Newmar Hoots Looking for a Roost

[Baja Fun]

We also wish a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all from sunny Baja.

[FatChance]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from sunny Arizona!

[dutchstargtr]

We should be closing our deal the first week of 2017! Signing papers, etc. 2mrw. So excited!! Happy New Year!!

[Deek]

Originally Posted by FLSteve

Merry Christmas from South Carolina everybody ...

Mighty sweet coach, FLSteve! Thanks for posting the pic.

Looks like Santa was very, very good to you and Lisa this year!

Ho Ho Ho!!!!

Deek

[VP Chianese]

Originally Posted by dutchstargtr

Merry Christmas! VP Chianese, I do not know what I like more, that you said it is December 34th, or that it is actually December 23rd... haha. You seem to be doing this lifestyle right! :-) :-) :-) Merry Xmas!!

Well I won't admit to it but there may have been some adult beverages involved. Most of the time I don't (or really care) what day it is least of all the date.

[FRasco]

Merry Christmas from FT.LAUDERDALE!

[MoBlue]

Originally Posted by FLSteve

Merry Christmas from South Carolina everybody ...

Beautiful coach Steve and Lisa. Happy New Year!

[Deek]

We had a very nice mid-year Hoots gathering at the Newmar coach site at the Tampa RV Show yesterday. Perfect location, perfect weather, perfect company and great food and drink as always. New Hoots, old Hoots, Hoots all around. Hosted by Norm and Ellen again, it was a great time for everyone who was in the area who could attend. Glad we are able to now have two special Hoots gatherings to look forward to!

Special thanks again to Norm and Ellen for organizing this fun time for us.

It is time to start thinking about the Hoots rally for 2017!

Deek

[FRasco]

It was great finally meeting you, Deek!

[Norm Mac]

WOW! We had so much fun at our Hoots Happy Hour!
It is always a blast to meet up with our Hoots friends and we had 8 or 9 Hoots coaches at the event.

It was really great to have Deek, John T, and his wife in attendance as ORIGINAL HOOTS

Now we get to look forward to HOOTS 5!

[Deek]

It was with great sadness that we learned today from our great Hoots pal, Richard Sullivan, of the most untimely passing of Kyle McCrary, Newmar Director of Product Planning and Design, on January 26.

Kyle, to all who knew him, was simply a powerhouse of a guy, a person whose presence in the motor coach arena was truly larger than life. Kyle had been instrumental in sales and design of several high end coach designs, among them Blue Bird, Fleetwood, American Coach and, for the past several years, Newmar. He was a wiz at intuiting and pushing to fruition in finished coaches all things that were special to us in our fancy motor homes. He was knowledgeable, witty, insightful, kind and generous -- just a joy to be around.

I first met Kyle in connection with our 2014 Hoots rally when we made the grade to get Newmar engaged with our second year fall rally in Seviervelle, TN. I had met with Kyle in Nappanee and had lunch with him to ask if Newmar would be willing to send some reps to join us at our rally. He had definitely heard of the Hoots force by then, and he wanted to know all about the history of how our group had evolved, who the principal cast of characters were and what I saw as Newmar's role in our coming together.

From the very start, Kyle instinctively understood the draw of our group together and our insatiable desire to affiliate with a collection of like minded idea people who happened to own Newmar coaches so that we could make our coaches better -- with modifications, new ideas, shared dreams of what might come down the pike from Newmar in our future coaches. He personally knew some of the early Hoots from their interactions with the factory when ordering their various coaches. I was particularly pleased that before meeting him, he spent time with Michelle Howard and knew all the specifics of the order I had placed for my latest Dutch Star and he was able to give me a couple of additional ideas for my build that I had not thought about.

At our lunch, Kyle was sold on Hoots and he told me that Newmar would make a commitment to join us at our rally that year in Sevierville. He enlisted Matt Miller in the project and Matt told Kyle to let it rip. We had Kyle and Ron Stichter at our rally and they presented one very memorable session on design and engineering ideas that would become part and parcel of upcoming Newmar coaches. They answered many questions from many Hoots and spent a lot more time with us than either we or they bargained for. We, frankly, all had a ball.

The next year, in 2015 at Traverse, MI, Kyle and Ron came back and brought with them our Patron Saint of Ordering our New Coaches, wonderful Michelle Howard. We had an ever better -- and longer -- session than we had in 2015. And of course in 2016 at Buckhorn in Kerrville, TX under the guidance of our great pal, Scott Wagner, we had the ultimate Newmar lineup: Kyle McCrary, Ron Stichter, Michelle Howard, Rick Powell and ... Matt and Pam Miller. What a hoot that was!!!

Bottom line is that at the very first, Kyle McCrary immediately saw the value of Newmar's joint efforts with our 'Newmar Hoots Looking for a Roost' group and he was with us from the inception of our first rally together at Sevierville through Traverse and most recently at Kerrville. We could not have had the outstanding partnership with Newmar we have had at our rallies without our indispensible Kyle.

We all join with the many saddened Newmar folks in expressing our sincere condolences to Kyle's family on his untimely passing and we tip our Hoots hats to a terrific, kind, funny and incredibly smart man who was our great friend and supporter. RIP, Kyle McCrary.

Deek

[FRasco]

Beautiful eulogy, Denis. Fair Winds and Following Seas, Kyle. RIP

[drdonny]

He will be missed. We was a great mind for the motorhome industry and was a good man as well. I knew him originally from his Bluebird days. Praying for his family for comfort, peace, understanding and presence of God's unfailing love

[joe4rvfun]

Originally Posted by Deek

It was with great sadness that we learned today from our great Hoots pal, Richard Sullivan, of the most untimely passing of Kyle McCrary, Newmar Director of Product Planning and Design, on January 26.

Kyle, to all who knew him, was simply a powerhouse of a guy, a person whose presence in the motor coach arena was truly larger than life. Kyle had been instrumental in sales and design of several high end coach designs, among them Blue Bird, Fleetwood, American Coach and, for the past several years, Newmar. He was a wiz at intuiting and pushing to fruition in finished coaches all things that were special to us in our fancy motor homes. He was knowledgeable, witty, insightful, kind and generous -- just a joy to be around.

I first met Kyle in connection with our 2014 Hoots rally when we made the grade to get Newmar engaged with our second year fall rally in Seviervelle, TN. I had met with Kyle in Nappanee and had lunch with him to ask if Newmar would be willing to send some reps to join us at our rally. He had definitely heard of the Hoots force by then, and he wanted to know all about the history of how our group had evolved, who the principal cast of characters were and what I saw as Newmar's role in our coming together.

From the very start, Kyle instinctively understood the draw of our group together and our insatiable desire to affiliate with a collection of like minded idea people who happened to own Newmar coaches so that we could make our coaches better -- with modifications, new ideas, shared dreams of what might come down the pike from Newmar in our future coaches. He personally knew some of the early Hoots from their interactions with the factory when ordering their various coaches. I was particularly pleased that before meeting him, he spent time with Michelle Howard and knew all the specifics of the order I had placed for my latest Dutch Star and he was able to give me a couple of additional ideas for my build that I had not thought about.

At our lunch, Kyle was sold on Hoots and he told me that Newmar would make a commitment to join us at our rally that year in Sevierville. He enlisted Matt Miller in the project and Matt told Kyle to let it rip. We had Kyle and Ron Stichter at our rally and they presented one very memorable session on design and engineering ideas that would become part and parcel of upcoming Newmar coaches. They answered many questions from many Hoots and spent a lot more time with us than either we or they bargained for. We, frankly, all had a ball.

The next year, in 2015 at Traverse, MI, Kyle and Ron came back and brought with them our Patron Saint of Ordering our New Coaches, wonderful Michelle Howard. We had an ever better -- and longer -- session than we had in 2015. And of course in 2016 at Buckhorn in Kerrville, TX under the guidance of our great pal, Scott Wagner, we had the ultimate Newmar lineup: Kyle McCrary, Ron Stichter, Michelle Howard, Rick Powell and ... Matt and Pam Miller. What a hoot that was!!!

Bottom line is that at the very first, Kyle McCrary immediately saw the value of Newmar's joint efforts with our 'Newmar Hoots Looking for a Roost' group and he was with us from the inception of our first rally together at Sevierville through Traverse and most recently at Kerrville. We could not have had the outstanding partnership with Newmar we have had at our rallies without our indispensible Kyle.

We all join with the many saddened Newmar folks in expressing our sincere condolences to Kyle's family on his untimely passing and we tip our Hoots hats to a terrific, kind, funny and incredibly smart man who was our great friend and supporter. RIP, Kyle McCrary.

Deek

Awesome eulogy Deek.