As we celebrate forty years of the Newmar Kountry Klub, we are taking a step back and looking at a bit of history. The Klub began in 1985 out of a desire to get together with other Newmar Owners, to create fellowship, fun and friendships. We think the Klub sure has done that! Our first big National Retreat was held in Branson, Missouri, August 21-24, 1986. Since that time, we have held an annual rally each year, except for 2020, so we are going to be celebrating for a year or more. 2025 is our 40th year, and 2026 will host the 40th annual International Rally.
Through the years we have changed the structure of the Klub several times, from a National Rally to an International Rally when our friends to the north joined. Our 1995 Rally was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
At one time we had National Directors, then that was changed to Region Directors. Off and on we have had Special Events and Caravans, and now we have a much more organized group of Special Event Hosts, trained to take you on new adventures.
The Klub is always growing and changing, and that is a sign of a healthy Klub. Change is not always easy, but it is important to stay alive. In this Issue we have asked our Regional Directors to Interview past Region Directors for their memories and stories and then give their own take on where we are now.
For us, it has been our pleasure to serve the Klub as Chapter Presidents, Interim Regional Directors, Members at Large and Interim International Directors. We have enjoyed each of these positions and having the opportunity to contribute in some small way to the Klub.
We welcome Jamie & Beth Smith as our New International Directors. We know they bring a lot to the Klub, and we look forward to working with them.
We have asked Bob & Bonnie Krieger to share their experiences as International Directors. Next issue we have asked the State Directors and Chapters to take a look back and give us a bit of history and share stories.
We hope you enjoy this issue and our history.
And then come with us for the next 40 years on ……. The Road Ahead.
Bob and Bonnie Krieger (12508-L)
International Directors Emeritus
For us, it all started about 1998 at a music festival in Graves Mountain, Virginia. where we were camping in our new Newmar Fifth Wheel enjoying some great music and beautiful scenery. As we walked over to the stage, we met another couple who were from Texas – they were camped near us in their Newmar motorhome. We struck up quite a friendship that weekend, following them around like a couple of puppies soaking up any knowledge we could glean about Newmar – and then it happened…. “have you heard about the Newmar Kountry Klub?” they asked? “No – What’s that?”
we asked….
…. THUS BEGAN ONE OF THE MOST MARVELOUS, WILD, AND CRAZY RIDES OF OUR LIVES!
When we returned home, we joined our local chapter the Virginia Wheels and shortly thereafter attended our first International rally in York, Pennsylvania, and we were off and rolling.
During our time, the magazine was called the “Konnection” which was very appropriate as it provided the link to the members, the Klub, the Product, Corporate, and the Dealers. After serving as Chapter and State Directors, beginning in 2009, we served as Region 5 Directors for 5 years, and hosted the Newmar rally at the Tampa RV Show for 7 years, before becoming International Directors (ID’s) for an additional 5 years. We were blessed during our tenure to have excellent support from Newmar Corporate, the dealers, and our great member volunteers!
We probably put about 50,000 miles on that Fifth wheel – what a great vehicle it was! – it traveled well, and we had to evacuate the house and lived in it for about 10 days after hurricane Isabel ravaged our area with flooding and no power. We then moved to a 2003 Dutch Star which carried us to most of the lower 48 states and across parts of Canada in pursuit of our duties as ID’s, ending up with 267,000 miles on the motor home. We developed quite a “Konnection” to those two units and the many people we met at those rallies!
We absolutely loved our visits to Quartzsite, Arizona for the annual gathering by the Newmar Klub in the desert! Nothing beats the beautiful sunsets, the camaraderie of the many people from all over the US and Canada gathered around a large crackling campfire under a beautiful canopy of stars with a lonesome guitar or two strumming beside the fire, accompanied with the distant sound of a coyote yipping. The women are proudly passing around photos and praises of their grandchildren while the men are discussing their latest colonoscopy – Life just does not get any better!!!
The next morning, we observed what we have seen countless times – Newmar friends coming forward to give a helping hand to others in need. A member had some type of failure in their slide mechanism on the coach and it would not come in. A group of about eight members stepped up to assist by trying to manually push it in. After about TEN minutes of shoving, groaning, sweating, pushing, heaving, hurling unpleasantries, etc. the slide came in! At that point, a member, with a quizzical look on his face, who had walked up late blurted out “You know… there’s a button you push inside that does that!” Well, about half the group busted out in laughter while the other half gave out a loud groan! (Rumor has it that his wife threatened to have him sleep outside with the scorpions that night, so maybe justice was served…)
Another element of the Klub that Bonnie & I immensely enjoyed was the Full-timers Chapter. They were a fun group with an excellent Newsletter and presented great seminars on that marvelous lifestyle at the rallies.
Have you been to the mothership lately? We always immensely enjoyed our visits to Newmar service to have work done on our coach. It is an outstanding facility that houses outstanding master craftsmen! We developed many friendships there over the years – Elmer & Diane, Jonas & Lorriane, Dorene, and countless others whose names escape us.
Once after dining with an Amish friend, he took us out to see his work horses – a beautiful Belgian and a graceful Trotter/Pacer. He lamented that the state of Indiana needed to put in passing lanes so that buggies being pulled by a plodding, yet powerful Belgian did not hold him up getting to work when trying to pass with his graceful Trotter.
The importance of that statement brought a smile to my face several months later as I grew impatient pulling a two mile long mountain grade in Virginia while trying to pass an 18-wheeler. I thought back to that day as I was trying to summon up some patience – maybe when I bought my rig, I should have gotten the option for a few more Belgians and a couple of Trotters – no, but calm down… Think back to “Oh Nappanee – Embrace the Pace…..”
Another true story… we were driving for several hours with heavy cross winds – another motor home (not a Newmar, but a dastardly competing brand) kept passing us with us then passing them for mile after frustrating mile. We finally pulled into a rest area and a few minutes later that same motor home pulled in beside us and the driver came storming out gesturing, standing about 10 feet in front of our motor home and started gesturing wildly pointing to his motor home and holding his hands in the shape of a steering wheel and jerking left and right. Then he pointed to our motor home with one finger comfortably rotating his hand left and right. I warned the wife – “What’s wrong with that guy? – I think we are about to experience a road rage incident” “it’s simple”, she replied – “he’s saying we have Comfort Drive, and he does not! I laughed and gave him a double thumbs up and he waved back and dashed off to the restroom. By the way, we did not have Comfort Drive, but we have test driven with it and are firm believers.
We once met a member who proudly stated he had owned 5 different Newmar products over the years – We were extremely impressed and asked him “Why so many Newmars? – Was it because of the quality of the build, the Comfort Drive feature, the beautiful paint schemes, or the great customer service???” “Well, no”, he replied… “The banks just keep repossessing them!” he said with a smile…
While we were directors, we attended two fantastic Canadian rallies, one in western Canada at Fort Steele, British Columbia and one in Eastern Canada at Shediac, New Brunswick. We also made a stop in Calgary while traveling with the Llewellyn’s to scope out the area to possibly set up an event for the Calgary Stampede, which they subsequently hosted as a special event.
When I pulled into a truck stop to fill up, I met an interesting character who was a Canadian Trucker, and we struck up a conversation. He said he had driven all over the USA and Canada and he asked me if I had noticed any difference between when US bugs or Canadian bugs hit the windshield? I told him no, not really. He told me “While in Canada, if you turn your radio down and listen real good, right before the bug hits the windshield ,you will hear them yell out “OH S##T, EH?”. No thanks to him, I never did hear the “EH”, but we felt guilty the rest of my Canadian trip for the many bugs sacrificed – NOT!
We feel like we were truly blessed while International Directors to work with the greatest bunch of Regional Directors and Members-at-Large ever assembled. As part of the process of putting on the International rally, the Regional Directors, MAL, and office staff meet once a year, usually at the rally site for about 2 weeks before the rally to develop the final organizational plan and begin setting up for the event. These were extremely dedicated individuals who showed great flexibility and ingenuity in developing and executing the master plan. They were a pleasure to work with – just give them a few guidelines and turn them loose to manage their own assigned areas of responsibilities and design their own processes for accomplishing the work. Then, about 3 days before the rally, the RD’s bring in their team leaders and their volunteer teams – soon you have 80 to 100 people laying out parking, seminar rooms, catering, vendors, display coaches, the Klub store, tours, charity events, door prizes, stage layouts, sound systems, choirs, church services, and literally 100’s of related events.
However, life was not always a bed of roses – it was our policy to have a 5 pm meeting each day during the International Rally to review the progress and status of things. It had been a long, exhaustive day with many things not going right – then we got the word that the Klub Fifth Wheel trailer with all of our office equipment, computers, store merchandise, and other vital supplies that we needed to conduct the rally had broken down on the way and would not arrive before the rally started! I stated to the group of RD’s – “Well, that’s just great…What else can go wrong? What are we going to do now?” After what seemed like an eternity, a single voice piped up from the back of the room “Tis a mere flesh wound…” Several of the RD’s busted out in laughter, thinking back to that great Monty Python comedy movie where the Evil Black Knight is barring the passage of his antagonist with a sword fight. At that point, with great grit and determination, with both his legs and arms cut off, he blurts out “Ye shall not pass – Tis a mere flesh wound – have at you…”. Well, with that great lesson about determination and humor, a call to Newmar Service saved the day (and Rally!). They dispatched Elmer with their 5th Wheel hauler with parts to fix the trailer and towed it the last 200 miles to the rally arriving just in time!
We would be remiss to not recognize some of those outstanding individuals who were Regional Directors during our 5 year term– Region 1- Marty & Marion Marcum, Region 2 -Frank & Jan Hasman, followed by Mark & Lesley Ann Weiss, Region 3 – Larry & Katie Harrington followed by Larry & Patsy Wood, Region 4 – Everett & Julie Isreal followed by Del & Lela Nordstrom, Region 5 – Wally & Sharon Sisk followed by Jim & Annabel Repp followed by Gary & Wanda Smith, Region 6 – Ron & Wanda Llewellyn, followed by Jerry & Phyllis Rose followed by Chuck & Michelle Steenwyk, Region 7 – Bob & Jane Hadley, Region 8 – Glen & Marg Bassindale, and Region 9 – Dave & Joanne Killey. Also, we thank Mike & Carol Lowery and Ross & Marie Turney who stepped in for Region 2 when required.
The Klub MAL’s during our term were Jim & Sue Hagedon, Ron & Wanda Llewellyn, and Evan & Debbie Hughes – we thank them for their sage advice.
Insert team photo here
And Bonnie & I give a huge thank you to the office staff – Linda Feece and DeAnn LaMaine – they were the “glue and engine” that held the Klub together and kept it going. Linda invented what she calls the “flexible cookie” and provided those treats during the RD meetings. On more than one occasion, she would interrupt a passionate disagreement among RD’s to pass around the cookies as a reminder to pause and reflect on the merits of the issue under discussion and bring it to a peaceful resolution. We always kept “Flex cookies” on hand. Linda and DeAnn had boundless energy and worked long hours to meet the needs of our Klub members.
Lastly, when we were shopping for our motor home, we visited a nearby dealer to see several options. As we approached one motor home, we noticed a somewhat elderly couple ahead of us. He appeared to be a strong, burly farmer pushing his wife in a wheelchair. When they got to the door, he effortlessly reached down, picked her up, and bounded up the steps. We held back for about 10 minutes so as not to interfere. Shortly, they came back out with tears in their eyes – “Sorry Son”, he said – “She loves it! … “
We did not even go into that unit – We felt sure that unit was sold. You all probably remember that feeling when you bought your first Newmar… We understood the Konnection!
“Congratulations”, we said “Have you heard about the Newmar Kountry Klub?” …
Pass it on – God Bless, hope to see you on “The Road Ahead”, and always remember to “Rally On!”
Email: hatris35@gmail.com
Jamie & Beth Smith (25515)
International Directors
Big thanks are due to Evan & Debbie Hughes for their support of the Klub as the Interim International Directors since January of this year. Their dedicated efforts led to the successful delivery of the 39th Annual International Rally in Lewisburg, West Virginia. Evan & Debbie have not rested on their laurels as the Members-at-Large, the role they are stepping back into. In their short time as the Interim International Directors, they not only managed the Klub’s day-to-day operations and coordinated the International Rally, they spearheaded a needed update to the Klub By-Laws, which were recently approved by the Klub’s Board of Directors. They also began important work to update the Klub’s Officer’s Manual. The Officer’s Manual will soon be retitled as the Operations Manual to better signify that the included policy and procedures are available for all Klub members. We expect that the work on the new Operations Manual will be completed later this year. Thank you, Evan & Debbie.
In our role as the incoming International Directors, we owe gratitude to the many Klub members that advise us on the history of the Klub and why we do things the way we do. We are also receiving many ideas on enhancements the Klub can make – keep the ideas coming. Send your comments or ideas to kountryklub@newmarcorp.com .
Going forward, we intend to recognize the valuable role volunteers play in our Klub. We have found that the enjoyment we get from visiting different areas is magnified by the friendships and fulfillment we get from volunteering. Volunteering can be at many levels. At a basic level, you can drive a shuttle cart at an International Rally (which is where we got our start), or you can provide an item for a potluck meal. Some volunteers like to work with their chapter to host a gathering or small rally. Others take on serving as an officer in a chapter or even at the State/Province or Region level. We just completed hosting the 2025 Canadian Maritimes and Newfoundland Caravan. We were not content letting the talents that took a lifetime to build go to waste. Volunteering is helpful to both you and the Klub and there are a lot of people to help you find your place.
Family is something you will hear us talk about a lot. The heart of our Klub is the local chapter. With our busy lives, it is difficult to travel across the country on a spare weekend but attending a chapter luncheon or rally gives us the ability to build connections while enjoying the Newmar RV lifestyle. Building our RV family extends beyond attending events and even includes our interactions on social media. Before we took delivery of our London Aire, we were getting friendly advice on tow bars and needed accessories on the Klub’s Facebook page. And now of course, Jamie always likes explaining that your freshwater tank is probably overflowing because someone left the Aqua Miser turned on. The short story is that building family connections comes naturally when you participate with your fellow Klub members.
Another important topic is staying informed. You are reading the Klub magazine now, which has valuable information, but the most up-to-date news is on the Klub’s website, newmarkountryklub.com. Frequent updates are provided in our email newsletter, The Happenings, and we have great discussions on our Facebook page, Newmar Kountry Klub. There are also many pages for the Regions, States/Provinces, Chapters, and product lines. Check them out.
Rallies and Events are what we think about the most with the Klub. As we work with our Klub leaders in the coming year, we will ensure our activities and rallies are provided at multiple activity levels, price points, and locations across the U.S. and Canada. Our Special Events team builds once-in-a-lifetime experiences that include adventures you might not be able to do on your own. Our Region, State/Province, and Chapters provide fun events that allow more frequent participation on a local level. There is something for everyone.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve as the new International Directors and we hope to see you at an event this year.
James & Beth Smith
832-603-1829
