2016 Registration Communication Plan

2016 North American Heartland Owners Rally – Las Vegas

Registration Communication Plan for Regular Club Members*

  1. As to when registration will open, advanced notification will be
    – Placed on the Heartland Owners Forum
    – Placed on several Facebook pages
    – Sent via email to all club members
    We plan to do this a couple of days in advance of opening registration. The registration link will be included although club members will not be able to register until or after the actual time registration opens.
    .
  2. At the precise moment registration is opened, final notification will be
    – Placed on the Heartland Owners Forum
    – Placed on several Facebook pages
    – Sent via email to all club members
    While club members will not be able to register prior to registration launch, we encourage all that are interested to NOT WAIT for final notification but to start registering, not sooner, but at the prescribed date/time.
  • Note that some group will be registering a few days earlier than others.  Those groups may not receive the same amount of advanced notification or regular members.

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2016 Cancellation

2016 North American Heartland Owners Rally – Las Vegas

Cancellation Policy
Registered rally attendees may cancel their registration at any time for any reason.

Cancellations received through September 7, 2016 will be refunded less a non-refundable fee of $100.

Refunds cannot be made for cancellations made after September 7, 2016 for any reason.

Changes and Cancellation Process

Cancellation is done in the “Review/Edit your Rally Information” area of the online system.

  1. Click here (LINK) to log into your Rally Registration site
  2. Enter your Forum / Club email address and click Continue
  3. Enter your Rally password and click Continue
  4. On the next page, click on the Cancel link (under your name in blue)

If you’re not able to cancel online, simply email our Club Manager, Julie Hancock at club@heartlandowners.org. Refunds, where applicable, will be processed automatically.

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RV Business News – Heartland Plans CRV/DRV Service Center in Indiana

Heartland Plans CRV/DRV Service Center in Indiana

Heartland Plans CRV/DRV Service Center in Indiana

January 14, 2016 by

HEARTLAND-chrome-blue-fill_smThe LaGrange County Economic Development Corp. (EDC) announced the sale of 64.4 acres in Howe, Ind., to Heartland Recreational Vehicles, a subsidiary of Thor Industries Inc.

According to a press release, Heartland RV broke ground Jan. 1 on a 52,200-square-foot state-of-the-art facility that will house a service center, warehouse and executive office for its Cruiser RV and DRV Luxury Suites subsidiaries. The project will create at least 15 new jobs.

Heartland acquired the sister companies in early January, 2015, to build its presence in the lightweight trailer and high-end fifth-wheel markets. Construction is expected to be completed in late spring and the new facility will be fully-staffed and operational by June 1.

Larry Miller, president of the LaGrange County Board of Commissioners and a member of the LaGrange County EDC Board, noted, “It’s impossible to deny the economic development momentum building in LaGrange County, and this project is a strong indication of that. Heartland RV’s purchase of the remaining land at Fawn River Crossing Industrial Park is particularly meaningful as it took many years of planning, land preparation, marketing and significant public investment to make it possible.”

“The commitment by Heartland RV and Thor Industries to the LaGrange County community demonstrates tremendous progress. The new jobs and capital investment are alone a reason to celebrate,” added Ryne Krock, president and CEO of the LaGrange County EDC. “We are encouraged by this project and potentially additional development by Heartland RV in LaGrange County in the future.”

Heartland RV’s plans received approval from the LaGrange County Plan Commission at a special meeting held on Dec. 18, 2015.

RV Business News – Heartland Will Oversee Bison Coach Operations

Heartland Will Oversee Bison Coach Operations

Heartland Will Oversee Bison Coach Operations

February 16, 2016 by

Thor Industries Inc. subsidiary Heartland Recreational Vehicles LLC announced it has integrated operations for specialty trailer manufacturer Bison Coach into its growing portfolio, effective Feb. 8.

Thor, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, acquired the net assets of Bison Coach in October of 2013 from an operating unit of Navistar Inc. Bison Coach, originally founded in 1984, is known for its rugged, high-quality and affordable specialty trailers, including a full lineup of equine trailers equipped with living quarters.

“We’re excited to team up with one of the most successful companies in the horse trailer business and bring Bison Coach into our family of companies,” said Heartland President Chris Hermon in a press release. “With Heartland’s knowledge and support system, we are eager to take this company and help it increase sales and better strengthen the service side of the business with its dealer body.”

Thor, through a subsidiary, expanded Bison Coach’s footprint in June of 2014 by acquiring a 55,000-square-foot facility in close proximity to the Bison Coach campus in Milford, Ind., along with purchasing 20 acres of land for future growth. Hermon noted, “Thor made a significant investment in Bison Coach. Our mission is to help push Bison Coach to that next level and cement its standing as the market share leader.”

The move represents the latest in a series of expansions by Elkhart, Ind.-based Heartland. In July of 2013, the company announced the acquisition of the assets of park model builder Breckenridge followed by the acquisition of Cruiser RV LLC and DRV LLC in early January 0f 2015. In addition, Heartland will be ramping up operations at a new facility in Nampa, Idaho, in the next 45 days.

“This is an exciting time for Heartland,” Hermon stated. “We are experiencing tremendous growth on the RV side and continue to be at the forefront of innovation and product design. Bison Coach offers a similar profile in the specialty trailer market and we see this as a strong, productive alliance moving forward.”

Product Review – Instant Pot

Raise your hands high if you’ve been in your RV for some time, whether it be two days or two months, it seems we have never enough kitchen/galley storage.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have all the kitchen amenities and tools in our RV’s that we have/had in our S&B kitchens?

Black Friday last year, that came to light as I was reading a Facebook group page when a member posted this exciting Black Friday special on Amazon for this thing called an ‘Instant Pot’ aka ‘InstaPot’.

As one who loves to chef it up in the kitchen/galley but hates the cleanup of tons of pots, pans and utensils (who has room for them all in an RV anyways??) as well as the splatter mess all over, this was my savior!  Immediately upon seeing the post mentioned above, I looked up the specs and info, then…BAM!  All I can say is ‘thank God for Amazon Prime!!’.  Three days later and only a hit of $80 to our credit card, our Instant Pot arrived.  Excitedly, I unpacked it and decided right then, ‘lets make something’!  And I did…spaghetti sauce.

InstantPot Widget
InstantPot Widget

I admit, I’m terrible about pulling out the directions and reading through them first.  Good thing, because the buttons were self explanatory.  I simply plugged that sucker in, put a little oil in the bottom, threw in my ground beef, chopped onion, chopped fresh herbs, spices and pushed ‘Saute’.  All of a sudden, I hear sizzling (the good kind!) and start smelling it cooking.  Only 15 minutes later, my meat mixture was finished.  With the meat mixture still in the stainless steel pot insert, I then I threw in my canned tomatoes, sauce, pushed ‘slow cook’ and put the lid on it.  Because the pot insert is deep, there was minimal splatter mess outside the appliance.  We then ran out to go do something, forgetting I had our spaghetti sauce slow cooking and four hours later, arrived back to our RV smelling like we were in an Italian restaurant.  After I released the moisture/steam pressure mechanism, I opened the lid and holy moly, it was ready; looking and smelling all delicious!!  All I had to do was boil the boxed pasta in a separate pot on our induction cooktop.

So, we’ve had our InstantPot for almost three months and it, by far, is my favorite kitchen gadget.  I’ve made everything from shrimp scampi, soups, sauces, sweated onions and green peppers, cooked sausages, etc.

Cleanup is easy peasy!  Simply removed the stainless steel liner pot and wash/dry.  Also, the lid is easy to clean as well.

The InstantPot is a ‘7 in 1′; it’s a multi-function cooker combining the benefits of a Pressure Cooker, Saute’, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Steamer, Yogurt Maker and Food Warmer.  Its 14 micro-processor controlled intelligent programs make your everyday cooking as easy as pressing a button.

It brings your green thinking right into the kitchen by saving up to 70% of energy compared with conventional cooking.  In most cases, the Instant Pot reduces the cooking time by 70% and preserves more vitamins and minerals in the natural ingredients.  It also has a timer that you can set for your cooking time (start and stop).  For busy RV’ers like ourselves, this is a Godsend.  Who wants to be tied up in the kitchen/galley when there are campfires to tend, places to go and people to see!  Our Instant Pot replaced our one-function Crock Pot.

Just an FYI, we ordered the brand-name ‘Instant Pot’, however there are competitors on the market so I can’t speak on experience of those, but I’m guessing they are very similar in their operations.  We found, also on Amazon and through the Instant Pot company, you can order replacement parts (ie. lid, seals, pot inserts).  Oh and yes, it comes with a very good instruction booklet and recipe book.  Notably, there are even Facebook groups that are for Instant Pot users (recipes, etc.)

So, if you’re looking for a ‘one does it all’ appliance for kitchen/galley, here ya go!

Submitted by:  Lisa Brown

2016 RV Weighing Service

2016 North American Heartland Owners Rally – Las Vegas

RV Weighing Details

Weigh-To-Go-Logo

  • Who
    For all rally attendees that are interested in it
  • What
    RV Weighing is a process where our service provider, “Weigh To Go” will place scales under your RV and truck tires and record your weights.  The analysis done afterwards will help you better understand your towing weights in a wheel-by-wheel, axle-by-axle manner and help you understand how your actual weights compare to the capacity of your truck and your RV
  • When
    Weighing can be done as you arrive at the venue before you go to your site or on your way out – the day you leave.  The team should be in place for first weighs on September 30 and last weighs on October 10
  • Where
    The weighing team would prefer to weigh your entire setup “on your way in”.  We will work with the venue to identify a location where RVs can queue up and get weighed.  Later, the weigh team will stop by your site to weigh your truck again, but disconnected from your RV
  • Cost
    $60 to have your RV only weighed / $90 to have your RV and Truck both weighed*
    * While more money, it’s highly recommended that you have your truck weighed as well.  By doing so, you’ll learn your actual truck weigh, by axle and you’ll learn your RV’s pin/hitch weight
  • More Info
    The weigh team “does all the work“, collecting the tire and chassis data, looking up correct tire pressures, air the tires if they are under inflated, thoroughly cover the report with the RV owner and provide on going support if the owner has future questions about their particular configuration or weighing/tires in general
  • Online Weighing Request Form
    Follow this link and complete the online form to request Weighing Service.  Tom Case will then follow up with you to firm up your appointment.

Follow this link to the forum discussion thread for this item.

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