Vanniversary 38 hosted by Central IA Vanners

Well, I didn't get a recap from anyone so far and Rick and I were only there Friday so I guess I'll post the pictures from CIV and hope someone emails me an article later.

I can tell you the shot board that Don Noone brought was fun Friday night.  Looks like Saturday had some interesting games and a tour of a local winery.

Thanks to Joyce Wiese for sending me pics from Saturday!

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Thanks!

Tammy
HOAVC Webmaster

Celebrating at Midwest Vans International Truck-In

Keith and Dawn from Vantasia got on the road and started our way to the Midwest Truck-In over the memorial day weekend. We pulled in when gates opened at noon on Friday and parked with our good friends from Vanatics Van Club. We got all set up and the drinks began! Wick from Vantasia joined us about 4:00pm. We filled up the cooler and made our way around the campground.

The band started up at 9pm and followed with a Beer Pong tournament in the pavilion. Keith from Vantasia and Chico from Vanatics teamed up and had a blast making it to the championship against Blue Grass. It became very exciting and entertaining for all that was watching! After an intense game Keith and Chico ending up winning and received the beer pong belt! We stayed up late that evening into the morning of 3am. Got up Saturday morning moving around slow.

The show-n-shine was not until 3:00pm so that was nice that we had extra time to rest up. We drank lots of water and gatorade! We got our Van cleaned up for show-n-shine, got it parked and joined the other's at Bucko's Van for shots. Keith, Dawn and Wick then went to The Oasis Tavern on the corner and had a great dinner.

We headed back to the Truck-In and started all over again with Blue Grass Vanners and the moon shine, Chrome Dome with the apple pie and tequila! Walked around and visiting with all the fine people from Midwest.

The band started up and jungle juice was ready to go from Blue Grass! Then it was time for the beer chugging contest - Keith from Vantasia and Courtney from Vanatics signed up but couldn't keep up, they still had a great time trying. We made it another late night having a blast with everyone even Jerry from Vanatics.lol'

We headed back to Kansas City Sunday morning because we both had to work Monday. Wishing we could have stayed but we will next year when we go back!

When we got home Sunday, we got a call from Rocco from Vanatics and he told us that Vantasia got the long distance award and Keith and Dawn's Van won 1st place in show-n-shine in our class. Keith also got a trophy for the beer pong tournament.

Hats off to Midwest Vans LTD, You folks put on a Great Truck-In!

Thanks again, Hope to see you all at NATS.
Keith and Dawn Gray - Vantasia Van Club 

3 Fingers In Part II Van & Truck Show

Hosted by Vanners of OZ

This event was held at the Ranch Bowl in Kansas City, KS again. There was a good turnout although I don't think as many pickups showed this year.

Dan & Carla's new ride

As usual they kept us entertained with a DJ and games that included the bean bag toss, bowling and beer pong. I hope everyone went in and had some food - reasonable prices and tastes good! 

Vanners donated $100 to the American Red Cross

Some of the club members

The club made some nice trophies to hand out that included a picture of the van and their owner(s). They also had a LOT of giveaways in their raffle that included hats, shirts, concert tickets, etc.

Best Pickup Award

 Nice job Vanners of OZ!!!

August News

Upcoming Events:

• MASVA: August 24-26th (pre-reg deadline today, August 10th)
• 8th Annual Custom Van Show hosted by Hy-Rollin Vans, September 1
• Taz'z VCVC "Party in the Yard", September 2
• The HAVE's 7th Annual Truck-In "Seventh Heaven", September 7-9

Flyers can be found on the HOAVC.org website

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HOAVC - October 19-21, 2012
HOAVC Meeting Saturday at 11am

Reminders for HOAVC members:

• In order to keep our event insurance we have to put on a Show n Shine. That means that each club should come up with a show n shine trophy and something you want to judge.
• Each club should come up with one adult and one kids games & awards. (Individual members are also welcome to run a game).
• Volunteers are needed to help with gate duty, schnapps bar, etc.

Email us back with what you want to sign up for.
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Don't know if I sent this out before but here is a link to Pony Express Van Club pics:
http://www.donlsmith.net/vans

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40th Nationals Coverage
Several magazines covered the Nats this year including DropJaw, Popular Mechanics, Hot Rod Hotline (online mag) and a Mopar Magazine.
Here are the links to what I've seen posted so far:

DropJaw Magazine

Popular Mechanics

Hot Rod Hotline:

Make sure you let them know how much you appreciate having them cover our events.

There were also a couple guys there working on a documentary for vannin. Can't wait to see it!

Follow them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanninmovie
or their website (looks like a work in progress): http://www.vanninmovie.com/

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Bob Large has the Jaws van up for sale. Asking $8,000 

This is an award winning show van, and is a one owner vehicle. Some of the details are tongue and groove walnut floor, walnut running boards, twin sunroofs, walnut overhead consoles (front & rear), vinyl covered dash/door panels/head liner, 113,000 miles.

The owner can be reached at 913-302-4539

Price is firm, will not deliver, pick up only, cash or cashier check only. If a cashier check is used the title will only change hands after the cashier check has been deposited in his account.

Please see the link below for pictures and video. Some of the video and pictures are large.
http://www.seagateshare.com/share/large5/share/craigslist/Jaws%20van/

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/cto/3112994966.html

Truckin' to Lone Star XXXIV

Lone Star Vans held there 34th Van-In on April 20th-22nd 2012. There were 21 paid Vans through the gate. It was held at Burns run West Campgrounds, in Cartwright , OK on beautiful Lake Texoma. 

Vantasia took two Vans down, and 8 Vanners: Patti Zweigel, Keith Gray, Jack & Carol Lynch, Bill & Karen Wickersty and Don & Becky Noone. We left on Thursday after Becky got home. Drove to Bill and Patti's that night and spent the night with them. Bill is recovering but wasn't ready to take the trip. Patti went with us and the neighbors keep a eye on Bill. 

Friday we were off to see our fellow Texas Vanners. This trip was a little depressing, due to the death of Ray Whittle 6/17/47--4/19/12. I had just talked to Ray and Star a week ago and he was so looking forward to seeing everyone. Charlotte called me over the weekend and told me that they had rushed him to the hospital. His leg had swelled up. They had to do surgery on him for blood clots. He survived the surgery but complications set in. Ray will be missed by many for sure. Our Prayers go out to Star and her family. This weekend at the truck-in we all talked about memories we had with and about Raymond. One that was shared with me over the Internet was with Cinnamon at a Van Nationals where some members of the Nat's Board were arrested. Ray was the one that went down to get them out. 

On Saturday night at the annual pot luck dinner that Lone Star puts on, Donnie from Lone Star said Grace along with some words about Ray and then a moment of silence. There were many tearful eyes among the crowd. 

Back to the truck-in Friday it was little cool compared with what everyone had been seeing this spring. It was in the 60's and 40's at night. I played music until a little after 10 PM. The park has a quiet time. It didn't stop everyone from visiting each others campsites. 

On Saturday everyone woke up to warmer temps. It turned out to be a beautiful day in the upper 70's. They had some great kids and adult games. Donnie form L.S.V. put on the games and had a lot of participation. There was a show-in-shine where yours truly was asked to do the judging. Hope everyone was happy with the results. At 6PM everyone was to bring their dishes for the pot luck dinner. The meat was cooked by Marty on his Texas style smoker he made. It not only looked good and won best trailer, it smoked the ham, chicken, sausage and  brisket meat to everyone's delight. Thanks Marty. Everyone else brought their dishes & desserts up for a great dinner. After dinner it was Show Time. Time to hand out the awards. After dinner everyone scattered to their  campsites to take back their dishes. I told them to come back and party cause there was the 10PM curfew on the tunes. Well it didn't take long for everyone to come back up. Especially when Art & Jenna and Bud Man Vans hauled their cooler of Jim Beam back to the pavilion. We were also celebrating Bob Dunbar's birthday with cake and lots of shots. The Park ranger showed up at 10 and said if I could turn it down some he would let us go for awhile. Thanks Ranger Rick!! 

Sunday it was time to pack up and head home. 450 miles one way back home. Gas prices ranged from $3.65 to $3.49. True we may have spent more money to go this year than last, but how do you put a price on friendship & fun? Isn't that what Vanning is all about? If you just sit around home talking about gas price's you will go crazy. Thanks to all the Texas Vanners for your Southern Hospitality. Nooner. 
 

Ray was put to rest at 2 PM on Sunday in Mesquite, Texas. If anyone would like to donate you can do so to the Scottish Rite Children's Hospital 2222 Welborn St. Dallas, Texas 75215-3993.

Please do so on behalf of Ray Whittle.

Freeze Out 2012 - Should have been Thaw Out!

Well how many of you have ever watched the movie The Perfect Storm? Well to me there is no such thing as a perfect storm. But there is such a thing as a Perfect Weekend! Well Three Trails Vans of Kansas City to me hosted the Perfect Weekend, also know as the Freeze-Out Truck-In. 

This traditional winter to spring truck-in has been hosted by many over the years. Three Trails took it over a few years back. It has been held at several locations also over the years. It started by Dave Stevenson & Junk Town Vans from Junction City, Kansas. Now it presides in Eagleville, Missouri. At the Eagle Ridge RV Park where it has been the last several years. 

Last year on the same weekend it was 20 degrees and snow. This year it 80 plus degrees. The weather was just unbelievable. The pavilion was wrapped with plywood, the propane heaters were in place, but no need for either one. 

Last years attendance was around 25 vans, this year 47. On Friday night the party lasted until a little after 1am and there were several people feeling no pain, not till the next morning anyway. 

Mike & Wanda provided the hot dogs and snacks for the weekend. Saturday weather was also perfect. Everyone spent most of the day sitting around campsites visiting with fellow vanners, enjoying the weather. 

Saturday evening the campground owner, Bob, ran a cable into the pavilion so we could hook up a TV to watch the Final Four Basketball games. It just so happened that a local college was in the tournament. Kansas University. Becky played the tunes while I watched the game with several other vanners. It was a lot of fun. Kansas won also helping make this weekend (Perfect). I took over the tunes after the game and played to a good crowd till about 1 in the morning. 

There were several long distance vanners, Bob & Karen from Kentucky, who is also in the Final Four tournament. But Cindy Lou, who has to have more long distance awards than anyone I know took home the long distance award. Congrats to both for supporting long distance events. Long Distance Club went to Fast Lanes Vans, Vanatic's was a close second to them. Both clubs are know for traveling long distances to have fun and support other van clubs. 

For all the Vanners that attended, I think they will agree that It was a Perfect Weekend. Three Trails you may not have won the Mega Million drawing, but sure won everyone over this weekend. Thank You All for a Perfect Weekend. 

Nooner
Vantasia Van Club 

 Upcoming HOAVC Events:

• Three Fingers In Part II hosted by Vanners of Oz on Saturday, April 28th.
• Vanniversary 38 hosted by Central Iowa Vanners, May 4-6
• 35 Years of Spring Fever hosted by Vantasia Vans, May 18-20

For more info check out the HOAVC website.

Groundhog "Mardi Gras" Party 2012 hosted by Vanatic's Van Club

Congrats go out Vanatic's for hosting another great event. 

Their attendance more than doubled from last year. It all started around the pool with music and drinks. After the pool party stopped, the party continued in the hallways.

Saturday brought more Vanners coming in from all over. Vanatic's shuttled everyone to the local winery-brewery. The pool side was being decorated by Pat Cason for Gary's 60th Surprise Birthday celebration and roast. Lot's of fun and good stories. While some concerned Kansas Basketball Fans gathered around the TV to watch Missouri & Kansas go into over time. Kansas won. That night it was time to get the Mardi Gras clothing on. Lots of flashy clothing and hair. The band was awesome and Vanatic's provided the pizza and beer. It was great event, with great Friends. 

Thank You Vanatic's!!

Don Noone / Vantasia Vans

Council of Council 2012 hosted by Florida Van Council

As seen through the eyes of Vanatics Van Club:
 

Well our trip started on Friday, Jan 27th with getting up at 2:30 a.m. so we could be on the road by 4:30a.m.  Jerry and Laura spent the night so we could get an early start. We met up with Rocco at the local travel center off I-55 and started our journey - first stop New Orleans! 

We arrived in the Big Easy just in time for the weekend traffic heading to the city. Didn’t take long to reach the hotel though and we settled in with a few cocktails and preparing to head out for the evening. We grabbed a cab (suburban) for the 5 of us to hit the city. We were dropped off right in the thick of it and we were ready to party. 

First stop was to grab a “Grenade” drink a local favorite and a few beers. We met up with some friend that live in Baton Rouge and the party was on! We went to Pat O’Brien’s to get a hurricane for Princess’s birthday (fact is she had 2 lol). Then we proceeded to make our way from bar to bar until about 2 am when we had enough and were tired from driving. 

After a good night’s sleep we were up and back at it down at the French Market getting a cocktail, some gumbo and a muffaletta to satisfy our appetites, after that we proceeded to walk through the various shops and have some more cocktails. We made our way back to hotel later to clean up and grab a cab back down to the fun. Well let’s just say the rest of the evening was a lot of fun going from bar to bar enjoying the entertainment and we wrapped up about 2:30 a.m. - do you see a trend here?? lol..lol.. 

Sunday we got up and back down to the city after seeing Rocco off. He was heading to Clearwater, Florida and would meet us at the Council’s hotel. We arrived downtown to have the first of a few issues with our minivan as the ignition/key got stuck in the lock position. After about 30 minutes Jerry and I managed to unlock it and get van started so we pulled the battery cable and locked the van up and made our way downtown. We made an early evening of it, had a nice dinner and off to bed as we were heading to Gulf Shores, Alabama the next morning. 

Got up Monday morning and left hotel around 8:30 and off to Gulf Shores. There we met up with Rita’s sister and mom and the Vantasia gang who were on their way to Florida. We grabbed a nice lunch with them at a place called Tacky Jacks. They came to our hotel and we finished off with drinks and a few apple pie shots and we finished ours at the famous LuLu Buffets restaurant (great food). 

Tuesday we got up and had a bite to eat then took in some beach time, some lunch and dinner with Rita’s family and Jerry and Laura. Then called it an evening so we could get up and make our way to Florida the next morning.

We awoke Wednesday to dolphins outside our hotel in the ocean and warm weather! We loaded up and off to Florida we went. Made great time going down until (insert drum roll) the van broke down. We had pulled off to use a gas station and it died. We called for a tow and Rocco came and picked up Jerry and the girls. I myself had the ride of my life in the tow truck with the driver towing my van coming inches from running into the rear of a stopped vehicle. Let’s just say I was pissed and needed a drink. Jerry and I trouble shot the issue and had suspected a bad fuel pump so with the help of Randy (Gnarly) from FVC (he set us up with some tools) and myself Jerry and Denny Smith Jr, we dropped fuel tank and installed new pump and filter.. guess what??? Didn’t fix it.. grrrrrr… so next we discovered no spark.. ok easy enough new coil pack, guess what?? Didn’t fix it… double GRRRRRRR.. and to top it off now were blowing ignition fuses now I’m mad.. so I get my laptop out. I found a website that someone had blogged the same issue I was having and behold we found issue the O/2 sensor wire fell against exhaust manifold and was shorting the ignition out so .50 cents of electrical tape we were back in action minus $200.00 fuel pump we could not return. Oh well no need to worry about those for a while..lol..lol.. We spent the rest of the day at the beach bar laughing it off and made our way back to hotel where we left to go pick up the other part of our crew at the airport - the Hyde’s and Raoul. After picking them up we partied for a while then off to bed. 

Thursday we spent the day near the beach bar hopping and souvenir shopping then back to the hotel to get ready for the nights activities. It was pajama night and I, Jerry and Rocco managed to pick up some cool shirts with Drunk 1, 2 & 3 on them so we suited up and made our way to the party. The shirts were a hit with the vanners,  the band was great and we partied until wee hours. 

Saturday we strolled around to look at all the vans in the show and shine. Rocco had his Caravan panel in the show and won a trophy for it as well - great job Rocco! After Cindy returned from the meeting we made our way to lunch and then back to the hotel for a cruise from 5-7 p.m. We had a great crowd with Mr.Bill, the Hopcraft’s and several others. We managed to drink a gallon of apple pie I had saved just for this occasion it was a great way to top off the trip. After returning we made our way to the band as well as all the raffles being drawn. Needless to say none of us won..lol..lol.. all in all a great trip took 15 hours to get home but worth every bit of it to spend time with my family and close friends and all the vanner family as well.

Darrin Bentley
Vanatics Van Club