park model living may june 2008
DESCRIPTION
Park Model Living May June 2008TRANSCRIPT
“Retirement Living at its Best!”
V O L . 1 NO . 4 M A Y / J U N E 2 0 0 7
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$4.99 US $5.99 CAN
Features Cover Story
Summer Stories People share Park Model memories
from days gone by
7
9
Dealer Review
Lake Effect A look at Clare-Mar Lakes
Campground & Park Model Sales
Cover photos courtesy of Park Models Manufacturing
Manufacturer Review
Cabin Fever Park Models Manufacturing - a
manufacturer with history
17
V O L . 1 N O . 4 M A Y / J U N E 2 0 0 7
m a g a z i n e
Features(cont’d)
Departments Notes From The Boss 3
Notes From The Bigger Boss 4
Letters to the Editor 5
Featured Resources 6
The Model Life 13
Techno Babble 15
Classifieds 19
Park Review
The Maine Event All about Maine’s most spectacular
family outdoor resort
21
18
Show Us Your Park Model
Park People Our newest feature is designed to
show off all our great readers!
◊ N o t e s f r o m t h e B o s s ◊
We love being part of this dynamic and rapidly growing Park Model lifestyle. Park Models were the hit of the day in the New York Times
Thursday, June 14. Park Model Living Magazine was men-tioned with a quote from me. It was exciting to be interviewed by Kate Murphy, a reporter with the NY Times and fabulous to
appear in a renowned newspaper with a distribution of one mil-lion. The article has been reprinted in numerous newspapers including The San Francisco Chronicle and the Chicago Trib-
une. Our web site was swamped with more than 1,000 hits in the first day, and more than 12,000 since the article appeared. The original article has now been linked to more than 20,000 other sites. Visitors have come from most continents. Some of our visitors have been from: Wales, Australia, Greece, UK, Canada, South Africa, Brazil, New Zealand, Iraq, Switzerland, China
and an Inuit village near the Artic Circle. Wow! Bill Garpow (Executive Director RPTIA) and many manu-facturers keep telling us how this industry is growing and they’re right. People love the concept of
small, contained, easy to keep up structures that don’t stress their bottom line. Frank and I were also featured this month in Woodall’s Campground Management newspaper in an article headlined “Ohio Couple Launches First National Park Model Living Lifestyle Maga-zine.” Yep, that would be us.
This is definitely a learning experience and I apologize to all of our readers that we are lagging a bit behind. Our distribution went from 3,000 to 10,000 and I’m running to keep up. Some days I feel like I’m on a gerbil wheel and other days are a wonderful roller coaster ride. We will catch
up and keep you informed. Readers have sent us great suggestions and we’re listening. Keep those calls and letters coming.
Kaeth S. Gauthier
Editor in Chief
www.ParkModelLiving.com 3 Park Model Living Magazine
What an interesting journey it has been this past year. It seems like only yesterday that I left my Park Model in Ari-zona to come to Ohio to work on a project. I met my won-
derful wife, Kaeth. We fell in love and married this past January and published the first issue of the magazine in the same week. Since that time we have had a chance to meet
many interesting people associated with the Park Model life style. Manufacturers, dealers, RV park owners, and in-dividuals enjoy the simple pleasures afforded them with
these little cottages. At trade shows and park open house events, they have told us fun stories about Park Models. With this, our fourth issue, many changes have taken place. This includes new digs on the second floor of an old fire house in Akron Ohio (with high ceilings and no eleva-tor). Our huge digital press allows us to produce the maga-zine completely in-house.
It has been wonderful to be interviewed and featured in several newspapers and trade journals. One of the best
benefits is the e-mail and letters from you, our readers telling us how much you enjoy our new
magazine. We look forward to bringing you more interesting articles and information about the Park Model lifestyle in the coming months.
Peter F. Gauthier
Publisher
Park Model Living Magazine 4
◊ N o t e s f r o m t h e B i g g e r B o s s ◊
www.ParkModelLiving.com
PUBLISHER
Peter F. Gauthier
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Kaeth S. Gauthier
PRODUCTION MANAGER
T. M. Brown
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
Carol Hering
DISTRIBUTION CO-ORDINATOR
Martha Shaughnessy
STAFF WRITERS
Pete Franks K. Shaughnessy Lillian Mason
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Bill Garpow, RPTIA ED
FRENCH LANGUAGE EDITOR
Marie Rotondo
OFFICE ADMINISTRATION
Sarah Shaughnessy
TECHNICAL SPECIALIST
Daniel Shaughnessy
INTERNS
Carlie Shaughnessy Emily Shaughnessy
SECURITY
Lucy Liu IX
Letters to the Editor Have a suggestion?
We need to hear from you!
So…
E-mail us your letters to the editor at: [email protected]
Or
Send us a letter by mail at:
Park Model Living Letters Dept. P.O. Box 13571 Fairlawn, OH 44334
We’re both
amazed at how little information there is
about these units so feel your publication
is filling a huge gap. Last week I went
through Woodalls’ page by page to lo-
cate parks where PM’s are allowed
and it was really sketchy.
I wound up call-ing interesting look-
ing developments and just asking.
Most said yes. My marketing back-
ground keeps me thinking these people are really missing a
big upcoming market by not positioning
themselves for peo-ple like us (late 50’s
looking at retirement options).
Do any of the manufacturers make
lofts that adults may comfortably stand
in?
Juliet F., FL
Response: I agree that it’s hard to get informa-
tion (see the next let-ter). I don’t know
about any lofts that are higher than the norm and have sent a request
to all the manufactur-ers. When we have an-
swers, we will print them on the website
and in the magazine.
I’m a 48 year old
professional male and have lots of diffi-
culty finding infor-mation from parks
that have Park Mod-els. Some of my
questions are: Can I live there
year round? Are there age re-
strictions? Do you have ca-
ble / high speed internet connections?
Do you allow storage sheds?
Stan H. (via email) Response: We have
similar questions and plan to call parks and
ask. PMLM wants to be a complete resource
for consumers like you. As we get these answers we will share them.
A magazine cov-
ering Park Model liv-ing will be a winner
if you have articles covering these types
of subjects: How do you sum-
merize /winterize? What is an Ari-
zona / Florida room? How do you
make decisions about appliances and fea-
tures? How do you install the skirt-ing? It [the maga-
zine] should be a useful tool.
Bob C., Idaho
Response: These are great ideas and you
will see most of them covered upcoming is-sues.
Park Model Living Magazine is an independently owned and produced magazine. Magazine and all
original design copyrighted 2007, PML Publishing, LLC.
If you have a question or are interested in
a subscription, please visit our website at
www.parkmodelliving.com
E-mail us at [email protected]
Or you can write or call at
Park Model Living Magazine P.O. Box 13571
Fairlawn, OH 44334
1-866-766-0564
Mission Statement
Park Model Living is a website and monthly magazine designed to provide information and re-
sources for people who enjoy the Park Model Life-style. Park Models are recreational homes for sea-sonal living. They are factory built on a single chas-sis and are no more than 400 square feet for the es-
sential building (approximately 34’ x 12’). Park Models are licensed and taxed as recreational vehi-cles, although they are not designed to be towed.
Park Models are placed on private property, in rec-reational parks and campgrounds.
5 Park Model Living Magazine www.ParkModelLiving.com
Featured Resources
If you would like to know more about the parks, dealers, & manufacturers featured in this month’s magazine, you’ve found the right place. Featured Resources is a brand new addition to our magazine and we hope it helps you to connect with the Park Model resources that you need.
This Month’s Re-
sources:
Dealer Review(p.7)
Clare-Mar Lakes
Campground and Park
Model Sales 47571 New London
Eastern Road Wellington OH 44090
800-589-5789
www.claremar.com
Manufacturer Re-
view(p.17)
Park Models
Manufacturing
2051 Industrial Drive
Cairo GA 39828 800-319-5427
www.parkmodelsmfg.com
Park Review(p.17)
Point Sebago Resort
261 Point Sebago Road Casco ME 04015
800-530-1555
www.pointsebago.com
Show Us Your
Park Model (p.21)
Superstition Sunrise
702 S. Meridian Apache Junction, AZ
85220-6482 (800) 624-7027
www.superstitionsunrise.com
BeckysSoyCandles.com Clean Burning Candles with virtually NO SOOT!
Hand-Poured - Triple Scented
Fun scents include:
Clean Cotton
Angel Wings
Green Tea
Sweet Orange Chili Pep-per
Peach Papaya Strawberry Kiwi Blackberry Sage And many more!
“I am astonished at how long these candles last and it’s fun to experiment with the variety of scents!”
- Laura G.
Call for more info:
330-773-3050
Or
See us on the web at: BeckysSoyCandles.com
www.www.www.GGGOBSOBSOBSOOOFFFKKKNOBSNOBSNOBS.net.net.net www.www.www.GGGOBSOBSOBSOOOFFFKKKNOBSNOBSNOBS.net.net.net
- D e a l e r R e v i e w -
We were invited to the spring opening event for this delightful dealership in Northeastern Ohio. Owner Don Sears was a terrific
host. He gave us a tour of the dealership and the campground and introduced us to his mother, Barbara Sears. Barbara and Len Sears purchased the campground in 1970 from Clarence and Marvin who had combined their names for Clare-Mar. Len, who
is deceased, was a pioneer of the national and state campground associations. There is a lovely bench on the grounds dedicated to his memory.
Len Sears began to sell Park Models in the mid 70’s, which was a unique concept. Clare-Mar was one of the first camp-
ground in the nation with an RV dealership. This combina-tion of sales and camping has worked extremely well for the
Sears family. Don tells us, “Last year was a record-breaking spring season. Park Models are going to be the way
to go in the future. Gas prices are getting some RV’ers off the road.”
In the Park Model industry, the dealer does the set up and warranty. According to Don, “Some of the street dealers (in RV’s) don’t understand Park Model’s and won’t sell them. I sell
and warranty units that are delivered to many locations in Ohio as well as several adjoining states. I believe it’s important for people to understand the very strong resale value on Park Models. They depreciate about $2,000 the first year and only $200 per year after
that. They hold their value much longer than RV’s.” The dealership sells Park Models built by Fairmont, Brecken-ridge and Canterbury. There were lovely models on site including
the Country Manor by Fairmont. We’re always searching for Park Models with good internet planning and this model has a CAT-5 connection in the living room and two network cables in the loft. The attractive and func-
tional kitchen center island has both open and closed storage. There is light oak trim throughout and a buffet in the eating area with decorated frosted glass panels. The kitchen has a deep double sink and space above the
kitchen cupboards for decorative items. The double loft has a car-peted bench and a built in entertainment center. A different ver-
sion of the Country Manor has accordion doors that separate the
living room from the dining area to create a second bedroom. The Breckenridge models at Clare-Mar had many options. The 1240-SE-CB has a galley kitchen that seemed especially func-tional. A 1238 FLR without the loft has a tub and skylight in the
bathroom. Kevin Wells, a representative from Canterbury, attended the event and helped answer customer’s questions. When asked about trends in the industry, Wells told us that 90% of their sales
have lofts. “The Park Models have more curb appeal and better resale with lofts. We also see more contemporary designs and lots
of windows.” Canterbury is based in
Indiana and sells only through deal-ers such as Don Sears. Wells said, “We’re experts in building, the deal-ers are experts in delivery and ser-
vice.” While baby boomers are major purchasers of Park Models, these ex-perts tell us that they are seeing an-
other trend. Today younger people (with kids in strollers) are purchasing the Park Models as vacation homes. They install them in parks closer
to home where Mom and the chil-dren may stay there all summer and Dad joins them on weekends.
There were more than 10,000 Park Models sold (from all manufac-
turers combined) in 2006. Wells and Sears both see a very strong growth market in parks that open up to Park Models.
The website, www.claremar.com, provides very appealing shopping. Some dealer web sites send you directly to manufac-turer web sites. Clare-Mar allows you to “window shop” with all their manufacturers while you stay at Clare-Mar.
Because Clare-Mar is also a campground, it’s possible to pur-chase your vacation home and select a site at the same time. The aerial view on the web site gives a great perspective of the 220 acre
park with it’s 75 acre lake. The park has 500 sites and all accommodate Park Models. Because of the growth in this industry, Sears has set aside 18-20 acres for development for Park Models and this area will have
larger lots. The lots are rented seasonally and are not deeded. The park is open May 1 – October 15. We were invited to return in early October for the fabulous Halloween party.
K. Shaughnessy can be reached at: [email protected]
www.ParkModelLiving.com 7 Park Model Living Magazine
A spectacular aerial view of Clare-Mar Lake
By K. Shaughnessy PML Staff Writer
PHOTO - www.ClareMar.com
9 Park Model Living Magazine www.ParkModelLiving.com
- C o v e r S t o r y -
O ur friends Sally and Joe (all names in this story have been
changed) owned a lovely Park Model in Arizona and
were not able to stay in it for the entire season as they
had a family wedding to attend. They offered to let us
stay in their place for two weeks in February. We live in Northern
Michigan where, as you probably know, it snows and is wicked cold
in February. Fred and I had not been to Arizona but he was confi-
dent that we could rent a car in Phoenix and locate our vacation cot-
tage.
We hadn’t understood that this park had hundreds of Park Mod-
els and we arrived after dark. The description of the “multicolored
mobile hanging by the front door” was not helpful to us at 1 AM.
Fred’s handwriting isn’t so great and we thought the address was
507 Maple Lane.
After driving through Birch Alley and Redwood Grove and other
Park Model Living Magazine 10 www.ParkModelLiving.com
woody streets, we were not so
certain of the address. Finally we found 507 Walnut Lane which
did, indeed have a multicolored mobile. Fred was then certain
that he had mis-read his hand-writing and we had found the
right place. We got all the suitcases from
the car and put them on the deck and fussed at each other as only
people who have been married 30+ years can fuss. I told Fred
he was never writing directions again and fumbled to get the key
in the lock. As our fussing got louder, the inside light turned on
and a man yelled, “I’ve got a gun and I’m willing to use it so get
the *&%$ off my porch.” I ran to the car and refused to help remove suitcases from the
deck. Fred, whose bravery rates higher than his handwriting, ex-
plained our dilemma to the fright-ened homeowner who, luckily,
knew Sally and Joe and directed
us to their house, at 507 Pine.
The next time we travel to a new place we’ll arrive before sunset
and I’ll write the directions.
Ronda C., Michigan
When I was ten, my mother had twins. I found this embar-
rassing and difficult to explain to my friends. I was an independent
and probably spoiled boy and had no reason to change that. Plus,
both babies were girls. If asked, I would have preferred a new bicy-
cle. Each summer before Sophie
and Alice arrived, my dad had driven us in our large comfortable car, towing a trailer and we had
camped. I liked to swim and fish in new places.
Now, these annoying babies changed my life. Not only did I
have to share the back seat, both girls got car sick. My mom and
dad still wanted to camp and
bought property an hour from our home in Pennsylvania. Grandpa,
Dad and I cleared a space in the pine trees about ¼ mile from the
lake. We purchased a Park Model and permanently sat it in
the woods. Sometimes friends or cousins
would join us for loud, fun week-ends.
When Sophie and Alice got older I taught them to swim and
fish and we had spitting contests which Alice always won. The
Park Model gave us a terrific place to play and be safe and
grow up. My family now has three Park Models on the prop-
erty that we share. Alice still wins the spitting contest.
Richard H., Pennsylvania
In the summer of 1970 we had four children who were 13, 11, 7,
and 5. I grew up in New York
City and had moved with my hus-band and children to different
military bases. Jack retired from the Army that year and we settled
in Nebraska where Jack had fam-ily.
We wanted to give the kids some camping adventures, how-
ever, I refused to struggle with tents or sleep on the ground. We
had tried that a few times and I’m too much of a big city person to
think that’s a good idea. A friend told us about a small
trailer he bought that could be left on a rented space. We could
be in an area with trails to hike and have campfires and still have
inside plumbing. This seemed ideal to me. We did some research and purchased
a Park Model with real beds and a bathroom. We enjoyed our cot-
tage for 20 years until Jack re-tired again. We now have a Park
Model near our children and a condo in Arizona.
Jewel L., Nebraska
My family has owned camp-
ers, trailers and lots of tents. We bought our first Park Model five
years ago and I love it. We still have a fifth wheel and
do some traveling but the Park Model is a restful, lovely home.
We lease a lot in New Hampshire close to a river because my hus-band, Paul, loves to fish.
When we bought it I told him the rule is, “No cleaning fish in
the house.” He added a small shed about 30 feet away with a
fish cleaning station. We pur-chased a wireless connection so I
can email or surf the net while he fishes.
I don’t think I could find a ho-tel room as comfortable as our
Park Model and a hotel certainly
would not let
Paul clean fish.
Jane V.,
Connecti-
cut
Our Park Model in the
Smoky Mountains is
the final rest-ing place for many of my
sister, Nancy’s un-
fortunate pets. I don’t
want you to think that
Nancy led to their demise. She just liked odd pets like frogs or
lightning bugs, none of which had long life spans. Nancy is a
bit of a drama queen and I think what she really liked was the
ceremony of putting these little creatures to rest.
Unknown to our parents (unless they read this article),
Nancy considered the space un-der the skirting of our Park
Model to be an ideal burial spot. Dad had designed the skirting so it could be easily unhooked to
store things out of sight. Nancy would carefully wrap the de-
ceased dragonfly or frog in leaves and gently tie it with twine.
She would dig a small hole that had to be six inches deep
(she measured) write a poem and sing a sad song. This may be the
only Park Model that is also a cemetery.
Heather W., North Carolina
I associate wonderful food
with vacation time at our cabin.
My dad and his brother both pur-chased Park Models in the early
90’s. My grandma Belle arrived for family picnics with battered
Styrofoam coolers full of “grandma food.” My favorites
were strawberries and pineapple in a Jello mold, barbecued ribs
and the best potato salad in the world.
My family loved to make des-serts. Three of the aunts showed
up one year with the same dessert that was featured in a recent edi-
tion of a popular magazine. This annoyed Aunt Chloe
who liked to be different. The next year she went to the library and checked out a ten year
old copy of the same magazine and made a dessert featured in
that old issue so no one else would copy her.
Our Park Models were always crowded. The bedroom had a
double bed and a set of bunk beds. Sometimes six of us slept
in that room. Grandma Belle al-ways got the luxury of the sleeper
sofa in the living room.
11 Park Model Living Magazine www.ParkModelLiving.com
The kitchen seemed to grow
larger as more people arrived with food to chill or keep warm.
For holiday weekends it seemed like there were dozens of
people in each room, laughing, singing and eating. I think that
camp still echoes with our ghost stories and songs around the
campfire.
Gussie M., Tennessee
Vacation time with my hus-band Tim’s family is a mixed
blessing. He has five brothers and they
are all large, loud, energetic guys who like to play jokes on each other.
The family owns property on Lake Michigan and we have a
mixed bag of trailers, fifth wheels and Park Models along with a
large picnic pavilion. Most week-ends in the summer we have 30-40
people there including kids, fam-ily and friends.
One Saturday night in July the boys were all shooting targets and
bragging about who was the best shot. Ann, the newest sister-in-
law, came running up crying that a raccoon was in the top bunk bed
in the Park Model and had terri-fied some of the children.
All six brothers went racing to the cabin although some of them
slowed down a bit and let Todd, the youngest, go in first. One of them asked, “Are all the children
outside?” and Ann told them the children were all in the tent and
too afraid to come in. Even outside, six large men
take up a lot of space and they certainly crowded the cabin.
They were egging Todd on, saying things like, “You’re gonna have to
shoot it Todd.” “We don’t want it to bite the kids.”
Todd stopped at the door of the bedroom asking, “Where is
it?” and he saw something small,
black and fuzzy moving in the top bunk.
He took aim and fired. The black fuzzy creature continued to
move and Todd noticed that it was singing.
Todd was not completely sober but certainly sober enough to
know that raccoons don’t sing. Confused, he moved closer
and realized the resident of the bunk bed was a battery-operated
stuffed-toy leopard that wiggled
and sang.
This has been a favorite family story for years. Todd was con-
firmed as the official “worst shot” because he missed the toy leopard
at close range and put a hole through the wall in the cabin.
Suzanna G., Indiana
Information/stories were compiled and edited
by Golda Wellbaum
Golda Wellbaum can be reached at:
Park Model Living Magazine 12 www.ParkModelLiving.com
13 Park Model Living Magazine www.ParkModelLiving.com
News & Notes on the Park Model
Lifestyle from RPTIA
Executive Director
W.R. “Bill” Garpow
Why can’t I live full-time in my Recreational Park Trailer or
Park Model in this RV Park?
Recreational Park Trailers are wonderful dwellings for seasonal and vacation use and are often referred to as “the
best kept secret in the RV business.” They provide all the comforts of home for RV enthusiasts to “get away from it
all”, so “Why can’t I live full-time in my Recreational Park Trailer or Park Model in this RV Park?”
Perhaps you can, if no one rocks the boat. However, you should be aware that your park might be subject to a local
ordinance or some binding zoning regulations that were made before the park was originally built. If you do make
your primary home in an RV Park, you may be taking a risk that the zoning and planning authority would one day deter-
mine that they are required to enforce the laws and regula-tions that apply to RV Parks and could require you to vacate your RV residence. The RV park owner may one day deter-
mine that the park’s return on investment would be better if the property was cleared and sold to a high-rise or a shopping
center developer. Since the park is an RV park, the owner has the right to move everyone out immediately and sell the
land for this other purpose. Some states have laws that require Manufactured Hous-
ing (MH) park owners to provide tenants with a specific ad-vance notice of their intent to close the park. Some state laws
also require that the park owner must monetarily assist ten-ants with the expense of moving their manufactured home to
another park. If another site cannot be located, the MH park owner may be required to provide the former tenant with
money to assist them in locating other forms of housing. These laws, however, do not apply to tenants residing in an
RV Park, because an RV Park was never intended to provide a place for full-time housing.
Let’s take a look at a traditional destination campground and understand the process that was followed to bring that
park into existence. The park usually has a very desirable location near a wa-ter feature like a lake, stream or perhaps close to the ocean.
Many of these parks will be located in areas where the weather is warm and comfortable, and the camping season
remains in operation for the entire year. If the park is within
a two-hour drive of a major metropolitan area, the park will
also enjoy a local client base made up of families ready for camping when school is out. Add the RV snowbirds coming
from the North to stay from December through mid- April, and you have a year-round park population. The park most
likely has 200 sites and is located on a 20-acre plot of land, with an additional ten acres or so being held for expansion.
Before the campground was developed, permission to create this RV Park or RV Resort needed to be obtained
from the local jurisdictional authority (township, town, city or county). The developer agreed to certain requirements
and restrictions and promised adherence to local ordinances dealing with welfare, safety and public health. Other issues
like quality of life, impact upon the others in the community, the cost of governmental services, and the contribution to the
tax base were also discussed. The local zoning ordinance may have required or the developer may have promised that
the park would only be used as a vacation and seasonal de-velopment, and that full-time housing would never be al-
lowed. Landscaping, noise limitations and entrance/exit requirements and other things may have also been imposed by the zoning authority. After all of the promises and com-
mitments were made, the entire proposal was submitted to elected officials for approval in a public meeting. Advance
notification was given to any property holders who might have been impacted by the proposed development.
Now let us assume that the original developer operates the park for several years. He sells the park. The new owner
now commences to operate the park with a full time man-ager and a hired staff. Neither the new owner nor his man-
ager is aware of the previous promises, commitments, and/or ordinances imposed upon the property. The local unit of
government may not have informed them of these require-ments and they are not required to do that. However, the
agreement between the original owner and government re-mains in force as long as the park is in operation.
Shortly after the park is built it was discovered by Ted and Sally, who come from New England on an extended
vacation. They are in their 60s and are just starting retire-ment. They fall in love with the park, the RV lifestyle, and
the really great winter weather. They buy a travel trailer or a
- T h e M o d e l L i f e -
299 N. Smith Ave.
Corona, CA 92880 1-800-382-0709
www.silvercrest-rv.com
Silvercrest is proud of the quality built into every Luxury Park Model, and we back it up in writing with our EXCLUSIVE,
“SILVERSHIELD” 7 YEAR WARANTY. Covering all originally installed, or Dealer included systems, and appliances.
park model and lease a site in the park on a long-term basis.
They intend to leave the unit on the site and come down each year to escape from the winter back home. Some years pass
and they follow through with their plans. They become first class RV snowbirds and great tenants for the park.
How is it then that an RV Park becomes a location with many of the residences providing a place of primary residence
instead of remaining an exclusive vacation and seasonal dwelling location? This occurrence can come to pass in many
different ways but the following story is one that I have heard on more than one occasion.
Then one sad day, Ted passes away. Sally now is forced to make some changes, because her financial picture has sud-
denly worsened. Ted’s pension only provided income as long as he was alive, and Sally must now make do with only a
small monthly check for survivor’s benefits from Social Secu-rity. Something needs to be done, so she sells the big family
home in New England, moves into the RV Park, and sets up housekeeping in the RV. She doesn’t tell anyone that she was
going to do this; after all, the trailer is hers and the lease is al-ready paid for the entire year. She’s all set. To make matters worse, Sally was never informed that her RV was strictly for
vacation and/or seasonal use because Ted was in charge of all of the details of their lease and she never needed or wanted to
be involved in that business. Now the park has a problem, and today’s manager might
not even be aware of the fact that he has a problem. If Sally remains as a full time resident in the RV Park, others will as-
sume that this is an acceptable use for them also. Next year
the number of full timers will reach five or ten and the year after that – well, you get the picture. Next some of the full
timers start to pass away, and the family members who inherit these units want only to turn them into cash. The units are
sold to other families. Children start to board a school bus that now stops in front of the park, and then things start to
happen. Neighbors start to complain that the RV Park is be-ing used as low cost housing, something that was never sup-
posed to happen. County Commissioners put the pressure on the zoning and planning staff, and pressure is applied to the
RV Park owner with fines and other forms of punishment. The park owner decides that the problem is way out of con-
trol and sells the property to another developer to become a shopping center, or an apartment complex or something else.
Those folks living in their RVs are then forced to move. Some communities allow full time living in RV Parks, but
the practice is not common, nor is it encouraged for the rea-sons in our example above.
The Recreational Park Trailer Industry Association ad-vises that Park Trailers are designed for seasonal and/or vaca-tion use only.
To be considered as a Question to the Answer Guy, your request must be accompanied by an e-mail and telephone number as well as the full name and
City/State. Requests for confidentiality will be honored with the disclosure
only of the correspondents first name and state.
Bill “The Answer Guy” Garpow can be reached at:
“Computer advice that you can use...and understand!”
Part 4 of a
4-Part Series
www.ParkModelLiving.com 15 Park Model Living Magazine
By Dr. Computerist
Send any comments or questions to:
Questions must include an e-mail address, telephone number, your
full name, city and state. Requests for confidentiality will be hon-
ored with the disclosure only of the correspondent’s first name and
state
Many of us have found that the advent of com-
puters in our daily lives has been a mixed blessing. The things that they allow us to accomplish have
made our lives simpler and more enjoyable. Well, most of the time. They can also be a source
of great aggravation and frustration. We take digital pictures and e-mail them to our friends and family.
Store our favorite recipes. Read the home town newspaper and more.
Along will all the good things comes trouble in paradise. As higher quality cameras are introduced
with 2, 3 and 4 mega pixels, the size of each picture greatly increases. This has caused problems sending
these pictures to our friends and family. These days a dozen pictures could be 10 Meg or even more.
Our intended recipients spend a great deal of time downloading these large items. These files and pic-
tures we store on our computer consume vast amounts of disk space.
This leads to unwanted side effects. What happens when your system crashes, and, like most of us, you neglected to make frequent and up to date backups?
Well, cheer up. There is a solution out there for both these prob-
lems, that allows you to store these large files on a site other than your personal computer.
This unique little service is called FlipDrive.com.
It allows you to upload your pictures and important documents. Keep track of your schedule and task
lists. Store your videos and photo albums as well as music files. Keep track of your favorite web sites and
much more. Once your data is uploaded to the site you can
send invitations to your friends and relatives and al-low them to view your photos and videos online
without having to download them to their computer. This saves everyone time and disk space on their
computer. They will love you for it. The service starts out with a free version that al-
lows you to store up to 25 Meg of information. When you need more space you get a whopping 20
GIG of space for $49.95 per year. If you’re a major data user like me, you’ll want
the Platinum account for $199.00 per year which gets you 100 GIG of space. I give it 5 stars.
GoTagSale.com is an easy,
inexpensive way
to sell items locally
(from your RV
park or from
home)
when you post
them on-line.
Pay $8 per month
to post an unlim-
ited number of
items to sell.
There is no fee to
purchase items
posted on
GoTagSale.com
CLARE-MAR LAKES CAMPGROUND & PARK MODEL SALES
47571 New London Eastern Road • Wellington, OH 44090 • 1-800-589-5789 • 440-647-3318 • E-mail: [email protected]
w w w. Cl a r eM ar. com
- M a n u f a c t u r e r R e v i e w -
“Our delivery drivers tell us stories about people who want to see inside our Park Models when they’re
in transit. The drivers pull over at a gas station and people flock around them.” Owner Mike Fannon
knows he builds a great product and welcomes people who want to see his models. His company, Park Mod-
els Manufacturing in Cairo, Georgia, is a family busi-ness that has a dedication
to excellence. Park Models Manufac-
turing builds a product with residential building
details such as 2 x 4’s on the bottom plate and 16”
on center construction. Mike tells us, “We build a
quality product that we expect to be there 30 years without a problem with
ordinary upkeep. When you maintain it – it will
look the same in 30 years.”
When I interview manufacturers, I love to hear what led them to build Park Models. The Fannon’s
pathway led from camping in Alaska to a cabin in Florida.
Mike and Jody met and married in Alaska and had three children - Mary Beth, Brian and Brad. They
spent many weekends in Alaska on the shores of the Kenai River. Mike grew up in Florida and the family
relocated to Tallahassee about 20 years ago. A family member had been a Park Model dealer
who was frustrated with the poor quality product available to him. Rather than accept a job transfer to
Seattle, Mike and Jody persuaded Mary Beth and her husband Chris, an experienced builder, to join them in
a new business. In 2003 the company planned and opened a 12,000 square foot facility in Cairo, Georgia. Says Jody,
“We were finally building the cabins we had dreamed
of on the Kenai River [in Alaska]. We don’t own
them but we’ve built two that you can find there.” Park Models Manufacturing now has cabins coast to
coast. They have a new 40,000 square foot manufac-turing facility. Son Brian has joined the business and
Brad will be a part of the business after he graduates from Florida State University.
KOA arrived unannounced about a year ago and toured the factory. They were looking for a manufac-
turer they could refer to as a preferred vendor. After their tour and research, they se-
lected Park Models Manufactur-ing. Mike is pleased that, “They
told us we build an excellent structure. They know what they
want and the quality they ex-pect.” The photos on our cover
are pictures of a KOA model being built by Park Models
Manufacturing. This model is also available to other custom-ers.
Web sites are a significant snapshot of a business and Park
Models Manufacturing has great depth to theirs. The photos of
the staff are especially inviting. Look at this page for a very special member of their team. The options
pages are a lot of fun and I enjoyed the detailed and close-up photos of windows, doors, stained glass and
other options. When you call the company, you’re likely to speak
with an actual shareholder because this company is 100% employee owned. I’ve received timely and help-
ful information from them. These Park Models are built with engineered
trusses rated up to 140 mph winds. If the location re-quires a higher rating, they will build it. The staff will
draw custom plans and go the extra mile to build what people want. Mike says, “We are very proud of the
cabins we build and invite people to visit us in Cairo and see us hard at work making your dreams come true.”
Lillian Mason can be reached at: [email protected]
www.ParkModelLiving.com 17 Park Model Living Magazine
An exterior shot of the Park Models Manufacturing Denali model
By Lillian Mason PML Contributing Writer
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For many years I have vacationed in Southern Maine near Portland. The
moment I cross the state line I’m certain I can smell pine trees and ocean. At
Port Sebago Resort in Casco, Maine you can certainly smell pine trees and
are less than an hour from the ocean. Point Sebago is located on the shores of
Sebago Lake which is the largest lake in Southern Maine. This 775 acre location
has been nationally recognized as the Northeast’s premier family outdoor re-
sort. Park Models are a lovely presence
here and there are many rental options. One option is basic and lets you pack as
you would for camping. You provide your own kitchen utensils and bedding. Another option has cable TV, air condi-
tioning and an equipped kitchen. The web site includes very inviting photos of
the Park Model options and many are situated on the lake.
The entertainment offerings here are quite lively and remind me of a cruise
ship. I recommend you review the ac-tivity lists before you arrive so you can
set aside time for some favorites. Bocce ball, golf and tennis are available and
I’m quite curious about the “washer toss.” I have visions of GE’s being
hefted across the playing field but I sus-pect it’s the smaller version of washers
that are used for this event. The food options are more varied than most
parks. Be sure to check the evening spe-cials for lobster or ribs. There are family
dining options and fabulous gourmet food. The Upper Deck Sunset Lounge has
acoustic music 8-10 PM each Friday for adults only. From the Beach Pavilion
you can enjoy a game room, meals and
lovely views of the
lake. On Tuesday evenings the Se-
bago comedy show brings you
some of the best stand up comedi-
ans from Boston. Each Saturday
there is a “sizzling” dance
party. This resort
includes a profes-sional summer
stock theatre. This summer’s offering is “A Funny Thing
Happened on the Way to the Forum,” with music and classic vaudeville. This
is a light-hearted witty musical that is irreverent and a perfect escape. Families are very important at Point
Sebago and they have great entertain-ment for children. Chippy and the
Kampamania Kids provide song and dance during the Sunday pizza buffet.
At the Grove Pavilion there is a chil-dren’s theatre presentation of “The Jun-
gle Book.” Free supervised evening pro-grams are available for children ages 3-8
so parents may enjoy other activities. There are programs for children 9-11
and different teen group activities that include karaoke, comedy and dance
cruises. Sebago Lake is over 40 square miles
and you can take advantage of this space by renting a canoe, kayak, sail-
boat, or powerboat. There are 16’ ex-cursion boats available as well as pon-
toon boats. The “Princess” is a 95 pas-senger cruise boat and there are many options to enjoy cruises on this custom
built boat. The lake offers some of the best landlocked salmon fishing in the
country and Point Sebago hosts bass
fishing championships.
A delighted guest sent the following comments to RVParkReviews.com in
June of 2006: “This was a fabulous va-cation for my family and I. There are activities organized for kids all day by
age group and camps for younger chil-dren. The huge and delicious breakfast
buffet was also a plus and we all had a great time on kayaks canoes and paddle-
boats. The mini golf course and tennis courts were a great way to play as a
family. The beach is large and beautiful with a great playground on it. The golf
course is highly rated and for golfers there is an all day program for children
that includes lunch. There are coupon books with coupons for mini golf
games, kayak and canoe use and much more. At the end of our stay, we always
go to the gift shop which is very fairly priced. The best part of our trip here is
that we spend time together as a family with sand castle contests, shows and
games. I would very highly recommend this campground as long as you are ready for one of the most fun weeks/
weekends of your life!”
by K. Shaughnessy PML Staff Writer
- P a r k R e v i e w -
Park Model Living Magazine 18 www.ParkModelLiving.com
Point Sebago’s beautiful beach pavilion
K. Shaughnessy can be reached at:
PHOTO - www.PointSebago.com
www.PML Classifieds.com
3|Pads/Space
For Rent
Key: 1 - Models for Rent
2 - Models for Sale
3 - Pads/Space for Rent
4 - Pads/Space for Sale
5 - Furniture/Housewares
6 - Vehicles
7 - Park Model Time Shares
8 - Dealers
9 - Parks
10 - Services
11 - Insurance
12 - Mortgages
13 - Movers
14 - Awnings & Attached Rooms
15 - Miscellaneous
16 - Help Wanted
19 Park Model Living Magazine www.ParkModelLiving.com
OREGON - Space for 3
Park Models in small, pic-
turesque park. Set amid
the Oregon Pines, 20 miles
inland from the Oregon
Coast/Dune Country, close
to great fishing on the Um-
pqua River. 541-587-4406
Pheasant Ridge Resort L a rg e, Pr i va t e Si t e s Black River Falls, WI (715) 662-4040
www.PheasantRidgeResort.com
2|Models for Sale
FLORIDA - Located at
Three Lakes RV Resort in
Hudson, FL $99,000 2003
Skyline Park Model, Site
#186. Loaded with up-
grades. Two LR, two BR,
DR, kitchen w granite tops,
ceramic tile floor. 1 ½ lot
space, deck, sunroom, fur-
nished. Available through
www.parkmodelsplus.com
800-603-7889
NEW HAMPSHIRE - Lo-
cated at Sandy Beach RV
Resort, Contoocook, NH
$64,900 2004 Woodland
Park, Suite #A8 – Water-
front. Front and rear bed-
room. Beautifully fur-
nished and clean. Central
AC, 10’ x 33’ deck and
three season room. Avail-
able through
www.parkmodelsplus.com
800-603-7889
ARIZONA - Located in
Mesa, AZ $46,700 2006
Laurel Creek #209, all elec-
tric, close to courtyard,
cherrywood cabinets.
Available through
www.towerpointresort.com
800-444-4996
ARIZONA - Located in
Mesa, AZ $11,900 1988
Casa Real, #214, original
owner, all electric, nice cor-
ner lot, $11,900. Available
through
www.towerpointresort.com
800-444-4996
Tiger Run Resort Mountain Chalet & RV Site Sales
Breckenridge, CO Ten Peaks Sotheby’s
International Realty
(888) 596-5559 www.TigerRunSales.com
CALIFORNIA - Located at
Sands RV and Golf Resort ,
Desert Hot Springs, CA.
1989 Seaview, large deck,
fully furnished, hot tub.
Great Views! Space #480,
$32,900, Call 760-251-3400
www.sandsrvresort.com
CALIFORNIA - Located at
Sands RV and Golf Resort ,
Desert Hot Springs, CA.
1995 Fleetwood, fully fur-
nished, central air, many up-
grades. Great View! Must
see. Space #486, $52,000.
Call 760-251-3400
www.sandsrvresort.com
CALIFORNIA - Located at
Sands RV and Golf Resort ,
Desert Hot Springs, CA.
1986 Casa Real. Great Lo-
cation, fully furnished.
Space #382 Great value at
$22,500. Call 760-251-3400
www.sandsrvresort.com
Fully furnished, central air,
covered patio along the side
and rear of the home. Space
#243, $31,000. Call 760-
251-3400
www.sandsrvresort.com
CALIFORNIA - Located at
Sands RV and Golf Resort ,
Desert Hot Springs, CA.
1987 Elite Park Model.
www.PML Classifieds.com
10|Services
DRTrainingOnLine.com We will train you online in
basic and advanced com-
puter skills. Our skilled
technicians can take over
your computer for training
and also have real-time in-
teractive instruction. Mi-
crosoft product training
available.
RVStorageLocator.com
Find a local place
to store your RV.
OurSeniorSpace.com
A place for seniors to connect
and communicate.
ParkModelTimeShare.com
Do you want to visit a different
part of the country? Post you
Park Model here and trade
spaces.
RVLotListings.com
Buy, sell or rent RV spaces for
your Park Model Home or RV.
RvTagSale.com
This is the space to go
when you want to buy or
sell an RV.
15|Miscellaneous 2|Models for Sale
Key: 1 - Models for Rent
2 - Models for Sale
3 - Pads/Space for Rent
4 - Pads/Space for Sale
5 - Furniture/Housewares
6 - Vehicles
7 - Park Model Time Shares
8 - Dealers
9 - Parks
10 - Services
11 - Insurance
12 - Mortgages
13 - Movers
14 - Awnings & Attached Rooms
15 - Miscellaneous
16 - Help Wanted
WISCONSIN - 1987 Holi-
day House Park Model
12x38, Front living room,
hide-a-bed sofa, micro-
wave, breakfast bar, lots of
storage, very clean, new
shingles, house type appli-
ances and more. $15,995
www.sirencountrycampers.
com, Siren WI 715-349-
8784
WISCONSIN - 1992 Can-
terbury, Front den, hide-a-
bed couches, privacy cur-
tain, house type appliances,
microwave, storage closets,
ceiling fans, bay window
and more.
Park Model Living Magazine 20 www.ParkModelLiving.com
MobileAdSpace.com The advertising that pays you!
OHIO - 2005 Quailridge
Custom Park Model 12 x
33. Top of the line. One
bedroom, sleeping couch,
oak furniture. Not lived in.
Gazebo, metal shed, at-
tached porch, landscaped
lot. Asking $22,500.
Uniontown OH 330-644-
5678
Ron and Mary Ann Sur-face return to their home in Ohio after warm winters in
Arizona
Enthusiastic subscriber Pat Logan is
our first volunteer photographer. Pat
called to say how much she enjoyed
our premier issue that featured the
park where she spends the winter, Su-
perstition Sunrise in Arizona. We in-
vited her to share pictures and she got
her neighbors involved.
Pat Logan and her husband Ray (not pictured) are from
Washington.
21 Park Model Living Magazine www.ParkModelLiving.com
Bill Uhrig, relaxing in the shade, is from Missouri
Ken and Ruth
Stewart are from British Columbia and have a fun &
colorful sign for
their Park Model.
Thanks for sharing!
We love to have pictures from readers. Make sure you identify people and pets in the pic-
tures. Tell us where the Park Model is and the other state where you live. For information
on where to send your pictures, please see the Letters to the Editor page at the front of this
magazine.
Park Model Living Magazine 22 www.ParkModelLiving.com
