By Nancy Carnes, F379803
July 2008
“Leaving Tracks by Giving Back” is the motto of FMCA’s Golden State Trackers, one of the association’s newest chapters. The group, which received its charter on September 9, 2007, was formed by like-minded families with the desire to combine the fun of the RVing lifestyle with community service projects.
From March 14 through 16, 2008, 20 members of the chapter put their words into action during a Habitat for Humanity build in San Bernardino, California. Participating members included Nanette Caldwell; Richard and Gloria Hendershott; Ron Jack; Doug and Judy Key; William Kitt and Nancy Carnes; David and Sharon Lewis; Jim and Norma Montelbetti; Jerry and Georganne Slapper; Leo and Evelyn Sweeney; Derril and Pat Tidwell; and Ryan and Miriam Tolsma.
The group met Friday at the Redlands Christian School, where we dry-camped in the parking lot for two nights. We shared a generous potluck dinner that evening and listened as chapter president Dave Lewis briefed us on Saturday’s build along with his explanation that “Habitat for Humanity is not a handout, but a hand up.”
Saturday morning after a breakfast of English muffins, coffee, and juice, we traveled 10 miles to the San Bernardino build site. For some members this was their first experience working on a Habitat build. During a morning of hard work, laced with much laughter, we completed the primer coat in the three-bedroom, 1,100-square-foot house. After a relaxing and delicious lunch provided by Claim Jumper restaurant, we finished the final coat of paint by mid-afternoon.
During the day many of us had a chance to learn more about Habitat for Humanity from the construction foreman and to talk to the homeowner who was on site helping the crew.
By the time we left, we all felt a real sense of accomplishment and knew that we had definitely “left tracks” on that tree-lined street in San Bernardino of which we could be proud.
After bagels and cream cheese on Sunday morning, we reflected on the previous day’s activity and looked forward to our next opportunity to “leave tracks,” scheduled to take place June 5 through 8 at another Habitat for Humanity build in Ridgecrest, California.
We would like to extend a special thanks to our rally master, Miriam Tolsma, who coordinated our stay with Redlands Christian School and arranged for our Saturday night dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant.
Although the chapter is less than a year old, its roster has doubled from 21 member families at its inception to 42 today. The chapter, which is part of FMCA’s Western Area, is open to all FMCA members who share the group’s interest in having a good time while helping others. If you would like to find out more about the Golden State Trackers, contact chapter president Dave Lewis at (805) 443-0563; dlsl1@verizon.net, or vice president Leo Sweeney at (760) 241-7985.
Starrs Enjoy Circuitous Trip Around The United States
By Pamela Selbert
July 2008
Randy and Barbara Starr, F355253, of Scio, Oregon, laughed when they said they weren’t really trying to emulate their ancestors on the extensive motorhome trip they took several years ago. But unquestionably, the journey was easier than those that Barbara’s grandfather and Randy’s great-great-grandfather embarked on many years ago.
The couple’s trip, made from August 4, 2006, through April 7, 2007, in their 2002 Itasca Suncruiser, had been planned for five years and took them on a 12,000-mile circuit that encompassed 33 states, mostly around the perimeter of the country. Early stops included the Grand Tetons in Wyoming; Mount Rushmore in South Dakota; the Winnebago Industries factory in Forest City, Iowa (where their motorhome was built); and Branson, Missouri, where they joked that the heat and humidity were so intense they “ate ice cream and moved on.”
Randy said his ancestor, Samuel Starr, who joined a wagon train heading west in 1847, “didn’t have the option of bailing out so easily.” The earlier Starr left Indiana on a seven-month trek, and ended up in Benton County, Oregon. He then traveled to California during the 1849 Gold Rush, but returned to Oregon after only six months. He later became Benton County’s third sheriff and an early assessor, and died there in 1861 at the age of 39.
Barbara said her grandparents, Jasper and Annie Lou McIntosh, originally hailed from Tennessee but traveled to Nome, Alaska, where her father was born in 1910. A few years later, in 1913, they moved south to homestead 640 acres near Jordan, Montana, not far from the Badlands. When the Starrs visited the area in 2004, the current owners, whose ranch now spans some 93 square miles, showed them the old homestead where her ancestors lived.
During that 2004 trip, which took them around the western United States, the Starrs covered 5,000 miles in a 32-foot fifth-wheel trailer pulled by a crew-cab truck. The trip was intended to introduce their oldest daughter, Colleen Anderson, and her husband, Steve, to RVing. But just short of a campground near Bend, Oregon, the truck’s engine expired.
“We had to get a new engine put in, then set out again and were having a great time,” Barbara said. “But when we’d gone 150 miles the engine blew again.”
When the second replacement engine on the 1977 truck began to have mechanical troubles, Barbara suggested that they take a look at motorhomes. She admitted that she usually isn’t so bold but is glad that she spoke up. Soon after trading in the truck and purchasing the Suncruiser, the Starrs joined FMCA.
“Our friends, Gil and Carrie Gilbertson, of Sequim, Washington, who we’ve known for 30 years, are members,” Barbara said. “They gave us a copy of the magazine, which we thought was nice, and we liked all the benefits the association offers. Joining seemed like a good thing to do.” Shortly after becoming members, Randy and Barbara attended the Northwest Area Rally in Albany, Oregon, in June 2005. They were hoping to return to Albany for the Northwest Area gathering being held there again this past June.
The Starrs, who have two other daughters “” Katrina Pilgrim and Jeanette Mireles “” and six grandchildren, said their camping adventures began in an Army surplus tent back in 1975 when the girls were young.
“The kids enjoyed it until one trip when it wouldn’t stop raining,” Barbara said “We were trying to play board games in the tent, which leaked, but pretty soon nobody was having any fun, so we gave up on the tent.”
The couple moved to a truck camper and then to the fifth-wheel trailer before graduating to the Itasca. For many years, they have been joined by Fred, an elegant, snow-white Persian who has been their constant companion since he was a month-old kitten in 1987.
The Starrs met through a church group in Spokane, Washington, and were married in 1960. Before Colleen was born, Barbara taught music education and vocal music, and directed a junior high school choir. (Both she and Randy have sang in their church choir wherever they lived, most recently at the First Assembly of God in Albany, Oregon.) Later she volunteered at the girls’ school, helping with musical activities and 4-H groups.
Meanwhile, Randy worked as a plant engineer in Port Angeles, Washington, for 23 years. He then took similar positions in Albany and Corvallis, Oregon, and eventually wound up with an engineering company in Everett, Washington, until his retirement in 2002.
In addition to her other interests, Barbara has been a horse enthusiast since childhood. When she was 6 years old she received her first steed, Tony, a Morgan quarter horse named after the one ridden by Western film star Tom Mix. Her next horse was Buck, a light gold buckskin with a black mane and tail, which she owned until graduating from high school.
Horses re-entered Barbara’s life when 5-year-old Colleen began begging for a pony. Randy and Barbara finally gave in and bought her a sweet, well-trained Shetland that came with a saddle. Soon after, they bought another horse, a half-Arabian named Twazana.
A friend encouraged Barbara to begin competing in barrel racing, riding figure eights, and other timed events, which she loved, although the kids never took to these more dangerous activities. When Katrina was old enough to ride, she took over the saddle atop the Shetland, while Colleen graduated to a bigger horse, an Appaloosa. Mother and daughters got into 4-H horse showing in 1972 “” performance and Arabian horse breeding shows “” and continued until their youngest, Jeanette, left home in 1989. Randy said he was never into horses like the rest of the family, but he helped by driving the truck that pulled the horse trailer, hauling hay, shoveling grain, and paying the bills.
Barbara sold her last stallion to a cousin in 1999. “We like to travel, and horses require care,” she said.
While horses may not have been a common interest between them, traveling is, and the Starrs enjoy talking about what they experienced on their lengthy trip around the United States, such as the Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library in Springfield, Illinois; the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, Indiana; the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan; Niagara Falls; the beautiful fall colors in New England; historic sites along the East Coast; St. Simon’s Island in Georgia; Southern plantations; the devastation left from Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast; the Mission Trails in Texas; Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico; and Sedona, Arizona. They also spent seven weeks in Montgomery, Alabama, visiting Jeanette and her family.
“We enjoyed tremendously seeing this country, God’s big country,” Barbara said.
“You really have to marvel at the pioneers,” Randy added. “It’s hard to imagine 15 or 20 miles being a good day’s travel. And just picture crossing the Rockies in a covered wagon!” But motorhoming, he noted, is actually similar in certain ways to 19th-century travel in that you have your own space with you all the time.
“I think setting up camp is probably a little easier now,” Barbara said. “What I like about traveling this way is sleeping in my own bed every night “” and that we’re always home.”