Funkengroovin - Terryville, CT Bug-A-Fair 2009 The New Breed

At Terryville this year, VB noticed a new breed of VW devotees. Similar, but.......younger.  VB doesn't have a chart drawn up, but she does have a few photos comparing the two.  It makes her feel good that there are youngsters who are willing to take over where we left off.  And, also, to not let the classic VW die.  Even though we owners may come and go, and die (literally), the VW will always live on through the ages with future generations.



Some of the new breed have Grateful Dead stickers on their VWs (not many though, since they were maybe seven years old (?) when he died), LMB (Love My Bus) almost on all of them, but most have stranger stuff. Not political, just in-your face statements. You will probably need to enlarge the photos to see the details.  We were like that once.

Below are three examples. The last, VB thinks, is a Dharma Initiative infiltrator! That "MASSHOLE" bumper sticker is a dead giveaway.




The new breed does not look like this (that's not The Boss Man.)


They look like this (below). They may have tattoos, no long hair (just a tad longish - no Fabios here), piercings are almost a requirement, the Abercrombie and Fitch look is their "Official Preppy, Hipster Yuppie, Nerd (OPHYN) Handbook" of style (notice the pecs? - VB did), and they appear to have just crawled out of a cave, yet smell as fresh as Irish Spring (er, Pot-chouli).


The new breed is not corny. They would never make fun of themselves, or their buses, but we will.


They smoke sheesha, decorate their buses with exotica. They even have DVD players and fans installed in them!  BTW, this is a Eurovan. VB thinks they've done a very cool job with it (how is it that the word "cool" has not gone out of style?)


The new breed wears their blumenvasen on the outside.


Instead of on the inside (this VB's '65 VW Cabrio.)


The old breed hangs out under tents and awnings (these two may look young, but they were practically born in a VW Bus / Van.)

At one time, VW offered a $50.00 Savings Bond to any baby born in a Bus.  Believe VB, when she was pregnant, The Boss Man begged her to go to the hospital in an old '69 VW Bus (in January, on the coldest day of the year, on record).  He said he would drive around the hospital, and pull into the Emergency Room entrance just as VB was giving birth.  Let's just say, VB could barely get into a car that day, much less climb into a Bus.  So, no, we did not get the $50.00 Savings Bond, but Awesome Daughter loved that Bus and still remembers the "water fountain" (sink faucet).



The new breed hang out in their vans, snuggling, spooning, letting their ankle bracelets dangle for everyone to see. It's sweet. We used to be like that too.



Okay, so VB is getting nostalgic, but she likes these new folks, and hope they continue to join us old farts in the recreational business of owning an old VW.