Issue 154 Campground & RV Park E News

Flagg's has asked that the appeal be heard by the town's Board of Appeals Sept. 14, according to attorney David Ordway of Smith & Elliott, Saco, who submitted the appeal on Wednesday, July 27. As of Friday, no appeal date had been set.

Flagg's maintains the units are not "dwellings" as stated in the town's June 28 notice of violation and order for corrective action, but park models, defined as RVs by the federal government.

Code Enforcement Officer Ben McDougal said he is still researching federal law on the subject.

"Still, I'm charged with upholding the local ordinance," he said. "If continued Page 2

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problems with the cottages in other towns, according to President Bob Moser.

McDougal said Thursday he has received calls from officials in other towns, RV campground owners and users about how York is handling the issue. Calls have come from a campground in Newry near Sunday River and from a park in Sandwich, N.H., he said.

local ordinance doesn't allow it, it's not allowed."

Town ordinance prohibits the units under town density standards for dwellings. McDougal said Flagg's owners have been telling him they can't be prohibited because they're allowed under federal law.

"I keep saying, 'show me why,'" McDougal said. "No one's been able to show me why."

McDougal ordered Flagg's to remove the new units no later than July 22, or face fines of up to $2,500 per day.

This is the first time the issue has come before the Code Enforcement Office,

according to McDougal and Steve Burns, head of the Community Development Office.

Yet, in the appeal, Ordway states park models are already in York.

"From Bar Harbor to Kittery, park model RVs and park trailers have become commonplace in Maine campgrounds," Ordway said in the appeal. "...

Similar units are also in place at other campgrounds in York and surrounding towns."

Morgan RV Resorts LLC, of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., which owns Flagg's, also owns numerous campgrounds from Maine to Florida and has no

Park models are becoming the trend in RV campgrounds nationwide, according to the Recreational Park Trailer Industry Association.

Executive Director Bill Garpow of Newnan, Ga., said an estimated 50 percent of the nation's 13,000 RV campgrounds now have some park models.

"Recreational vehicle parks have determined they can increase their cash flow and bottom line as a RV park if they do more rental use than just allowing people to bring in their own units," he said.

This spring, Flagg's management told the owners of approximately 10 RVs parked year-round in

Bill Garpow the park and used seasonally, to remove their recreational vehicles. The reason was to make way for an estimated six units Morgan advertises as "cottages," to be rented nightly or weekly. The campground changed its name from Flagg's RV Resort to Flagg's RV & Cottage Resort.

One RV owner said he pays an estimated $5,000 to park his recreational vehicle at Flagg's for the year, while the cottages rent for an estimated $1,400 a week.

According to Garpow, most RV parks do not need to evict RV tenants to make way for park models, as the majority rent to RV campers on a nightly or weekly, rather than seasonal basis, as is the case with Flagg's. www.seacoastonline.com

KANSAS – July 23, 2011 “Road construction, floods, drought, and of course the unrelenting heat have added burdens to Kansas RV parks and have caused some RVers to adjust or even cancel their summer vacation plans, but the midsummer reports from many of our park owners look mighty fine, all things considered,” says Mary Arlington, President of KARVC. Capital City KOA (Topeka) reports overnight traffic is up 20%. This June was their best month ever.

Charlie Reaser, owner, said they are also seeing good results from local advertising. He said, “In the last year we have added cable TV and finished our floors in the bath house and barn. The addition of cable TV has been well worth it. I believe it is now the second most sought-after amenity, next to Wi Fi.” Brenda Harris, owner of Rutlader Outpost (Louisburg) reports a busy summer, and 2011 will be one of their best years. They opened in 2001. This year they’re seeing a considerable increase in the monthly and weekly stays. She also reported that, although RV club rallies are down, there are a few huge rallies scheduled for the Fall.

Greg Wright, a partner with Walnut Grove RV Park (Merriam) says, “The year has just been GREAT” with occupancy being up every month of the year.

Some campgrounds reported slightly lower occupancy over last year, but not as much as was feared when media reports were projecting fuel prices to be $5/gallon.

Sheila Wagner, USI RV Park (Wichita) reports a slight dip from last year.

She said she’s heard “very few comments on fuel prices; mostly on the heat!”

Wichita has repeatedly broken record highs this summer. This year her park, which is accustomed to RVers staying for a while, is now seeing customers staying longer or they stay for just a day or two. She added that Wichita is hosting the National Junior Track & Field Meet. The event is bringing in people, including RVers, from all the country. Sheila’s reservations books are looking good.

Sheila also commented that some of her guests have been traveling in new RVs. The owners have said “the price was right.”

Mary Arlington, owner of High Plains Camping (Oakley) is relieved fuel prices didn’t climb as high since most of her customers stop for just one

night on their long (often cross-country) trips. She braced for a spike by renovating her 18-hole miniature-golf course and by packing the store with new types of merchandise. Her goal was to grow ancillary revenue in case RV traffic was down. She also focused marketing efforts across Kansas and in surrounding states. She reports, “The winter months were downright horrible, but fortunately our summer traffic is improving and the year could turn out to be very good. Last year was our best since buying the park in 2002.”

Karen Weber, owner of Mid-America Camp Inn (Goodland) sees an increase in people with rental RVs who aren’t properly trained in RV “do’s and don’ts.” She says, and many others will probably agree, that the rental companies need to provide more education before leasing the units. Aside from the basic instructions, she feels these RVers need to be trained on dumping tanks without leaving a mess, and taught about essential RV etiquette so they don’t disrupt the enjoyment of others (not letting their children run through other campsites and not running generators at a private park, to name a few).

As for her park’s occupancy, Karen reports, “Some days are up, some days are down.”

Natalie Donges owns Deer Grove RV Park (El Dorado) and they’re seeing an increase in overnight traffic but a decrease in longstays. She added that they’re seeing more large motorhomes and fifthwheels than other years.

Speaking for KARVC, Arlington adds, “Not all parks are so fortunate. A few of our members are truly uneasy about the season, but they haven’t yet given up on 2011. I remain hopeful they’ll see a turnaround very soon. For example, Kansas City Jellystone Park is still recovering from last year’s change in name and management, and the interstate road construction hasn’t helped their situation.

The park’s team is working hard to catch up, and with the array of special events they have scheduled for July and August, including an open-house and BBQ, I’m remaining very hopeful about their turn-around.”

Charlie Reaser summed it up best when he said, “I hope the trend [he’s seeing at Capital City KOA] continues well into the Fall season because, like a lot of other parks, the last 3 years have been difficult.”

PORT HARDY—Don Orr said he had no idea his plans to build a few cabins would create such an uproar within the North Island hospitality industry.

“I did anticipate some opposition, but not that much,” said the man who owns the five-acre Port Hardy RV Resort — the former Sunny Sanctuary — at 8080 Goodspeed Rd. “Nobody wants to see more competition, but it’s just the nature of the beast.”

Several people got up to speak at a July 12 public hearing on the matter,

before the regular District of Port Hardy council meeting, and many more wrote letters opposing the cabins. Donna Harvey wrote in a letter to council that she and her partner have no trouble with a little competition.

“We just feel, at this time, Port Hardy has many accommodations that are not being utilized,” wrote Harvey who, with Dan Zimmerman​, owns Ecoscape Cabins.

Harvey pointed to the abandoned and derelict Seagate Hotel as an example of what could happen if council does

allow Orr to build the cabins.

“Some of the older hotels are just making it as it is and with 20 potential less rooms per night they could end up closing their doors and end up being another eye sore in our community.”

But Orr said he doesn’t plan to build 20 cabins at once.

He originally put in a proposal to do 20 “middle of the road, nothing super fancy, nice little selfcontained” cabins because he believed the district was asking how many he wanted to do overall.

“People were saying at the meeting I was immediately building 20 cabins and that it would devastate the economy, so I wanted to clarify I only wanted to do four to six at this particular time and see how things went — pretty simple, I thought.”” he said.

Full Article: /www.bclocalnews.com

Four generations of Stella Fox’s family have been camping at the Jellystone Park Camp-Resort in Amherstburg “My best memories are at that park,” Stella Fox said.

AMHERSTBURG, July 28, 2011 – For many Ontario families, the Jellystone Park Camp-Resort in Amherstburg is much more than a weekend getaway or place to enjoy family time during the summer.

It is literally a place that fosters some of the best memories they have.

Consider Stella Fox, who has been coming to the park with her family every summer since 1978. She started the tradition in 1978, when her son, Jim Fox, was 10 years old.

“That was our summer thing,” she said. “I worked for the school board and had the summer off and wanted something fun to do with him. So I got a little popup trailer and would go up there for a couple of weeks. And later on we got a larger trailer, and the tradition continued.”

Jim Fox, in fact, wound up

meeting his future wife at the campground, and they raised their three kids – Kristina, Amanda and

Jessica – spending their summers there.

“The kids actually grew up in the campground,” Stella Continued

Continued Fox said. “They would come out at the end of June and be there until Labor Day, and then we’d go on the weekends after that.”

Jessica even met her future husband at the park, too, when she was about 15. Now 23, she’s married and has a little girl, Sidney, who also now joins four generations of the Fox family at the Jellystone Park.

Park manager Bonnie Jackson said she has many families who have been coming to Jellystone for generations, adding that it’s a phenomenon that happens with Jellystone Parks across Canada and the U.S. “Families find a park they like and they come back year after year to the point where it becomes a family tradition,” she said.

Many families become deeply attached to Jellystone Parks and wind up spending the bulk of their vacation time there, said Michele Wisher, director of marketing for Milford, Ohio-based Leisure Systems Inc., which franchises the Jellystone Park chain.

Frequent campers often wind up renting campsites for the entire summer – often at discounted rates – and leave their RVs there for the whole season.

“Seasonal camping works out well for them,” Wisher

said, “because they can camp as often as they want and have their RV set up on site.”

As a single mother, Stella Fox said she also enjoyed the safety and security Jellystone Park in Amherstburg provided to her family, as well as the numerous activities to keep kids and their families busy throughout the day.

“My best memories are at that park,” Stella Fox said.

“The families that were there all seemed to have the same interests. And the family atmosphere was always maintained. The kids would get up in the morning and ride their bikes. And there was always an activity at 10 a.m. and then they’d go swimming. All of my children and grandchildren learned to swim there. Then they had a hayride in the afternoon and at sunset a walk with Yogi.”

The park also has frequent dances and talent competitions.

“The kids love going to the dances. They had a Yogi Idol competition one year.

These kids were able to learn how to express themselves and interact and they had so many friends,” Stella Fox said.

Jim Fox has similarly intense memories about his experiences camping at the park.

“It just brings you together,” he said. “You do different

things when you’re camping and it brings families closer, even if it’s only for a weekend. You get away from TV, radio and video games. It seems like when you’re camping, you put all that behind and nobody complains about the absence of it.”

This summer’s activities at the Jellystone Park CampResort in Amherstburg include a pirate themed weekend Aug. 5th to 7th; a Halloween themed weekend with a campsite

decorating contest, a glowstick hayride and trick or treating on Aug. 12th to 14th; and an oldies weekend Aug. 26th to 28th with a sock hop, an Elvis look-alike contest and a classic car show with proceeds being donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Ontario.

For a complete schedule of summer activities at the park, visit www.campybear.com.

BRIMFIELD – What is left of Village Green Family Campground since the June 1 tornado is a much smaller even more tightly knit community which has been hopeful in the face of devastation and was encouraged by the donation of a motor home to Richard Reim, whose girlfriend died June 1 when their original motor home was destroyed.

Woody Duncan of North Brookfield donated the motor home to Reim after hearing what happened.

“I was glad to help. I was glad to give it to someone who could actually use it,’’ Duncan said.

Duncan had camped with his family for 10 years in the motor home but with his children grown past the age where they are interested in camping with the family, he had planned to sell it.

Reim and his girlfriend Virginia Darlow were in their Winnebago motor home June 1 when the tornado that blew from Westfield to Charlton whipped across the campground.

The motor home was lifted 30 feet up into the air and then crashed to pieces when it landed on the ground.

Darlow was killed and Reim was left with six broken vertebrae, a concussion, bruises and scrapes.

Reim said his condition has been improving day by day.

A body cast he was placed in for the back injury was taken off July 28.

Since early June Reim had been talking about his desire to return to the campground that he and Darlow had looked at as a second home, but his injuries and the restrictions that came with wearing the body cast were not the only impediments.

Campground owner Lester Twarowski said 95 of the 97 trailers and motor homes that were on the grounds June 1 were destroyed. Most of the trees were blown down and the camp facilities like the shower house and camp store were badly damaged.

In the weeks since, Twaorowski, his small staff, some seasonal campers and volunteers have worked daily to restore the place, acknowledging that it will take a long time.

About 20 families are now psending weekends and some weekdays there, some in new campers and trailers, some in tents, all in the section of the grounds up near Route 20.

When Duncan moved his motor home to that area for Reim to move into, Twarowski said it lifted the spirits of everyone there.

“I am definitely going to try to stay at the campground,’’ Reim said. “It depends on

Richard R. Reim, of Three Rivers, left, receives the keys to a motor home being donated by Woody Dunkum of Brookfield. Reim's camper was destroyed in the June 1 tornado at Village Green Campground in Brimfield.

Photo by Neil A. Hawley electricity and water to the how I feel. It will be a day at sites and make the place a time. I will definitely stay safe. there as soon as I can.

That place is my family.’’

The campground cannot accept more than the 20 or “Everybody at the so families who have set up campground already told there in the past weeks, but me they would help me,’’ Twarowski said he is Reim said. hoping to be able to open to the general public next year.

Reim is thrilled with the motor home Duncan gave Looking out at the him and said it is in great devastated landscape that shape. was a wooded campground just a few months ago, Twarowski has cleared a Twarowski said he will also small number of camp sites have to plant trees. of debris and has removed a few of the trailers after But he said he is the owners had agreed to determined to rebuild and is terms with insurance bolstered by the attitudes of companies, and he and Reim and the others who volunteers have rebuilt the insist on being at Village playground and started Green. work rebuilding the pavilion.

“We still have a big mess,’’ Twarowski said, noting that he has to remove all the broken trailers, restore

“If they won’t give up on me, I can’t give up,’’ Twarowksi said. www.masslive.com

WILLIAMSBURG, VA (August 2, 2011) – Campers at the Williamsburg, Virginia KOA Campground can tour the historic area from the air with a quiet, peaceful ride in a hot air balloon.

The Williamsburg KOA has teamed with Virginia Balloons to offer daily balloon rides to campers.

The rides are available daily from April to December. The balloon will frequently make two flights a day, weather permitting.

The cost of the rides in the four-passenger to sixpassenger balloon is $250 per person on weekdays,

and $275 per person on weekends. There is also a $25 “pick up” fee for transportation to approved locations. Since routes for balloon adventure trips are determined by the wind and weather conditions, exact launch and landing locations will be decided the night before flights. A special children’s rate of $125 is also available.

Children age 5-13 weighing 100 pounds or less can fly for a $1 per pound.

Private flights are available for $350 per person weekdays and $400 per person on weekends. The pickup fee and children’s

rates remain the same.

The balloon’s pilot, Mark Nelson, has been flying balloons since 1977. He received his student pilot’s license from instructor Tony Fairbanks, a renowned early gas balloon pilot who flew the “Lucky Strike” balloon and also was the balloon pilot for the 1955 Disney film “Around the World in 80 Days.”

Nelson has extensive experiencing in piloting balloons in the Shenandoah Valley, Williamsburg and Chesapeake areas of Virginia.

Balloon ride tickets are available for purchase at the Williamsburg, Virginia KOA Campground store.

For more information, call 757-565-2734 or go to www.williamsburgkoa.com.

By Larry Isn’t it great to get some good environmental news once every so often?

The good news came from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on July 14, 2011..

That agency’s acting director announced that 21 fish stocks have been rebuilt to healthy levels. (“Healthy levels” means that these fish are now able to be self sustaining, instead of dying out unless there is stocking to keep the numbers up) Much of this success happened off the upper East Coast and is said to be the result of investment, scientific assessment and sustainable management.

Perhaps in due time the glory days of East Coast commercial fishing may return!

There is more to be done.

40 fish populations, comprising 16% of all fish stocks across the United States, are still subject to overfishing and are 23% too low. They are subject to overfishing. These include the Red Snapper in the Gulf, and the Pacific Blue Fin tuna.

Commercial and recreational fishing support 1.9 million jobs and do 72 billion dollars of business annually. Fully rebuilt fisheries would add another half million jobs and 31 billion dollars to the economy. Fish are a good source of nutrition. Some years back there was genuine alarm that the oceans were being overfished. Now it is clear that the situation can be remedied.

Considering the importance of harvesting food from the ocean as the world’s population increases and the tillable land decreases, this is very good news indeed.

Now let’s all do our part inland: when fishing, stay within the legal catch limit.

Throw back the little ones.

Catch and release when you fish for sport. Eat what you keep. Encourage your customers and patrons to act responsibly when they fish on your property. The supply of fish is not magical: the future of our fish supplies depends on good stewardship.

Perhaps it would have been better to have written this article earlier in this season, but the solution discussed herein wasn’t apparent then.

Many campgrounds have campers who purchase space for a month, several months, for a season or even for the entire year.

Recently one of our customers complained that since his customers wanted to pay monthly for a Park Model they had rented long term, they were required to do credit card transactions once a month, by phone and that it was against PCI regulations to keep the credit card on file.

More importantly, the cost of doing the credit card transactions over the phone for $1,500 a month, were over $40 each.

Recurring billing by credit cards is very expensive and inconvenient for both the cardholder and the campground.

There is a solution that ends both problems: ACHing of funds. This is the direct transfer of funds from one source to another.

ACH stands for Automated Clearing House. It is something that anyone who accepts credit cards as payments is familiar with. Credit Card funds are ACHed into designated accounts by processors and the fees are also ACHed out, usually at the end of the month. It is routine. Transactions

usually cost a few cents for each deposit and for the closing of batches because they are done electronically.

As a credit card processor, we at MCPS are also familiar with ACHing since we are paid commissions and residuals by having our funds directly deposited in our bank account. Every merchant who signs an agreement with a processor signs an ACH agreement with the processing bank.

Now MCPS for Campgrounds is offering an ACH service to its customers. Yes we hate it!

We lose the processing residuals from customers (particularly on larger transactions) and gain only part of the miniscule transaction fee for the ACH. But if it saves campgrounds hundreds of dollars, it helps to demonstrate that we have campground owners businesses, and their survival in this economy, as our most important goal.

Here’s how it works.

Campground owners will ask campers, who have recurring expenses for a campsite, to sign an ACH Agreement, permitting the campground to transfer funds (usually on a particular day of the month) directly from the campers account into the campground account. This agreement can also have a term on it in months. On

that date, the agreed upon amount of funds will automatically be transferred and a very small transaction fee will be charged to the campground. No percentages are charged to the campground.

You can ask us how to get started with this new service by calling us at 877858-9010. There is a onetime set-up fee for establishing an ACH account with us.

This is not an unusual situation, as many readers know. Bill paying by ACHing funds is becoming more commonplace. We pay our telephone bill and our Direct TV bill that way and, in those cases, the amounts vary based upon usage.

We also have been using ACHing for a customer for several years who sells bottled water to offices.

Their amounts also vary based upon usage, however the charge is usually not higher than $40 a month. In the case of campgrounds, using this method can save campground owners hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year in credit card fees.

(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 15 years. Art has been conducting webinars online and seminars on credit cards in many State and Regional Association Conventions. He can also be contacted at rvcreditcards@yahoo.com )

MONTROSE, Colo., Aug. 2, 2011 – When Shawnie and Oliver McMichael took a weekend camping trip with their five kids and other family members a few weeks ago, they didn’t have far to go.

They camped at the Black Canyon Jellystone Park Camp-Resort – just a few minutes away from their home in Montrose.

“My husband wasn’t convinced it was going to feel like camping because it was so close to home,” Shawnie McMichael said.

“But he actually liked it.”

In fact, their kids, ages 8 to 17, had so much fun there with swimming, crafts and other activities that the McMichaels plan to make a return trip.

“I think our family will definitely go back,” Shawnie McMichael said.

“The pool was very cool and clean and refreshing.

The kids loved being able to hop in and run back to the campsite.”

While the campground has RV and tent sites, it also has lodge rooms that families can rent if they don’t have an RV or tent or if they need overflow space for large groups.

The park, in fact, has had many improvements in recent years.

Formerly known as Country Village RV Resort, it was acquired three years ago

by John Barber and a group of investors bought the park out of bankruptcy court.

“It was in pretty rough shape,” Barber said of the then mostly vacant 140-site park, located at 22045 South Highway 550.

But after investing roughly half a million dollars in improvements, including a new swimming pool, a new septic system and new paint and carpeting for the park’s buildings, Barber and his investor group are now targeting the family vacation market by joining the Jellystone Park CampResorts chain.

“We’re officially a Jellystone Park now,” Barber said, adding his park is the third in Colorado to join the national franchise chain, which is famous for offering fun, family activities throughout the camping season.

Barber is already developing an activities schedule that will include ice cream socials, indoor movies and scavenger hunts. He’s also planning several themed weekends, including a murder mystery weekend and a chocolate

themed weekend later in summer. Halloween themed weekends are also being planned for the first two weekends of October.

Of course, all these activities now have an extra element of fun with Yogi Bear participating.

Yogi is on site daily to greet campers, pose for photo ops and take part in events.

Barber is also continuing to make improvements to his park, including expanding the campground store.

The park is located about 9 miles south of Montrose, 70 miles south of Grand Junction and is about 25 minutes from Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Other Colorado Jellystone Parks are located in Estes Park and Larkspur.

PETERSBURG, Mich. -- An autopsy is scheduled for Sunday on the body of a 53year-old Detroit man recovered from the pond of the Monroe/Toledo North KOA in Monroe County's Summerfield Township.

Tyronne Glenn Hadley was found in 11 feet of water about 9:15 Friday night, sheriff's deputies said.

Deputies said Mr. Hadley and family members arrived at the KOA about 3:30 p.m. He went in the water immediately and was not seen again.

After several minutes, family members asked for help from campground

staff. Later, the search was joined by the sheriff's dive team, a helicopter, and the Summerfield Township Fire Department.

Family members told authorities that he could swim, but hadn't in several years, Sgt. Geoff Kovenich of the sheriff's office said.

It was the second reported drowning in the pond this month.

On July 2, a 39-year-old Toledo man was pulled from 12 feet of water there.

He was taken to Flower Hospital in Sylvania, where he was pronounced dead.

housing division two years ago, the Rocky Mount factory only built HUD-code homes, as it had since 1968.

ROCKY MOUNT, Va., July 27, 2011 – The Fleetwood factory in southern Virginia is playing an increasingly important role in Cavco’s market strategy by manufacturing a diverse mix of manufactured and park models for a growing dealer base.

Before Phoenix, Ariz.based Cavco Industries acquired Fleetwood’s

But with the Cavco acquisition, the factory’s product mix now includes not only Fleetwood brand manufactured homes, but Cavco’s own lines of manufactured homes as well as park models.

“We’re pleased with the progress we’ve been making,” said Tom Satterwhite, general manager of the Rocky Mount factory, which employs 60 people.

Continued

Continued “We’re happy, too, because the Rocky Mount facility gives us a strategic market reach we didn’t have before,” said Tim Gage, vice president of Cavco’s Specialty Division.

Indeed, prior to the Fleetwood acquisition two years ago, Cavco didn’t have any manufacturing plants along the Eastern Seaboard, a situation that limited its national marketing potential because of the high cost of trucking its products from the factory to the customer.

But now that’s no longer an issue and the company is much better to sell its housing products to customers in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States.

Cavco’s park model lineup is also a new and exciting product that the Rocky Mount factory hadn’t produced before.

Park models are 400square foot vacation cottages that can be used as weekend retreats or vacation homes and set up on leased or purchased sites in campgrounds, RV parks and resorts.

Consumers often buy them for use as a second home, while campgrounds increasingly using them as rental units.

The Rocky Mount factory initially produced customdesigned park model cabins for campgrounds affiliated with Kampgrounds of America Inc. (KOA). But

now the facility produces both cabins and traditional vinyl sided park models for a growing number of independently owned and operated parks as well as KOA brand campgrounds throughout the Eastern U.S. The factory is also opening up new distribution channels for park models, both through street dealers and at campgrounds that want to sell the products to consumers as weekend retreats or vacation cottages.

“We’re constantly becoming stronger and getting more distribution and more retail turns on our product,” Satterwhite said.

The company is also developing growing number of sales leads through its websites and by participating in a growing number of tradeshows, such as the upcoming Pennsylvania RV and Camping Show, which is scheduled Sept. 14th to 18th in Hershey Pennsylvania and the National RV Tradeshow, which is scheduled for Nov. 29th to Dec. 1st in Louisville, Ky., in addition to RV shows in Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh.

For more information on products available through the Rocky Mount factory, please visit www.cavcoparkhomes.com and www.fleetwoodhomes.com.

Calgary: A 34 year old Carstairs man is in Foothills Hospital with severe burns after a propane explosion at a Water Valley campground.

It's still not clear what caused the explosion which left the man with burns covering more than half of his body.

Amateur video showed the propane explosion, creating a fireball that consumed the entire campsite including an RV. Jessica Arnatt and her family were in another campsite just 20 metres from the flames. At first she heard a loud, dangerous,

hissing sound.

"I was watching it happen," says Arnatt. "The explosion came out one side (of the tank), and then out of the other side. It then went straight up and it was as tall as the trees."

Even as the flames raged, Michael Luyendyk and a friend rushed to the scene.

They frantically searched for the man's young son, and removed all other propane tanks from the site.

"We were trying to get all of the propane tanks out," says Luyendyk. "They had a quad with a gas tank on the back and it started melting so we pulled that

out. Our adrenalin kicked in, and it was heavy, but I said we have to get this out of here."

Arnatt says while attempting to control the flames, the victim caught fire and jumped into the nearby river.

Early results from the investigation suggest the man was trying to fix a propane barbeque. A hose became disconnected, and the escaping gas was ignited by the nearby campfire.

Emma Upshaw was nearly 100 metres from the campsite. Even from that distance, she could here all

the commotion "We heard a whooshing sound, then a huge bang and then a bunch of people screaming," says Upshaw.

"It sounded like a truck tire was exploding, but it just went on and on."

Luyendyk says the situation could have been much worse if the campground had been drier.

"Two hours before we came into camp, we had the rain and hail," says Luyendyk.

"It soaked everything."

RCMP say the man's burns are serious but not life threatening. www.calgary.ctv.ca

acquisition will be completed in its entirety in accordance with the anticipated timing or at all.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc. is a fully integrated On May 31 Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc. through its operating partnership entered into purchase and other agreements to acquire a portfolio of 75 manufactured home communities and one RV resort containing 31,167 sites on approximately 6,500 acres located in 16 states (primarily located in Florida and the northeastern region of the United States) and certain manufactured homes and loans secured by manufactured homes located at the acquisition properties for a stated purchase price of $1.43 billion.

The company closed on 16 of the acquisition properties Monday (Aug. 1) along with certain manufactured homes and loans secured by manufactured homes located at such acquisition properties for a stated purchase price of approximately $436 million, the company has announced.

The purchase price in connection with this closing was funded with: ■The issuance of 1,379,310 shares of the company’s common stock to the seller with an aggregate stated value of $80 million.

■The assumption of

owner and operator of lifestyle-oriented properties and as of Aug. 1 owns or has an interest in 358 properties in 32 states and British Columbia consisting of 130,891 sites.

approximately $226 million of mortgage debt secured by 11 of the acquisition properties., ■Approximately $130 million in cash. The cash was obtained from the net proceeds of the company’s June 2011 common stock offering and a borrowing on its line of credit. The borrowing on the line of credit is expected to be repaid with proceeds from the previously announced $250 million secured mortgage financing that the company expects to obtain in connection with the acquisition on or prior to Oct. 1.

The closing of five acquisition properties that was previously scheduled on Aug. 1 was postponed to Sept. 1 due to a delay in lender approvals.

As previously announced, on July 1 the company closed on 35 acquisition properties. The company’s closing of the remaining 25 properties is expected to occur by Oct. 1 and assumption of the indebtedness thereon is subject to the receipt of loan servicer consents. The acquisition is also subject to other customary closing conditions.

Accordingly, no assurances can be given that the remainder of the

Carowinds has purchased 61 acres of vacant land next to the amusement park that could pave the way for new rides, hotels or campgrounds.

Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., which owns Carowinds, announced Monday it has bought land straddling the Carolinas' border for an expansion of the 337-acre park. The property is next to Carowinds' current parking lots and near I-77, according to Cedar Fair spokeswoman Stacy Frole.

Frole said that while there are no specific expansion

plans now, the land opens up a host of opportunities.

They include moving current parking spaces to expand the park with new attractions, changing the entrance setup, or adding hotels or more campgrounds.

Carowinds now has the Camp Wilderness Resort camping area that offers a convenience store, laundry facilities, a swimming pool, miniature golf and more than 40 RV sites.

The previous landowner and purchase price were not disclosed. www.charlotteobserver.com

November 6-9, 2011 (Expo on Nov. 9) South Point Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV Contact: (406) 248-7444

November 10-11, 2011 On the Internet Contact: (877) 901-3976

November 14-17, 2011 Embassy Suites, Covington, KY Contact: (513) 831-2100

November 28 – December 2, 2011 Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort Spa & Savannah International Trade & Convention Center, Savannah, GA Contact: (303) 681-0401

MADISON, Me., Aug. 2, 2011 – The camping season got off to a slow start this summer at the Jellystone Park CampResort at Yonder Hill, thanks to an unusually cool, wet spring and early summer.

“It didn’t really dry out and begin to warm up until late July,” said park owner Allen York, who recently converted the former Yonder Hill Campground to become the first Jellystone Park in Maine.

But business levels are strong this month through Labor Day weekend, and the park is completely sold out Aug. 11th to 20th during the upcoming Skowhegan State Fair, the nation’s oldest continuous agricultural fair.

York is also busy planning several themed weekends that should bring families back to his Central Maine park through early October.

Upcoming events include a horseshoe tournament on the weekend of Aug. 20th

and 21st; a summer bash on Aug. 27th and 28th, with a pie eating content, a watermelon seed spitting contest, a tug of war and dancing; and a lobster dinner on Labor Day weekend.

September events also include a Halloween themed weekend Sept.

17th and 18th with a campsite decorating contest, a costume contest, trick or treating, a haunted wagon ride and a haunted house. A special discount weekend is also scheduled for Oct. 1st and 2nd, with a couple’s weekend slated for Oct. 8th and 9th with an intimate dinner.

Jellystone Park CampResorts are widely known for having unique activities. Of course, all these activities now have an extra element of fun with Yogi Bear participating. Yogi is on site daily to greet campers, pose for photo ops and take part in events.

DENVER, Aug. 2, 2011 – The National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds’ Outdoor Hospitality Conference and Expo will feature 43 educational seminars, more than twice the number of any previous ARVC conference.

“We’ve got a phenomenal lineup of speakers who are among the most knowledgeable experts in their fields,” said Barb Youmans, a business and technology education expert who serves as ARVC’s senior director of administration and education.

She added that by more than doubling the educational content of the Outdoor Hospitality Conference, campground operators should have more than double the incentive to attend.

“We want park operators to accelerate their learning curve and keep up with the latest changes in business management strategies and tactics and technologies that affect our industry,” Youmans said, adding that CPO credits can be earned at each of these seminars.

While the full lineup of seminars is available at www.arvc.org, key areas of focus include: Business Management: Specific sessions will focus on how to make the most of your leadership style; how to handle change; and how to pinpoint ways to improve the profitability and functioning of your business, how to use 20 groups and how to rehabilitate an older park.

Other sessions will cover disaster planning and recovery as well as business risk prevention, risk-based maintenance and employment and cyber liability risks. You’ll also have opportunities to learn how to manage negative guest feedback and how to deliver astonishing guest satisfaction.

Business Technology: Are you using Cloud computing or T10 I-phone applications in your business? Should you be using smart phones or I-pads? Now is the time to find out.

Employee Training and Motivation: Conference attendees will learn not only how to attract and retain great employees, but how to build high performance teams.

Special session will also focus on how to manage Workampers and how to motivate and manage the Millennial Generation (Those born between 1982 and 1997) The Latest Trends in Green Technology: Consumers are increasingly purchasing electric vehicles. Experts will discuss electric car charging, recycling electricity and other green opportunities.

Marketing and Public Relations: Specific sessions will address the latest trends in social media, marketing, public relations and the use of the Internet to promote your business. You’ll learn how to develop media and marketing plans, how to get started with social networking, how to use QR codes and video to promote your business and how to use Google Analytics to measure your results.

ARVC has reduced conference registration rates for parks that send more than one representative in an effort to recognize and encourage attendance by

multiple generations of campground family owners from the same park who have been loyal to ARVC and its state affiliates over the years.

Under the new fee schedule, representatives from parks with 250 or fewer sites that sign up for a full registration to attend the event before Aug. 31st will pay $379 for the first person, a 31 percent discount from the $550 standard registration rate.

ARVC is also offering to discount registrations by an additional 10 percent, or $40, for each additional small or medium size park representative who registers for the full registration at the conference before Aug. 31st. This means that parks with multiple representatives would pay only $339 each for their additional representatives.

Paul Bambei, ARVC’s president and CEO, said the new fee structure should have widespread appeal across the outdoor hospitality industry, since more than 80 percent of ARVC members parks have 250 sites or less.

Continued

Continued The large park registration fee remains at $449 if registering before August 31 for the first registrant from each large park.

However, large parks with multiple registrants will also receive a 10 percent or $45 discount for each additional registrant. That means large parks with multiple representatives would pay only $404 for each of their additional representatives.

“We think our new pricing structure will be very attractive to park operators across the country,” Bambei said, adding that registration fees have been reduced as much as possible while still

ensuring that ARVC takes in just enough revenue to cover its costs in producing the Nov. 28th to Dec. 2nd convention, which will take place at the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort & Spa and Savannah International Trade and Convention Center.

Bambei said it behooves park operators to sign up for the conference before Aug. 31st because registration fees for all park representatives will revert to $550 per person after that date.

For more information about this year’s Outdoor Hospitality Conference & Expo, please visit www.arvc.org.

ARVC has teamed up with Swamp City Productions, one of ARVC’s newest Member Benefit Provider (MBP), to start an Online Video Initiative for member parks.

As you may or may not be aware, online video viewing has more than doubled over the past year and increasingly travelers are looking to video to determine where they will plan their next trip. NOW is the time that parks should be considering video for online use – especially those who are seasonal and will be closing in the fall – they need to be ready for next season.

Plus the new GoCampingAmerica.com website will have video capability and parks will have the opportunity to upload video footage of their park to their park profile for FREE. ARVC has brainstormed with Swamp City Productions to find ways to cost effectively, while

Paul Bambei: ARVC CEO professionally, provide parks with an opportunity to obtain video segments that can be used in a variety of distribution points online – including park websites, YouTube and GoCampingAmerica.com.

The final outcome of these brainstorm sessions is a fantastic regional offer that we need your help instituting.

Swamp City would like to start scheduling video sessions by region – and parks will have an opportunity to sign up on a first come, first served basis.

See ARVC Online Video Production 2011 for detailed package and pricing information.