Thanks to all that replied to my plea.  The solution was simple:  Spray a
liberal amount of WD-40 on the latching mechanism.  (Accumulated grease and
oil can gum things up in cold weather.)  It worked!  Why didn't I think of
that?!  But, I was lucky too.  It could have been a broken mechanism.
Thanks to you and Happy 2000!
Greg & Val
86.5 Camper Syncro WLE (with working slider)