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RVer of the Year: Vote Now

Good Sam Club Highways
August 2010
For some Good Sam members, the term "recreational vehicle" is misleading. Sure, they pilot their RVs to popular camping destinations and remote rustic getaways, but these RVers also hit the road with a more worthy purpose: to give back to their communities and the world at large.

The Good Sam Club recognizes these travelers every year with our RVer of the Year Award. For 2010, we've selected five admirable individuals and couples who've helped make the world a better place through volunteering, fundraising or building awareness for worthwhile causes. With your vote, you can help select which of our nominees is most deserving of the award. Read their biographies below, then click on one of the links and cast your vote.

We'll announce the 2010 RVer of the Year in the January issue of Highways and honor them during the 2011 Rally in Redmond, Oregon, July 14 through 17. Voting is limited to Good Sam Club members.

Martin Shenkman
Raising awareness and funds for serious illnesses

When Martin Shenkman's wife, Patti, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the New Jersey couple knew they'd have to make big changes in their lives. Air travel, for one, became unfeasible as Patti's symptoms worsened.

"We went to LaGuardia airport for a trip, and it was torturous for Patti," says Martin, an estate attorney. "She got very fatigued, and we had to lay coats on the floor to help her sleep. There was nothing in the terminal to eat or drink."

Shenkman quickly realized that RVing was the only mode of travel that would give Patti, an anesthesiologist, easy access to comfort and medication. A stranger to the RV lifestyle, Shenkman purchased an Airstream to tow with his Ford Expedition and learned the finer points of RVing, primarily from fellow RVers he met at campgrounds.

Shenkman continues to travel the country with Patti in their Airstream trailer and gives seminars to attorneys and accountants on estate planning for people with serious illnesses. Instead of taking seminar fees, Shenkman asks for donations to the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Reasearch and the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps, which provide outdoor recreation for kids with life-threatening illnesses.

"Each professional who is informed will in turn help many people," says Shenkman, adding that there are an estimated 120 million people in the United States with chronic illnesses.

In his seminars, Shenkman shares a number of estate-planning techniques for victims of serious illnesses, such as customizing living wills and consolidating accounts to make finance management easier. Shenkman also launched the www.rv4thecure.org website, which chronicles the Shenkmans' story and offers information about Martin's seminars and the charities he supports. The Shenkmans can also be found on Facebook (www.facebook.com/rv4thecause).

Vote for Martin Shenkman

Holt Webb
Preserving America's disappearing treasures

Holt Webb, a professional photographer from Alpharetta, Georgia, is in a race against time.

Since 2007, the Good Sam Club member has traveled the country in his vegetable-oil-powered motorhome documenting America's vanishing treasures with his lens. His camera has portrayed endangered wild mustangs in Nevada's desert, mothballed military airplanes at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona and Gulf Coast beaches threatened by the recent oil spill. When not on the highway, Webb posts his images on his web pages (www.vanishingamerica.net, holtwebb.blogspot.com) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/holtwebb) from his mobile office.

Webb became aware of America's vanishing wild places while growing up in Alpharetta. One day, while playing in the woods with some friends near his home, they stumbled upon a bulldozer blocking their path. In the months that followed, Webb watched his natural playground turn into apartments and shopping centers. He's had a desire to preserve disappearing wilderness ever since.

Fractured Atlas, a nonprofit arts organization, sponsors Webb, and a portion of sales from his photos goes to the Conservation Alliance (www.conservationalliance.com), a group of outdoor-related industries that work to protect American wilderness.

In addition to his online efforts, Webb draws attention to his cause with the full-body vinyl wrap on his motorhome, a reproduction of one of his photos of the Okefenokee Swamp.

"Ultimately, I want to raise awareness about what we're losing in America," says Webb.

Vote for Holt Webb

Paula and Nelson DiGennaro
Auctioning racing memorabilia for stray pets

Paula and Nelson DiGennaro have combined their love of animals and motor sports to benefit homeless cats and dogs.

The retired Ohioans and full-time RVers founded and organize Dayton's annual Red Dog Racers charity auction in which autographs and memorabilia from professional race teams and racing venues are auctioned off to benefit the Society for the Improvement of Conditions for Stray Animals. The charity promotes animal spaying and neutering, pet therapy at hospitals and nursing homes, and pet education.

For the DiGennaros, the marriage between animal welfare and auto racing was a natural fit. Paula, a former realtor, and Nelson, a retired engineer, have been motor-sports enthusiasts for more than 40 years, becoming fixtures at racing events from NASCAR to NHRA to Indy.

The couple launched the Red Dog Racers fundraiser with a simple plan. "As we traveled to our favorite racing venues," says Nelson, "Paula began networking with the race drivers and teams, telling them about SICSA's mission. We suddenly had a room in our house full of donations to auction for the cause."

The DiGennaros sold their house to travel full time in their Itasca Meridian motorhome, but the donations have continued to roll in. "We've had the entire nose cone of Kasey Kahne's NASCAR race car in our toad," says Nelson. "We've also hauled the hood of David Regan's UPS car. And we've had full-size autographed driver stand-ups tucked under our bed."

Held every October, the Red Dog Racers event is going strong and so far has raised more than $20,000 for SICSA. To learn more, visit SICSA's website, www.sicsa.org.

Vote for Paula and Nelson DiGennaro

JT Bolger
Spreading the word about family RV camping

Since taking his family on their first RV-camping trip in an old 1972 trailer eight years ago, New Jersey native JT Bolger realized that RVing was a great way to foster family togetherness. After joining the Good Sam Club, he helped found the Haulin Highlanders, a north New Jersey Good Sam chapter geared toward families.

"Most of the chapters we met when we joined the Good Sam Club had members who were a bit older. My family had very young kids," says Bolger, who shared that observation with Brad Hippie, Good Sam's New Jersey director at the time. The answer Bolger received was simple: "Brad said, 'There's a way to fix the problem. Start your own chapter.'"

At a New Jersey Good Sam event, Bolger and his wife, Bevin, started recruiting. Today, the Haulin Highlanders take trips to family-friendly destinations such as New Jersey's Cape May, Frontier Town in Ocean City, Maryland, and Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania.

Bolger has since taken the reins as New Jersey's state director for the Good Sam Club and continues to preach the gospel of family togetherness through RVing. He balances that job with his role as president of Bolger and Company, a commercial real estate management firm, and Two-Forty Associates, a real estate investment and development company.

Bolger and his brother, John, are trustees of the Bolger Foundation, founded by their father, David. The philanthropy supports conservation and community efforts across the United States. This year the foundation was honored by the New Jersey Library Association for its significant gifts to public libraries, most notably the restoration of Ridgewood, New Jersey's Pease Memorial Library, a project Bolger personally supervised. Bolger's also on the board of the Wells Mountain Foundation (www.wellsmountainfoundation.org), providing funds for impoverished nations with a focus on education, the arts and literacy.

And that 1972 RV? The Bolger family has moved up to a new rig, but JT says the old Dutch Craft travel trailer is up for grabs by the next young family who wants to create new memories.

To learn more about the New Jersey Good Sam Club, click on www.goodsamnj.com.

Vote for JT Bolger

Don and Marilyn Buller
Rebuilding disaster-stricken communities

Don and Marilyn Buller had enjoyed RV travel for 35 years, but the Fresno, California, couple always felt there was more to the lifestyle than recreation. "When I retired, we decided we wanted to combine RVing with a productive type of work," says Don.

The Bullers didn't have to look far to find others who shared their philosophy. The couple had been longtime volunteers with the Mennonite Disaster Service (www.mds.mennonite.net), a faith-based organization that helps distressed communities get back on their feet after a natural disaster. The Bullers contacted MDS headquarters in Akron, Pennsylvania, and laid out a plan.

"In 2006 we worked with MDS headquarters to develop and put together a program for RVers," says Don. Then they began recruiting RVers to the cause. The MDS RV program was born (www.mds.mennonite.net/programs/rv_program).

Working with MDS, the Bullers organized a network of 50 RVing couples across North America to travel to disaster sites and help repair and rebuild homes and clean up communities. RVers have been key parts of MDS teams that have arrived in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi to help those devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The group also helped people left homeless in the wake of 2007 and 2009 California wildfires.

The organization accepts members of all Christian religions and encourages RVing couples to join. "We ask that they have a faith-based background," says Don.

So far, the Bullers show no signs of slowing down and are poised to face disasters of all kinds, even the dreaded Big One that may one day shake up California. "We know there's going to be an earthquake," says Don, who's on the California Mennonite Disaster Service board. "We're mobilized and ready to go if that happens."

Vote for Don and Marilyn Buller


2009 RVers of the Year
Last year's winners continue to help others

In 2009, Good Sam Club members chose Susan and Monty Scales as our RVers of the Year. Susan and Monty are professional housing contractors who in 2005 borrowed a trailer and headed south to help families rebuild their battered homes following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Since then, they've continued helping natural disaster victims across the Gulf Coast and in the Midwest. We want to share this video clip of their efforts. Video courtesy of WLOX in Biloxi, Mississippi.