A record-breaking crowd of industry leaders, friends, colleagues and guests gathered at RV/MH Hall of Fame on Aug. 5 to help celebrate the induction of the Class of 2019.
This year’s RV inductees included: Randy Biles, Pikes Peak Traveland; Jeffrey P. Few, Automation & Manufacturing Systems; Bruce Hopkins, RV Industry Association; Lance Wilson, Florida RV Trade Association; and Daryl Zook, KZ RV.
On the manufactured housing side, the inductees included: Richard “Dick” Ernst, Financial Marketing Associates; John Carey, Modern Home Sales and Midwest Homes; Leo Poggione, Craftsman Homes; D. Raymond Broderick, Superior Homes; and Walter “Wally” Comer, Adventure Homes.
“In my closing remarks last year, I mentioned three goals,” said Hall President Darryl Searer. “First goal was that the Hall would be debt free by the end of the year. We only missed that by two-and-a-half months. On March 25, 2019, the Hall was officially debt free. Our second goal was the money would be donated for Phase 1 to begin construction of the Pavilion and rally site. Thanks to Peter Orthwein, Bob Martin and Thor Industries, that goal was exceeded beyond expectations. The third goal was that we would have a commitment for the money to begin construction on the new 60,000-square-foot event center. As of now that goal has not been reached; however, two out of three of our goals is not bad.”
Searer also presented the 2018 RV/MH Heritage Foundation’s “Darryl Searer Spirit Award” to Karen Redfern. The Spirit Award is an annual award to honor the person who has demonstrated his or her desire and dedication to further the legacy of our great heritage.
“Karen has been instrumental in working with the very successful Go RVing coalition for over 22 years and helping to ensure the Hall of Fame remains a viable part of Go RVing,” said Searer. “As an example, when the Hall’s worn out sign needed to be replaced, Karen stepped up and approved Go RVing to replace it with a new digital sign equal to HD television – seen by over 20 million people per year on the interstate helping to keep the MH and RV shining star brighter than ever. This year she was responsible for having the Disney folks stop at the Hall of Fame the day before Toy Story 4 film was released. We thought we would have 100 to 150 people show up; we had well over 1,000.”
