Greetings from Nappanee!
I hope the new year is off to a great start for you and that you were able to enjoy time well spent with the ones you love over the holidays.
As you are likely already aware, Laurie Hunt and Duane Paige resigned from their roles as International Directors at the end of last year. We are grateful for the energy, ideas and passion that they brought to the Klub and to the position and wish them all the best! Your Members-At-Large, Evan and Debbie Hughes, have graciously agreed to fill the International Director role on an interim basis to ensure continuity of Klub operations and a great 2025 International Rally. Thank you to Debbie and Evan for their willingness to step up and serve the Klub in this capacity!
For those interested in applying for the International Director role, please see the job posting in this edition of The Happenings and the upcoming issue of the Legacy magazine and forthcoming emails.
Also, a well-deserved thank you to the NKK office staff, Linda Feece and Whitney Woodcox, for their continued support of the Klub. If you find yourself at the service center in Nappanee, look for them up on the lobby mezzanine – they’d love to see you!
With changes at the International Director position and within the Board of Directors, some may be wondering what to expect for the direction of the Kountry Klub. The vision for the Klub continues to be elevating and enhancing the Newmar ownership experience for our members. This community is part of what makes owning a Newmar special, and it is all of you – the members and volunteers that contribute to the Klub – that makes it what it is. Thank YOU for choosing Newmar and the Kountry Klub!
January marked one year for me at Newmar, and what a year it has been! The RV industry is such an exciting space, and it is a joy to be a part of Newmar and help build on the great legacy we have. I do not take that for granted.
While I’m new to the RV industry, I’ve been camping and enjoying the outdoors my whole life. In fact, most of my favorite childhood memories involve the annual extended family camping trip just outside of Traverse City, Michigan each summer. Over the years we graduated from a tent to a pop-up camper, and rainy days usually meant hanging out in our grandparent’s 5th wheel.
When I was in high school, we were fortunate enough to make a two-week trip out east and three-week trip out west in a class C motorhome. No slide outs, televators or heated tile floors but compared to the tent, we were living!
Travel, camping and enjoying the outdoors is something my wife Rebeccah and I now enjoy doing with our three boys – Cooper, Everett and Deacon. Last summer, Rebeccah and I were fortunate enough to join the caravan from Nappanee to Pueblo, along with Casey, his wife Nicole, and our late VP of Engineering, Paul White and his wife Donna. We took the “scenic route” and turned a 3-day drive into a 10-day trip covering over 3,000 miles, enjoying the beauty of our nation and some great parks and monuments along the way. While I know that mileage number pales in comparison to what many of you do on an annual basis, I am grateful for the time I was able to spend using and better understanding our products and experiencing the lifestyle that has brought us all together. I was fortunate to meet some of you at the rally in Pueblo and even had the chance to do a Jeep tour and white rafting with some of you! Your feedback and input throughout our owner insight sessions was invaluable, and I look forward to sharing with you the new products and features we will be bringing to market for model year 2026!
By the time this is published, we should have opened registration for this year’s rally in Lewisburg, West Virginia. The team is hard at work planning and preparing for a great rally full of fun and fellowship and I hope to see you there!
Wishing you all a great year of adventure in your Newmar. Safe travels!
Ryan Buurstra
President, Newmar Kountry Klub Board of Directors
Vice President, Marketing & Strategy, Newmar Corporation
