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When was the last time you saw African Americans hiking, skiing or camping in a tent or RV?

They are out there, but not in the numbers that reflect

their presence in the U.S. population.

Why is that?

And how can involvement in outdoor activities enhance the lives of

African Americans?

These are some of the questions Rue Mapp of Oakland, Calif. is exploring

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through OutdoorAfro.com, a website she founded to reconnect African Americans with the Great Outdoors.

OutdoorAfro.com is filled with stories, photos, event listings and other resources that educate, motivate and inspire African Americans in the Bay Area and across the country to enjoy the Great Outdoors with their families, friends and with others they meet in this unique online community.

Here you’ll find photos, videos and blog postings of African Africans who enjoy bicycling, hiking, camping, birdwatching and outdoor photography as well as skiing, rock climbing, whitewater rafting and scuba diving.Read through the discussion groups, blog postings and event calendar and you’ll quickly discover there are many African

Americans across the country who are eager to interact in nature with other African Americans. The challenge, of course, is to find them. But that’s where OutdoorAfro.com can help.

Here you’ll meet people like Winston Walker, an African American hiking enthusiast from Colorado who frequently leads hikes to scenic destinations across the country.

Or people like Clifton Sorrel, who writes a blog called “Trekking for Life.” Or people like Jeremy Thomas, an African American bicycling enthusiast who teaches at an environmental school in Portland, Ore.

Some of OutdoorAfro members even exchange healthy recipes with one another and share photos, videos and descriptions of

their trips to scenic destinations as diverse as Belize and Denali National Park in Alaska.

“We’re like a platform where people can be visible to each other,” Mapp said.

Indeed. Since it was founded two years ago, more than 7,000 African Americans have become active members of OutdoorAfro.com, and the numbers are growing.

All of them are passionate about the outdoors and are eager to find other African Americans to enjoy activities with.

Various members and groups with organized activities are also posting information on the site, which is unique in helping African Americans find outdoor activities with other African Americans.

“Many of them are just like me,” said Mapp, who grew up in Oakland but spent weekends with her foster parents on a ranch in Northern California where she cultivated a passion for natural spaces, farming and learned how to hunt and fish.

In her youth, Mapp was involved in Girl Scouts and Outward Bound, which broadened her outdoor experiences in camping, mountaineering, rock climbing and road bicycling. But while she always enjoyed these endeavors, she seldom saw other African Americans participating in these kinds of activities, a cultural phenomenon that has troubled her to this day. “I didn’t see a lot of people who looked like me,” she said.In fact, when a friend asked her a few years ago what she would do if she had all the money in the world, she said she would use social media to connect African Americans to the Great Outdoors. And herein lay the roots of OutdoorAfro.com.So how did African Americans lose their connection with the outdoors?

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It’s a tough question, but Mapp is gradually finding some answers.

“African Americans are not necessarily disconnected, but somehow we’ve lost touch with something that’s already a part of us,” she said. “Many of us have grown up or lived in close contact with the land, such as in food and farming activities. So a relationship with the land was a natural thing for us.”

Many African Americans, however, have not developed an interest in outdoor recreation. There are several factors that contribute to this phenomenon.

“The biggest reason for non-engagement is time,” Mapp said. “People don’t have a good sense of how much or how little time is really required to enjoy outdoor recreational activities. But beyond this, African Americans often don’t know what groups to join or how to find other African Americans to enjoy these activities with.”

But by serving as a social networking site for African Americans with an interest in the outdoors, OutdoorAfro.com can move and inspire people to get involved.

“It’s imperative, not merely for the sake of enjoying the beauty of nature, but for our own health,” Mapp said. “Right now, we’re facing 30 percent obesity among

African American youth. In Oakland, it’s closer to 50 percent. So we’re looking now at a generation with lower life expectancy than their parents because they’re starting off on the wrong foot.”

Mapp concedes that efforts to reconnect African Americans with the Great Outdoors will take time. But the benefits will be worth the effort.

“In my lifetime,” she said, “I’d like to see African Americans enjoying the outdoors freely without inhibition and without spectacle and to be able to do so in a way where it’s no big deal to see African Americans involved in recreational activities outdoors.”

Mapp’s efforts are already starting to generate attention – both in government and in the business community.

Last year, President Obama invited Mapp to participate in the White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors. She was subsequently invited to participate in a White House brainstorming session for Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign, offering her ideas and insights on ways to engage Americans to become more involved in outdoor recreation activities.

The California Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds has also

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taken an interest in Mapp’s efforts, and, working with Auburn-based American River Sales and Rentals, has arranged to provide her with a free teardrop trailer rental for a mid-August camping trip to Ponderosa Ranch RV Resort, a Thousand Trails park on the South Fork of the American River in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

Mapp, who is expected to

visit Ponderosa Ranch RV Resort Aug. 12th to 14th with her three children, plans to share blog postings about the trip and will also be available for media interviews.

For more information on OutdoorAfro.com and on Mapp’s upcoming camping trips, please contact Rue Mapp at (510) 913-6100 or email her at rue@outdoorafro.com.

LAWRENCE, Kan., July 25, 2011 – The Midwest may be suffering from one of its worst heat waves in years, but that doesn’t stop families from having nightly campfires at Jellystone Park Camp-Resort in Lawrence.

“Campfires and s’mores are always popular with families no matter how hot it gets,” said park manager Nancee Morris.

At Jellystone Parks, ice cream socials, swimming, and fun family activities with Yogi are also part of the camping experience.

“Our soft serve ice cream is a big hit,” Morris said, adding that the park is also selling lots of slushies, bottled water, pool toys and floaties – anything that helps keep our guests cool.”

The record heat has prompted Morris to re-arrange the daily activity schedules from 9 a.m. to noon and from 4 p.m. to 9

p.m. to avoid the hottest parts of the day.

“We had a blast!” said Jamie Fenster, 25, of Bonner Springs, Kan., who spent this past weekend at the park with her husband and two children, Autum, 5, and Bailey, 2, each of whom celebrated their birthdays.

Although the Fensters don’t have an RV, that was no problem because the park has cabins for rent.

“We’d go out and do activities for a while, then go to the pool for a while, and then do more activities,” Fenster said, adding that the ice cream socials, face painting, jumping pillow and shuffle board games were especially fun for her kids.

The Fensters even got a chance to watch an outdoor showing of a children’s move, but their girls were so tired after Saturday’s activities that they fell asleep half way through it.

Jellystone activities begin at 9 a.m. each day during the summer and include a flag salute, “Hey” rides and firetruck rides, followed by tie-dye T-shirt craft classes. Popular afternoon activities include balloon catapulting, pool games and riding around the park in pedal karts, while evening entertainment includes outdoor movies.

Special themed events are also scheduled each weekend, including a Hawaiian Luau weekend July 29th to 31st with poolside luaus with Hawaiian music, a hot dog roast and limbo contests for adults and kids alike.

Special weekends in August include a “Yogi goes to Hollywood” weekend on Aug. 13th and 14th with a special dinner to be served in honor of the park’s past guests. A “Back to School” weekend is also scheduled for Aug. 19th and 20th with several activities, including an arts and crafts class in which kids will decorate their

backpacks for school. Yogi Bear, Boo Boo, Cindy Bear and Ranger Smith will all be there to enjoy the activities as well.

Fall activities include several Halloween-themed weekends with a corn maze, the park’s first haunted house, a Halloween-themed campsite decorating contest and trick or treating.

“We’ll be coming back soon,” Fenster said, adding that she didn’t know a Jellystone Park existed in Lawrence even though she lives only about 20 minutes away.

Morris said many of her visitors this year include residents of the greater Kansas City area who have only recently discovered that a Jellystone Park is in their midst.

The campground, which previously operated under another name, had a grand reopening as a Jellystone Park in June after the owners invested more than $750,000 in improvements.

DENVER -- Colorado State Parks will celebrate Colorado Day Aug. 1 by offering free entrance at all 42 state parks. Colorado Day was created by the state legislature to mark the anniversary of statehood, granted in 1876 by President Ulysses S. Grant. Free entrance at the state parks is an annual Colorado Day tradition. “We’re inviting Coloradans to get outdoors at the state parks, enjoy the natural beauty of these places and experience all the recreational activities that the parks have to offer,” said Rick Cables, Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director. “Colorado Day is our annual ‘thank-you’ to all our visitors for their support. The free day also gives people who have never visited a state park the chance to experience the great activities in state parks.” All other fees, including camping and reservations, will remain in effect on Aug. 1. The state parks, scattered throughout Colorado, showcase the state's diverse landscapes, including the prairies of the eastern plains at John Martin Reservoir State Park, the alpine beauty of the mountains at Sylvan

Lake State Park near Eagle and the unique geological landscapes at Roxborough State Park. There are also plenty of opportunities to enjoy Colorado's rivers at James M. Robb-Colorado River State Park near Grand Junction, the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area in Salida and Yampa River State Park near Craig. And, there’s plenty of outdoor fun at the reservoirs at Trinidad Lake State Park, North Sterling State Park, Lathrop State Park near Walsenburg and Navajo State Park near Durango. Chatfield State Park and Cherry Creek State Park are the most popular state parks, but Colorado Days is a chance to sample the trails at Lory State Park near Fort Collins and the beauty at Rifle Falls State Park and Paonia State Park. There are a huge variety of recreational opportunities at all Colorado State Parks. Float your boat or kayak, raft a river and jet-ski. View diverse wildlife and a multitude of bird species. Catch fish, hike, explore by geocaching, ride some of the best OHV trails in the state or go horseback riding. Teach your children to fish, camp or learn about nature. Climb a challenging rock face, fly a kite or ride your bike.

Much had been made through all of the media venues about social media being “free.” And to some extent they are correct. You can create an account on Facebook, Twitter, Google + and any of a number of other programs for free.

Now that you have the accounts set up what are you going to do? As a business, it is vital that you have a plan for how you are going to use social media and what you expect to get out of it. This is going to take time to develop and the last time I looked time still equaled

money. The time you are going to spend researching and developing your social media plan is going to take away from the time you can use for working on your business.

So now we go back to the question “Is social media free?” Obviously, my answer would be a resounding “NO.” That doesn’t mean that I don’t think that social media is valuable or that you are wasting your time with it. It just means you need to recognize the cost and adjust for it.

Social media is quickly replacing the print media as a venue for advertising who you are and what your business is all about. A few years ago you made decisions about advertising in magazines or local newspapers based on the demographics the salesperson presented you.At the same time, you hired a graphic designer to design your ad to attract attention to you.

The general impression you have been left with is that you shouldn’t pay anything for your social media program, that you can handle social media for you business by yourself and that social media is easy. From my perspective this anything but true for business.

Social media is free as noted above but it does take work to make it attract business to you. You can handle social media yourself if you are willing to carve out the time and attention needed to make your program effective. And social media is easy if you know what you are doing and can stay on top of all the latest developments.

Facebook for one is notorious for changing the rules and methods for using your Facebook page. You need someone in the know to stay on top of the changes and to keep you informed as to what you need to do and how you need to do it.

My recommendations for creating and managing your social media program are:

1.) Decide how much time and effort you are willing to devote to your social media program. Can you carve out several hours a week to devote to creating, posting, responding and developing new posts? Do you have anyone working for you who is qualified to handle your program? Just remember that a social media program represents your business to the world. Would you want to have people’s first impression of your business coming from a non-business minded person?

2.) What do you want your social media program to do? Do you want to use it to stay in touch with your existing guests? Do you want to attract new guests? Do you want to attract media attention to your park? List out and prioritize your expectations. Be reasonable with your expectations. Don’t expect to have a viral campaign right out of the box. Plan on building your program consistently.

3.) Put your basic social media plan together. Make sure you answer who your target is, where you plan on reaching them, what you are going to use to attract them, when you are going to post to the various programs and how you are going to measure your

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results. A part of this effort is to look at what your requirements are for following individuals, what your policy will be in responding to negative comments and how you are going to reward your friends/likes/followers. You may want to develop a few pdf’s on RVing to use as a reward for liking your page, or a pdf download for following you.

4.) Budget your social media program. At this point, review your budget for advertising and determine how much of that budget you should move over to your social media program. One way of doing this is to check your “How did the guest find the park” statistics from your reservation program. I would seriously consider dropping any yellow pages advertising as ours is a mobile customer who doesn’t typically have a yellow pages with them in the RV.

Review each of your advertising venues and if it isn’t getting a good return for the money, move it over to your social media program.

Along with the advertising dollars, assign salary dollars to the budget. Even if you are going to do the job yourself, you need to recognize the total cost for the program. If you are going to outsource your program, decide how much you can afford to pay.

5.) Identify all of your analytics for the program. What numbers are you targeting and what is the time span for arriving at those numbers. Be reasonably optimistic but not overly optimistic. Decide how often you are going to review the analytics and what steps you may want to take if the program is performing differently than what you expected.

6.) Identify how you are going to collect the contact information within your social media program. Remember, this is a part of your marketing program and the demographic information is important to your overall success.

There are a number of programs that will analyze your likes/followers/follows, etc. and will tell you the average age of your demographics, where most of them reside, and which of your posts were liked the most.

In addition, you need to create a system to capture the contact information. If, by chance, your social media sites aren’t available for a period of time, how are you going to stay in touch? As you can see there is a lot of work and effort that goes into setting up a social media program. Don’t jump into it lightly and assume that since it is “free” it isn’t going to cost you anything. It could end up costing you your business’ good name.

Continued Are you ready to take the plunge?Pamela and her company, FocusedWords, are dedicated to helping you promote and market your RV Park/Resort/Campground to RVer’s everywhere. Be sure to follow her on Twitter: @RVStops and @FocusedWords and on LinkedIn. Check out her blog at www.FocusedWords.com/blog. Pamela has redesigned her website,

FocusedWords.com, to provide a place for you to tell Rally groups what your park has to offer for their next rally. Be sure to fill out your park form with your facilities information.

SANTA CLAUS, Ind. — With the addition of 25 new cabins in a new section known as Rudolph's Christmas Cabins, Lake Rudolph Campground Camp; RV Resort at Santa Claus, Ind. now offers 472 rental sites for family lodging.

"Rudolph's Christmas Cabins are opening during our regular operating

season, and also will be open between Thanksgiving and Jan. 1," said Philip Koch, owner and president of Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort. pf tje $1.7 million investment. "Families can stay in these cabins and experience everything Santa Claus, Ind., has to offer."

Custom-made by Kropf

Industries, Inc., in Goshen, Ind., each of the 25 cabins features a master bedroom with a king-sized bed, a loft with a queen-sized mattress and four twin mattresses, a large covered deck, three flat-screen cable TVs, appliances, an electric fireplace, picnic table, gas grill and central air-conditioning.

Each cabin is designed to sleep four adults and four children.

Pillows, pillowcases and fitted sheets are also provided.

Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort twice has been recognized as the ARVC National RV Park of the Year.

CHEBOYGAN, Mich. -- For generations, Michigan has welcomed campers and RVers to its natural woodlands, freshwater shorelines and beaches, in two distinct peninsulas -- nestled in the middle of the Great Lakes Region. In honor of such tradition, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, along with several legislators, has declared August as Michigan Camping and Recreation Vehicle Month. Camping is a key contributor to the state’s $17 billion tourism industry. The declaration supports the economic and recreational contributions that the camping industry contributes to Michigan’s overall tourism, said Tracie Fisher, director of the Michigan Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds. "Both Michiganders and visitors alike take advantage of the state’s

array of sun, freshwater coastline, 19 million acres of woodlands, soft breezes and fresh air, where the temperate climate allows for great camping and outdoor recreation -- making it the ultimate Pure Michigan experience," she added. Michigan has more than 950 licensed private recreation vehicle parks and campgrounds, with more than 111,000 licensed campsites. The state has more than 160 county or government operated campgrounds with over 14,700 sites–from rustic to full-service. Michigan also boasts over 300,000 licensed recreation vehicles, including motorhomes and travel trailers. In 2010, Michigan ranked third in the nation in new recreation vehicle sales. Camping and RVing encourages visitors and locals alike to partake in activities such as boating,

fishing, hunting, snowmobiling, paddling, pedaling, golfing, geocaching, nature watching, photography, and other outdoor activities, which also highlight Michigan’s great outdoor parks and recreation areas. Michigan is home to 98 state parks and recreation areas as well as 133 state forest campgrounds operated under the auspices of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and seven forests/parks/lakeshores in Michigan under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Forest Service. Collectively, Michigan offers 15,000 sites on state and federal lands designated for camping. Michigan’s two non-profit camping organizations -- the Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds of Michigan, and the Michigan Association of Recreation Vehicles and Campgrounds

-- equally promote and support private campground and RV parks throughout the state. All state lands are managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, while the national parks and lakeshores are managed by the National Park Service and/or the U.S. Forest Service. All campgrounds -- including the companion recreational activities -- are among the tourism destinations promoted by Travel Michigan and its award-winning Pure Michigan campaign.

WICHITA — More than 20 years after buying land near the intersection of Emporia and 47th Street South, Bill Morris is ready to build on it. He plans the Air Capital RV Park next spring. “We’re going to go all concrete and sod grass,” Morris says. “There is no RV park in the city of Wichita that is built that way.” Most of them are dirt and gravel, he says. Morris will use concrete for the roads in the park and the pads on which the RVs

sit. There will be 91 spaces. Morris, a real estate developer who also was a mechanical contractor for 35 years, has owned and operated mobile home parks here in the past and an RV park in Texas. “The timing is right,” he says of building the park now.For one thing, he says improvements to the Kansas Turnpike interchange in that area are scheduled to be completed around the first of the year, so he hopes to have the park open by February or March.

“We’ll get a lot of people . . . off the turnpike.” Also, Morris says more people are turning to RVs as a way to live, either for traveling or due to the economy. “There’s more and more people that are going to be living in RVs,” he says. “You put all that together, and I guess that’s the reason why I decided (now).” It doesn’t hurt that the new Kansas Star Casino will be just down the road in Mulvane.

“It’ll be a plus,” Morris says. The area has a lot to offer, too, he says. “You know what they say in real estate: location, location, location. Well, in this location, within one block of the entrance of my park, there’s 24 places to eat.” Morris isn’t shy about how great Air Capital RV Park will be. “It’ll be the nicest one in this part of the country.”

The food we eat results from the use of water, energy, fertilizer, transportation and storage. Whether it be meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, wine, liquor, fast food or snacks, environmental considerations come into play.

Irrigation only works where there is a supply of water. Without water there is no for livestock, no growing of fruits and vegetables, no more processing of food. Water is also a significant ingredient in most of the food we eat, especially the frozen food and the frozen concentrates we drink. Not so where there is no water. Even where genetically engineered rice is able to grow with almost no water, it is reported by the United Nations that between two and four thousand children die every day for lack of vitamin A, a substance not in the rice.

Without rivers and lakes to run hydro electric plants electricity becomes scarce, making refrigeration difficult and fertilizer more expensive. In developing countries without adequate water to sustain agriculture

the cost of importing food and getting it distributed is too great to bear. In some instances the infrastructure is simply not there to deliver food. So, for various reasons there is starvation and malnutrition in a world that is still capable of producing enough food for everyone.

The cost of food is a problem for all of us, not just countries far away. As if food were not expensive enough, we use corn to make ethanol, driving down the supply of corn for food and driving up the prices. To the extent that crops get used to make gasoline, one might say that we burn food to keep the air cleaner while the world starves.

Three facts keep environmental scientists awake at night: 70% of the world’s freshwater is used for irrigation and one in eight people on earth have no access to fresh water. Nearly one billion people have no water.

These facts should keep all of us awake at night.

By Larry

http://www.evergreenusa.com/

Roasting marshmallows and sleeping under the stars is a time-honoured Canadian tradition, one that is helping fill up Ontario campgrounds during this hot and dry summer.

With more than 330 provincial parks and hundreds of privately-owned campgrounds in Ontario, campers looking to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city have plenty of options -- but many will have to act soon to get a coveted site.

Curt Morris, a superintendent at Darlington Provincial Park near Oshawa, told CTV News on Friday that camping this summer has been an attractive vacation option for many people.

"I think the heat has certainly helped," he said. "We're not seeing people go home. I think a lot of

people are extending their stays."

Most provincial parks recommend booking up to five months in advance and suggest using the online booking system to see which sites are available and what the site looks like and offers.

The Syed family, from Markham, only had to drive 40 minutes to get to their campsite at Glen Rouge Park in Scarborough on Friday.

"It's the best part of summer, I believe," Arif Syed said. "I enjoy camping. I just love it. I love the beach, biking, hiking, all that."

As busy as the campgrounds are, there are still sites available at some provincial parks. At least a dozen parks across southern Ontario have sites

available for the August long weekend.

"People are, I think, looking to this as an alternative," Morris said. "It's a cheap vacation and we offer everything."

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources close to 10 million people from around the world visited Ontario's provincial parks last year.http://toronto.ctv.ca

Yes pool chemicals are different sometimes. But mort of the time they are the same. Most chemicals purchased in retail outlets have basically the same ingredients inside. Common chemicals such as: clarifiers, algaecides, pH increasers and decreasers, alkalinity increasers, calcium increasers and chlorine/bromine reducers are basically the same from brand to brand. Trichlor chlorine tablets are basically the same from brand to brand. Some brands state 89% available chlorine, others state 90%.

The difference comes into play when a tablet feeder (chlorinator) is used. Some of the cheaper tablets might gum up the units. Bromine tablets are basically the same from brand to brand. Calcium hypochlorite is basically the same from brand to brand.

What is different are enzyme based products. There are literally thousands of enzymes for different industrial and health needs. Each enzyme manufactured is different than other manufacturers. Enzymes do an effective job of eliminating oils, scum, and other common elements pools have to deal with.

Where you might find different chemicals is from companies that make their own chemicals. For example, there is a difference in some clarifiers. The most common brand name clarifiers only work on positive and negative ions. Others work on all types of cloudy pools. Defoamers is another good example. Most defoamers are silicone based. They only work temporarily. There are some products on the market that have enzymes and clarifiers. These

products actually eliminate the foaming in spas. Another example would be non-chlorine shock agents. Some only remove inorganic combined chlorine, some remove organic and inorganic combined chlorine.Most commercial pools should deal with companies

that specialize in commercial pools. The chemistry needs are different, much more complex.

Bill Soukup is President of Commercial Pool & Spa Supplies, Inc., and a Certified Pool Operator (CPO) instructor. http://www.CommercialPool.com

It's always nice to get away, and here in Portsmouth, we've got one family-friendly location that can help you escape just a few steps from home.

The Melville Campground, located at 181 Bradford Ave., is in full operation and is at the height of the season.

That’s according to Bill Bryant, campground manager.

Bryant and his wife, Lisa, celebrated their 21st year of service on July 3.

“I love this job," he said. "I enjoy working outside and I like the people."

The 153-acre campground is owned by the town of Portsmouth and was deeded to the town by the Department of Defense in the early 1980s as surplus land, according to Bryant.

Campers come from all around the world, he said.

“We have many many campers from Germany. We also get ones from Holland, Australia, China, Canada and, of course, all over the U.S.,” he said.

According to Bryant, because Portsmouth is so centrally located, people use the grounds as a base

camp to go to Boston, Mystic and Cape Cod for day trips.

“The day trips also include local attractions such as Green Animals and the mansions in Newport,” he said.

Melville Campground has 133 sites, 66 are for recreational vehicles (RVs) and 67 are set aside for tents.

The RV sites rent for $45 per night and includes water and electricity. A full hookup costs $50 per night and includes water, electricity and sewage connections.

The tent sites rent for $25

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Bill Bryant. Photo: Don Mosher

per night and only include a picnic table and a fire ring.

"We can get really packed on some weekends and have as many as 500 campers if we average it out as having two adults and two children per site," Bryant said. "Then there are the guests of our campers who pay $5 per adult and $3 per child. Those guest have to leave by 11 p.m. as to not put an extra strain on our resources like sewage and water."

“Sometimes," he added, "we get a few people who don’t want to follow the rules. Rules like quiet time at 11 p.m. or making a fire too big. When they get out of hand we have to call the Portsmouth police to come down. But most of the time they calm down before that happens."

Husband and wife Dick and Jackie Maciel have been coming to Melville for the last five or six years.

“We make our own homemade kites and are here for the Newport Kite Festival," Jackie Maciel said a few weeks ago. "We travel up and down the East Coast and love the campgrounds. But, we don’t like the fact that the rates have increased fees so much in the last two years."

Of course, you don’t have to come from far away to enjoy the experience.

“If you live here in town and you want your family to experience the wonders of camping come on down, we’ll find a spot for you,” Bryant said.http://portsmouth.patch.com

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Jackie and Dick Maciel come every year to Melville and stay for the nearby Newport Kite Festival. Credit Don Mosher

Water from the lake that cooled the hides of generations of visitors and locals in the Augusta area is slowly draining away and exposing more of its sandy basin.Shenandoah Acres is coming back to life after seven years.

The new manager for the campground and former resort needs to be able to see the bottom to determine how much work will be required to refill and maintain the spot once advertised as "America's Finest Inland Beach."

When patrons are splashing around in the springwater, a fondly

remembered local tradition will be reborn, said Manager Ashley Jones.

"I keep hearing stories from people telling me, 'I came here as a kid, and I'm glad it's reopening,' because now they can bring their kids," Jones said.

Under previous management, the campgrounds existed for a stint as Mountain Spring RV Resort. Jones and her family took over operations last month, and on July 1, she reopened the campground as Shenandoah Acres, a name known to locals and vacationers for some 65 years.

For the rebirth, Jones and others have been clearing brush and rehabilitating the buildings to renovate the former rustic oasis, with its walking trails, playgrounds, horseshoe pits, picnic tables and covered pavilion. The lake will not use the zip slide or the

other kinds of equipment that made it more expensive to insure, she said.

The campgrounds offer open tent and recreational vehicle lots with utility hookups. www.newsleader.com

Ashley Jones, right, and her mother Dawn clean the greens at the putt putt golf course at Shenandoah Acres last Wednesday. Pat Jarrett/The News Leader

Everyone loves a campfire. A timeless tradition that has been creating fond memories for families and friends throughout ages.

The campfire may be one of the few places families can still sit together and talk.

Did you know you can now make delicious campfire pizza? Well it is now possible with the campfire snack maker. Pizza, grilled cheese, ham n cheese, tuna melt, bagels, corn bread, and pies are all options.

While sitting around the campfire families can enjoy one of Wilcor’s mighty fine roasting forks. These are great for outdoor cooking, always ready to use, with fast and easy clean up. When ready for dessert, marshmallows are one of the most popular campfire treats.

So get one of their number one selling marshmallow sticks.

They also carry many other campfire fun products such as the fireside s’more warmer.

This can hold up to three s’mores at once!

Why not try it with something new, like a favorite candy combination such as peanut butter cups replacing the traditional chocolate bar. Also great for toasting English muffins. The options are endless!

Another great campfire item is a fireside popcorn safety handle, great for making Jiffy Pop popcorn. As much fun to make as it is to eat!

Later on watch as vivid blue and green flames mix with the fire’s red and orange to create a brilliant rainbow of color. Just toss one of the mystical fire pouches in, sit back and enjoy the fiesta of colorful flames.

All of these products and more are available at Wilcor International a family owned business for over 40 years. Contact the sales department at 1-800-346-2345 ext. 707. Or, go to www.Wilcor.net.

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

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

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

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

WASHINGTON -- There’s good news and bad news in the latest Ypartnership report on travel. Travelers in the United States are very stressed and sensitive to price, but a growing number plan a leisure trip in the near future, said Derrick Crandall, president of the American Recreation Coalition. When asked about their travel intentions, 61 percent said they planned to take a vacation by October, up from 56 percent at this time last year. About 14 percent of travelers said they plan to take at least one business trip during the same period, on par with a year ago."It's pretty obvious that the destiny of the travel industry is listing toward leisure," said Peter Yesawich, the company's chief executive officer.Yesawich drew his conclusions from two sets of data: the Ypartnership/Harrison Group 2011 Portrait of American Travelers and a quarterly poll of traveler intentions. When it comes to finances, travelers say

they're more concerned this year about all elements of travel, ranging from the cost of gas and airline tickets to the economy in general. More than a third say they're using coupons more often, and 31 percent say they're waiting for sales more frequently.To lure price-sensitive travelers, some in the industry have turned to time-sensitive discounts -- also known as flash sales -- that encourage consumers to make quick decisions when booking, said Crandall. A full 20 percent of leisure travelers said they have purchased a travel service through a flash-sale email, up from 14 percent last year, according to Ypartnership.While flash sales are gaining speed, Yesawich says the "long-form vacation" is losing ground. ressed for time or facing “time poverty,” travelers are abandoning the weeklong escape and looking instead for close, quick getaways, according to Yesawich.

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