After 5 years -Will the Taste of New York Airstream Rally at Sampson be Saved Or Is this the End!

[Music] Hi everybody. We're Zephr Travels. I'm Randy >> and I'm Diane. >> And we're here at the Samson rally this year. And the question we're going to throw out to you guys, should this rally be saved? We'll talk more about that after this introduction. Donna said, "Just come on back if you ever want to try again." I don't touch you once, you son of a gun. I'm the best it's ever been. Hey, we just want to make sure everybody knows about the Airstream content creators meet and greet this coming Saturday, August 23rd, at the International Rally in York, Pennsylvania at 5:00 in the Veranda room. So, you're going to have the opportunity to meet other content creators like Love Subbubbing, Chad's RV Review, 13 Adventures, Cajun Mile, Rambling Hamlins, Our Second Life, the Riveted Fox Podcast, and Camping Glamping Gadgets and Gear along with us, Zephr Travels. So, make sure you're there because it's going to be the highlight of the rally, and you don't want to miss it. Now, I've got to go tell some more people. So, make sure you're there. We'll see you there. >> This year's rally was hosted by Region One and the New York Fingerlakes Club. >> Yeah. And so the concern is that the New York Fingerlakes Club does not want to host this rally in the future. They the presidents the executive group made a decision that they don't want to go forward with this rally. So without a hosting club, the rally may not exist next year. And we're concerned because we really think this is a great rally and we'd hate to see it go off the schedule. >> Yes. In fact, this year's rally was probably the best rally that has been held for the Airstreams at Samson State Park. >> Yeah, it was well attended. We had 45 Airstreams. We actually had somebody who just happened to see all the Airstreams here and was at a harvest host and came in and joined the facilities for the weekend. We What did we have for dinners? >> We had two great meals, a barbecue dinner and a clam and sausage dinner. We also had uh the group again, Sticks and Bricks. >> Yep. The musical group. They were awesome. >> That's Linda on the fiddle. >> Thank you. And another great presentation by Skymed and we believe that a lot of the Airstream members signed up to to their insurance. >> Right. Right. Which was awesome. We really highly recommend that if you travel you need to have that insurance. Um there was also two movie nights hosted by Zephr Travels. So we put on a couple of movies. We showed Twisters and Jaws which I think was really appropriate considering the connection with region one which is New England. >> Correct. And uh yeah, both uh members enjoyed those as well. >> I had a great time at the rally. One of the highlights was meeting new people because this was a rally that encompassed the people from Pennsylvania, Fingerlakes region, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire. So it was nice meeting the different people from the different clubs. >> Great. >> And a great park. >> Great. Thank you. >> The weather was perfect. It wasn't that excruciating hot weather that we've been experiencing some of the days during this summer. Uh we had just a little bit of rain and the rest of the weekend was perfect with temperatures in the 70s and low 80s. We had a we had a great time too because we came from Cape Cod and it's our first time that we've been to the uh >> Finger Lakes Rally. Um but we met a lot of folks from um from Pennsylvania from New York and everything and it's just it was it was it was great and very well done too. The meals were delicious and hook up with some old friends and meet new friends. It was wonderful. >> We had a couple of our members, John and Kathy Anderson, organize a wine bus tour. >> Oh, and we had a wine tasting on the next day, >> wine and beer tasting, >> plus >> great happy hours. We had fires. Uh there's plenty of areas to ride your bikes. Unfortunately, the beach area was not open, which we can't control, but there was algae in the water, but you could go down into Watkins Glenn. That's a great um village to visit. >> And Geneva hosted their annual garlic festival. And it's just it's just a wonderful area of the Finger. >> This is your first time here at the Fingerlakes Rally. What did you think about it? >> Oh, it was fun. The campground is amazing. I mean, the space, the tree cover, but not too much. It was a nice healthy balance. The weather was really great for us this weekend. Um, I've like the circle aspect of it. We're not all tight together. There's a nice distance between each of us, but we are still together. >> Great. And um any of the activities or anything that really stood out to you from the weekend? >> Yeah, I think the wine tasting. I like the whole idea is everyone brings a bottle of wine and we all taste it together. I think that's a lot more fun than maybe doing a potluck. It's just a different thing. It breaks up the uh the aspect of how we do things together. >> Great. Great. And if we have it again another year, hopefully you'll be back. >> Oh yeah, we'll be back. I'm sure. I know that you guys are looking for someone to host it. If uh no one in region two is able to, maybe region one will have to partner with region two and we'll do a region one region two uh rally again. >> Awesome. Thanks. I appreciate it. >> So, if you're watching this video, if you have an Airstream, you don't have to be a member of of really any club. And um you know, look out for next year for this. We're very hopeful that some other club or region will choose to to um sponsor this rally and host this rally. There's always plenty of volunteers from the other clubs. Great people. We met many new friends. We had new members from the Fingerlakes attend and it was just I have to say the best rally that we have attended so far that was hosted or partly hosted by the Fingerlakes Club. >> Right. So what we would recommend we want to save this this rally and we need to get a club that's going to step up and host it and >> club or clubs >> clubs or clubs or even the region. So, if you were here at the rally, talk to your club. Make sure that they they'll people know what a great rally this is and how well attended it is and maybe they will step up and host it. Talk to your region representatives and say, "Hey, we really need to save this rally. This is a great rally and people had a lot of fun. In fact, we're going to show you some of the people here that had fun." So, we're going to roll that footage next. You want the sausage in the roll? Yeah. particularly after. So then we went up. >> So we're just finishing up here at the uh Samson State Park for the Taste of New York rally. And what a great time we had here. It was um from everything. I mean, the band was great. Um there was a fiddler that just blew me away. I mean, she did a Devil Came Down to Georgia like there's no tomorrow. And everybody coming together for the meals. I was able to eat clams for the first time. So that was a big woohoo for me. And of course, the thing about this campground and this area is you just can't beat the location. It's location, location, location. As far as the wineries, the Fingerlakes, the whole area was just a great thing. What a great way to get together with a group of fellow Airstreamers from across New England and the New York area. So, it was really great. People from Pennsylvania. We just had a lot of fun. >> Awesome. And hey, so if people want to check out your video, where would they find it? >> Yep. So, we're love subbing. So, if you want to check out um just search love subbing and you'll see some of our videos from there. Um the one we did last year from here as well as the ones coming up. >> Awesome. Thank you very much. >> Thanks, Randy. We'll see you down the road. >> Yes. >> First of all, before I forget, we have to give a big shout out to Gary and Suzanne Russo. They have been actually organizing it and hosting it uh for the past five years. This year we had Michael and Sarah Juna from region one um >> co-hosting it >> co-hosting it. Michael is the current region one president and Gary Russo is just actually his term as region two president just ended. Yeah. and uh he has done a spectacular job and uh we couldn't give him and Suzanne, you know, enough shout outs and uh um members of Fingerlakes can be proud that they have such great members. >> All right. Well, I got everyone. Can I get everyone's attention? >> Here a little bit. Oh, no. >> This guy. >> All right. So, I'm going to embarrass you a little bit. I'm sorry. You can turn around. >> All right. So, that >> All right. I I appreciate everyone coming here. Okay. So, let me first start off with, if you didn't know already, this is a region one, region two rally. You're probably wondering, how the heck did this even happen? So, I want to share a story with everyone first and we'll kind of get into the fun part of this. So, um my name's Michael Gentto. I'm the region one president. I started about a year ago and uh it was kind of funny. I got started and Bard Fuller called me up and he said Bard's like, "Uh, well, let's spend a little bit of time together." We talked for about 2 hours and he's like, "All right, kid. Go get it." And I had a lot of questions. You know, I've been involved in the inter international um membership committee. I was a director of my local club and hosted rallies and but there were a lot of little things that you can't really talk about as a regional officer with just other people. It's just kind of the nature. So I uh I I learned about Gary and I said, "You know what? He's like my neighbor. He's like the state over. He's in New York and I'm here in New Hampshire." So I called him up and we got chitchatting. and I found out that we had a lot in common and I and we were tasked to do a a lunchon and Sadalia, Missouri at the international rally and I was looking at his attendee list. I'm looking at my attendee list and I called him up one day and we got chit chatting and said we should do this together and uh we had a lot of time to spend together in Sidalia with uh Gary and Suzanne. We were staying at the same Holiday and Express because none of us were hauling our rigs out and we got to know each other quite a bit over that period of time. And I would like to say that Gary has become a friend of mine and a mentor. First mentor, then a friend through this airirstreaming process. I think the most important thing is the reason why we're coming together is because we all have this passion for silver campers. And I thought that there are no borders, that we should be able to to meet in uh each other wherever it is in America. And I've been saying this over and over again, that we make new friends and meet new people. And I think that's really important that we continue to foster that moving forward in the Airstream community. So, many of you probably don't know because it hasn't maybe been officially announced, but Gary's last day was officially 12:01 a.m. on Thursday night. And my wife made sure that she sent an email to the incoming president at 12:01, August 1st. >> So, Gary is officially retired. So, it hit me in the middle of the night last night. I thought to myself, "Oh my god, what a jerk I am." We need to celebrate Gary Russo. >> Primarily because this club is run on volunteerism. And we're volunteers. I'd like to pick a take a paycheck. That's not happening. All joking aside, I don't personally take a dime out of the club. I've been forthright about this from day one. I got into this as fully a volunteer. I will never take a dime out of this collar. I actually put more into it. You know, we don't need to talk about the amount, but a lot more than I would ever get out. But the friendships and the camaraderie and the uh the family feeling we get from the club is what this makes this worthwhile. If you're a volunteer and you get to the officers level and you're sitting at the international board of trustees, it's a lot of work. We take it seriously. We are the servants of you. I always tell everyone we serve at the privilege of the membership. I feel very strongly about that. I think it's very important. However, the significant other, spouse of some type or another, partner, they have to suffer through all these hourongs of phone calls and she knows that Gary and I talk at 7:30 in the morning, 7:30 at night, who knows what time of the day. It's a lot of time. I think he would re say that it is our privilege also. I'll speak for him. But Suzanne, you know what? I understand it's tough being a spouse. >> So, this came from New Hampshire. This is a a vineyard near our home called Flag Hill. Sarah and I love this place. So, I think, you know, maybe this help wash down that a little bit, too. >> All right. So this is not about me. Uh this is about these two. Uh it's about their service. Gary has been second VP, first VP, then regional president. That's six years of service >> and annually. So we're talking eight years, >> eight years of service to this club. And I would say this is your capstone uh for this. And this is a beautiful campground. I don't know how you feel. The weather has been amazing. God blessed us with that. Uh we have great people with us. You guys are all amazing people. I got to make uh some new friends through this, meet new people, which is really the mission. And uh you you you're all our family. So I want to thank you. I want to thank you and thank you Suzanne for putting up with me, calling your husband all the time and and thank you for your service. >> Thank you. Great. They did a great job. Um they've got it down to a science and and putting this rally together. Uh it really handed hand it to them for doing it. And this is a this is a great rally. There is room here. We could have almost 100 airirstreams if we wanted to. We have the room here. We can get the campsites. We had 45 airirstreams this year. Last year we had 75. So, we can easily handle a big crowd. So, definitely pencil this on your calendar for 2026 for the beginning of April. Hopefully, we've got the details worked out and a club was going to sponsor it and come here and have a great time, >> right? So, watch your newsletters if you're members or affiliates of great uh Fingerlakes or watch the Blue Beret for rally announcements. Um, I'm hopefully we'll have something before too long so that you can make plans for next probably next year. >> Probably won't show up in Fingerlakes because they're not sponsoring it next year. So, it won't show up in their newsletter, but we we'll make sure to get the word out. It will be in region newsletters and >> whoever, >> however we have to do it, we'll get it out. >> Right. >> We email everybody that was here and tell them to tell all their friends. >> Exactly. Exactly. >> Which hopefully you're doing anyways. >> Yeah. >> All right. We hope you like this video. >> If you did, please give it a big thumbs up. And if you haven't already, we would appreciate would you subscribe to our channel, Zephr Travels, or also Ry's channel, Zephr's Garage. >> Yeah. And hit that bell for notifications when you subscribe so you get uh a notification when we post new videos. We like to post new videos on Sundays and we do it every week. So, we'd love to have you guys follow along in our adventures. >> So, until next time, we will see everybody down the road. >> Take care everybody. Hope we see you here next year. Yep. Now,