show, visit a win-

ery, a microbrewery, and just relax at the park. If

you would like additional information about the

Dells area contact Tom & Gerry and they will try to

answer your questions and obtain the requested

information.

The WI Chapter is also supporting the first MN

State Rally, September 21 – 23, and several WI

members will be in attendance at this event. Tom

and Kathy Ireland, MN chapter leaders, are plan-

ning an exciting, first ever, MN rally. Check out the

details on the forum portal page and consider join-

ing Tom and Kathy in Owatonna, MN for a great

time. Go, Go, Go MN.

September 7-9 are the dates for Camp Fest, Mani-

towoc, WI. This event is put on by Wagners RV

Sales. If you are in the south central WI area con-

sider joining the Heartland group at this fabulous

event. Additional information can be found at

www.campfest.net.

Safe travels to all,

Tom & Gerry Weber

RV PARK & CAMPSITE LOCATOR

The USA is the most beautiful country in the world.

We've got so many amazing open spaces that it

would take forever to visit them all!

That means you'd better start now that summer's here.

Camping is the best way to get in touch with nature

and bond with your family. And with thousands of

campsites around the country, there's definitely one

near you!

We Camp Here is a great website for locating RV and

camping grounds. It has plenty of info on each

campsite, such as RV hookups, number of tent sites

and amenities.

You can even search the map based on your car's

range on one tank of gas. There are lists of nearby

recreation opportunities and user reviews for many

of the listed campgrounds.

Visit www.wecamphere.com

Page 23: Heartland Highlights

Heartland Highlights 2012 Q-3 Page 23

"I have found out there ain't no surer way to

find out wheather you like

people or hate them than

to travel with them."

Mark Twain

The Missouri Chapter is strong

and active. We now have 35

members and growing. The

highlight of 2012 will be our

Rally being held September 21

-23 at the Mark Twain Cave and Campground at

Hannibal, Missouri.

Hannibal offers many

interesting sights to

see such as the Mark

Twain Cave, Mark

Twain's boyhood

home and museum,

the Hannibal history

museum, the Rockcliff Mansion, and a new winery.

We will conclude the Rally with a evening dinner

cruise on the Mark Twain Riverboat. This nostalgic

riverboat

takes us back

in time as we

enjoy historic

sounds of

banjo and

jazz on the

river Mark

Twain loved

so much.

Michael & Daphna Fiehler Missouri Chapter Leaders

Spring was so nice to see…even though here in Colorado we had such a mild winter and a not so wet spring. Condi-tions were good for spring flowers but not for our water shed. Unfortunately, the mild winter and spring brought little snow for the state, including the mountains. Summer has brought record high temperatures making us all want to go to cooler climes! According to state offi-cials Colorado is in a severe drought situation and most (if not all) of the state is under “extreme fire dan-ger”. If your plans include traveling in and around Col-orado this summer and/or fall check with the area you plan on visiting for information concerning open fires (including charcoal fires), possible water restrictions and whether or not the area has been closed due to the fires &/or fire danger.

Further east (eastern Colorado & western Kan-sas) spring brought several storms and plenty of rain. The mild winter and wet spring weather was “good” for our neighboring farming communities and because of that Jennifer and Don were not able to join us at the Gillette Rally…instead, they were harvesting their wheat crop a bit early!! Speaking of the Gillette Rally…a number of Colo-rado Chapter members had their Post-rally Rally in South Dakota’s Black Hills. The Wyoming Chapter had their “summer rally” in Cody, Wyoming the week after the Gil-lette Rally; there was a great turnout of 27 rigs with sever-al states being represented including Monica & Don repre-senting the Colorado Chapter. Dave & Amy Tardiff are the Wyoming Chapter’s leaders and along with “Tucker the yellow lab” were exceptional hosts. The Colorado Chapter Fall Rally is scheduled for Sep-tember 20-23, 2012 at the Ft. Collins Lakeside KOA. For more information and reservations contact Al Schlafli at [email protected]

Submitted by Monica Ashby, Colorado Reporter

Page 24: Heartland Highlights

Heartland Highlights 2012 Q-3 Page 24

2012 North American Initiative This year in Gillette we selected blessings in a Back-

pack for our Heartland Gives Back initiative.A goal

of $2,000 was set which would be- enough to fund

25 backpacks to feed 25 children for an entire week-

end during the school year. Attendees can be pleased

with their support of this project. On the final day of

the rally, we presented 94 giving envelopes contain-

ing a total of $4,224 - enough to fully fund 53 back-

packs.

2012 Northeast Region Initiative Throughout the Northeast Region Rally we will be col-

lecting non-perishable food items to be donated to The

Roe-Jan Food Pantry. The pantry is run by the Hills-

dale Methodist Church and we are currently working

with Lois to sent up a listing of needed items. We will

post further information on the forum as it becomes

available. The food bank serves the Roe-Jan area in-

cluding Hillsdale, Copake, Ancram and Gallatin.

2012 Maryland Initiative After a diligent search we have selected Worcester

County G.O.L.D. (Giving Other Lives Dignity), Inc. as

a charitable beneficiary this year. The goal of GOLD is

to improve the quality of life of local citizens. It is a

nonprofit organization providing financial aid to chil-

dren in foster care, vulnerable adults, and families in

crisis. Being our rally is in August right before school

begins they suggested donations of school supplies or

gift cards for WalMart or Food Lion.

2012 New Jersey Initiative New Jersey has chosen the Cape May Zoo as the recip-

ient of their rally give back. The Zoo is part of the

Cape May County Park System and is run by dona-

tions. The 2010 New Jersey Rally visited the zoo as a

side trip and attendees this year are welcome to take

another stroll through the grounds during your stay. A

list of needed items can be found on the New Jersey

rally thread on the forum.

Heartland Gives Back Initiatives are an ongoing

service project where we (the fortunate) give of our-

selves, by way of donations, to them (the less fortu-

nate). It is just one more way that we put the

HEART in Heartland!

Kudo’s to the Chapters who have adopted a Give

Back Initiative in 2012.

Page 25: Heartland Highlights

Heartland Highlights 2012 Q-3 Page 25

Thor Names Chris Hermon to Head Heartland

Thor Industries Inc. announced today (May 21) the appointment of respected industry veteran Chris Hermon as president of subsidi-

ary Heartland Recreational Vehicles LLC, replacing Brian Brady who retired May 1. Hermon will officially step into his new role

May 29.

Hermon brings a management history marked by rapid and prolonged success to the Elkhart, Ind.-based towable builder, including

a 10-year term overseeing several high-growth brands for Thor affiliate Key-

stone RV Co. Most recently, Hermon co-founded Forest River Inc.’s Prime

Time Manufacturing Inc. division in 2009 while serving as vice president of

sales.

“For the last several weeks I spent time with Heartland, talking to people and

getting feedback on what was needed,” said Bob Martin, RV group president

for Jackson Center, Ohio-based Thor, in a press release. “One of the main

things I noted was that Heartland is filled with great talent and needed a strong

leader. I interviewed many quality candidates, but in the end I felt that Chris

was the right fit for the Heartland team.”

Hermon, who entered the industry with Coachmen Industries Inc. in 1998, said

that he viewed the move as a “natural progression” in his career path and was

intent on maintaining the company’s reputation for product innovation and market penetration.

“I’ve found that if you are a leader in product development and dealer relationships, exceptional success is the result in this indus-

try,” said Hermon, 42. “It’s apparent that is already in place, as Heartland has a strong track record of bringing great products to

market and quickly harnessing market share. My goal is to continue driving product development and strengthening our dealer rela-

tionships.”

He added, “Presidential positions in this industry don’t come along very often, particularly with a company of the stature of Heart-

land. I am definitely looking forward to working with the existing team and steering Heartland to its next chapter of success.”

Heartland management, in turn, sees Hermon’s appointment as a springboard to continuing the growth path engineered under Brad-

y’s guidance. “The entire Heartland team looks forward to working with Chris in our pursuit of intelligently growing our business,”

stated Coley Brady, vice president of sales.

An Ohio native, Hermon served in the U.S. Air Force from 1988-1992 and the Air Force Reserves until 1995. He earned a bache-

lor’s degree from Indiana’s Ball State University. He and his wife of 16 years, Shawn, have two sons and reside in Goshen. During

his time with Keystone, Hermon was general manager for the company’s Cougar, Hornet and Hideout travel trailer brands, charged

with growing sales in the industry’s most hotly contested segment.

“I actually hired Chris at Keystone, so I know his work ethic and the way he manages,” Martin related. “He established himself as

one of the company’s top performers. Heartland has tremendous potential and I am confident that Chris will make the company

even stronger. He has the insight, commitment and leadership skills to not only push Heartland to higher levels, but also add depth

to Thor’s already solid, aggressive management team.”

Heartland RV, headquartered in Elkhart, has enjoyed innovative industry-leading success for many years, and offers a variety of

towables, including travel trailers, toy haulers, fifth-wheels and destination trailers. For more information, visit

www.heartlandrvs.com. Hermon can be contacted at [email protected] or (574)266-8726.

May 21, 2012 by RV Business

Page 26: Heartland Highlights

Heartland Highlights 2012 Q-3 Page 26

By DAVID GRAY, Safety Reporter

I DODGED A BULLET! Tire Issues Before I get into this newsletter topic, I want to say I missed seeing all the at-

tendees at this year’s 2012 North Ameri-can Heartland Owners Rally. Amy and I

were all set for the trip and we were ex-cited to attend. Unfortunately, Amy re-

turned to California to be by her ailing fa-ther’s side. Three weeks later Amy called

to tell me to pack up RV and come to Cal-ifornia. Sadly, before I arrived, on June

2nd, Amy called and informed me her dad

had passed away. Amy’s dad was 88 years old and is now worshiping in Heav-

en.

My trip to California could have been dis-astrous. About 75 miles north of Las Ve-

gas, NV, I made a routine stop for fuel at a truck stop. After paying for the fuel and

as I returned to my truck, one of the on-site tire center mechanics informed me I

had a bad tire. Have you ever seen a tire look like a doughnut on a wheel? That’s

how mine looked. I made it over to the tire center and they promptly installed

my spare.

Fast forward. After calling ahead to Dis-

count Tire in Las Vegas, they had three new tires ready and waiting for me and

stayed open after hours to install them. Why 3 tires, you may ask? They were

Mission tires. Unbeknownst to me I learned the hammer was cocked and

ready to drop on another Mission tire. I actually dodged a second bullet. As the

tire installer removed the remaining Mis-sion tires, I discovered another with

interior rubber separation.

I say all this to encourage you to inspect

your tires at every stop during your trav-el, regardless of brand. Periodic tire in-

spection is especially important if you don’t have a tire pressure monitoring sys-

tem (TPMS) installed. You can be sure that is now on top of the list for my next

RV accessory purchase. I would however, caution the TPMS owners not to become

lax in periodic tire inspection.

What now? I’ve learned from Roger Mar-ble (aka: tireman9), who writes an excel-

lent blog called RV Tire Safety, the im-

portance of reporting tire failures to the NHTSA. Recently I filed two separate

complaints for Mission tires. The process is simple and doesn't take too much time.

I think the two most important things are writing a good description of the tire fail-

ure event and being sure to have the DOT number that is on the sidewall of the

tire. You can still file it without the DOT number. If you have any supporting doc-

uments and/or pictures, be sure to state that in the description. It's never too late

to file a report. Tow safely!

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We just completed our Inaugural Oklahoma Chapter HOC Rally in Thackerville, OK. We had 13 rigs there and had a great time. We were fortu-nate to have Jay and Stella Coffman, Texas Chapter Leaders join us. There was 7 Texas rigs and 6 Oklahoma rigs there. We now have 15 rigs in our chapter. We had a cookout Thursday evening with hamburgers, and hotdogs and eve-ryone brought a side or desert. Friday evening we had a pot luck with brisket and pulled pork fur-nished and everyone bringing a side or desert. We played lots of games like sandbag baseball, dominoes and card games, and ladder ball. It was great having everyone participating in the games. We had a chapter meeting Saturday afternoon and gave out a lot of door prizes. We traveled to Gainesville, TX on Saturday evening for catfish. There was coffee and donuts every morning and we enjoyed just sitting around talking. There was some first time rally attendees, and we acquired a new Oklahoma Chapter member the Lineen's from Rusk, TX. I am very proud of all our mem-bers and the attendance and participation in this rally. That is what makes a great Chapter, it's members and their participation. Thanks to every-one who was there and a special thanks to our visitors from Texas. We just had a great time.. We are already looking forward to a fall rally and next years spring rally. I think everyone had a great time. Now it is on to Gillette.. We are looking forward to making more new friends there. Thanks to all, Larry and Donna Keever Oklahoma Chapter

Our rally this year was held in Amish Country of

Ohio, Berlin to be exact. We had (5) total rigs for

this year and we were all set-up at Scenic Hills RV

Park. We probably would have had more if the Na-

tional rally wasn’t the weekend before even-so we

had one couple travel back from Gillette through

Indiana (their home state) and over here to Ohio to

attend. Mary and Hoyt Maisack were warmly wel-

comed and they proceeded to tell us how much

they enjoyed the rally in Gillette.

Friday night we spent time sitting by the camp fire

getting to know each other. From the way things

went you would have thought we had been friends

for a long time. It was great to get to know each

other.

Saturday morning and afternoon we each kind of

went our own ways to explore the area. In the

evening we had reservations at the home of

Maudie Rabber for an authentic Amish meal. She

cooked us ham, chicken, stuffing mashed potatoes,

noodles and other items. She also had a bowl of

date pudding then came out later with a couple of

pies for desert. Everyone left full and for me some-

what overloaded but happy and content.

All-in-all we had a great little rally and look for-

ward to seeing them all again.

Mark Comer

Ohio Chapter Leader

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Heartland Recreational Vehicles welcomed around 280

RVers towing 133 rigs June 14-17 at the Cam-Plex in

picturesque Gillette, Wyoming marking the 7th running

of the Annual North American Heartland Owners

Rally.

According to a press release, the national rally, hosted

by the Elkhart, Ind.-based builder, has evolved into a

major event for owners as attendees in Gillette repre-

sented 34 states and 3 Canadian provinces. Jim Beletti,

Director of owners interests for Heartland, reported

that a majority of the club members arrived a week ear-

ly at the Box Elder Campground situated on the Cam-

Plex grounds.

“Attendees had a great time catching up with friends

and making new ones, along with enjoying potlucks,

open houses and visiting local restaurants,” Beletti said.

“Our goal is to offer something for everybody.” Found-

ed in March 2008 under the direction of Beletti, the

Heartland Owners Club has continued to refine and ex-

pand its rally program. The Gillette gathering offered a

full range of activities, including nine lifestyle and 13

technical seminars. In addition, local dealer Stalkups

RV Superstore provided owners with a first hand tour

of the company’s latest travel trailer and fifth wheel

models.

During the official opening of the rally on Thursday,

Heartland Vice President of Sales Coley Brady visited

the Cam-Plex, spending the day with club members and

delivering an address that evening. “Heartland takes

great pride in hosting this special event as the rally is a

wonderful experience for participants,” Brady said.

Chris Hermon, who recently succeeded Brian Brady as

Heartland president, said that the interaction with

Heartland’s customer base is not only key to building

relationships, but also provides valuable feedback on

product.

“Customers drive our decisions every day as we devel-

op and enhance our product lines,” Hermon said.

“These kinds of events give us the opportunity to learn

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more about our products by hearing directly from the

people that use them. It’s just one more factor that

separates Heartland from the competition.”

During the event, attendees toured some of the land-

marks in Gillette, including a trip to the Alpha Butte

Mine and the Rock Pile Museum, while also providing

a boost to the local business community.

“When the club holds rallies in communities around

North America, we have an economic impact on these

communities with campground fees paid, diesel fuel

bought, and money spent at restaurants and local busi-

nesses,” Beletti said.

He also stressed that one of the staples during each ral-

ly sponsored by Heartland Owners Club is to include a

“charitable component.”

This year in Gillette we selected “blessings in a Back-

pack” for our “Heartland Gives Back” initiative, Beletti

said. “I set a goal of $2,000 - enough to fund 25 back-

packs to feed 25 children for an entire weekend during

the school year. I am pleased to report that on the final

day of the rally, we presented 94 giving envelopes con-

taining a total of $4,224 - enough to fully fund 53

backpacks.”

The first Heartland Rally in

Vermont will be held at

PINE HOLLOW

CAMPGROUND Pownal, Vermont

AUGUST 2 - 5, 2012 Call 802-823-5569

For reservations

After attending the rallies in Gillette and Cody,

WY we have made it to central MN where we

plan to be for the next several months.

As of now we have a few trips planned at differ-

ent Minnesota campgrounds, we are hoping the

attendance within those parks is adequate to hold

open houses with the hope of meeting prospec-

tive Heartland owners.

We wish all of you safe travels and happy

camping.

Kevin & Nelly Wolbeck

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The 2nd Annual Tennessee/Kentucky Heartland Ral-

ly was held June 1-3 in the Memphis TN area at EZ

Daze RV Park in Southaven, MS. 14 coaches repre-

senting 10 different states were in attendance. The

weather couldn’t have been better for being early

summer with temperatures in the 70’s during the

days and upper 50’s to low 60’s in the evenings.

Several folks were using this rally as a stopover as

they were heading to the North American Heartland

Owners Club Rally in Gillette, WY.

On Wednesday and

Thursday, the early

arrivals had a great

time heading down

to Tunica, MS vis-

iting several of the

casinos. Didn’t

hear of any big

winners but several did lighten their pockets. Friday evening was the official start of the Rally

with a Meet-N-Greet. For several, this was their

first Rally but for others, it was a fun-time seeing

familiar faces. On Saturday morning many went on

a tour of the City of Memphis, seeing such sites as

St. Jude Children Hospital/Danny Thomas Memorial

Gardens, Sun Recording Studios, Beale Street, etc.

Saturday afternoon several of the folks made Hobo

lanterns out of 5 gallon buckets. A big special

“Thanks” go to Jerry

Winkle for heading up

this project. The

evening wrapped up

with a great BBQ din-

ner from Boss Hogg’s

BBQ. There were so

many door prizes donated that everyone went home

with several items.

The TN/KY Heartland Give Back project was fo-

cused on St. Jude Children Research Hospital. Eve-

ryone was so generous with their donations of toys

and games to be given to the children who are hospi-

talized. A special “Thanks” goes out to Linda and

Bobby Eanes for taking the lead on this worthwhile

project and delivering the donations to the hospital.

A great time was had by all! The 2013 Rally is now

in the works so stay tuned for updates.

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Hot enough for you? We are now in a long hot summer – but a great time to be enjoying your Heartland unit. We have a couple of great rallies planned for 2012 and have a glimpse of what 2013 might have in store. 2012 Michigan Summer Rally We will meet at Hidden Ridge RV Resort in Hopkins MI (US 131, exit 59) on August 23-26 for our 2012 summer rally. Please visit the link to this at http://www.hiddenridgerv.com. It is located about half way between Grand Rapids (26 miles) and Kalamazoo (21 miles). General RV in Wayland (about 4 miles away) will be sponsoring us and will bring a couple of new coaches to the campground for us to see. Thursday, being the arrival day, we will not schedule events, but encourage all to gather in groups for dinner at some of the local restaurants, followed by cards or bonfire upon your return. Friday will be set for a full day of events. We were thinking of carpooling over to the Frederick Meijer gar-dens for a morning visit there followed by a tour of ei-ther the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum or the Grand Rapids Public Museum in the afternoon. There are con-vention rates that we can use. Please bring your Heart-land name badge – we will provide visitors with some-thing that they can use. We will then have dinner Sam’s Joint in Plainwell (about five miles from the campground) Friday evening. Cards or a bonfire will culminate the day’s events. We were thinking of having a Club provided breakfast on Saturday morning and the potluck dinner that evening (steaks provided). One glitch is that the campground does not have a grill – can we get enough from our members to handle the chores? In between the two meals, we can take a trip to Holland to Windmill Island and the Hol-land State Park beach to get some final rays of the sum-mer.

Price for the three nights is $98 – as follows – Thurs-day & Friday nights are $49 each and Saturday night is free (averaging $32.67/rally night). For those who wish to come before the 23rd or stay beyond the 26th, the rate for those nights will be $35 each. The pavilion will cost us $100 for the full day. Also, non-Heartland Owners Club members will need to pay $20 toward the rally expenses – another good reason to join the Heartland Owners Club.

2012 Fall Color-tour Rally At the 2011 summer rally, several expressed a desire to go back to Wild Cherry Resort in Suttons Bay when the colors are turning. So, the date for this will be Oc-tober 4-7. For those who didn’t attend in 2011 or for those who want a refresher www.wildcherryresort.com will take you to the web-site. I have not yet been able to talk to Jim about this year’s prices, so I don’t have anything as yet on the forum. However, he has announced a 25% reduction in camping fees for the entire sum-mer, except for July and holiday weekends. As Thursday is arrival day, think about getting together in groups for dinner at the Leelanau Sands Casino for dinner or one of the local restaurants in Suttons Bay, Lake Leelanau or Leland. Bonfire or cards will be avail-able in the evening on all three nights. For Friday, I was thinking about a driving tour on the Pierce Stocking scenic drive at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore, so if you have room for others and have a Golden Passport or its successor, America the Beauti-ful Lands Pass, this will save the $10 admission fee. Dinner that evening will be a restaurant to be deter-mined later – perhaps a return to The Cove (the res-taurant that we used last year), or Boone’s. Saturday we will have a club-sponsored breakfast and that evening a chapter-sponsored steak dinner – bring a dish to pass and your table service and beverage. In between the two meals will be visits to a local winery and an orchard where you can purchase local fruit and cider, if available this year. Non-Heartland Owners Club members will need to pay $20 toward the rally expenses – a good reason to join the Club.

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June 8th – 10th the PA Chapter Rally was held at Friendship Village Campground

near Bedford, PA.

The weekend’s weather was simply beautiful, albeit very warm, as 17 Heartland Rigs attended;

representing not only the Commonwealths of Pennsylvania but, also those of Massachusetts & Virginia

as well as the States of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, & New York.

Saturday was full of activity and started with a Continental Breakfast hosted by the PA Chapter Leaders.

The Campground was holding its “Safety Day” which included bicycle safety, water safety, & Ident-a-kid.

The State Police, Bedford Fire Department, and a Life Line Helicopter were on hand. The American Red

Cross was accepting donations for its Blood Drive. Seven Heartland RVers attempted to donate blood but

for medical reasons only two were able to actually give the gift of life.

Saturday continued as a leisurely sightseeing day with many visiting the Flight 93 National Park &

Monument in nearby Shanksville, PA, while others ventured to Gravity Hill in an attempt to explain the

“unexplainable”. Saturday evening’s Potluck dinner was attended by representatives of the Bedford County

Humane Society; our guests & selected “Heartland Gives Back Initiative” charity. The ladies were able to

drive off with two carloads of food & administrative items donated by our giving Heartland Owners.

Madison Walker entertained us with her “Rally Knowledge”; questions centered around participants at the

rally. A winning round of “Heartland Trivia” garnered Jon & Patti Holbert bragging rights for their Heart-

land knowledge while Eric & Dorothy van Opstal came in a very close second. Calvin & Judy Hicks won

the evening’s Regional 50/50 raffle.

Sunday morning brought a send-off breakfast sponsored by the Delaware, New York, & Pennsylvania

Chapters. Many of us remained for the day and used this time to further sightsee and socialize.

Nona & I wish to thank each and every one of the attendees for their help in making our first rally an enjoy-

able event. We look forward to hosting our next rally in another wonderful PA campground.

The PA RV & Camping Association will host “America’s Largest RV Show” at the Giant Center in Her-

shey, PA on September 12th – 16th, 2012. Planning is in the works for manning this year’s Owner’s Club

table. Stay tuned to the Owner’s Forum Hershey RV Show thread for further details.

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Over 90 Family and Friends (40 rigs!) gathered for the 4th Annual Virginia Spring Rally, held this year at

the Holiday Trav-L-Park in Virginia Beach, Virginia, May 18-20. Members came together from as far away

as New York and Florida (OK, the Floridians were returning snowbirds), with attendees also from New Jer-

sey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, and of course Virginia. Although the weather was

cool and windy, including rain on Sunday, a great time was still had by all.

We started with an early bird’s continental breakfast on Friday morning at Chapter Leaders Gus and Debra

Funderburg’s site, followed by a Friday evening meet-n-greet with burgers, dogs, baked beans, and desserts.

Expenses for the dinner were covered through a donation by the local Heartland dealer, Chesapeake RV So-

lutions (thanks Tim and Jacqueline), with desserts provided by all the attending Chapter Leaders and Re-

gional Directors.

Saturday’s events included a scavenger hunt, a site decorating contest, a wine and cheese tasting, and the

ever popular Pot Luck dinner Saturday evening. The hit of the evening was the mixer “Bingo” that required

everyone to get up, get around, and visit with the other attendees to find out who matched up with achieve-

ments on the “Bingo” sheet. Some popular achievements included, “I can touch my nose with my tongue

(had to demonstrate), I’m a vegetarian (thanks for being there Tristan!), and the always popular “I graduated

from a college in Texas”.

Sunday found approximately 2/3 of the attendees packing up and heading out. The remaining brave souls

got together for various impromptu activities, including a two hour lunch at that elegant dining hot spot, “Le

Golden Corral”. Monday saw all but a few remaining hardy campers pulling out to return home. Overall, it

was terrific to see so many old friends, and to make so many new ones.

Not enough can be said for the many volunteers, without whose assistance we couldn’t have put this all to-

gether. The names are far too many to list, with so many helping out, from Friday’s breakfast through Sat-

urday evening cleanup, game and site judging, pavilion decorating, food preparation, bag stuffing, cooking

and serving. It’s amazing how many pitched in and lent a hand. Hope we see many of you again this fall!

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The Heartland Owners Club held our 7th annual North American Heartland Owners Rally this past June. This year, we were in Gillette, Wyoming. 133 Rally units made the trek to Gillette representing 3 Canadian provinces with some traveling from as far as Ontario and 34 US states, with some traveling from as far as New Jersey and Florida. Rally attendees enjoyed two full days of RV and lifestyle seminars, many ca-tered meals, a very large potluck dinner and 3 evenings of entertainment. The Heart-land Marketplace was open for two full days with two-dozen vendors of lifestyle prod-ucts, RV products and related services, including several local Gillette businesses. Stalkups RV, our local dealer provided a large showing of new Heartland RVs and some rally attendees even bought the next RV of their dreams during the rally. Over a hundred rally attendees took a tour of a nearby operational coal mine while still oth-ers visited local museums and sites. A large number of attendees used the Gillette rally as the beginning or the end of a longer vacation to visit national parks and sites along the way. Another highlight of the rally was that for the first time in 7 years, Heartland sent a Service Team on the road to service rally attendee coaches. Thank you Heartland RVs and thank you Heartland product owners for making the Gillette rally a huge success for the Heartland Owners Club.