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RV CLUB FINDS FRIENDLY PEOPLE

By Larry Ault/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Monday, October 11, 2004 10:08 AM CDT

Age is no obstacle for a group of determined older travelers who love the highways and byways of the nation and spend their lives traveling around America in recreational vehicles.

For Gilbert Walker and his wife Jeannine of Fort Smith, their trip has taken them from coast to coast and they are ready to make another trip.

"We try to go where they've got an enclosed facility, like they do here," he said Friday after breakfast was served to the Holiday Rambler Recreational Vehicle Club.

The club held a convention at the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Regional Park this past week. The park features a full-time RV Park.

The club is the leading recreational vehicle club in the nation with more than 300 chapters and thousands of members nationwide and in Canada.

Walker, Arkansas state manager, said more than 122 people with about 60 recreational vehicles attended the weeklong meeting, which began Oct. 3

"We average between 12 to 15 states each year," Walker said of his travels. "We've traveled through nine different states this year," he said.

Eating is a high priority for this group of older Americans, who were looking forward to the Hoggs Catering and Meat Market of North Little Rock catering a roasted hog over the weekend.

Walker said between eight to 10 states are usually represented, with recreational vehicle owners from as far away as New York and even California sometimes showing up.

"The average age is in their 70s," he said, explaining "I'm the young one. I'm 78."

"I look at this as the best therapy in the world," Walker said.

Some of the members are 81 years old and "are going strong."

Walker said the club meets here about every three years and also meets at Hope and Fort Smith.

This is the first time the club has camped in Jefferson County since 2001.

"We were here when 9/11 occurred," Walker said.

Many of the campers were equipped with television sets, he said, explaining campers scurried around to watch the events unfold in New York City and around the nation as they were televised live on national news channels.

"We were cooking breakfast in here when it happened," Walker said. "We had a candlelight vigil that night," he said.

"We don't need them," Walker said of the terrorists who masterminded the attack. "They were worried about the Pine Bluff Arsenal," Walker said.

The Arsenal houses chemical weapons that are scheduled to be destroyed.

Walker said during the week of Sept. 11, 2001, "you could just feel the tension" around town.

"We may not ever stop it but the whole world has got to be involved," he said of ending terrorism.

Walker is a 21-year veteran of the Navy whose military career began during World War II and lasted through the Korean War and the early days of the United States' involvement in Vietnam.

Walker spent most of his Navy career on aircraft carriers and said he would be willing to sacrifice his life to stop the sort of terrorism that triggered the attacks on U.S. soil on Sept. 11, 2001.

Walker said one of the reasons the RV owners keep returning to Pine Bluff for the meeting is because the people are friendly."

"Whatever we ask for, they give it to us," he said.

The rain that moved into the Pine Bluff area didn't dampen the spirits of the RV owners but they did stay inside during a morning shower.

"It's quiet time and everybody is getting an opportunity to do their own thing," said Ruth Foster of Gravette, as a small group of people took shelter from a rainy day at the waterfront facility.

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