By Ron Drake
I have always recognized that vintage camper trailer enthusiasts are very friendly, helpful, and interesting people. You might even say that they are a little eccentric and, like my neighbor Ed Derderian, who has at least six vintage trailers, a little too obsessed with the hobby. I’ve seen people rush over to their neighbor at a rally to help with an awning, a pop-up shade, or other situations where an extra hand was needed. Whatever the scenario, people are always willing to help.
That brings me to my point. The first weekend in February my wife, Pat, and I decided we needed to get away from home for a few days and see some different scenery, get out of the cold weather, and, from a distance, mingle with trailer people again for awhile. So we headed to the annual vintage trailer rally at Lake Havasu City in Arizona. The congenial rally hosts Mike and Cherri Aiken always organize a fun and low-key event at the Arizona State Park in a reserved section right along the beach.
It is over an eight-hour drive from our home in Castle Valley, Utah to Lake Havasu City so we left early to get there with plenty of time to set up before dark but we encountered strong winds and blowing sand along the way. Somewhere in eastern Arizona the combination of the gusting winds and a section of rough roads jiggled the rear hatch loose on our 1947 Kit teardrop and caused it to swing open widely and flap in the wind, which pulled the nails loose and damaged the trim that connects the siding and roof. I ran a strap over the top of the trailer to hold it in place with plans to just deal with the problem when I got back home after enjoying the weekend.
At the rally, I was visiting with Norman Guimond from Los Angeles, and during our conversation, I mentioned my experience with the wind and damage to the trailer and he took a look at it and said “we can fix that.” Norman seems to be the type of guy with a lot of nervous energy but more importantly, he has a sincere desire to help people. He wasn’t having any of my plan to fix it when I got home so we got right with the repair work. As soon as we got started with the project then Chuck Schaffeld from Ontario, Oregon saw what was going on and came over to the trailer and offered to help. He even brought his toolbox full of a multitude of power tools just in case they were needed.
In less than an hour, the three of us had the trim straightened and the aluminum siding back in place and the trailer was back to its original glory except for the dirty condition of the trailer caused by the dusty trip to the rally.
The experience with Norman and Chuck and their desire to help out only reinforced what I already knew: vintage camper trailer folks are a great bunch of people!
