W.C. Handy Festival, Florence Alabama

If you are traveling through the northwest corner of Alabama in July, take note of the W. C. Handy Festival in Florence, Alabama. The last 10 days of July each year are dedicated to this musical event – located 50 miles northeast of the Tiffin Motorhomes facility. W. C. Handy (1873-1958) was born in Florence and went on to become known as the “Father of the Blues”.   He was an American blues composer and musician best known for playing the trumpet and cornet, but he also played the piano, guitar and sang. In 1958 a movie about his life, St. Louis Blues, was released starring Nat “King” Cole, Pearl Bailey, Mahalia Jackson and Ella Fitzgerald. Some of Handy’s better known compositions are “Memphis Blues, “Saint Louis Blues”, Beale Street Blues, and “Ole Miss Rag”. The log cabin of Handy’s birth has been preserved near downtown Florence. After a lifetime of touring the world, Handy died in New York City in 1958. Over 25,000 people attended his funeral in Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church and over 150,000 people gathered in the streets near the church to pay their respects.

In 1982 the Handy Festival was originally designed to promote area businesses; therefore, the ten day long series of primarily music events occurs in and around the Florence/Shoals area. Restaurants, stores, and other businesses host concerts and activities throughout the festival. With approximately 200 events, there is something for everyone. For a full schedule of dates and events, go to www.wchandymusicfestival.org .   The Handy Music Festival has been selected as a Top Ten Event in Alabama and a Top Twenty event in the Southeast since 1986. If you are in the area between July 22 & 31, 2016 – don’t miss this exciting event!

The beautiful Palm Creek RV Resort in Casa Grande, AZ was host to our second Tiffin Allegro Club rally in 2016. The weather was perfect and the park’s hospitality second to none. By Monday evening we had over 250 beautiful Tiffin coaches throughout the park. Friends were made and old acquaintances were renewed.   Everyone gathered in the comfortable Multi-Purpose Building for a delicious dinner followed by an evening of door prizes and competitive rounds of Tiffin Allegro Bingo!  Welcoming remarks were made by several Tiffin associates as well as Jason Kimbell of LaMesa RV. The Tiffin Allegro Club and rally attendees were privileged to present a musical salute to our many veterans. We appreciate your service to our nation!

Tuesday morning brought everyone out for a tasty breakfast followed by seminars presented by Tiffin staff and other RV related companies. Everyone enjoyed the seminars as owners are always eager to learn more about their Tiffin coaches. The grounds and landscaping at Palm Creek are lovely and formed a perfect backdrop for the brand new Tiffin coaches on display by LaMesa RV. Folks enjoyed strolling through new models and anticipating trading up to their next ‘dream coach’! We appreciate the support and participation of the great folks at LaMesa RV!

Bob and Judy Tiffin were gracious to attend the rally and owners always enjoy visiting with them. Many owners left with selfies and autographs from this legend in the RV industry. Ice cream was served and guests were able to visit with one another while enjoying this delicious summertime treat.

After a delicious bar-b-que rib and smoked beef dinner with all the trimmings, everyone moved into the ballroom for a great show by tribute artist, Conner Lorre from Atlanta, Georgia. Connor entertained the crowd with many great songs such as “Sweet Caroline” made famous by Neil Diamond. “Mustang Sally” was another crowd favorite!

More seminars were presented Wednesday morning. These informative sessions covered a variety of subjects relating to the RV lifestyle. The grills were fired up and immediately after the seminars we served grilled burgers and hot dogs for everyone. After enjoying this tailgate style lunch, a Craft & Hobby display was set up. Many people enjoyed learning about other folks hobbies and everyone was thrilled with the beautiful melodies by Phil Perry on the handmade wooden flutes. The flutes were a work of art and Phil brought them to life.

After several hours of smelling the aroma of grilled chicken and pulled pork bar-b-que, everyone was eager to once again partake of the delicious dinner. The smiling staff of Palm Creek RV Resort did a wonderful job of serving the guests throughout the rally.

Guests enjoyed another great breakfast on Thursday morning before once again participating in educational seminars. A fun activity that we always enjoy is our swap meet among owners. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure! We supplied the tables and owners provided the merchandise. Bargains were there and people snapped them up! After all that negotiating, everyone worked up an appetite for more ice cream, compliments of Bob & Judy Tiffin!

We were fortunate to have several highly skilled service technicians from Red Bay as well as LaMesa present to perform minor service repairs to owners’ coaches. These are the hardest working individuals at the rally! They start early and stay late to insure everyone receives a visit to their coach.

Thursday evening found everyone enjoying our delicious farewell dinner served by the staff of Palm Creek. After the wonderful homemade cheesecake, everyone moved over to the ballroom. Door prizes provided by many Tiffin vendors as well as the Tiffin Allegro Club were awarded each night to many excited winners. The rally ended on a really high note (pun intended) with the concert by December 63, a Frankie Valli Tribute band. These men presented a great show and had everyone on their feet for a standing ovation at the end. Upon leaving our rally the group was headed to the high seas performing for Celebrity Cruise Lines.

Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make this rally a huge success! We had a fantastic group of volunteers who arrived early to help with registration and began preparing to greet everyone on Monday. We couldn’t make it without our priceless volunteers! They are the best!

Several coaches departed from Palm Creek on Friday morning at the end of our rally while many stayed a few more days to enjoy the wonderful weather and nice facilities at the park. Until next time, “Keep Roughing It Smoothly!”