George Allen / EducateMHC Blog Mobile Home & Land Lease Community Advocate & Expert

December 29, 2022

Final Zoom Call

Filed under: Uncategorized — George Allen @ 7:36 am

Blog Posting # 721. Copyright 30 December 2022. EducateMHC

Perspective. Land lease communities, previously manufactured home communities, and earlier, ‘mobile home parks’ are the real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online national advocate, realty asset class historian, trend spotter, and education resource for land lease communities throughout North America! To input this blog and or connect with EducateMHC, telephone (317) 881-3815, email: gfa7156@aol.com, or visit EducateMHC.com to order Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry (the property management certification text); SWAN SONG, a history of land lease communities & only official record of annual MH production since 1955; & my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven.

George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, RV/MH Hall of Fame, & MHI Emeritus Member


Final Zoom Call on 12 January 2023

Plans are coming together for the 19 January panel presentation during the widely popular Louisville MHShow, 18-20 January 2023, at the state fairgrounds exhibit hall, just south of downtown Louisville, KY.

Next pre-panel prep sessions? 12 January 2023 = final Zoom call at 4PM EST. If you desire to participate – or just listen in, reach out ASAP to Ken Corbin via kcorbin@calkencorbin.com &

Pre-panel luncheon meeting on 17 January 2023 at 2PM. RSVP is important. Need $ sponsors!

Make it a point now to plan to be present on 19 January 2023 for the aforesaid panel presentation regarding the evolving MH Industry Awareness program. Your input is valued!

You already know my thoughts on this timely and important matter. All I’ll add here, is something a retired MH industry executive shared with me last week: ‘We need to bring back a national female spokesperson (for our industry)’, to make guest appearances on national morning TV shows across the U.S. – telling how manufactured housing’s schtick (‘one’s special trait, interest, activity’) makes it housing’s Secret Choice! The Secret? HUD-Code manufactured housing costs less than half, per square foot, what site-built housing costs!

And there’s historical precedent for having a female spokesperson representing our industry. Go to the RV/MH Hall of Fame member directory and search for the late Lisa Drake Conner.

Finally, I plan to be present at the Louisville MHShow next month. Make it a point to say ‘Hi’ to me, and let me know what topics you’d like to see me research and write about during 2023.

By the way, just learned on 28 December, that at least one of the Big Three C manufacturers of HUD-Code homes has lowered the base price on many of their models by between $1,000 and $2000 per unit. Now, that’s some good news going into the New Year 2023!


Christmas Eve 54 Years Past

This letter, lightly edited, is the one I wrote home on Christmas Eve 54 years ago. I was a U.S. Marine lieutenant serving at the Vandegrift forward combat base, formerly known as LZ Stud, just a few miles east of the infamous Khe Sanh combat base in northern I Corps, South Vietnam.

24 December 1968

Dearest Carolyn,

‘Tis the night before Christmas, and all through the bunker, not a Marine is stirring, just a half dozen rats a-scurrying.’ That’s the way it is right now. We’re all sitting down here quietly writing to our loved ones; a little later it will get noisier as the Gunny starts mixing holiday drinks. We even have canned egg nog.

And me, what have I to look forward to tomorrow? Getting up bright and early as usual, for the general’s briefing. Then I’ll be winging my way out to landing zone (‘LZ’) Dick, to rig several 105mm howitzers for helolifting back here to Vandegrift combat base (‘VCB’). And hopefully, sometime later in the day, I’ll have an opportunity to open my Christmas presents.

Received quite a bit of mail today. No letters from you though, but I did receive a welcome jar of nuts you sent me; they’re half gone already!

At the general’s briefing today I found out more about yesterday’s rocket attack. Seems we were actually hit with several 140mm rockets rather than the smaller 120mm ones. I’ll enclose a picture in case you don’t recall what it is I’m talking about. Casualties? We had one KIA (killed in action) and 20 WIAs (wounded in action) during the barrage.

We moved quite a bit of gear off the LZ today. Much of it was Christmas mail for the Troops, after we caught up on priority resupply to mountaintop FSBs (fire support bases), as we hadn’t been able to get to them during the past couple days.

Late in the afternoon we were treated to a little Christmas ‘color’. Four Huies (gunship-helicopters) flew over the LZ pad in line, trailing plumes of red and green smoke. Wish I’d had my camera in the control tower then.

Well darling, it goes without saying, this holiday season is going to be a very lonely one for us. It would be a most wonderful Christmas if I could be returning home to you girls! What more can I say darling; this Christmas Ever 1968, my heart just cries out in loneliness for you and Susie!

You can’t say Marines don’t know how to celebrate a holiday. Here at our combat base, just miles inside ‘no man’s land’ we have a Christmas tree with twinkling light on a nearby hill. And just a few minutes ago, the sky over Vandegrift was wholly lit up with the burst and flames of red, green, and white pyrotechnics, flares, etc….really a beautiful and nostalgic scene for all of us.

Well love, I guess this’ll have to do for tonight. I really feel I’d like to keep writing and writing, but I have a splitting headache. In any event, I want you and Susie to know all my love is with you during this Christmas season, and I long to return home to you very soon.

All My Love,

George


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