THE FIRST 20 YEARS...
Previous Owners, Fritz & Kathy Gross, broke ground for the campground on June 1, 1995 and were at it until June 1, 2015. Since college days, owning a KOA was a retirement dream for the Gross family. But after spending more than a 1000 hours of D-7 Cat time moving sand, it is apparent this is a full time hobby. Every year Kathy tells everyone "We probably will not be done for the next ten years but we are still having fun and we love our campers! I especially love watching our young campers grow up before our very eyes. First I can't see them over our registration counter and the next thing you know they are looking down at me!!! We miss them when their other lives gets in the way of their dune time!"
We feel especially privileged when our campers - young and old- return to spend their military leave ripping it up on the dunes. Our entrance sign says it all to our service men and women - "Veterans and Defenders of Freedom - Thank you for our yesterdays, today, and tomorrows"!
In the early years it was just Fritz and Kathy, Tom & Grace Casey (my parents) and our son Allen. For a number of years Grace and Kathy ran the office, Kathy did the cleaning, and Fritz was jack of all trades building and maintaining the campground. Many of our original campers still tell us they remember Daddy running around in his golf cart and my Mom registering them when they came to visit.
After high school, Allen moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area, went to school, met our wonderful daughter-in-law Shannon and gave us a granddaughter in 2006 and another granddaughter in 2012. In 2000, we had Frank, Fritz's Dad with us for a short year before he passed away. He was a familiar site gardening around the campsites until his health prevented him from pitching in.
When Tom & Grace's health deteriorated, our daughter Andrea was able to move back to help with their care. We have been very lucky to have her and are glad she has remained as our manager. She met a great young man - Robert - and the two of them are an irreplaceable part of the campground.
For a number of years Andrea's daughter Keely spent time with us on school holidays. In 2012 Keely moved up to be with her Mom on a permanant basis. She has grown up enough not to need the milk crate to see over the registration counter! She now works for us during the summer, holidays, and weekends.
The summer of 2014 will start the milk carton cycle over again. Allen's oldest daughter will start spending time at the campground during her summer vacation. Watch for her and Keely at Ice Cream Social and kids activities. We can hardly wait for June to arrive.