Text Box:   July Highlights!!

Text Box: Smith Family Newsletter July 2008

Text Box: Monaco moves all production and maintenance facilities back to Oregon, leaving behind a big hole in Elkhart, IN.   Eight days in Renfro Valley and seven shows later….   Another State and another State Capital visited….    

Text Box: The top three pictures are of the Indiana State House.  The first is of the State House, then the beautiful dome from inside the rotunda and the third is of the interior open level walkways.  Indiana became a State in 1816, and the capital was moved from Corydon to Indianapolis in 1825.  The State building was built and the City was built around it after, which makes it unique.  The move was to make it more centrally located.  The original building had problems and a new building was completed in 1887, with the interior having had several renovations.   Another great tour was the Indianapolis Speedway.  We took the grand tour here which enabled us to see things the public usually does not see.  We got to ride on the track in the tour bus, which stopped and allowed us to get out and walk on the track.  Above is a picture of the stadium as we pulled up in our car.  The two bottom pictures are of Bob standing on the “Yard of Bricks”.  Tradition dictates you get down on the ground and kiss the bricks, but I made it clear to Bob that I wasn’t kissing any bricks!  Located in the same area is the Bombardier Learjet  Pagoda.  We were taken inside and given a tour of this building, where the media is set up and officials monitor the races.  In addition there is a museum displaying previous winning cars and other memorabilia.  We probably spent about three hours here and enjoyed all of it.  The only thing we didn’t do was ride around the track in a race car, but then that was not offered.   Well, July means the HR 400 Pre-Rally I will save that for next month.  Right after the Pre-Rally was the HR International Rally in Goshen, Indiana.  See you in August!      

Text Box: You can imagine the shock we had, as we approached the part’s department at the Monaco Service Center, only to find the office was closed for the rest of the day.  Earlier that morning, the employees were told that all the Monaco facilities would be shut down by the end of September.  This includes the main Holiday Rambler production plant, with the Maintenance Facility and the  Corporate Headquarters here in Indiana….and who knows what else.  About 3,000 workers would be effected along with many other  smaller businesses, that support the production of motor homes. Some of the staff shared that they expected lay offs, but never expected this.  Other brands have had lay offs in this area as well.  Unfortunately, This is a one industry area.  We feel so bad for the many people who will loose their jobs.    While in Elkhart we had a nice visit with our friends, Wendy & Henry.  We had dinner with them more than once and Henry even cooked a great meal for us one evening.  These guys are related to the Goldman family and we spent some time wondering how Henry Sr & Ann were doing on their tour of Newfoundland.  I was actually able to catch Ann on Yahoo Saturday morning and chatted a little bit.  Needless to say, they were having a great time.  Three couples were traveling together and one couple from Newfoundland was acting as tour guide.   Before reaching Indiana, we relaxed in Renfro Valley for almost a week.   It seemed a good place to stop and relax and take in some country music shows!  We did just that.  While we were there, we bought tickets for seven shows, which included Blue Grass, Classical Country, Gospel and more.  It was relaxing, the weather was good and the music was great!   Traveling North in Indiana, we managed to stop and tour Indiana’s Capital in Indianapolis. This is a grand old lady of a building.  This is one of the few Capitals where the Senate and the House of Representatives are under the same roof.  It is both attractive and functional.  Besides touring the Capital, we also toured the Indianapolis Speedway.  We took the grand tour, as it is one of those things you go to see at least once.  On the right side of this page is a description of both and some pictures.