Meet Nancy and Mabel Kroes

Mabel and I live in Delton, Michigan, a small (population <200) town about 20 miles NE of Kalamazoo, 20 miles NW of Battle Creek and 45 miles south of Grand Rapids. I am a Webmaster at Western Michigan University, where I've worked in the IT department for 22 1/2 years. I've been an IT professional since 1978, beginning that career in Augusta, Georgia, before moving back to Michigan in 1986.

In 1989 I bought 8 acres of my grandparents estate, including the home built by my paternal grandfather sometime around 1914. I've completely redone the house since I've lived here. The property includes 500' of shoreline on beautiful Wall Lake, a 600 acre semi-private lake.

In December of 2003, I was in Raleigh, North Carolina, visiting my sister for the holidays and just happened to look in her paper at the pet section. There were several ads for Rat Terriers and I'd been looking for one for several months. Just as a whim, I called one breeder and my sister and I drove the 40 miles down to Fuquay Varina where I found my Mabel Magdalene. She's named for my favorite great-aunt who had a Rat Terrier when I was growing up. Mabel has added immensely to my life and she's always eager and willing to go on any adventure I plan, which has included flying to Las Vegas to visit another sister and visiting the Grand Canyon and hiking in the dessert!

In 2004, I bought my first Serro Scotty trailer. It was located 10 hours away in Pennsylvania, just north of I-80. I paid way too much for it because I'd been trying to buy a small vintage trailer on Ebay and had determined I was just not letting this one get away. It was pure coincidence that it was a Serro Scotty because I'd never heard of them before. That one didn't need much, other than a repaint of the interior and new curtains. I had it ready to camp in just a couple of months. By then I'd discovered how popular the Serro Scotty was and jumped on an opportunity to purchase another 1969 on Ebay, which was south of Columbus, Ohio. I thought it just needed some minor repairs but after I got it home, discovered it was a total rebuild case. Figuring if I was going to totally rebuild a trailer, I'd do it in birch, my favorite interior, and that I'd be crazy to rebuild and sell it, I sold Scotty 1 and kept Scotty 2 for myself. Then my parents said they wanted one, so the search for another began. Found Scotty 3, a 1961 15' Front Kitchen with the dinette on the side in Oberlin, Ohio. Didn't quite have it finished when Scotty 4 came along, a 1961 13' Front Kitchen, east of Toledo, Ohio. My parents went with me to pick that one up and decided they liked it even better than Scotty 3. So sold Scotty 3 and fixed up Scotty 4 for my parents. Towing a trailer and setting up camp proved too much for them, so in the fall of 2008, Scotty 4 was sold. In the meantime, I'd found a Rear Door Scotty, my favorite of all Scottys, in Massachusetts and purchased it. It is another total rebuild project and work has commenced. When it is finished, Scotty 2 will be sold.

In 2005 I founded the National Serro Scotty Organization, with the base of it being the web site I'd created, at first for my own personal use. We've grown to hundreds of members and I have met some of the most wonderful people in the world, many of whom Mabel and I now consider great friends. We are rebuilding the Rear Door with the intention of traveling the United States with it, and in fact have our first major trip planned with it, to New Mexico, in 2010.

Our first Scotty, the morning we brought it home

The debut of our Scotty 2 1969 13' Gaucho rebuild and Mabel's 1961 3' K9C at the 2007 National Scotty Rally at Cooper's Lake Campground in Slippery Rock, PA. Our theme in 2007 was "The Year of Your Scotty", hence 1969 and 1961 era attire.