The weekend was damp, but that did not stop 8 NIU couples from enjoying eachothers company. Friday night we did get in a campfire before the rain started. We had restaurant dinner for Saturday night.
Check the Facebook page for pictures. Click here
May 14 – 17 – All Illinois Rally – Lithia Springs -Shelbyville, IL
May 5th, 2015
The three Illinois WBCCI Units rallied at Lithia Springs COE Campground near Shelbyville, IL. Sixteen Airstreams couples attended, ( 7 from NIU, 6 from Lincolnland , and 3 from Southern). Weather was cooperative, with only occasional light rain (which we worked around). Ten couples rented a party pontoon boat Friday afternoon. Some members went to the Amish Craft Festival in Arthur, others enjoyed the BlueGrass Festival and other activities in Shelbyville. There were lots of friendly conversations during the happy hours and around the campfires. Linda Hatten, from Lincolnland, cooked a pork loin for Saturday dinner. Carl Leslie serenaded us with his ukulele around the campfire. More pictures on photos page.
Link to the Rally Schedule of events: Click here
April 17th – 19th -Spring Amboy Rally
March 22nd, 2015
These pictures are clickable to full size.
Great weather for the rally. 13 trailers, plus an Interstate attended, including 2 first timers. Friday evening, the Executive Board decided to double the unit dues (from $5 to $10 per year) to cover the cost of storing and distributing the emails and Newsletters using “Constant Contact”. The Saturday morning membership meeting confirmed the election of the International officers and approved a proposed International Constitutional amendment. We were unable to develop candidates for the open unit officer positions, so that election was postponed until October. No unit officers chose/plan to attend the Farmington, NM International rally, so Dwight Dixon will be our delegate. Saturday afternoon, we toured the NorthWest Museum in Dixon. Here is the link The 1908 high school building now contains exhibits of: Ronald Reagan, early pioneer history, and Indian culture. On the way back from town, the Frizs (first timers) had a front left Firestone tire blow out on their Ford 250. Luckily, there was no oncoming traffic. They have AAA Road service. The steel spare rim ( also sold to them by a Firestone dealer) did not fit the truck. AAA took the wheels to Wal-Mart and transferred the unused spare tire to the original cast aluminum wheel. (Word of caution: check to see that your spare tire actually fits on your tow vehicle.) The truck was slightly damaged, but no one was hurt.
Unfortunately, they missed Rick Wendorf’s (second VP) presentation on the use of generators. (Summary can be found on maintenance page of this website.) We used the Unit’s portable gas grill to cook brats and hamburgers on the covered patio. The weather was chilly, so we ate inside. There were lots of dishes to pass. Due to the cold, the campfire was canceled. The new leadership decided to clean out our shed on Sunday morning. Over the last 10 years the unit membership has fallen from 126 to 58, so they threw out the large cooking equipment. The leadership no longer wants to conduct church services, so the 80 custom hymnals were discarded. Old paper products (contaminated by mice) were discarded. No one has volunteered to become the club historian, so the the loose leaf unit history books were discarded. WBCCI Bluebook is now online and accessible by computer or smartphone. so the obsolete WBCCI BlueBooks were discarded.
Great weather for the rally. 13 trailers, plus an Interstate attended, including 2 first timers. Friday evening, the Executive Board decided to double the unit dues (from $5 to $10 per year) to cover the cost of storing and distributing the emails and Newsletters using “Constant Contact”. The Saturday morning membership meeting confirmed the election of the International officers and approved a proposed International Constitutional amendment. We were unable to develop candidates for the open unit officer positions, so that election was postponed until October. No unit officers chose/plan to attend the Farmington, NM International rally, so Dwight Dixon will be our delegate. Saturday afternoon, we toured the NorthWest Museum in Dixon. Here is the link The 1908 high school building now contains exhibits of: Ronald Reagan, early pioneer history, and Indian culture. On the way back from town, the Frizs (first timers) had a front left Firestone tire blow out on their Ford 250. Luckily, there was no oncoming traffic. They have AAA Road service. The steel spare rim ( also sold to them by a Firestone dealer) did not fit the truck. AAA took the wheels to Wal-Mart and transferred the unused spare tire to the original cast aluminum wheel. (Word of caution: check to see that your spare tire actually fits on your tow vehicle.) The truck was slightly damaged, but no one was hurt.
Unfortunately, they missed Rick Wendorf’s (second VP) presentation on the use of generators. (Summary can be found on maintenance page of this website.) We used the Unit’s portable gas grill to cook brats and hamburgers on the covered patio. The weather was chilly, so we ate inside. There were lots of dishes to pass. Due to the cold, the campfire was canceled. The new leadership decided to clean out our shed on Sunday morning. Over the last 10 years the unit membership has fallen from 126 to 58, so they threw out the large cooking equipment. The leadership no longer wants to conduct church services, so the 80 custom hymnals were discarded. Old paper products (contaminated by mice) were discarded. No one has volunteered to become the club historian, so the the loose leaf unit history books were discarded. WBCCI Bluebook is now online and accessible by computer or smartphone. so the obsolete WBCCI BlueBooks were discarded.
Link to the NIU April 2015 Newsletter is on newsletter page of this website.
More pictures on NIU FaceBook: Click Here
Mar. 21st 12:00 – Pizza Party – Lou Malnati’s
February 22nd, 2015
Eighteen of our members had a Pizza party at Lou Malnati’s in Elk Grove Village. Attending: Long time members: Damisch, Bonnie, Kochs, Kranners, Whitesells, Mark & Brian, Mayos, Whitey, and newer members: Lannings, and newest members: Selles. It was a good break after a long winter.
Febrary 22 – Chicago RV Show and Coopers Hawk Dinner
January 28th, 2015 Saturday.2:30PM – RV Show – Five NIU couples met and toured the show. The show was a good place to dream about next summer’s travels and camping. 
After the show, 15 people went to dinner at Coopers Hawk.
Northern Illinois Unit February Newsletter on Newsletter page.
WBCCI February 2015 National News and Views: Click here
January Events
December 16th, 2014You can enlarge this picture by clicking on it.
January 24th– Luncheon at Houlihan’s in Illinois – Sixteen Airstreaming friends got together to enjoy some good food and conversations. Officers and members included: Mayos, Kraners, Wendorfs, Whitesells, Kochs, Schwarzs, Nancy Laning, and Withey family.
You can enlarge this picture by clicking on it.
January 27th – Florida – Eighteen NIU members and alumni met at Travelers Rest near Dade City to enjoy a Pot Luck Luncheon and Florida weather. Attendees: Aarups, Carligs, Dixons, Jaminsons, J. Matkovichs, R. Matkovichs, Morrisons, Stuarts, and the Wagnons. Hosted by Jim and Bobby Matkovich.
Jan. 2015 Newsletter: Click here
Dec. 6th – Christmas Dinner Theater- White Pines
October 27th, 2014
–” Branson on the Road – Christmas Style”
Twenty-six members attended. The food was good and the three piece county and western group gave a lively performance. No weather driving problems this year.
Airstream Recall Notice : Late model Electrical Inlet Connectors: Click here
Fall/Thanksgiving/Installation Rally – Oct. 17 – 19 Amboy Fairgrounds
September 21st, 2014
We had a fine fall weekend. Ten family memberships brought their Units to celebrate Thanksgiving and Elect/Install our new officers. Saturday, we had two families drive in to visit and enjoy a meal. Friday night, most of us attended the open mic. entertainment at the Lincoln Highways Museum in Franklin Grove. The Saturday morning business meeting elected our new officers. Dave Mayo, our new president, presented next year’s schedule of activities. (See the Event/Rally schedule page) Dwight detailed the causes of the “Electrocution by Airstream” that occurred June 30th this year at Amboy. He reviewed grounding procedures necessary to prevent re-occurrence and demonstrated the club’s newly purchased device to detect “hot skins”. Membership Chairman reported the International and NIU website signed up 8 new NIU members this year. Goykes, Morrisons, and Bonnie Nester have their motorhomes for sale. Saturday our delicious dinner had three turkeys and many side dishes supplied by our members. Surrounding farmers were busy bringing in the harvests. Weather was brisk. Saturday evening the temperature dropped to 29F. Many of our retired members will be leaving for the south soon and our working members will have to winterize their units and put them away.
A number of members took pictures with their cell phones and posted them to the NIU FaceBook Wall. Here is the link. Click here
Link to September/ October 2014 Newsletter on newsletter page.
Region 5 Springfield Rally – Sept. 10-14th
August 16th, 2014You can enlarge this picture by clicking on it.
Region 5 President Monte Barksdale put on a good rally. Northern Illinois had five couples with trailers and two couples with motorhomes attending. We arrived on Tuesday during a little drizzle. Wednesday morning it rained hard for a short time. It cleared by the afternoon, when most attendees arrived. The activities were held in the Illinois building, which was a short drive from the State Fairground campground. The entertainment was very good and there were three excellent catered dinners provided, including Prime Rib on Saturday. Springfield has many governmental buildings and attractions to tour. We tried to see them all. Additionally, there are a large number of Lincoln related attractions. The new Lincoln museum and library were outstanding. Lincoln Museum link Lincoln’s tomb was very impressive. We also toured the Dana/Thomas house, which was designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1902. Dana/Thomas link Next year’s Region 5 Rally will be held in Gochen, IN.
June – July 2014 NIU NewsLetter on newsletter page.
Mississippi Palisade St. Pk.- Savanna – Aug. 22-24th
July 25th, 2014
Six NIU couples attended the rally. Five “buddies”, including two Airstreams, attended. Friday afternoon the weather was threatening. Saturday morning, during a thunderstorm, a large pine, high on the bluff high above the campsite, exploded, when hit by lightning. It was an interesting failure analysis. During the day, individual couples found a variety of local activities to stay out of the rain. The weather cleared in time for our pot luck dinner and Saturday night movie,” The Long Long Trailer”. The sun came out Sunday morning and dried our awnings, so we could roll them up for our trips home. It is a nice scenic state park with many places to visit within 20 miles.
The Sauk Valley Daily Gazette reported: June 30th, three year old Amboy child was electrocuted, when he touched his family’s Airstream. Here is the link: Click Here Report of same incident on RV Travel.com: Click here
This occurred at the boy’s home (not the fairground). They are not members of the Northern Illinois Unit. Further information has been added to this website’s Maintenance Page, on how to detect “Hot Skins” and protect yourselves against this kind of problem.