Might I suggest we form a committee to work on the project?  I would like to be a part of this. As I said we will not be in Oregon this year but we will be at Perry and Wisconsin. We could ask the remaining charter members (Canales and Schmidt) as well as past presidents to write down their thoughts and memories. This could be the basis for a good start on the History of the Beaver Brand. Of course, we would put out an appeal for anyone to add what they know and we could contact the sons of the original guys who started it all. Any pictures we could collect would be great as well as brochures, momentoes etc.
Peter and I have put together several books (Burdick High School Alumni Book and Venice High School Reunion Book) so we are familiar with doing the layout and publishing of such a book. We just need to get started.
                    Beaver hugs, Connie B.
PS. The book doesn't have to be a printed hard copy type book. We could easily put in on a CD as well as have a place for it on the website. SO there would not be any cost to the club to "print" this book. It would be another good recruiting tool on the website.
PSS. I would also like to have a complete copy of all the brochures of Beaver coaches. We have our collection of brochures back at our homebase but in the fall I can go through them and post what we have and what brochures we need to finish the set. My genealogy gene is getting excited here!!!!!!

The boys could be contacted readily enough at Host Manufacturing in Bend, but I'd think a comprehensive interview with their fathers would be the thing to do, and could form a substantial part of the "book".

Joel

We have found the folks at Beaver Coach Sales in Bend to be a fountain of knowledge on Beaver history and most coaches.  For example; we misspoke about one of our inside features, and they produced an "original" brochure for our 97 Marquis.  They were kind enough to make us a copy.  Therefore, they may be a very beneficial source for our history and most likely would welcome the ability to contribute.

Chuck and Donna

Update August 9, 2010:

Mike Humble asked me to volunteer to be the chairman of the history committee.  I think that’s the same as being appointed!  Since neither of us knew what the job description might be, I agreed.  I’m already looking for a volunteer to take over that might know what to do!

A Beaver brand seminar was held at the Harrisburg International Rally.  The moderators were Mandy Canales, Wally Schmidt, Ty Kelly and Ken Carpenter.  The seminar lasted an hour and was audio recorded by Lamar Keck and video recorded by Dick McQuillan.  

Lamar’s audio is in a very high quality 717 megabyte .wav file.  I’ve reduced it to a 51 megabyte .mp3 file that retains reasonable quality, but it is still too large to email or upload on my MyFi.

Dick is working on improving his video with a better sound track and sharper photos.  It will probably end up as a DVD that will have to be distributed at rallies or mailed.  More on that later.

Mandy’s presentation included a PowerPoint presentation that included about 20 wonderful photos.  If someone knows how to do it, it may be possible to synchronize the .wav file from Lamar’s audio to Mandy’s PowerPoint file.  

Tim Bentley (our hard working moderator) has agreed to figure out what can be reasonably made available for downloading or viewing on this forum or at http://www.beaveramb.org.  I’ve also asked him to consider making this thread a “sticky” so that it can be easily referred to.  Does anybody know how to break a one hour video file into a series of YouTube (or equivalent) video files?

I don’t know the best way to complete this job.  I don’t want to be the “History Chairman” forever!  I’m looking for ideas and suggestions.  

For now, would please post pictures and descriptions of “historical” Beavers you have or see in your travels to this thread.  Keep the file size small!

Quoted from Peter and Connie Bradish

.....I would like to be a part of this. .....Peter and I have put together several books ...PS. The book doesn't have to be a printed hard copy type book. We could easily put in on a CD as well as have a place for it on the website...

Would you be interested in transcribing a one hour audio recording to a .pdf as a start?

I was in the RV industry in the early to late 70's and called on Beaver as a supplier.  Frank Storch and Jim Hogue were the 2 owners I knew at the time. They started out building truck campers and then went to class C MH's. They filed chapter 11 in approx. 1975. With help from suppliers, they worked their way out of it. The company I managed was the single largest supplier, so I had a lot of contact with Beaver during that time. Frank Storch even "loaned" me a new Class C to take my family to Disney Land in 1976.  After working out of the chapter 11, they started prototyping Class A MH's. They did quite well for several years. I lost track of when the ownership changes occurred, because I left the the industry.

Frank Storch and Jim Hogue's sons are now building the "Host" truck campers in Bend.

Bill,
How is the project going for a history of Beaver? I am still interested in putting some kind of a "book" together of interviews with BAC members and the sons of the original owners, Ken Carpenter, etc., plus photos, history, etc.  Connie B.

PS Sorry I didn't see the question, would I be willing to transcribe the recording. Sure, just send me a copy. The address is in the membership directory.

Couldn't the audio file simply be placed on the BAC server with a link, the same way a PDF file is set up?  This way everyone could stream it or D/L to their PC's and play it with MediaPlayer, etc..  I'd enjoy hearing it!  No need to put it on CD or email.

Jim

Jim,
I (Connie Bradish) am presently working on just that. Stayed tuned for some developments shortly.  Connie B.