Maumee Valley Winnies Rally

After leaving Gibsonburg, we spent a few quiet days at Maumee State Park and enjoyed a meal out with our friends Judy and Gary Buck. Then we headed to Clyde Ohio for a weekend rally at Town and Country RV, which has started a tradition of an annual appreciation weekend campout for Winnebago owners. Last year it was extremely hot and this year was much cooler, but still a good time was had by all.

This year is also the tenth anniversary of our Winnebago club, the Maumee Valley Winnies, and to celebrate this event, 8 coaches departed the weekend rally in a caravan to Union City and Nashville, Indiana for fun and some informational tours.
In Union City, we camped at a city park that is sponsored by Workhorse Corporation, which manufactures the chassis’s for many motorhomes. We were the only group there and we enjoyed the fine weather and toured the small town. Our wagon masters had planned for tours of a local lumber mill and the Workhorse factory. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed in the mill itself and nor any place at the workhorse factory.

Thanks to the planning of our wagon masters, we enjoyed several meals at the campground along with lots of fun times around the campfire.

The Frank Miller Lumber Company had an interesting tour. We received our briefing from the third generation leader of this still family owner business and he took the time to explain many aspects of the operation. They are one of the leaders in producing hardwood lumber, with customers around the world. The cutting machines were truly amazing and I could have spent much longer just watching them. They have a real problem with metal in the logs that can really tear up the equipment, and occasionally when the detectors fail, pieces of saw blades start flying. Outside in the yard we saw a large number of logs and partially cut lumber with the telltale blue paint of legs with detected metal. They had an outlet store which carried their products that were sold to folks off the street at very reasonable prices. They also carried a line of exotic hardwood from around the world. I particularly liked the Purple Heart wood that gets more purple as it is exposed to light. Several members of our club are into woodworking and this turned into a small shopping spree. According to them, a much better quality and price for lumber over those large chain- do it yourself stores.

The workhorse factory tour turned out to be a bit ill timed, as they had just completed inventory and the assembly line was just getting started again. They walked us thru the stations, but it would have been better watching the actual chassis assembled. Hopefully, this economic downturn will not last and we can return and see the assembly line in full swing-maybe by then they may allow pictures too.
Next, little Nashville, IN