May 2018 Vol 7 Issue 5 Poor Farmers RV Sales, Service & Campground Inc. 7211 N. Lostcreek-Shelby Rd Fletcher, Ohio 45326 www.poorfarmerrvs.com (937) 368-2449 Individual Highlights: RULES!!! 2 Memphis 3 El Chapo 4 Continued 5 GTY 6 Fun! Food! Fireworks! May 4 th, 5 th, & 6 th There are certain events in your life that you are just happy to be part of. For me, being a part of the 50 th anniversary of Poor Farmer s RV is one of those events. Carl Springer opened Poor Farmer s Campground in 1969. He was faced with a multitude of obstacles right out of the gate. The toughest hill to climb was the fact that every person he called a friend did not hold back in letting him know that he was crazy to think that he can make a living by turning his land into a campground. Carl knew he had the work ethic, business mindset and the ambition needed to be a successful Campground operator. So, even though his friends didn t believe it would work, he still had their support and help. Together, they opened Poor Farmer s Campsite in April of 1969. When he first opened, camping fees were $5 per night and the average price for a travel trailer was around $2000.00. Now camping fees are at $28 per night (at Poor Farmer s) and the average price for a travel trailer is $25,000. Prices may change but there are some things that never will, like the family fun and memories you get from Poor Farmer s. We feel blessed to be able to treat you to some great fun, delicious food, and to top off the weekend; an Elsner/Gustin fireworks display to honor the many men and women who have made Poor Farmer s what it is today. We hope you all have a great weekend! LET S GO CAMPIN!
The Monthly Chatter Page 2 of 6 Ask not what your campground can do for you Ask what you can do for your campground. You can help us keep the dumpsters from looking like this. HOUSEHOLD TRASH ONLY PLEASE! People always ask me, Mike, what can I do to help you with the campground? There are a couple things you can do anytime that will help me. First, make sure your campsite is clean and manicured. Many nice campsites, make one nice campground. Second, participate in the activities that may interest you. If we see a good attendance at the different activities, we will continue to host them. I have had a few people ask why we scheduled less musical entertainment this year. The reason is because we have had very little attendance at these events in the past. We are in the business of providing you with a comfortable venue that offers family fun activities. If you don t show up, we are going to assume you are not interested. Finally, next time you are cruising the campground in your golf cart, take a bucket or a box with you and help pick up litter. Keeping the campground clean and neat is the most important job I have. We are trying to play here. SLOW DOWN!!!
Page 3 of 6 The Monthly Chatter Memphis Report It has been two months since I last wrote about Memphis and he has been very busy. On top of training for his first excer-saucer decathlon, he has also been learning the fine art of grabbing everything he can see and testing its tensile strength and ability to withstand a bite. There is one thing that Memphis and I share besides our high level of cuteness, and that is our ability to be an awesome uncle. Recently he was seen on a Facebook video, sitting with his nephew, young Bentley, holding his hand as if to protect him from whatever evil may wish to harm him. It reminds me of the time I gave Memphis a cool toy. Although that may seem trivial to you, to a baby, those two actions are very similar. As you can see, Memphis is excelling at every aspect of his life. He is not only a tough as nails toddler, but he can light up a room with his new-toothed smile. Stay tuned for more Memphis Report. I will see if I can get an exclusive Memphis/Bentley picture. See you next month. The Story of How We Became Poor Farmer s RV In the Early 1960 s, Carl Springer, a young farmer from Vandalia purchased some good farm land about 20 miles North of him near the small town of Fletcher. For the first couple of months, the family would each pick a piece of equipment, point it north, and eight hours later they would arrive safely in Fletcher ready to farm. Of course, they couldn t leave the equipment up here since they still had land down south to farm. I would imagine that the Poor Farmer name started with paying for the fuel to get up here. Once they got settled in at their Fletcher address and the crops were in the field, Carl would hop on his CB radio. For you millennials, CB s were like cell phones but only had a range of about 5 miles. Carl would talk to truckers, police, and yes campers. When speaking with guys who referred to themselves as Swamp Fox and Red Bird, Carl thought he needed a cool handle as well, so he called himself The Poor Farmer. As the Summer progressed, some of the area farmers asked Carl if they could set up camp on the land that he wasn t farming. Since he had a creek and woods covering about 50 acres of his land and Carl being a generous host and a man of the people, he was happy to let his neighbors set up tents or bring out their campers. The first campsite was a 100 extension cord plugged into Carl s house. Carl didn t ask for a dime, but the farmers were happy to give Carl something for his pocket. Carl decided that being a Poor Farmer was not everything it was cracked up to be, so continued to page 4.
The Monthly Chatter Page 4 of 6 El Chapo Says!! El Chapo is very happy to see everyone back for the 50 th camping season for Poor Farmer s. He has been working very hard to get picnic tables and fire rings out on top of his regular duties of weed eating, equipment maintenance and the job of all jobs, dumping tanks. El Chapo only has a couple issues he would like me to address with you. His biggest concern is for the children. Please make sure you are abiding by the speed limit of 5 MPH throughout the campground. Even the slice of road between the entrance and the parts store. If you are a live-in or have signed up to get dumped, make sure you leave plenty of room for the honey wagon to get in and dump you. Finally, El Chapo would like everyone to get in the habit of leaving $100 bills attached to their flush valves. I will enforce all these requests except the last. If you just want to leave twenties that s up to you. The Story of Poor Farmer s Continued from page 3. he and his wife Georgia decided to turn a portion of their land into a campground bet you didn t see that coming. The folks who were camping had already used the phrase, Let s go out to the Poor Farmer s and camp., so Carl went with it by naming his new venture, Poor Farmer s Campsite. His friends and family thought he was wasting his time and didn t think he could make a living with it. Carl knew he could get people onto his property if he offered a quiet place for them to bring their RV s and tents. So, with the help of his friends who said he was nuts; they were able to set up a few campsites with electric over by the pond. Back in the sixties, there was no bridge to get over the creek. Can you guess how the campers got to their campsites? That s right they drove right through the creek. Where the yellow walk bridge is South of the Camp Office is where the crossing was. As time went by, Carl added more amenities. They built the shower house on to the shelter. They built a playground, a basketball court, and back in the day they had a baseball field. Shortly after opening the campground, Carl got together with his farming buddies and started the Miami County Antique Tractor Association and they have been based here ever since. You may have noticed the pull track is getting a little bit of a face lift. I think Carl would be happy to see that. From 1969 1983 Carl ran this campground with the help of his friends and family. Than in 1983 something happened that changed the face of the business. Carl s son, Steve Springer, found out that his job was being relocated to a far-away country, so Steve continued to page 5
Page 5 of 6 The Monthly Chatter The Story of Poor Farmer s continued from page 4. and Patty decided to go into business with Carl and Georgia. Again bet you didn t see that coming. When Steve came on the scene, he wasn t messing around. He thought, Who are all of my customers buying their RV s from? So, he and Carl decided to create an answer to that question and make sure their customers were buying their Coachmen RV s from Poor Farmer s. For thirty-five years Poor Farmer s RV Sales, Service and Campground Incorporated has been your One-Stop-Shop for all your RVing needs and boy have those needs grown. From Carl Stretching out 100 of water hose and Extension cord, to over 450 campsites with water and electric. We went from coaches only needing a standard 20 amp plug (like what s in your house), to most RV s requiring a 50 amp connection to facilitate multiple A/C s, entertainment systems, full kitchens with large 20 Cubic foot refrigerators and dish washers, touch screen control panels and let s not forget the satellite dishes. The time of camping has been replaced with the time of RVing. As we proceed into the future with the third generation, we are excited to see Carl and Steve s legacy continue. Andrea and I understand that Poor Farmer s is more than a business; more than a campground or RV dealership this mecca of relaxation is a symbol of what a family can accomplish with ambition, hard work and a vision that causes your best friends to look at you like you are nuts. One day the forth generation will have an opportunity to take the reins. Our goal is to give them every chance to succeed; by continually improving on the campground, always being honest with our customers, and offering a great product at reasonable prices. With our best of friends walking with us, there is nothing we can t do. Thank you for being part of this celebration. Most of all, Thank You for being part of the past fifty years.
Poor Farmer s RV Sales, Service & Campground Inc. 7211 N. Lostcreek-Shelby Rd. Fletcher, Ohio 45326 PHONE: (937) 368-2449 FAX: (937) 368-2318 E-MAIL: poorfarmersrv@hotmail.com We re on the Web! See us at: www.poorfarmerrvs.com Site of the Month The first Site of the Month for 2018 will be awarded at the end of this month and will be displayed through-out the month of June. This will give you all time to work on your site. The winner of SOTM will be awarded with free dumps for that month. If a live-in wins, they will receive $50 off of their next month s rent. If you have paid the $150 yearly dump fee for seasonal campers, you will receive a $50 gift certificate to Poor Farmer s Parts Store. Site of the Month is chosen by a random overnight camper who is picked by Mike; so buttering up the General Manager will do you no good. However, a big bribe might work. Through the month of May, you can have 3D come to your campsite (with filtered water) to wash and wax your RV for only $10/Foot See a Parts Store Rep for details Guess the Year Go Bucks!! Get your 50 th Anniversary Tumbler Only $25 Available in the Poor Farmer s Parts Store The A-Team w/ Mr.T premiers on NBC Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album goes #1 and stays #1 for 37 weeks Final TV episode of "M*A*S*H airs (CBS); record 125 million watch in the US Compact Disc recordings developed by Phillips & Sony introduced 7th Shuttle Mission-Challenger 2 launches Sally Ride as 1st US woman in space Mario Bros. is first released by Nintendo in Japan as an arcade game about an Italian-American plumber Answer 1983 If your reading this, you haven t yet realized that there is no more to read sorry.