As our America West flight roared out of Orange County (John Wayne) Airport, we were airborne on our way to another assignment of speed and beauty. This time we were en route to Detroit by way of Phoenix to cover the 32nd annual 2004 Van Nationals at the Clare County Fairgrounds in Harrison, Michigan. We know what you're thinking - did you say the 32nd annual? Most people thought the van scene mysteriously vanished from the planet like the dinosaurs.
This year's Van Nationals was hosted by the Van Club Association of Michigan (VCAOM). James "Boski" Standly is the club's chairperson and was our hookup for the event. We arrived at the Clare County Fairgrounds' gate the next day and were greeted by Ed, one of the host club members, who chauffeured us down to the show-'n'-shine area. The vehicles were only displayed from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday. During this time, we were introduced to many of the high-ranking icons of the van world. We instantly began lengthy conversations about the vans of yesterday and today. After our introductions and confabulation, we were given a tour of the show 'n' shine by Chewie, who was kind enough to drive us around in his personal golf cart while informing us of the history and bio of each van. After the tour, we grabbed our cameras and began photographing the show-'n'-shine vans before they broke ranks and cruised back to their respected campsites, where they would rest for the remainder of the weekend. We forgot this was a van happening.
The remainder of the weekend was spent cruising through the campsite area checking out the show's vans, which ranged from mild to wild. We visited with vanners and reminisced about the good ol' days and discussed today's van issues. Their main concern was the lack of exposure of vans within various publications in recent years. For these van enthusiasts and thousands of others worldwide, we need to get the word out that vans have survived for decades and are still here despite a lack of respect in the automotive and truck world. We were there to listen and obtain information to capture a sense of the custom van hobby's direction for the future. The evenings were spent listening to live music by NADIR, who filled the air with distorted soul sounds, and The Lap Dogs, who cranked out some heavy rock 'n' roll from the '80s and '90s.
Unfortunately, Rick "Tank" Smith, a well-known vanner for many years, passed away while attending the event with his family and van friends. Also, earlier in the week, on his way to the event to participate and judge, Tyrone "Kilowatt" Mitchell, brother-in-law of this year's chairperson, passed away. Our condolences go out to the families and friends of these respected and loved vanners.
During the event, we clicked off a multitude of van features, one of which will be laid out in the Jan. '05 issue of Truckin'. The 32nd annual Van Nationals was definitely a great experience. We would like to thank all of the folks we met for their kind hospitality. We learned that the van culture is still alive and very active. The 33rd annual 2005 Van Nationals will be hosted by Performance Inc. and Moon Lite Vans in Summit Station, Pennsylvania, July 6-10, 2005. For more information on the van phenomenon, check out www.vannin.com and www.33rdVanNats.com. We hope to see you at the 33rd Annual 2005 Van Nats.