News Letter

It's been a very unusual year for Clan Desdin. We started the year revamping our bylaws, electing a new president and adding new Board members. Bill Yunker retired from camping the fall of 2010 and we elected Bill Mills as our new president. In the spring we welcomed new Board members, Laura Hinkston, Jennifer Cropper and Mike Harlow.

We had a very busy camping schedule which started with three events planned before the middle of May. HOWEVER, Mother Nature had different plans which resulted in our region's wettest year ever. Both Grassy Run and The Appalachian Festival were literally under water and although the 175th anniversary of Felicity was on a hill and dry, we only camped a partial weekend before being rained out on Sunday.

We all got together at Mark and Jeanne's in July and much to our surprise Bill Mills , our fearless leader, had open heart surgery the following week- what does Mark put in that BBQ sauce? Bill did well with his surgery and was soon home recuperating when they discovered that his sternum was infected and he was sent back for a second major surgery within a month. They removed his sternum (which none of us had ever heard of) and he spent the rest of the summer recovering.

Our next planned event was the Dayton Celtic Festival, traditionally one of the hottest and driest weekends of the year. We were hopeful; the forecast was dry and sunny and early Friday morning found us on the highway headed north. We had gone about twenty miles when the van lost momentum and the brakes locked up. We were towed home, and although the weekend was a disappointment, we were hopeful that the van could be repaired. Mike Harlow (who is a certified brake technician) headed our way and replaced the calipers and we were set for the rest of the season.

Due to the hot summer weather, we traditionally do not schedule many events during July and August. Our camping season pickups up in September and culminates in October at Big Bone with Salt Fest. We were all looking forward to the Columbus IN Scottish Games; the menu was planned, the clothes were packed- we were ready to go when Bob had a reaction to medication and ended up in the hospital. It took him a few weeks to recover, just in time for one of my favorite venues; the Apple Works in Trafalgar IN.

Once again we were on our way, we had gone just under the twenty mile mark when the van lost momentum and we were towed home. Sound familiar? The front calipers had been replaced so what the heck was the problem? The guys began a ten day saga of what broke- what was repaired and who can think of anything else? The culprit turned out to be a vary small and hard to find proportioning valve which regulates the flow of fluid to the brake cylinders. WOW!

Our team of shade tree mechanics (Mike Harlow, Tim Thomas, Bill Mills, James Osborne, and Jared Harlow) worked furiously and had the van repair completed just in the nick of time for a one day event in Mt Airy forest and Salt Fest set up. Did we make it to Salt Fest- YES! Hallelujah! Did we have more car trouble- heck yes, the serpentine belt broke- but we had a week to repair it and we were CAMPING!

We had a terrific time at Salt Fest- the weather was beautiful and I think it only rained during the week, not on the weekend. We had a bit of wind on Friday after the school kids left but with the help of many hands, took down the school fly and stowed it before there was too much damage. Mark roasted a pig, we baked our hearts out and had a blast. This year OCP was scattered throughout camp and we were lucky enough to have Gracie, Robert and Nancy, Ray and Mary, Nancy and Bev not far from us. Eileen and Dave Dowler along with Bob and Randi Evans were within shouting distance and on Saturday, we had our good friends Ron and Jeanine Shouse, Laura and Denver along with Tim and Jennifer Cropper stop by for a visit. Laura and Denver were not able to camp this year, but they did make an emergency wood run for us on Tuesday night so we got to see them twice! Thank you Laura and Denver!

It's now December with Christmas right around the corner. Last weekend we had dinner at Gracie's and I already miss everyone. I'm already looking forward to Grassy Run (April 27-29) and hoping it will be much drier than last year and we can camp once again. I'm wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a healthy, blessed new year!

Lissa