RV/MH Hall of Fame to Induct 11 on Aug. 2

   Print

A crowd of between 350 and 400 people is expected to attend the induction ceremonies Monday (Aug. 2) for the 11-member 2010 class of the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Ind.

The event will be staged at the Hall, located northeast of Elkhart. The social hour begins at approximately 5:30 p.m, followed by dinner at 7 p.m.

Lon Larson, RV/MH Foundation chairman, and Carl Ehry, executive director, will jointly emcee the event.

B.J. Thompson, representing the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA), will give a brief presentation in observance of the RV Centennial.

The foundation also will bestow its fourth Hall of Fame Spirit Award.

Induction of the 11 members will conclude the event. Nine of the inductees will be present. Two inductees, Raymond Bassett and James Boyts, are deceased but will be represented by family members.

A charity golf tournament, in conduction with the Hall of Fame event, will be held Monday morning at Christiana Creek Country Club in Elkhart. The shotgun start is set for 7:30 p.m.

The RV honorees are:

• Rex Floyd, Floyd’s RV of Norman, Norman, Okla., RV dealer. A recognized leader in Oklahoma RV matters, he served 12 years on the national board of the Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association (RVDA), including three as an officer during the industry downturn of the early 1980s. He was a key leader in the early days of organizing a national market expansion program which became today’s Go RVing effort.
• Jim Fogdall, Ace Fogdall RV, Cedar Falls, Iowa, RV dealer. A 44-year RVDA member, he was the Trailer Life Dealer of the Year in 1988, won the RVDA Chairman’s Award in 2003 and the Jim Summers Award in 2004. He served on the boards of RVDA (chairman), Service Technician Schools (chairman), RV Assistance Corp. and RVDA Education Foundation (chairman).
• Don Lougheed, RV Group Inc., Austin, Texas, RV dealer. He was one of the founders of the RVDA and a 40-year board member serving in many positions including president. He produced the RV industry’s first flat rate manual for service techs. With stores in New York and Texas, he had one of the first large, multi-state RV dealerships.
• Carl Pfalzgraf, Atwood Mobile Products, Elkhart, Ind., RV supplier. He has served 18 years on RVIA board. As Education Committee chairman, he led the group that devised the RVIA industry education program. He served as board chairman and was the 1998 recipient of the Distinguished Service to the Industry Award. He led his company’s marketing for the first electronic ignition water heater, first ball screw lifting devices, first light weight furnace with noise reduction and many others.
• Clarence T. Yoder, Carriage Inc., Millersburg, Ind., RV manufacturer. During the 30-plus years he led his company, he was the primary research and development officer always seeking innovations in comfort and function. He pioneered seamless fiberglass end caps on RVs in 1969, pioneered motorized slideouts on fifth-wheels, developed the flat floor fifth-wheel concept with no step up into the bedroom and he holds the patents on “hurricane straps” for slideouts and for the “No A Frame” design in travel trailers. He was a 30-year RVIA member and show participant.
• Raymond F. Bassett, Parkwood Homes and Honey RV, Elkhart, MH/RV manufacturer. He served on the boards of Mobile Home Manufacturers Association (MHMA), Fleetwood Enterprises Inc., Champion Homes, Redman and others. A highly regarded industry inventor and visionary, he patented a “knock-down” mobile home for overseas shipment, developed full-length screenroom additions for Florida models and developed a transport system for early “park models.”

From the manufactured housing segment are:

• Jim Boyts, Skyline Corp, Elkhart, manufacturer.
• Jerry Haggadone, Champion Homes, York, Neb., manufacturer.
• Morris Hylton, Jr. Hylton Homes, Ivel, Ky., retailer.
• Jess Maxcy, California MHI, Rancho Cucamunga, Calif., association executive.
• Jeff Wick, Wick Building Systems, Mazomanie, Wis., Housing manufacturer.

The RV/MH Hall of Fame, established in 1972, has honored over 330 industry leaders with enshrinement into the industry hall of fame. It maintains a museum and library of industry history and archives at it headquarters in Elkhart.