The 2019 ATC Toy Hauler Summer Rally came about as a result of the success of the 2018 “Alumi-Rally” in Bremen, IN.
So when everyone who attended wanted to return for a 2019 rally, Sash and I couldn’t say no.
Now organized as “ATC Owners”, Sash managed to turn her event planning skills into an actual business whose purpose is to create a community of ATC Toy Hauler owners (and ATC Quest trailer owners) by planning rallies across the country.
The 2019 rally was sponsored by Toppers and Trailers Plus and Brown Motorcars, two of ATC’s top trailer dealers. Because both dealers are located in the midwest (Minnesota and Iowa respectively), we chose a location close to them.
Old Barn Resort came up as a possible choice to facilitate the rally. Located in southeastern Minnesota, next to the town of Preston, it seemed to have everything we needed: plenty of available sites, full hookups, great trails for bicycling, lots of trees, and a good distance away from suburbia.
The date was set, June 6-8, 2019, on a Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with everyone heading back home on Sunday.
Sash and I arrived at Old Barn Resort on Tuesday so that we could get a head start on getting the rally put into place. We met the owners of the resort, worked out the logistics, and started setting up.
I had to give our ATC Toy Hauler a badly needed clean up. It was about 9 months since the last time I gave it a full cleaning. You don’t get a lot of opportunities to clean when you’re boondocking, and you tend to rely on Mother Nature to keep it showered off.
By the next day, Wednesday, the staff from ATC Toy Haulers showed up, Dale Davis, Jason Schlabach, and a couple others. They brought in the new 32 foot fifth wheel toy hauler to show off. That night, Sash and I, along with a few other rally attendees who showed up early, went out for dinner with them.
By the next day, Thursday, everyone showed up with their toy haulers. We had 32 trailers in all. Over 70 people in attendance. We exceeded last year’s total.
Many of last year’s attendees showed up, but there were a lot of new faces here too.
It’s one thing to meet each other on Facebook, but it’s an entirely different thing to meet each other in person and become real friends, not just Facebook friends. Having these rallies brings all of us ATC owners together to become that, real friends.
So, on the success of the 2019 rally, we’re looking at a 2020 rally. But, it looks like we’ll have two rallies in 2020, a winter rally somewhere in Arizona or California, and the other in Spring towards the east coast.
A special thanks to the 2019 rally sponsors, Toppers and Trailers Plus (aluminum sponsor), and Brown Motorcars. ATC Toy Haulers themselves was also a sponsor.
Sash is also very proud to announce that ATC Owners, the group that she and I put together, is now the officially recognized owners group for ATC Toy Haulers. It’s very exciting to get ATC’s recognition because it means we’ve done a great job and have their blessing to push this even further.
BTW, if you’re an ATC Toy Hauler or Quest Trailer owner, make sure to visit our official website at: https://www.atcowners.com
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