
There were sixteen people and six coaches at the barbecue outing held this past weekend at Boyd and Sherry Mooney's in Weatherford. We all had a great time and enjoyed some fantastic food including barbeque ribs, brisket and sausage. As always we had enough food to feed twice as many as showed up so I went back for seconds, thirds, and I even went back for fourths on Francis's pecan pies. If you didn't make it you missed another great get together. Linwood and Sue Arthur came with their 30 foot stretch which has been 5 years in the making. Looking at the results, detail, changes and finished product, I marvel that he did it in such a short time. I understand he originally put all 42 inches behind the rear wheels but later he got concerned that the rear might drag when he went over a bump in the road so he then moved the rear wheels back 20 inches and ended up with only 22 inch stretch behind the rear wheels. If you ever get a chance to view the interior it is a real work of art. Large fold away table, very roomy living area, large twin beds, and best of all a very large dry bath with a shower almost as large as a normal bath. Bruce and Elisabeth Tara came with some fantastic pictures of their month long trip to South America. Pictures of the falls from above and below. The magnificence of the falls is beyond my ability to describe. You should have been there to see the pictures for yourselves. As promised Bruce brought Janice and me a disk filled with pictures of both live and carved birds. The carved birds were out of amethyst and other various colored quartz. Beautiful works of art. Boyd has progressed some with his coach restoration since the last time I saw it. Seats, dinette, and couch were installed. Others that were present were Bob and Beverly McLaughlin, Ben and Violet McKee, Jerry and Francis Reeves, Eugene Mazzurana, Jeff Kollmeier, and Janice and Charles Wersal. There was some discussion as to where and when we would have the next lunch. We will most like likely not have a lunch in December. Some future location to be considered are at Jerry Reeves place south of Dallas or possibly on the north side of the metroplex in the Lewisville area in January. Hope to see you then. We had a nice group in attendance for the July North Texas Lunch Bunch. Fifteen adults and two children. In attendance this for lunch were: Janice and Charles Wersal, Vilot and Ben McKee (3 month old GMC), Eugene Mazzurana, Ninfa and Larry Peplinski with their youngest daughter Mariella, Boyd and Sherry Mooney, Bob and Beverly McLaughlin, Jeff and Melinda Kholmer and son Samuel, Bruce and Elisabeth Tara, and John McGinnis (just picked up his GMC three weeks prior in Houston). Bruce and Elizabeth win the distance award, traveling 70 miles for lunch. There were three coaches for us to walk through after lunch, Larry brought his 23 footer and Bob and Eugene their 26 footers. Jeff was just hours from getting his road ready for a showing, but time ran out and he plans to bring it to the next get together. Jeff was also glad to have is wife see other coaches and give her some ideas and encouragement about what a restored GMC can look like. It sure was nice to have other GMCers around to let you know that the engine noise you were hearing is normal:). An all around good time with lots of good ideas exchanged and some good friendships in the making. For the most part, all the folks in attendance were brought together through the GMCnet. We all live within a 70 mile radius of each other, but probably would have never met had it not been for the GMCnet. Til next time. Eugene Mazzurana A small group of us met at Boyd Mooney's yesterday in Weatherford Texas for a one day outing. This turned out great and those of you that were unable to or didn't attend, missed out on some really delicious food, ribs,hamburgers, sausage, hotdogs, beans, salad, cake and brownies. There were only 10 adults and 4 coaches in attendance. Bruce and Elizabeth Tara's coach is still a work in progress so they made the 100 mile + tip in their car. For those of us that didn't get to see them at the last lunch, Bruce did bring about 130 pictures on his computer of the work and a sample of the light weight valances he has created. He also brought the rear bumpers for Larry Peplinski and some contact cement for Boyd and Bill Massey. Jeff Kollimierof Grand Prairie didn't get his breaks finished so he came in his pick-up. Larry Peplinski came in his new coach and brought his beautiful wife (Ninfa) and 3 of the best behaved children I have seen in a long time. (Marissa, Michelle, & Mariella) Larry Peplinski, Sherry Mooney, and Ninfa Peplinski and their girls Larry's coach looks like it was painted Friday and the interior
appears all new. This is a 23 foot coach with the same floor
plan as Roger Black posted his was last week. Janice and I arrived
late, had to leave early, and some how I got the job of cooking
the burgers, so I didn't get to socialize as much as I would
have liked. I understand that after I left the wind damaged the
canopy rails on Bill Massey's coach and they
Today's lunch although a small group was still an interesting get together. Both Bruce Tarra of Celina and Norman Wheatly of Houston brought their computers with pictures of their progress in coach restoration. In addition to the computer pictures Bruce brought a sample of his window valances and the material he used on his headliner and walls. My comment to Bruce was that is more project than I want to tackle. I felt I had enough to do just keeping Pandora's Box running and on the road. Moe and Sylvia Craddock were both congratulated on having made it 50 years together. In this day and time it's amazing anyone makes it that long. There was some exchange of parts. I am not sure what all was given or traded. I know Bruce brought an interior side panel for Boyd and I finally got him the sink that Norman sent up here last month. Janice and I enjoyed the food and comradery. I took Pandora's Box out of moth balls and drove it to the lunch. Other than almost running out of gas there were no problems. Unlike our previous meetings, this time there was some discussion about what, when, and where we might have the next get together. There was discussion about another one day, covered dish outing similar to the one we had at Boyd's last year. I was appointed to look into reservations at a local county, Corp, or state park for the 1st or 2nd week end of May. I will start on this early next week and as soon as something is set up and confirmed I will post it to the gmcmotorhome list for conformation that the place is acceptable and so those interested in attending might be able to make plans ahead of time. Again I want to emphasize . You don't have to have a GMC to attend. You don't have to come in a GMC but it is nice if you do. Example: Eugene came on his Honda motorcycle today. I hope he didn't get wet going home. If you have an interest in GMC's you will be welcome. Charles Wersal Although we had a relatively small turn out we still had a great lunch. Good food, good company, good time great get together. Several reported before the lunch that they would not be able
to attend. We ended up with only seven people in attendance.
Charles and Janice Wersal, Boyd Mooney, Larry Peplinski (newbee)
Moe and Sylvia There was discussions about Dave Greenburgs efforts to account
for the 12,921 GMC coaches, the Eastern States GMC Club, exhaust
manifold leaks, general GMC repairs, and up grades. There was
some I found this quite interesting until I found out, that like
a GMC, it can become a money pit. I guess I will have to put
that off till my next life. I am having difficulty finding enough
money for my GMC. Have you ever seen or can you visualize the excitement of a kid in a candy store? That was the male group at the Lewisville lunch today. We had 10 coaches to look at. We were constantly saying where is So and So? Oh they are looking at So and So.'s coach. There were 17 people at this lunch and I heard several comments that this is much better than a lunch at ------------. Boyd provided trays of delicious barbecue. He barbecued brisket, ribs, chicken and sausage Attendees brought beans, potato salad, macaroni salad, layered salad, mexi spoon bread, corn bread, pecan tarts, snicker doodle cookies, chocolate cake,and brownies.We had enough food to feed at least 17 more people. You all that didn't come sure missed out on a fantastic lunch and get together. The attendees today were Boyd and Sherry Mooney (our host), Eugene Mazzurana, Charles and Janice Wersal, Bill Massey, Jerry and Francis Reeves, Moe and Silvia Cradock, Bob Mclaughlin, Jeff Kollmeier, Bruce and Elizabeth Tara, Jim and Peggy Walker, and Charles Dillie. As is normal I got there with out my camera and will have to wait for the others to send me the pictures we took with their cameras. We circled 3 coaches in a wagon train "U", put down the canopies and set up a large ping pong table in the center on which we set all the food for a help yourself lunch. For some this wasn't an across the street drive. According to MapQuest Bill Massey came about 104 miles and Bruce and Elizabeth came about 97 miles. For most of us the trip was about 60/70 miles one way. Well worth it. I don't know anyone that doesn't want to do it again. This was a very relaxed atmosphere. I felt everyone enjoyed seeing others renovations and innovations of their coaches. Bruce had a piece of plastic that I think he found in a drawer in his coach that none of us there could identify. Maybe he can get a picture of it and someone on the net will recognize what it is and where it goes. There was time for an exchange of ideas, parts and knowledge like I have not seen before. Bill brought Cd roms for each family present with a wealth of GMC information on them. Bruce brought a set of seats for Boyd and an air pump for me. Jeff picked up the solid back panel with no window from boyds coach. We all exchanged ideas, talked about improvements we have made and some we want to make. For me this was another very informative get together and one I am glad I didn't miss. Jeff and Eugene using Boyd's Pit to check the underside of his new coach. Charles showing Eugene how the
Heat/AC control works I want to thank Charles Dille for getting the word out for this lunch. The group wasn't quite as large this meeting as the first. The sky was falling and I had a little problem getting there myself. Visibility on the road was only about three car lengths at 50 miles per hour. There were only 10 of us in attendance this time and 2 coaches. Charles Dille, Charles & Janice Wersal, Eugene of Backyard Wildlife fame and developer of the Phorum, Boyd and Sherri Mooney, Tim Dawson, and Moe and Silvia Craddock. We had a good get together. Charles Dille brought some before pictures of his coach. There is quite a difference in the then and now and knowing Charles he won't stop here. Several of us picked Tim's brain about air-conditioning. Both roof air and road air. We concluded the lunch about 1:00 PM by all going out and looking at Eugene's beautiful coach. I think he bought this coach in New York last June. If I understood correctly the interior is a Cinnabar restoration. The Oak floor and vinyl/leather headliner were real eye catchers and Eugene has done a really nice job of refinishing the cabinets. He is still working on dash and gages. We missed all of you that were at the last luncheon and hope
to see you at the next. Were looking forward to meeting new people
and make this a real Bunch. At a last minute discussion, some
of us felt that a meeting every month might be too often. The
next meeting is to be in October with the location Charles Wersal Organize a get together a couple of days before the holiday weekend??? Are you Serious!!! Last Saturday's little get-to-gether was put together quick, but we had a great turnout. We had 7 coaches and 17~ hearty eaters gathered for our luncheon and GMC technical seminars (gab fests)... We had Moe and Silvia Craddock
there with his stretch. Charles and
Helen Dille made it there and back (finally) although Helen could
only pop in for awhile. Steve
Clevenger came down from the Tulsa Lunch Bunch to make sure
we did it right and had Bruce and Elizabeth
Tara come along even though they hadn't gotten their's ready
yet. Bob and Richard
McLaughlin came with his coach. Charles
and Jan Wersal were also there.. Charles
meet Charles; also meet this Charles. I hope I have remembered everything, I wrote it down on my
internal "etch-a-sketch"....
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