Wednesday July 27, 2005
Camp Scholler

As the sun set over Oshkosh, RV builders arrived. We figure about
75 people were there. Next year we'll do a better job of posting exactly where the BBQ is.

Tom Gibbons, from Lake Elmo, Minnesota chats with Duncan from Red Wing, Minnesota. Tom is actually building a Pulsar, but was given a special waiver to attend. Sorry I don't have everyone's last names. Please send 'em along.

Glenn Brasch on the left, Darwin Barrie on the right in the green shirt.

Keith Uhls, left, talks with Guy, whose last name I did not catch. Keith was working the Grand Rapids Technology booth at Oshkosh.

I didn't write anything down when taking the pictures so I'm doing this all from memory. On the right with the beer -- I think -- is John Sannizzaro from Plymouth, Mass.

That's John McDonnell on the right. John was the very first person on the various bulletin boards to offer help when I first ran into a problem building the RV7A. He wasn't the last.

John and John. At least I think that's John.

I believe Ray Carter is on the right. Ralph Inkster, center, flew his newly minted RV7A from Calgary. He was building the 7A side-by-side next to a 6A. The 6A isn't done yet.

Beverly and Stan Jones (back to you) made it all the way from New Zealand. And found a willing cab driver to patrol Camp Scholler looking for us. They're talking with two of our camp neighbors from Kalamazoo. Good guys.

Now you can get a look at Stan. Standing talking to Beverly is Frank Zwart of Kalamazoo. He's an RV6 driver. By pure chance, he pulled up next to us on Sunday afternoon to camp. That's what I love about Oshkosh. What a great neighbor they all were!

I don't know why this picture makes me think of "Survivor." The last person on the island wins an RV!

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Keith Uhls with the sunglasses around his neck. His dad, Bill, is to his left. Bill had to return to Austin on Thursday because he wasn't feeling well. I certainly wish him the best and hope all is OK.

Tom Gibbons, right, chats with Frank Karasti from Gilbert, Minnesota. To Frank's right is Yvonne Rivard. Hey, you have to admit, this isn't bad coming from memory!

When the BBQ first got going, I was desperately trying to get the hot dogs cooking, answering cellphone calls, and giving people directions. Donna Baxter (facing the camera), stepped in to help and really saved the day. Thanks, Donna! In the upper left is Bill Pendergrass who is building an RV7A with his father, Haywood, sitting to his left. Again, as luck would have it, they were camping just down 12th Street from our location.

This is where I totally embarrass myself. John McDonnell is talking to Lamar Lawson from south Texas. One of the women here is Nina, but I can't remember which one. And I can't remember the other's name. They were both very nice. And I'm very sorry.

Dan and Jim Diehl from Pennsylvania talking to John Adams of Seattle, who flew his RV7 to the show. Let me point out here that the young people I met at Oshkosh through the week should make their parents feel proud. They were fine young men and women.

Greg Wilkinson was kind enough to bring along some "Hello, my name is..." stickers. And some fine Canadian brew. I don't think Greg is either one of these people but I wanted to mention him and I don't think I have a picture.

It was really great to see Darwin Barrie again. He was at the first BBQ in 2003. Greg Cameron arrived after the picture-taking session. They're from Chandler, Arizona. Mark Chamberlain, right, is building an RV-7 (A, I think)

Everytime I saw Larry Frey, left, he was smiling just like this. Oshkosh has a way of doing that to you.

The only problem with hosting this shindig is I didn't get much time to chat with people. But I had a great time anyway, got great ideas for next year's gathering, and hope you all enjoyed it too!

Michael Regen on the far left. If you folks want the originals of any of these pictures, just drop me an e-mail. And if you have pictures you took, send a copy along and I'll add it here.

Just to remind you what we're all talking about. This was actually a formation flight the next day. I don't know who was flying, but they did a terrific job.

Thanks for watching. I hope you'll be at Oshkosh next year.