Issue 105 Campground

It is not every day that you get the opportunity to do a good turn for your clients who have visited and stayed at your establishment over the years, but now you can and it’s easy, costs nothing and there is no downside, only the likelihood that you will receive multiple THANK YOU e-mails. It’s as easy

as sending a link to your client database that introduces them to the new GetawayUSA online magazine.

Have you read it yet?

GetawayUSA is a well presented and informative travel guide that features great pictorial and lots of Continued Page 2

Continued from Page 1 free competitions for its readers. Your clients can enter to win Camping Gear, Visa Gift Cards and in the first issue a fully paid trip to Los Vegas staying in one of the Grand Casinos.

Someone has to win all this stuff and it may as well be one of your clients!

GetawayUSA is designed to help grow your industry and we’re asking you to support it by introducing your clients to it.

Just e-mail them this link http://issuu.com/industryene ws/docs/issue1getaway and recommend they take a look, and if you have not read it yet – well what are you waiting for?

GetawayUSA launched earlier this month and was sent to 66 million e-mail addresses, this process is actually still in motion with

the final number being completed later this week.

The response from the public has been great with a good percentage forwarding their e-mail on to friends; wanting to share something with friends is telling us that GetawayUSA has real value and an ideal vehicle for you to use as a goodwill gesture toward your clients.

Please consider the idea of passing on the information to your own database and thanks for helping GetawayUSA help you!

Gary Wakerley

Staff at Industry E News are busy increasing our data base by putting the GetawayUSA message out there by way of the internet.

The hundreds of camping, RVing and State park blogs are being made aware of the new online publication.

We have already been successful by being mentioned on some State Park Facebook pages and now wish to put the message out there to all the private campground state associations to get behind the project by promoting GetawayUSA and place a banner logo on their websites. Please email us for the image. admin@industryenews.com

http://www.facebook.com/pa ges/SeviervilleTN/GetawayUSA/131915323 513658?ref=ts

Dennis Macready

Vice president says $750 million has gone to about 800 projects, creating jobs, but also much needed upgrades

By MATT VOLZ, Associated Press Hundreds of stimulusfunded projects under way in national parks across the U.S. are long-overdue upgrades to the country's neglected "national jewels," Vice President Joe Biden said Monday.

Biden began a two-day tour highlighting Recovery Act projects in Yellowstone and Grand Canyon national parks by speaking to about 100 park workers, contractors and their families in the scenic Madison Valley, where the famous Madison River is formed in the shadow of 7,500-foot National Park Mountain.

He said some $750 million in stimulus money has gone to about 800 national park projects, which have created jobs in tough times. But, he added, the projects would have been necessary even if the economy was good to protect the parks and reduce man's footprint there.

"For too long our nation's crown jewels have been neglected," Biden said.

"Everything we're doing in this park is worthwhile and needed to be done anyway, whether times were good or bad."

So when the Recovery Act was passed in an effort to stabilize the economy, it included hundreds of national park upgrades and repairs that had been delayed or stalled, he said.

"We're beginning to polish once again these national jewels," he said.

As part of his tour with Jon Jarvis, head of the National Park Service, Biden stopped at one of the projects nearby, a $4.7 million replacement of the 50-yearold Madison Wastewater Treatment Plant, which park workers say has contaminated the environment and degraded the Madison River's water quality.

The new plant will be more than double the capacity of the old and will work more efficiently, Biden said. It is an example of how the projects are supposed to reduce the human impacts so that future generations will also be inspired by the parks, he said.

"It's all about being able to see this beauty without marring this beauty," he said.

There are 14 different stimulus-funded projects worth $12.4 million under way or completed in Yellowstone, according to park officials.

SOUTHFIELD, MI -07/27/10 -- Sun Communities, Inc. (NYSE: SUI) (the "Company"), a real estate investment trust ("REIT") that owns and operates manufactured housing and recreational vehicle communities, today reported second quarter results.

Highlights: Three Months Ended June 30, 2010 vs.

June 30, 2009 -- Total revenues were $66.3 million, up $3.0 million or 4.8 percent.

-- Funds from Operations ("FFO")(1) excluding certain items was $0.66 per diluted share and OP Unit ("Share"), an increase of 6.5%.

-- Same Site Net Operating Income ("NOI")(2) increased by 3.4 percent.

-- Home sales increased 50.7 percent, from 270 units to 407 units.

"Our second quarter results continue to illustrate strong

performance from our same site portfolio, home sales and revenue producing site metrics.

Together these items produced a quarter over quarter increase in FFO of $0.04 per Share which would have been even higher absent additional one-time expenses of $0.02 per Share and dilution of $0.01 per Share from the issuance of common stock," said Gary A. Shiffman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

"The performance of our Midwest portfolio continues to improve as our communities in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana gained over a hundred sites for the second quarter in a row and produced over 200 of the home sales we recorded during the quarter; an improvement of nearly 67% from the same quarter last year," added Shiffman.

Full Report: http://www.earthtimes.org/ar ticles/press/second-quarterresults,1399350.html

With the economy in the tank, the epitaph for the gas-guzzling RV has been written more than once.

But the private campgrounds industry, which caters to these traveling behemoths, is attracting more investors, some of whom have turned once-moribund parks into weekend retreats or vacation destinations for all ages.

“In the past, people would get into their RV and tour the United States. That has stopped,” said John Croce, managing member of a group that owns nine camping and RV resorts in California, including one in Hat Creek and McCloud.

“What people are doing is traveling much shorter distances but staying longer.”

For example, Croce’s Hat Creek Resort and RV Park gets a fair amount of business from Redding, folks who make the hour drive east to escape the summer heat for a few days.

Bloomberg Business Week in May 2009 cited a study

by PKF Consulting that found the average camping vacation can run nearly 70 percent cheaper than a “fly-drive-hotel” vacation. The study was sponsored by the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association.

“Believe it or not, we are setting a record for sales,” Croce said of his nine resorts. “Our sales are up dramatically. It started in 2008 and 2009, and we are on a record pace for 2010.”

Four years ago, Croce’s group bought the former Ramblin Rose RV Resort in Crescent City and spent $1.2 million in improvements, renamed the park Redwoods RV Resort, and today they have a profitable business.

“We had to use generators to test the power lines and make the necessary repairs before we could even have the power turned on,” Croce once told the California Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds.

Debbie Sipe, executive director of the California Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds, said investors are enticed by the idea of benefiting from a business model that serves families, rather than maybe spending money on a faceless commercial building.

“They really feel good about this business,” Sipe said. “It’s still an affordable family vacation for folks who still have a job or are not worried about losing their job.”

RV site at Hat Creek Resort and RV Park Premier RV Resort in Redding recently added 21 RV sites, bringing its capacity to 104.

The resort on North Boulder Drive also has several tent sites, two yurts and two cabins.

Brenda Newton, general manager of Premier RV, said the campground offers guests a free continental breakfast and a complimentary

newspaper each day, something she says is unique in the industry.

“So they like the special little touches we give them,” said Newton, whose husband, Chris, is in charge of maintenance at the park. “Once we do get the guest as a first-time customer, they always come back.”

Premier, which operates four other campgrounds in Continued

Continued And then there are guests who have lived at Newton’s park for more than five years. Monthly rates start at $465.

Oregon and Washington, bought the Redding facility about 10 years ago. It was a KOA campground.

“It needed cleaning up. I am sure they sunk a million or two into it,” Newton said of Premier. “It’s a great location right across from WaterWorks Park, so we get a lot of families during the summer months who go over there.”

Whereas Premier’s summer business relies on overnight and weekend guests, the winter months see more travelers who might stay for a month or longer.

“It’s really a lifestyle choice — very simple living and very cost effective,” Newton said.

Premier RV Resort Redding new super sites “We just change and add more long-term guests in the winter,” Newton said.

“We only allow a certain percentage of month-to-

month guests in the summer because we can make more money in summer on the overnighters.”

To read the full article in the Record Searchlight: www.redding.com/news/20 10/jul/25/park-it-right-herecampgrounds-report-morevisits-/

The words "FEMA trailer" strike fear in the hearts of some Americans.

Stories of toxic formaldehyde led the government to order people out of them in 2008.

But Uncle Sam is now selling them at auction and thousands are turning up in the Chattanooga area.

Many buyers are calling the FEMA trailers the best deal you'll ever get.

Why buy a FEMA trailer?

MIKE LINKOUS, SODDYDAISY DEALER "Its hard to sell against them..its hard to sell against them because they are so cheap..you can't compete."

Side by side, the hastilybuilt FEMA trailers are hard to tell from the more

expensive ones. Fewer windows and mostly without holding tanks, but they have most of the features you could want including large bathrooms, air conditioners and a big kitchen. This one is on the market for about 5thousand dollars.

Across town, another dealer says he doesn't want anything to do with so-called FEMA trailers.

TONY THRASHER, NORTHGATE RV CENTER "We do not sell the FEMA trailers..why not?..it doesn't suit what we're trying to get out into the market."

Tony Thrasher says FEMA trailers now being released are not true travel trailers, and are not built for quality.

TONY THRASHER "I think

once people go and see what they're offering versus what we have, they are going to come our way."

Mike Linkous who has been selling the FEMA trailers at his Soddy-Daisy lot for several months, says the stories of formaldehyde, mold and mildew are exaggerated.

MIKE LINKOUS "You know if they were unsafe, they wouldn't auction them off to the public ...you know, they got papers saying they've been tested and are free of formaldehyde."

But, after buying 225thousand of the trailers after Hurricane Katrina, and responding to lawsuits claiming health hazards in 2007, the government wants out of the trailer business. And dumping them on the market is not a

long-term concern for brand name dealers.

TONY THRASHER "We thought it would hurt us..but we haven't seen that big decline in business."

But for right now....

LINKOUS "People love them..I ain't had one complaint ...nobody's ever come back, not one time..or ever heard of one."

Formaldehyde is found in dozens of products and woods.

But the Centers for Disease Control warns anyone with chronic illness or breathing difficulties to use caution around it, even in R-V's or motor homes.

Article: www.wdef.com

BILLINGS, MT (July 22, 2010) – More campers than ever before are visiting Kampgrounds of America parks this summer.

Between May 1 and July 15, KOA saw an increase of more than 7 percent in camper registrations, compared to the same period in 2009. That news comes on the heels of a record Fourth of July weekend, which saw an 8 percent growth in camper registrations compared to 2009. In fact, Friday, July 2 was the highest volume of camper registrations in

Kampgrounds of America’s 48-year history.

The growth trend isn’t showing any signs of slowing. KOA advanced reservations through the end of September show an 11 percent growth over the same period in 2009.

“Our campground owners have done a wonderful job taking care of the needs of our campers, as well as investing in their facilities to give campers more options when it comes to food, entertainment and accommodations,” said

KOA President Pat Hittmeier. “We’ve been around a long time, but new campers are still discovering that a stay at KOA is a fun, affordable family vacation option.”

There are also now more than 1,200 full-service Lodge accommodations in the KOA system. KOA Lodges come complete with full bathrooms, showers and kitchens. KOA Lodges are bringing camping to a new type of guest that may not have considered camping before.

Pat Hittmeier, KOA President

After spending the morning attending a seminar about ways to eat healthy while on the road in their recreational vehicle, David and Brenda Franklin of Nashville spent Saturday afternoon meeting new friends at a rally billed as the nation's largest RV event.

“We retired about five years ago, bought an RV and we’ve been on the road ever since,” said David Franklin. “The only time we don’t travel is during the winter months, unless we have a wedding or some sort of event out of town.”

The Franklins are among thousands of RV enthusiasts who have been in town since Wednesday to attend the four-day rally at the Kentucky Exposition Center.

People come for a variety of reasons,” said Sue Bray, an official with the Affinity Group of Ventura, Calif., a leisure-industry company that organized the rally.

“They come to be entertained, to learn and to shop. They also come because they like being part of a community.”

The event also is intended to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the RV industry.

Sue Bray

Bray estimates that 2,500 to 3,000 RVs are parked at the exposition center and at nearby Papa John's Cardinal Stadium lots. She said organizers expect up to draw up to 15,000 people from across North America throughout the four-day event.

Affinity estimates that the event will have an economic impact of $11 million, making it one of the more lucrative conventions or trade shows held in Louisville this year.

The annual RV rally was first held in 2000 in Wyoming; it was last held in Louisville in 2003. It was in Albuquerque, N.M., last year and is planned for Redmond, Ore., in 2011.

“We love Louisville and this facility,” Bray said of the Expo Center. “It’s really a good fit for us.”

The rally offers attendees a chance to see the latest in RVs and motor homes.

They can test-drive and arrange to buy vehicles from among the hundreds to be displayed on site.

There is also a trade show consisting of 300 booths on display, selling RV-related products and services.

The RVs on display range in cost from a $15,000 travel trailer to a $2 million coach.

Stephen Cooper, a salesman with Parliament Coach Corp., said attending the rally gives his company “a chance to plant a seed and get our name out there.”

“We rarely sell a coach at a show,” he said. “We just like to show people what we can do.”

The RV that Cooper brought is a 45-foot motor coach valued at about $2 million.

“We custom-build the vehicles, just like many people do with their homes,” he said.

The rally also featured a dog show on Friday and a two-day pet adoption event for dogs and cats in need of a good home.

“RVers love their pets,” Bray said. “About 50 percent of people who own an RV bring their pets with them when they travel.”

Bray said four dogs and one cat were adopted through Louisville Metro Animal Services on Friday.

Article: www.courierjournal.com

CHINO VALLEY - After nearly three hours of occasionally contentious debate, the Chino Valley Town Council Thursday agreed to rezone a 17acre parcel on the municipality's northeast side for a Kampgrounds of America Inc. (KOA) RV parking area for overnight camping.

In a 6-1 vote with Councilwoman Linda Hatch dissenting, the council adopted an ordinance that rezones the property from commercial light/agricultural residential 5-acre minimum to commercial heavy.

The land, owned by Jack Tuls Jr. of JT Properties in Las Vegas, sits on the south side of East Road 31/2 North, about 400 feet east of North Highway 89.

Charlie Arnold, president of Southwest Development Consultants, applied for the so-called Chino Valley/Prescott North KOA project, which is one of three adjacent pieces in Tuls' proposed 58-acre High Plains Development.

If all goes as planned, this particular KOA site will encompass 32 overnightstay cabins and 119 campsites to accommodate bumper pull RVs, fifth-wheel campers and diesel pushers. It also would have a 4,000- to 5,000-

square-feet main clubhouse with a small pool and a fire pit. A 6-foottall privacy wall would stand on the property's south, east and west boundaries.

For a fee, Arnold said the KOA here would allow up to a 28-day stay for RVs. Proponents of the project argue that it will bolster the town's economy by bringing in more visitors that will lodge and shop in Chino Valley for extended periods.

Arnold and Councilman Ron Romley said they estimate that the KOA will bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars to the town's economy, thereby boosting sales tax revenue.

Arnold had originally proposed building a manufactured mobile home park to the south of the KOA property and a grocery store to its north off Highway 89, but he said he has temporarily postponed those plans.

As part of the agreement with Tuls and Arnold, the council agreed to extend Road 3-1/2 North all the way from the highway to Road 1 East. But the council has not decided whether a new sewer line will be tied solely to the KOA or will be expanded to include more of the community.

In addition, the Arizona Department of Transportation still must

decide if a traffic signal or a roundabout is needed at Road 3-1/2 North to accommodate more traffic once the KOA is built.

To the cheers of those in the audience who are against the project, Councilman Joel Baker said he continues to promise residential property owners adjacent to the KOA that he will not vote to make them pay for tying into any new sewer line.

At least a dozen folks with the Citizens for Chino Valley, an unincorporated group of nearby residents who oppose the KOA and wore white shirts in protest Thursday, said they do not like the project because they want to preserve the town's rural lifestyle.

They are mostly concerned about the impact of RV traffic on Highway 89 and their community, and possibly having to pay for an expensive new sewer line that may not benefit them.

"We're trying to build a tourism industry and we

need a place to house people," Councilwoman Gloria Moore said in a counter-argument.

Hatch said she disagrees with the project because it is too dense. Some residents said they are worried that the development will fail because it is too big for a small community.

"Chino Valley is not Las Vegas or Palm Springs," said John Muirs, owner of Country West Mobile Home Park off East Road 2 North.

"RV'ers follow the sun."

However, RV enthusiasts such as Maureen Brogan said KOA campgrounds have a solid reputation for being "wonderful places to stay" and for offering modest prices to guests.

"It's hard to find places to park for people (with RVs)," she said. "RV'ers will not speed around town like dragsters. They will do nothing but bring money to the town."

Article: www.prescottdailycourier.com

The Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 enacted by Congress contains a regulation introduced by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-IL, which will regulate fees levied on merchants for card transactions. The new rule allows the Federal Reserve to cap debit card interchange at a level that’s “reasonable and proportional to the cost of processing debit card transactions’. It gives the federal government a year to determine what that rate ceiling is and the law also exempts debit cards issued by banks with assets under $10 billion. So the law allows smaller banks to gain profitability while halting the runaway charges on debit cards by larger institutions.

This new law will have an impact on costs for debit card processing to merchants such as campgrounds. Debit cards have now overtaken credit cards as the preferred

method of payment. This is understandable since credit card debt is, at least, partially responsible for the condition of American economy. In order to survive the recession, the average family owes $8,000 in credit card charges. Interest rates on those charges have caused the finances of families to experience hard times.

Debit cards, on the other hand, rely principally on the amount of assets in a person’s bank account.

The new pricing law will have a ripple effect on the economy and reduce costs to merchants.

But the new law also carries an additional benefit to campgrounds that have a store. As most owners know, it has been against banking regulations (primarily from Visa) to post a sign which states “no credit or debit card transactions under $10”.

The owner’s reasoning is simple. Costs of smaller transactions eat into

profitability. When a camper buys a candy bar and offers a credit or debit card as payment, the profit from that sale nearly vanishes when transactions costs are applied. The new law permits merchants to refuse to take credit or debit card transactions below $10 with impunity.

MasterCard, for instance, owns Maestro.

We have always been aware of our own customer’s propensity for posting such notices.

Art Lieberman is President of MCPS for Campgrounds, a credit card processor sponsored

by Woodforest Bank NA. Art has been in the Credit Card industry for nearly 13 years. Art has been conducting webinars online and seminars on credit cards in many State and Regional Association Conventions

The new law also requires that debit cards must link to one other back-end network besides the one owned by the Card’s brand.

So Visa or MasterCard branded cards will be required to connect to another back-end system.

Sen. Durbin said on his website “Passage of this measure gives small businesses a real chance to fight against the outrageously high swipe rates charged by Visa and MasterCard”

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK — Even with a possible glitch in counting the number of visitors to the national park, there's an overall increase in the number of people coming to the national park, officials said.

Records show a 15.1 percent increase in visitors in June of this year over last June, and a 3.3 percent overall increase for the year, according to a National Park Service news release.

From May to June, the number of vehicles passing through the park's 13 entrances increased by almost 200,000.

But park spokesman Bob Miller said that's not an accurate reflection of a rise in tourism to the park. Miller said in the news release that there was construction near the Cherokee Orchard Road counter, just outside of Gatlinburg, which could have skewed statistics showing an 11-fold increase at that entrance.

But Miller said there is an increase at two of the three main entrances, which “does represent tourism” and is a better indication more people are coming to the park.

The Gatlinburg entrance is up 4.9 percent from last June, and the Townsend gate is up 4.5 percent from the same period. The lone decrease was at Cherokee, N.C., down 3.6 percent.

This year, through June, the park had 4,050,759 total visitors, up from 3,920,765 for the same time period in 2009.

The results of last week's RVtravel.com survey about getting shocked from an RV were alarming. More than 1,000 readers responded, with 21 percent reporting they had been shocked by their RV at some time. A few readers claimed being seriously injured.

The magnitude of the problem isn't obvious until you apply the 21 percent

shocked number against the total number of families who use recreational vehicles in the USA alone. According to RVIA.org, more than 8.2 million American families own an RV: that's nearly one RV for every 12 households who own a car. This means perhaps 1.7 million families have been shocked from an RV, with up to 500,000 being "seriously" shocked.

Now, we're not even counting the times RVers have burned up a power plug or have blown up a microwave due to an improperly wired or worn campsite pedestal outlet.

So let's get something straight -- every shock is potentially "serious." It's just a matter of circumstances coming together that can then kill you or a family member. If your hands and feet are wet, it can take as little as 30 volts AC to stop your heart. How many times have you walked back from the shower and touched the side of your RV while standing on the damp ground? Ever felt a tingle then? If so, you dodged the bullet that day, but the next time could kill you or a loved one.

With that in mind, RVtravel has partnered with the nationally-recognized HOWTO Workshops and its chief instructor Mike Sokol, a technology instructor with 40 years experience in the professional sound

industry. Together, they have begun an electrical safety program called the "No Shock Zone," and are instituting a series of online articles and training videos on RV electrical safety, which we'll post first at RVtravel.com and then at the blog NoShockZone.org.

These how-to safety articles will cover everything from how to use a digital meter or noncontact tester to confirm the campsite power plugs are wired correctly to how to check your own extension cords for proper wiring. The articles will provide quick ways to confirm you don't have the silent but deadly Hot-Skin problem, where your entire RV is electrified.

The No Shock Zone blog will ask for your continued comments about getting shocked by your RV or the times your gear was damaged at campsites due to incorrect wiring. You can contact Mike Sokol directly at mike(at)fitsandstarts.com or visit www.noshockzone.org for more information.

Erie County Sheriff's Office deputies could begin evicting residents of Moon Meadows Campground in Pennsylvania according to the GoErie Newspaper.

More than 100 residents, including 26 people who live at the Greenfield Township campground permanently, would be looking for a place to live.

"So they're coming out early" today (Tuesday), Moon Meadows owner Thomas Peckham said.

"We'll have something planned."

Peckham didn't elaborate after learning that Erie County Judge Shad Connelly on Monday denied his requests to delay a court order. The July 7 order requires the Greenfield Township campground to close today if sewer improvements aren't done.

The campground is on Station Road, just west of Colt Station.

Connelly said in his ruling that he denied the requests because Peckham has made little or no attempt to comply with previous court orders to fix the campground's sewage problems.

"Defendant Peckham has shown very little inclination to begin compliance with the (Erie County Department of Health's) requests or the directives

of the court," Connelly said.

The camp's scheduled closing would culminate a 13-month legal process.

It started in June 2009 when a county Health Department inspector found numerous violations at Moon Meadows, including puddles of raw sewage and substandard septic work done without permits.

Peckham refused to correct the violations, denying there was any raw sewage on the ground, and saying that he wasn't required to get permits for his septic work done before 2009.

He began to bring the campground into compliance Friday when he had a sewage holding tank pumped.

In order to comply with the court order, Peckham must also remove all substandard septic work, repair sewage malfunctions at multiple locations, and install temporary sewage holders.

Peckham said that he has already done much of the work required to bring the campground up to state health codes.

Full Article: www.goerie.com UPDATE: Erie County Judge Shad Connelly granted an extension to his court order that required the Greenfield Township campground to close today if sewer improvements were not made.

With the association’s Board of Directors elections set to begin on Aug. 3, RVIA has posted a pre-ballot detailing the field of candidates and their backgrounds on RVIA.org A field of 12 candidates, selected by the RVIA Nominating Committee, will be running for 7 seats on the Board of Directors.

The elections will take place electronically Aug. 323 with the official representatives from RVIA member companies electing candidates in each category to serve on the Board of Directors for terms beginning Oct. 1, 2010.

Three candidates are in the running for two Manufacturer seats with three-year terms. They are: Pam Graber, vice president of operations, Open Range RV; Matt Miller, president, Newmar Corp.; and John Rhymer, vice president of engineering, Heartland Recreation Vehicles.

Three Supplier seats, each with three-year terms, are in contention this year.

Adam Dexter, president of Dexter Axle Co.; Craig Floyd, national sales manager, Technology Research Associates; Gregg Fore, president, Dicor Corporation; Tim Stephens, president, Atwood Mobile Products; Stan Sunshine, chairman, Stag-Parkway, Inc., and B.J. Thompson, president, B.J. Thompson and Associates, are the candidates for these spots.

Three candidates are competing for two At-Large seats with three-year terms. They are Matt Grierson, director of sales and marketing, Quality Drive Away; Bob Parish, vice president, G.E. Capital; and Jonathan Randall, director of sales and marketing, Freightliner Custom Chassis.

RVIA’s Nominating Committee is chaired by Dan Shea of Gulfstream Coach and includes Garry Enyart of Cummins Power Generation and Carl Pfalzgraf of Atwood Mobile Products.

The Huron County Chamber of Commerce and Bellevue Area Chamber of Commerce have announced a joint ribbon-cutting at 11:30 a.m. Thursday for Jade RV Sales, 4888 U.S. 20 East.

The new dealership is a division of Lazy J's RV Resort, also on U.S. 20 East, Bellevue. Jade RV Sales is the only recreational vehicle dealership located in Huron County.

In addition to the sales of pre-owned units, Jade RV is also an exclusive dealer for the new Excel 5th Wheels and Trailers.

During the ribbon-cutting, Jade RV Sales will offer a hot dog and pop combo for $1.

Guests will also be provided a free pass for swimming Thursday at Lazy J's private pool.

Season pool passes will be available during the ribboncutting event at a 35 percent discount.

Paul and Jana Hebner, owners of Lazy J's RV Resort and Jade RV Sales, said in response to campers' requests they decided to add a division for sales.

On Sunday, July 18, at 7 a.m., a fire at Grey’s Point Campground at Topping caused about $70,000 worth of damage to a camper and sent one person to the hospital, said Hartfield Volunteer Fire Department chief Alan Blake.

A 27-year old man had burns on his arms and legs and was airlifted to a Richmond hospital in Life EVAC III helicopter.

The fire also burned a canopy off another camper, scorched

another and burned the camper to the ground, said Blake. The cause of the fire is unknown.

According to eyewitness and photographer Jeff Cherry, a dog was killed in the blaze.

Hartfield Volunteer Fire Department, Lower Middlesex Volunteer Fire Department and Middlesex County Rescue Squad all responded to the fire.

Article: www.ssentinel.com

WESLEY CHAPEL - A Florida mobile home park manager was arrested by Pasco County deputies Thursday, accused of bilking the park owners out of more than $5,000 in rent.

Detectives say as part of her duties, Amanda Kaye Bourque, 35, collected rent money from tenants at River Haven Mobile Home & RV Park on Loury Drive in Wesley Chapel, but between January and April 25 of this year, she started pocketing some of the rent.

Dorothy Ann Porter, who used to own the park before she sold it to new owners who went into foreclosure, told investigators she was asked to manage the park for West Chase Law Firm.

But in April, Porter started noticing that renters who had a history of paying on

time appeared to be paying late so she inquired, learning that they had receipts from paying Bourque.

Porter told detectives she confronted Bourque and she admitted to taking the money, a report states.

On Thursday, Pasco detectives found Bourque at her new home at 6636 Mangrove Drive, Wesley Chapel, and arrested her on one count of scheme to defraud.

She told detectives she misappropriated tenant rent money for personal use, a report states.

She is being held at the Land O' Lakes Jail with bail set at $10,000 Article: www2.tbo.com

HUNTSVILLE, AL -- A 15year-old girl was killed and four other people were injured by a lightning strike at Honeycomb Campground in Lake Guntersville Sunday afternoon, according to Marshall County Coroner Marlon Killion.

The injured included the girl's mother, who was apparently also in the water at the time, he said.

All were taken from the campground to Huntsville Hospital, according Don Webster, chief operations officer for HEMSI ambulance service.

Names of the victims had

not yet been released Sunday night, and additional official information about their conditions was unavailable.

Webster said some of the victims were in the water and some at the water's edge when the lightning struck.

HEMSI was called at 4:34 p.m. to assist and dispatched two ambulances to take three patients to the Huntsville Hospital Trauma Center. Marshall County Ambulance Service also dispatched two units and transported two patients to the hospital.

New Berlin, PA – The Outdoor Hospitality Expo, which is an Internet virtual trade show and conference that will be conducted on November 1-3 of this year, has announced several new exhibitors that will, in the words of Producer Art Lieberman, “spice things up!”

“We have been seeking exhibitors who have tremendously interesting items or services to offer to the outdoor hospitality industry, but because of a variety of factors do not appear at industry trade shows very often”, says Lieberman.

One such product is the portable theatrical quality outdoor cinema system offered by Epic Outdoor Entertainment. The system includes an inflatable frame with a custom printed logo and a pre-wired AV console with a professional sound system for showing DVD movies. Screen sizes range from 9’ x 5’ to 20’ x 11’ and during the day they can become billboards. Epic also manufactures floating signs and games for pools under its Epic MainframeTM brand. The company’s owner Phil Wagner is anxious to show the systems to attendees at the Expo.

Although well known as the environmental columnist for the Campground and RV Park e-News, Larry Losoncy is President of Clean Up America, Inc., the manufacturer of the “Eloo” which are waterless evaporative sanitation systems that require no water, chemicals, pumping or dumping. Thousands of units have been installed over the years in hunting and fishing cabins, parks, schools, acreages, camps, public buildings, failing septic systems, shoreline settings, recreational fields, municipal public sites and anywhere that sanitation is needed but there is no water. Clean Up America has also appeared infrequently at trade shows.

Well known to attendees at the Wisconsin Campground Owners annual show is The Kangaroo Recreation Company, which is undergoing a name change to Eddie Cole’s Jump Shots . The Iowabased company offers a unique and fun trampoline basketball game for young and old alike. Eddie Cole, the game’s inventor is now 74 years old and challenges younger players at live conventions.

His daughter, Amy Lynch, will be manning the computer at the virtual

show and anxious to try other venues outside of Wisconsin. The company already has a video presentation which can be seen on their website: http://www.kangaroorecreati on.com.

Attendees of the Virtual Outdoor Hospitality Show will easily recognize LCN Outdoors. LCN offers a wide range of wholesale items such as apparel, electrical items, giftware and hardware of all kinds, health and beauty and household items, to items found at campgrounds such as propane, tents and accessories and water sports and toys. All in all, LCN represents a huge number of manufacturers of goods and has become known as a “one-stop shop”

A real estate firm administered by the husband of Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land is dredging up an old idea to make a riverfront campground more marketable.

Dan Hibma is talking to local, Kent County and state officials about dredging a 17-mile section of the Grand River so larger boats can venture east from Grand Haven to 28th Street. He said Land & Co. wants to develop a seasonal campground on about 200 acres with a mile of riverfront property near the M-11 bridge in Walker.

for items commonly found at campgrounds.

Norman Boucher, LCN’s owner, brings to the Expo a huge reputation for success and honesty in the outdoor hospitality industry. His knowledge of the industry is unpatrolled. Mr. Boucher was elected by members of the Supplier Council of ARVC as their representative to ARVC’s Board of Directors. He also served, in 2008, as the First VP for the Northeast Campground Association.

Information about the Virtual Outdoor Hospitality Expo can be found at their website at www.outdoorhospitalityexpo. com or by calling them at 877-901-EXPO (3976)

"One potential customer said he would buy two (lots) if he could get his boat up here," Hibma wrote to two city officials. "Of course, that got me thinking about access to Lake Michigan. A navigable Grand River waterway for recreation would be a huge deal for West Michigan. It would attract investment, visitors and other recreational activities."

Based on a 1970s study, dredging 400,000 cubic yards would create a uniform river depth of 5 feet, Hibma said.

By Larry This is a good time to take a look around. Note what is working well and then note what could be better for next year. Here are a few items to consider.

Trash and garbage: do you have separate containers or sorting bins? A recycling container for aluminum? A special safety-designed container for old medicines and other discarded medical items?

Flies, mosquitoes, ants, mice, rats, beetles, bugs, spiders, moths, termites?

For mosquitoes, think about bird houses for purple martins. These birds are said to eat up to 2,000 mosquitoes per hour!

Plants, shrubs or flowers that need too much water and could be replaced with species needing less water?

An area for dog walking and a place where dogs could run free?

A community garden?

A plan and a schedule to mow, cut and clear wide areas around all your structures in preparation for fire season? Firefighting equipment in good order?

Potholes?

Clogged drainage pipes, ditches, culverts or ponds?

The Purple Martin grabs another Mosquitoe Leaves: where are they growing? When they fall, what will you do with them? They make excellent mulch for gardens. Now would be the time to plan for starting or enlarging a community garden. Leaves would go into the plot. The best place would be where there is sun and where water is close.

Suggestion box: You operate for the enjoyment of your customers and patrons. Who better to ask what they like and what ideas they might have?

Some categories of questions and suggestions might include beauty, safety, exercise, interests and amenities. Be sure to ask what is good, what your customers like the best and what they enjoyed the most about their stay.