Thursday, April 22 Tuesday night it snowed 3” in Van Wert! Wednesday it mostly melted. This morning we headed out at 9:30 and 34 degrees for the Mark Wahlberg Rally. This rally has history and is a NOVA tradition and hosted by John and Suzie Couger. The idea is to set up camp on the show lot of the Wahlberg (formerly Haydocy) Airstream & RV lot in Columbus. By partnering with the dealership our NOVA members give live action to the Airstream lifestyle. As people come to look at the Airstream produce on the lot, they can also see what draws members together for group campouts. We arrived at 12:30, and at 1:00 it was snowing . . . hard! Big, wet, flakes were gusted by a brisk wind – more like February than April. Five friends had already claimed a parking spot in the Wahlberg side lot for the weekend, and we settled into the row next to Larry. We knew this surprise snow would be over quickly, and most of us enjoyed the novelty! Meanwhile the Airstreams kept arriving! By late afternoon most of the urban campers had arrived and the Wahlberg staff worked hard to give everyone access to electricity. The dealership had recently completed an addition to their showroom and there was plenty of room for a social circle inside where it was warm. At 5:00 Happy Hour started (drinks provided by Wahlberg) and sales-guru Eric Davis welcomed and addressed the group. At 6:00 host John Couger carted out his smoked, pulled, pork and coleslaw and chips, and the social talk gave way to . . . eating. Trailer count, 14. People count, 25ish. Friday, April 23 John, assisted by Tom, fired up the grill for breakfast orders promptly at 8:00: eggs to order, French toast, and bacon, on behalf of hosts John and Suzie. After breakfast it was warm enough to attempt some outside camping: small groups gathering and regrouping and enjoying Airstream talk. Tom and I had a White Castle break for lunch – no service inside, and the drive-thru window was at least a 30-minute wait. Worth it! Middle afternoon three “NOVA Jammers” set up equipment in the show room and kept live music coming at a steady rate to accompany the afternoon assembly. Dinner was a pot-luck with everyone subsidizing John’s Greek Grilled Chicken. As always happens at these dinner gatherings, the side dishes were a great variety and plentiful. Tom ducked around getting pictures of everyone. Starting off the picture line-up is Eric, proudly wearing his dad's blue beret -- from WAY BACK WHEN! I heard rumors that a late-night faction stayed up until 2:00 a.m. Personally, I wouldn’t know anything about that! Saturday, April 24 Morning sun and warm enough to sit outside for breakfast! Not as many people crawled out to enjoy John's eggs and pancakes, but John and Tom stood grill duty and ordered up for anyone who wanted. Today was the day that Wahlberg had advertised for people to come and look at Airstreams, view the trailers they had on hand . . . and observe the camping lifestyle we throw together. Many couples walked around and talked to us and then entered the dealership to talk silver with the sales people. I wish I knew how many sales NOVA can take credit for! Early afternoon Suzie set up a craft table and many gathered around to create a little budding vase of flowers from buttons Lunch, Jimmy Johns subs and trimmings, was provided by Wahlberg. As we gathered for happy hour a light-hearted atmosphere set in, and much of it centered around the cardboard cut-out of Marky-Mark – who was by now our best bud.. A couple of unnamed girls started it, leading to a gang of girls jumping in. Mr. Wahlberg was prepped for a night of entertainment and many claimed a photo-op. Later, after Eric passed out hats to everyone, another gang picture was taken. An Italian dinner kicked off the evening of entertainment at 6:00, getting everyone in the mood for a grand finale for the rally. (I guess I was too busy eating to get pictures of the food spread!) Wahlberg associate Hamilton hosted a trivia game to warm up the evening . . . with prizes! For good measure, a little birthday celebration was held for birthday-boy Dan -- with CAKE and singing! Then, the evening's entertainer was introduced and he spent 3 hours engaging this NOVA audience. It took about 1 minute for two-time EMMY Award winning composer and performer Dave Powers to win over our audience. Dave is a pianist, keyboardist, vocalist, and entertainer all wrapped up into one dynamite artiste. His vast repertoire excited every person that was there regardless of age or music genera preference. He kept it up for 3 hours! Somehow my little Pippa Joy was introduced to Dave, and he proceeded to hold Pippa with one hand, play the keyboard with the other hand and serenade her with little Pippa-proper songs! The rally pretty much ended on that note . . . and it will go down in history as one of the all-time great NOVA events. Thanks go to John and Suzie Couger, NOVA hosts and all of the staff of the Mark Wahlberg Airstream & RV Dealership.
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October 2021
We don’t go camping any more . . . we go ‘streamin’ ! The “SIlvermine and His” is our 2018 25' Airstream Serenity with Salsa interior and front twin beds., and ‘streamin’ is the name we use to describe our adventures. Stream along as we document everything from weekend trips to longer summer excursions and full-blown vacations. You know what they say: if you’re not in an Airstream – you’re just camping!
Tom & Ella Brown |