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GREENSBORO - Holiday Park Campground in Greensboro adopted a new business model after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Russ Yates, who owns the campground with his wife, Jill. The park now offers only long-term rentals of a month or more.
“COVID changed the face of our business,” said Yates, who has been working at Holiday Park for more than 50 years.
Pre-pandemic the park was a popular vacation destination spot that many guests, often families, returned to year after year. It offered around 200 campsites and daily activities; some activities – like swimming at the pool or attending regular gospel concerts – even attracted local participants.
When the COVID shutdown came, no one really knew what “essential camping” looked like, Yates said. Reservations were canceled; employees laid off. They stopped all activities and closed the pool. Social distancing and sanitizing requirements meant playgrounds had to be closed.
Even after the shutdown ended, “there was so much we couldn’t do anymore,” Yates said. Gathering in groups was dangerous and forbidden. While many employees wanted to come back, they didn’t want to have to clean up after people.
“We let the industry control what we were going to provide,” Yates said. That meant no more overnight or seasonal camping, which demanded a staff. They moved to the long-term model and drastically reduced the number of sites to around 30.
It’s just Russ and Jill running the campground now; they have no employees, but some campers give them a hand now and then with such things as raking leaves and gathering sticks, he said.
Rather than just closing the campground and retiring altogether, Yates said they stayed open to help pay real estate taxes and keep their household afloat. He considers himself “semi-retired.”
The monthly rentals are good for traveling nurses and solar project construction workers, Yates said. Some come for a month, some two months, some three months.
Campers come with their own recreational vehicles, or “big rigs,” as Yates called them. They have to be 15 years or newer and complete with modern bathrooms. Sites have electric and water hookups, picnic tables and fire rings. Free high speed 5G internet is available to campers throughout the park.
Camping rates are $790 a month cash or $850 a month credit for two adults and children under 5. Each child 5-18 costs an additional $1 a night. Reservations and additional information are available on the park website, holidaypark.com.
Besides camping, the park also was widely known for its gospel concerts, drawing crowds from across Delmarva.
“We did concerts for 30 years and had such a great time doing it,” Yates said, but he assumed the concerts were over.
He said he talked to the Lord. “I thought He said you can retire,” Yates added with a laugh, “but it turned out what He said was you can rest a while.”
Yates had been getting calls about former activities, especially the concerts. Then he got calls from two different pastors.
“One said, ‘the Lord told me to call you and ask you to continue the concerts,'” Yates said.
Shortly thereafter, he received a call from another pastor, who also asked him to bring back the concerts. He suggested Yates see if his church could help.
“So, I called Pastor Don (Reynolds) down at Calvary Baptist” in Denton to discuss possibilities, Yates said, and Reynolds welcomed the idea.
He said Reynolds told him, “I’ve been praying for three years about doing concerts again.”
Yates asked if they could hold the concerts at the church. They met with the deacons and trustees who gave the plan their blessing and a free hand to make it happen. They picked Fridays for the concerts so as not to conflict with other church activities.
Holiday Park is the official sponsor of the gospel concert series, which runs about $30,000 to bring in the performers for the season.
Yates said he hoped they could get love offerings to help offset the expenses and, so far, they have managed to recoup about 50 percent of the costs through those.
This is the third six-concert season at Calvary Baptist Church, and new people are coming in. Yates said he is letting the Lord lead.
This season, the number of groups performing in each concert has been reduced from three to two; concerts start at 6:30 and are done by 9 p.m., he said.
Details about upcoming concerts can be found at calvarybaptistchurchofdenton.org.
