6 May 2000

Corporate downsizing and people going "postal" are all the more reason for folks to get into yet another situation for releiving stress! For me, it's sitting in the middle of a large gathering of "Sleak Polished Customized Parlors of Personality"! By this, I mean "Customized Vans"!

Yes folks, those once "Hippy Machines" that your parents so dreaded are still out there in abundance and cruising our beautiful nation! The faces have changed a bit, but the creativity and originality are still there, 'tho the major magazines don't recognize it! Give me a perfect Friday night, a bit of untraveled highway, campfires, friends, and conversation and soon my troubles at the factory fade away!

What was once a major fad back in the '70s is once again in a revival! People are finding out that those "boxy" shapes that pervaded our nation's highways twenty some years ago, are once again back in "style"!

Van clubs still exist and in fact, with the advent of the "High Tech-Super Highway" (meaning internet), more informative! "Vanning Chat" takes place each and every Wednesday evening (vannin.com), bringing people from as far away as Australia and Thailand, conversing in facts that happened at their events etc. Who'd ever thought that all you needed to get a flyer for an event was a computer and a printer? Wow!

Collecting of "Vanabilia" is the rage with people on eBay! Those once forgotten closet forgettables are now fetching top $$$! Who could ever get enough magazines on "How to lay carpeting and install paneling in a van"? I have my share!

More people are now bringing in yet another new generation of "Vanners", their children. Once thought as a "biker type" event, these new generation Truck-ins are wholesome family events! Many Truck-ins sponsor kids games and activites to keep them occupied while mom & dad work on getting the Van ready for "Show & Shine".

The average person can't imagine how much time and effort goes into designing and building these vehicles into "Rolling Modern Coaches". Thousands of dollars less than factory designed campers, but more appealling, more obtainable, yet functional, and most important, FUN!

Yes twenty some years later, these designed by Detroit for the purpose of "work" are again in style! SUV's are an attestament to that, but not as practical for camping purposes.

So if that place that you work has you downtrodden, give "Vannin" a try! I have been doing it for over 27 years now and I have never had so much fun in my life!

Rollie Eldred
President
Beaver Valley Vans Ltd.

"Vannin....it's more than a passin' fad!"