Stuff....we all have it

Stuff…

Sometimes valuable, sometimes not

Tends to Multiply Over the Years

Undoubtedly disposable

For whatever reason though

Find one’s self hoarding it!

YOU’VE GOT IT, I’VE GOT IT. STUFF…

Over the years, and decades we seem to watch it multiply before our very eyes.  I know I personally have the best of intentions NOT to accumulate more of it…and yet there it is in our closets, storage cupboards, garage(s), outbuildings…It seems wherever we have square footage, we can find a treasure to park there. Well, I use “we” figuratively speaking. Jeff is the ultimate “If I don’t use it, I don’t need it “ kind of guy.  In the area of “STUFF” we are definitely opposites.

In July of this year, I offloaded 37 boxes and bags from the house! I packed up pickup loads and hauled it off. I know me—if it wasn’t gone I’d be out there dragging “special stuff” back in my home piece by piece again! So, I acknowledge I have a love affair with “stuff.” Everything has a memory, a reason why it’s OK for me to hang on to it. 

Having sorted through my mother’s estate—her lifetime accumulation of treasures (well treasures to her)-- I now know where I get this “compulsion for stuff.”  That woman loved stuff…it understandably came from her young married days when my dad and mom often said “They didn’t have two cents to rub together.” When she got to where she COULD pick small things up just because she liked them, not just necessities, she DID. Mostly collectibles, old dishes (for which she had a very good eye, I might add, and she had SEVEN sets of china we unearthed), towels, and bedding…that woman had storage tubs of towels! The estate sale is this weekend. God Help Us Offload it and then have the will power to immediately gift the rest to Goodwill lest we see the sentimental value of holding on to Mom’s “Stuff!”

Well, mom and her stuff has inspired me…to simplify and declutter my life. I’m shifting into a gear that my hubby wishes I would have found some time ago.  I’m in a de-stuffing phase.  I’ve just begun the journey into this foreign, frightening world. I am such a memory collector, family pictures/homework/coloring pages/school work/family Anything and Everything collector I find certain “OFF LIMIT” areas of my life already being tagged as De-stuffing Free Zones. Can’t touch this, or this, or this….

I’m reminded that my motorcoaching friends live an unfettered life, most of them free from stuff. If it doesn’t fit and have a use, it doesn’t travel with them… The kids got it, they disposed of it, and they’re off enjoying their unfettered life. They seem quite content with their de-cluttered, de-stuffed lives.

They inspire me to give it a whirl.  We’ll see how I fare!

Country Coach, Entrepreneurship, and a Rebounding Community

Country Coach, entrepreneurship, and a rebounding community

Country Coach Corporation (CCC) and specifically owner and CEO Ron Lee has a dream—no, not a dream, a goal, a vision—to resume building the Country Coach brand motorcoach. Country Coach Corporation opened in January, 2011 offering full coach service, parts manufacturing, consignment sales and a robust little CC logoed apparel and aftermarket items shop. Ron owns all the Intellectual Property of the former Country Coach, LLC (including the trademarked brand names, engineering prints and schematics, fiberglass molds and build sheets). Many tenured Country Coach employees left adrift in the wake of Country Coach, LLC’s bankruptcy were proud to put their shoulders to the wheel and help build the momentum of a new fledgling company with a vision to build Country Coach motorcoaches again. The new company began offering technical support for Country Coach owners calling in with service issues and parts searches. Most were happy to pay the consulting fee that funds the technical advisors they get at the other end of the phone when they call for help. All in all, over the past 18 months Country Coach Corporation has seemed a little like “the little engine that could” as the community, the Country Coach motorcoach owners across the country and the former CC, LLC employees and current CCC employees all watched and cheered the new company on…What a real win-win situation it will be when the “new breed” of Country Coach motorcoaches roll onto First Avenue in Junction City, OR. At a recent Country Coach Friends Incorporated Club Rally (a new international chapter of FMCA formed for the enjoyment of Country Coach owners and other brand motorcoach owners), Ron Lee and his COO David Diamond spoke about financing they have high expectations will come through soon, that will allow the “next steps” toward their dream of Country Coach motorcoaches again being built. Keep apprised of their development at www.countrycoach.com. To learn more about this vibrant fast growing independent club, visit www.countrycoachfriendsincorporated .com

The original Country Coach (originally Country Campers) was born out of an entrepreneur’s vision and pioneer’s spirit (Bob Lee’s, that is) in 1973,  Building lines including the models Country Camper, Max, Mystique, Tribute, Inspire, Allure, Intrigue, Magna, Affinity, Lexa, Concept, Rhapsody, and Country Coach Prevost Conversion, the company was a leader in the industry in terms of motorcoach innovation, design, craftsmanship, livability, and safety attributes. Its dealer network was nationwide, and every single coach was built in Junction City in the southern Willamette valley (with the exception of the ill-fated Mystique, which was built at then sister company National RV). Bob Lee was inducted into the RV/MH Hall of Fame, in recognition to his pioneer spirit, decades of service to develop the RV industry, and his cutting edge innovations Country Coach brought to the Recreation Vehicle industry. In 1996, National RV Holdings Inc. acquired the company. Eleven years later in February of 2007, Country Coach was purchased by a consortium headed by Riley Investment Management LLC. Bob Lee (and his son in law Pat Mason) now own and operate the Oregon Motorcoach Center, a full service and renovation business in Eugene Oregon, located just a few minutes from where he formerly built coaches. See www.oregonmotorcoachcenter.com for more information on this company. Just three years later in February 2010, Country Coach, LLC, the company that built the World’s Finest Motorcoaches, fell victim to the downturned economy (and its resulting freeze on credit to consumers and dealers) and was forced into bankruptcy and was liquidated. Today, however, loyal Country Coachers are found parked at national and state parks or in the finest luxury destination resorts (and even overnight in the local Wal-Mart lot), and all points between as they enjoy the adventures to be found from the cockpit of a Country Coach. In fact, some will have nothing else, and it has created a profitable market niche for dealers concentrating on marketing pre-owned Country Coach motorcoaches.

Premier RV Services in Junction City, OR is one such business. Gary Obermire and Louie Courtemanche (like myself) are die-hard Country Coach fans. Like me I sometimes think they have CC motor oil in their blood. Long time Country Coach employees and avid promoters of the brand when the defunct company was in business, they too have an entrepreneur’s spirit. When their highly esteemed Country Coach, LLC failed, Premier RV Services was founded to fill the need for qualified service available to CCers….service you could trust by some of the best of the best Country Coach technicians. Knowing your beautiful Country Coach inside out as they and their staff did, they knew their longtime Country Coach owner friends would appreciate a service center specializing in Country Coach but welcoming all brands of motorhomes in for service and complete or partial renovations.  Premier recognized the deep loyalty there is to the Country Coach brand, and so they also opened a Pre-owned Coach Division where RVers could still purchase a hand-selected, well-maintained Country Coach brand motorcoach. Premier offers an indoor secure storage for your coach when its not being enjoyed, too, within buildings situated on 26+ acres of the former Country Coach, LLC campus. For a look at the largest inventory of preowned Country Coach motorcoaches in the U.S., or to learn about their other services, visit www.premierrvservices.com.

As you return to Junction City, Oregon and the Lane County area, you quickly appreciate the signs of a rebounding community. Dutch Brothers and Nina's coffee shops are thriving, as are local eateries, and other area businesses like Guaranty RV Center and Sound Sensations and Innovative Coachworks. There are many private individuals and small businesses in the area who cater to the RV owner, too. Be it cabinetry shops dedicated to the hand crafted cabinetry services Country Coachers became used to and demand in their upgrades and renovations (Davis Cabinets and Carr Industries are two of them) to Countryside Interiors, Millie’s Draperies, HItchPro & Tow, NW RV Supply and more, motorcoachers find a full support network in Lane County when they come back to Junction City and the surrounding area for leisure time. Yes, indeed, entrepreneurship is alive and well in Junction City OR and the RV industry's momentum is building! It’s a great place to visit, a beautiful area to tour and without doubt the name Country Coach is still well-loved and RV businesses continue to significantly contribute to the well-being of this community.

Transitions, Changes, and Stuff that Makes You Stronger

Have ya noticed that life is just a series of transitions? One is never standing still. Sometimes we’re moving forward (hopefully most of the time) and sometimes, we’re not.

Talk about changes and transitions…There’ve been quite a few in my professional life within the RV industry.

I was cleaning out boxes closing out my mom’s home last night and found a Fanning Family Christmas letter from 1998. It reported on the children and the home and on our jobs. About Country Coach I wrote: “Country Coach was cited as one of 100 Fast Moving Companies in Forbes magazine this year. I guess that means I have job securityJ”   Well, move and shake and design and build and market and sell we did…then we struggled and improvised and sought solutions and finally Country Coach LLC closed in bankruptcy 11 years after that 1998 Christmas letter. Many long term employees like myself felt like a family member had passed—there was a great attachment to that company and its products that left a void in our lives with its passing.

But transitions are often a good thing in one’s personal life, forcing us to evolve, change and become something new, different, even better. Since the day after Thanksgiving 2009 when my boss called me to say the bankruptcy court has chosen to pull the plug on the attempt to reorganize Country Coach, I know I’ve certainly changed. My rose glasses allowing me to believe that no matter the situation, a coach as solid and well built and beautifully designed as a Country Coach will always have its place in the industry are gone. Economics and circumstances and ‘stuff’ can and will cause the fall of any company, even wonderful companies like the one Bob Lee founded. And it certainly wasn’t alone…the industry downturn took out MANY companies in the RV sector over the past several years.

The businesses that survived have had to reinvent themselves and creatively repackage their services, streamlining their business plans to meet market demands of today’s recreation enthusiast. They’ve come out the other side stronger in many cases, albeit leaner.

And many individuals within the industry who were displaced when companies such as Country Coach LLC failed, have launched brand new enterprises. There is Premier RV Services for instance (www.PremierRVServices.com). It opened its doors after CC, LLC closed. It’s owned and staffed by former Country Coach employees who saw a market niche that needed filled offering pre-owned highline motorcoach sales, full RV service & renovations, and indoor coach storage. It even utilized multiple buildings left standing vacant by the CC, LLC bankruptcy. Premier RV Services is one of many businesses operating in Junction City Oregon which keep people returning “home” to the south Willamette valley for their motorcoach service needs. I’m very proud to be affiliated with the Premier group and love seeing many of my motorcoaching friends when they’re in town. Oregon Motorcoach Center, Guaranty RV, Country Coach Corporation (which may one day build new Country Coaches again!), Davis Cabinets, Innovative Coachworks, Countryside Interiors, Advanced Satellite, DLH Design, Carr Industries, these are but a few of the other RV Businesses in the Junction City Oregon community who like Premier are moving on, and going strong. These businesses are prospering in the industry’s New Normal and each offers valuable services to motorcoach owners, while providing a good living for their families, and giving a needed injection of revenue back into a small  community where all Country Coach motorcoaches were originally built.

And there are hundreds of Country Coach cheerleaders such as myself who continue in our professional lives within this great industry. We hold fond memories for “the way we were” but greater enthusiasm for what we and this local RV industry are becoming.

The challenge is to keep your running shoes laced tightly and to boldly lead the charge in a reinvented, exciting RV industry here in the Southern Willamette Valley.

I enjoy working in a service center/dealership that “feels” like my former Country Coach home (and in fact is located on 26 acres of the former Country Coach Inc campus). I enjoy promoting a fast growing Motorcoaching Club comprised of the world’s friendliest motorcoach owners (www.countrycoachfriendsincorporated.com) and I also serve on the Oregon RV Alliance executive board to encourage RVers to spend their leisure time in our beautiful area of the country. The RV industry is alive and well in Lane County, Oregon, and many old friends are still right here hard at work within this great community.

Transitions, Changes, and Stuff …I’m rolling with it and moving forward…these are exciting times!