TOYOTA TRAILS TRAIL LEADER TLCA President 2021 TLCA Officers & Committees President Heather Royston president@tlca.org Executive Vice President Perry Lowery execvp@tlca.org Administrative Vice President Nick Stone (817) 455-5060 adminvp@tlca.org Secretary Rick Root secretary@tlca.org The future is with the young Just recently, I received a text from a fellow Cruiserhead and in it he told me about a young man in our neighborhood who has a 60-Series. He is 17 and plays baseball in the local league as well as for his high school. When it was time for him to buy a car, he wanted a Land Cruiser. He found one, about four hours away and made the arrangements himself, then went and bought it. Mind you, the vehicle he picked is 20 years older than he is. So anyway, he said that he didn’t know about TLCA but was really excited to join. We got him hooked up, and he’s one of our newest members and is BESIDE himself happy. The smile on his face when I handed him some back issues of Toyota Trails was well worth the time and effort! Another thing I noticed recently were all the kids and teens at Rubithon. As I’m sure you know, Rubithon is the only annual TLCA-hosted event, and it’s a fantastic trip along the Rubicon Trail near Lake Tahoe. In our little group, we had two teenagers with us. My daughter, Margot, and Georg Esterer’s son Garrett - or “Medium G” as he is known. Both of them had the chance to drive a good bit and show incredible promise already. They absolutely had a blast. I bring up these kids because in this day and age, electronics and instant connections have changed what childhood looks like for most kids. While progress is good, I must think that it’s so good for their development to also have some time in the natural world. It’s also good for them to learn to keep themselves busy, to find a way to have fun without a phone, and to experience things that they will never forget. Anymore, how often is it that you can turn two kids loose to just go run around and be free range children? Maybe for some that’s not all that uncommon, but I can tell you that for us it sure is. The love of Land Cruisers and the journeys that have come with that love have provided so much for my family and me. I hope that is the same for all of you reading this. In other news, TLCA has awarded two Land Use Grants through our new process. Kentucky Toyota Land Cruiser Association was awarded $500 to produce and install signage for their Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway project. The byway is a collection of historic county roads that are navigable by high clearance 4WD vehicles. The KYTLCA Back the Byway project has resulted in expansion of the system, and these new signs will help people stay the trail. Capitol Land Cruisers was also awarded $500 to purchase chainsaw safety equipment so they can work alongside the U.S. Forest Service on their adopted trail in the George Washington & Jefferson National Forest. We will be looking forward to some more information from both of these clubs in the form of short articles in future issues of Toyota Trails. Finally, in an effort to get the word out and help some of our own, TLCA is sponsoring a race team in the Rebelle Rally. This all-women race across the deserts of California and Nevada puts both the driver’s skills to the test as well as the navigator’s ability to hit all the check points and get them across the finish line. Team #105 is made up of Anna Loy and Rebecca Gabel. Anna is a single mom with one teenage daughter and works as an RN in the Neonatal ICU in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is her second Rebelle Rally and she had so much fun the first time that she wanted to do it again. Also, Anna wanted to show her daughter that if you put your mind to it, anything is possible in life! Rebecca is a mom of a boy and girl set of twins and works as a systems engineer in Fort Worth, Texas. This is her first Rebelle Rally and she feels she’s ready for anything after serving in the United States Navy for over eleven years. Best of luck to you ladies; go show them how it’s done! As always, I hope that you enjoy this edition of Toyota Trails and it inspires you to get out and have a little fun in the great outdoors this fall! And while you’re at it, take a young person with you and introduce them to what it means to be part of TLCA. Heather Royston TLCA President Member #16079 Treasurer Casey Campbell (515) 314-3255 treasurer@tlca.org Eastern Individual Representative Rick Allen easternrep@tlca.org Central Mountain Individual Representative Tal Brunson centralrep@tlca.org Western Individual Representative Rob Tygart (909) 731-8001 westernrep@tlca.org International Individual Representative Reid Whitlock Intlrep@tlca.org Member Services Karie Farr (800) 655-3810 memberservices@tlca.org Marketing Vice President James Urquhart msvp@tlca.org Advertising Sales Manager Chris Hatfield (720) 230-6951 advertising@tlca.org Toyota Trails Managing Editor Stan Wright editor@tlca.org Cover photo: 1969 FJ55. Photo by Devon Barker 1