Redwood Owners Group:
For those who don’t know me, I am Paul Bridges, appointed by the Redwood Owners Group as President in January 2020 and serving on the ROG Board since 2017.
I’ve been married to Tracy since 1981. Originally from Southern California, we spent 35 years in Fort Smith, Arkansas until we retired retired in 2016 and began our fulltime RV lifestyle/adventure in our beautiful 2015 Redwood 38RL. We have a son/daughter-in-law and three grandchildren in Texas and a son in Northwest Arkansas, and we spend our winters near Orlando, Florida.
As we slowly return to our new normal, post-Covid, we sincerely thought we might be able to gather for an in-person rally this year. As time passed, it became clear that our normal rally support structure was not willing or able to take the risk of an in-person gathering, so the decision was made to once again host a virtual rally and Annual General Meeting.
Our mission continues:Â The Redwood Owners Group (ROG) is a non-profit organization designed specifically to provide Redwood RV enthusiasts with knowledge, expertise and ideas to enhance the ownership experience for all current, former, prospective and potential owners of Redwood Luxury Vehicles manufactured by Crossroads RV/Redwood of Topeka, Indiana.
The ROG Board of Directors
The Board of Directors are Redwood owners who volunteer to serve the Redwood Owners Group in the capacity of a director. All board positions are two-year terms except for the Rally Manager who serves a one-year term as an appointed position. Those who serve as your 2020-2021 Board members are:
Paul Bridges, President (2019-2021)
Dennis Harmening, Vice President (2019-2021)
Patti Brown, Secretary (2019-2021)
Jeff Robinson, Treasurer (2019-2021)
Lisa Price, Rally Manager
Eileen Lurker, Director (2019-2021)
Karen Stevenson, Director (2020-2022)
Pam Neth, Director (2020-2022)
Dave Connor, Director (2020-2022)
Unfortunately Karen Stevenson submitted her resignation in May due to a change in her personal circumstances. The board has not filled her position at this time.
I’m deeply grateful for the directors who serve the members of the Redwood Owners Group. All of these are volunteer positions filled by people who are Redwood owners and desire to help other owners.
The Redwood Product
The Redwood Luxury RV continues to be a leader in high-end 5th wheel coaches, and have introduced several new models including the 4150RD, as well as its award-winning model, the 4001LK.
A major accomplishment this year was Redwood’s announcement that the Sailun S637 tire would be installed from the factory on new Redwoods. The Owners Group had worked with the Redwood Management Team for two years asking for this improvement, and it has happened. We’re confident this will eliminate most of the tire issues that new owners have faced.
We’re grateful for the relationship we have with the Redwood Management Team and their support and involvement with the Owners Group as they strive to continually improve their product. Owning a Redwood is still something we can all be proud of.
Rally Manager
Our thanks once again to Lisa Price for her amazing flexibility and perseverance in organizing our National Rally. She begins preparing for the National Rally a year in advance, and with the uncertainties of this past year she was willing to once again scramble to organize our second Virtual Rally.
Annual General Meeting
The AGM will be conducted online on Wednesday, July 18, at 7:00 pm EST. It will last less than an hour and we will conduct the official business of ROG (all of this official business will be conducted by online ballot, so the results will be announced), and have an open time for discussion, suggestions, and questions.
2020 Accomplishments
- Roundtables. In October 2020, the ROG organized and conducted its first Redwood Roundtable. These one-hour virtual meetings have covered all kinds of topics associated with Redwood ownership and maintenance, and continue as monthly virtual social gatherings. Our thanks to Dave Connor for organizing these Roundtable sessions on the second Thursday of each month at 8:00 Eastern time. Sign-ups are posted on the ROG Facebook page and website.
- Owner Liason/Assistance. Unfortunately the ROG was not able to influence every owner issue, but we were able to assist many owners having difficulty. We will continue this effort in helping owners find positive resolution to issues.
- Communication. We provided monthly summaries to the membership of board activities.
- Website and Facebook. The forum on our website continues to decline in participation, with only a few posts every month. Our Facebook page continues to grow in membership and activity, with over 1,400 members on the page. While only a small percentage of these participants are actually ROG members, the Facebook page is a great place to promote membership and share advice with owners. Additionally, several moderators are actively assisting in topic organization for better quick-reference.
Looking Forward
There are several initiatives the ROG Board will work on in the next year:
- Owner Liaison. ROG will continue to provide owner assistance/intervention when possible to help in the satisfactory outcome of issues with the product or dealerships. In addition, we hope to provide assistance to Redwood in improving the experience with Crossroads/Keystone/Redwood Customer Service.
- Monthly Communication. We will continue publishing a monthly summary of board activity to our membership.
- Website Review and Maintenance. The board has a goal of completely reviewing the website for improvements and simplicity.
- Online store. We are changing vendors for providing Redwood owner products – clothing, mugs, etc. and intend to have that process online soon.
- Regional gatherings. Support the initiative of owners to form regional gatherings.Â
- Developing a Redwood Owner App. We still want to investigate this possibility as a resource for technical support in order to enhance the owner experience.
- Planning and executing the 2022 Redwood National Rally, with exuberance!
As always, we welcome suggestions and input from our owners. We only exist to support each other – Owners Helping Owners.
Respectfully submitted,
Paul Bridges
President, Redwood Owners Group