Doug's front page Friday reminiscence.

[EdH]

Fri, Jul 13, 2012. 1127z
I was digging around in some old files on my computer and found the first mention of this site, positioned in scope as catering to the entire RV planet instead of just 'The Texas Wing'. The date was April 6, 2000, and it can be considered the date this web site came into existence. Two weeks later I bought the domain name VansAirForce.net and directed it to the page you are currently reading. That makes this site...counting today...4,481 days old.

Reading Doug's thoughts during my lunch break disturbed a dusty corner of my memory, reminding me of a bit of RV internet history from around the same time. In late 1999, Jeremy Benedict had set up an RV builders resource that went by the name of SourceRV.com. Jeremy's intention; much like Doug's efforts that continue today, was to provide the best go-to location for RV builder's information. It was a subscription site - $24 a year; which raised a few eyebrows, but overall the feeling was really positive for such an exciting new development.

Sadly, a few months later, Jeremy and his father would be lost in an accident on 2nd April 2000, and SourceRV would loose it's founder.

Now in 2012, we have the great resource that is VAF - Thanks for disturbing the dust, Doug, and reminding me to remember a lost friend.

[fatherson]

Thank you, Ed. Since I came here much later than all that, I had never heard of Jeremy or his story. One thing I love about flying communities, and this one in particular, is that we remember and honor our dead. Sometimes I think that nobody is going to remember me , besides my kids and my RV friends, for more than a week or two after I pass.

Interesting too that the $24 subscription that Jeremy required is just $1 less than the voluntary donation that Doug asks here, even twelve years after SourceRV disappeared. My respect for DR, putting his family on the line by relying on our honor to pay what we owe, just grows and grows the longer I hang around here.

Thanks Doug and everyone else for making VAF such a worthwhile part of my life.

--
Stephen