RVER OF THE YEAR
Dogs’ Best Friend
After spearheading stray-animal rescues online and on the road, Richard Daniels has been named the Good Sam Club’s 2008 RVer of the Year
Few RVers expect to have a life-altering experience during an RV trip. Take Richard Daniels, a Good Sam Club member from Waynesboro, Georgia. The retired minister, along with his wife, Sue, and dog, Levi, pulled into a campground in Modoc, South Carolina, over Labor Day weekend in 2005, anticipating a relaxing, uneventful RV trip.
Then Daniels encountered a shy, bone-thin Labrador retriever mix during a walk through the park. The dog accepted food that Daniels offered but would scurry away when he attempted to pet it. Daniels learned from park management that the dog had been living off scraps there for years.
After returning from his trip, Daniels logged on to the Pet Stop section of the Good Sam Club’s online forum and, under the name Dixie Flyer, asked members for advice on what he could do for the stray. The feedback he received inspired him not only to return to the campground and adopt the dog, whom he named Old Fella but also to eventually found a network of foster homes for abandoned and stray animals. Daniels also used the forums to facilitate rescues and adoptions across North America. At every step of the way, forum participants offered encouragement, advice and donations.
Three years later, the state-licensed Old Fella Burke County Animal Rescue shelter, in tandem with the forum’s highly active Old Fella thread (the collection of related posts), has helped find homes for scores of wayward canines and cats and spayed or neutered many more.
Daniels’ accomplishments make him a fitting recipient of the first-ever Good Sam Club RVer of the Year award, given in recognition of outstanding achievement benefiting fellow RVers and the community at large. Daniels will be presented with the award at the 2009 Rally, which takes place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, April 17 through 20.
“Richard not only has taken this initiative to rescue stray animals, but he also used the power of our websites to help him with the efforts,” says Sue Bray, executive director of the Good Sam Club. “We look forward to supporting Richard and his shelter in the coming years.”
Highways editors and Good Sam Club staff members made the selection for the inaugural RVer of the Year award. Good Sam Club members will be able to participate in the 2009 RVer of the Year selection, to be awarded this December.
For Daniels, the honor is bittersweet. Old Fella passed away in June 2008, but Daniels is determined to keep his memory alive. Thanks to donations from Old Fella supporters, a memorial will be erected and plans are under way for building a permanent Old Fella shelter, both in Waynesboro.
The role of animal rescuer is a far cry from the Waynesboro native’s beginnings, first working at the family’s auto dealership and, after college, entering the Southern Baptist ministry. When he retired four years ago, he looked forward to RVing, a lifelong passion.
Old Fella, of course, threw a wrench in his retirement plans. But Daniels, who grew up with plenty of pets, quickly made room for the dog in his life.
“Old Fella was a love sponge,” says Daniels, recalling how well the dog got along with his cat, Izzy, and dog Levi. “He loved everybody.” And everybody loved Old Fella. “People on the forum sent money to his vet to help pay the bills,” he says. “He became their dog.”
The many Good Sam Club members who chimed in on the popular Old Fella thread took to calling themselves FOOFs: Friends of Old Fella. When Old Fella nearly died from complications caused by worms, a church in Los Angeles offered prayers for his recovery, and correspondence to Daniel poured in from different parts of the world.
The dog’s story inspired many to use the Old Fella thread to post similar stories about rescued animals and arrange new adoptions through the shelter.
The thread continues to be one of the most-visited locations on the RV forum, with a whopping 12,299 replies and 504,603 views at press time. One of the most active posters, not surprisingly, is Dixie Flyer himself.
“I keep it clean and correct any problems,” says Daniels. “I try to keep it on topic. When someone is hostile, I let the forum moderators do their job.”
Daniels also keeps busy running his shelter, which arranges spaying and neutering services in addition to setting up adoptions. He organizes adoption events, solicits contributions and corresponds regularly with folks across the world.
When his busy schedule allows, he, Sue and two new adopted dogs take RV trips in the family’s Forest River Wildcat fifth wheel. Wherever they go, Daniels doesn’t forget the camping trip three years ago that changed his life, along with the lives of so many animals.
“Who could guess that getting to know an old stray dog could touch hearts and change lives?” he says with wonder.
—John Sullaway
To read Richard Daniels’ exceptional posts about his efforts and experiences, click on the Old Fella thread. Find out more about the Old Fella Burke County Animal Rescue center at www.oldfella.org.
RV BOOKSHELF
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RVers can get a bumper crop of navigational resources in one small package with the Trailer Life Travel Pack. Even better, Good Sam members can purchase the set at a reduced price on our website or by calling the phone number listed at the bottom of the page. Here’s what you’ll get for less than $60:
•The complete 2009 Trailer Life RV Parks, Campgrounds and Services Directory, listing 11,759 RV parks across the continent and now indicating Wi-Fi and Internet access. A handy index shows campgrounds that offer online reservations on the Good Sam website.
•The 2009 Campground Navigator CD, which allows users to search through the directory’s thousands of campgrounds and RV-service centers by computer. View street-level maps of cities across North America.
•The RV Road Atlas with detailed maps showing campgrounds and RV-accessible travel centers. RV-friendly truck routes and a comprehensive index help travelers reach their destinations with ease.
Good Sam Club Bookstore, 877-209-6656
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