Ed and Dottie Andrus remember a time when every bank they applied to rejected their application for campground financing.  Even after they bought their campground on land contract, the couple couldn't convince a bank to loan them $300 for 10 days so they could meet the payment while waiting on a tax return.

That was 30-some years ago, and today Ed and Dottie run a $2 million-a-year campground operation that has consistently ranked as Ohio's best.  Once again, Woodall's 1999 North American Campground Directory has conferred the double 5W-rating to Indian Creek Camping Resort.  The campground/resort is the only Ohio campground to earn the rating.  Only 99 of the nearly 9,000 commercial RV parks and campgrounds evaluated by Woodall Representative Teams are thus designated.

Woodall's rates the campgrounds on the basis of amenities, greatest degree of development, and consistent and continuous quality of maintenance. A park with two sets of five Ws reflects the highest degree of development in both facilities and recreation.  But Dottie Andrus believes it takes more than great amenities and modern facilities to keep campers coming back year after year.

"I think a lot of it has to do with our personality here," she said.  "The minute a camper comes in our business, they know we are friendly."

Ed Andrus said no matter how you look at it, running a campground is a hospitality business.  You're either cut out for it, or you're not.  "If you like people, you like people," he said.  "If you don't, you won't  want anything to do with this business."

IN HIS BLOOD

The campground business has always been a good fit for the Andrus family.  Ed's grandfather Charles Andrus began the business by operating a small campground on his lakeshore farm that stood just west of the present-day Saybrook Township Park (Charles later donated the land for the park).  His grandfather made extra money renting tent camping spots and temporary cottages to fisherman and tourists.

"Back then you had to place a guard in the hen house because the campers would get in there and take all the eggs," Ed said.  "And you'd have to take the cow in at 2 o'clock in the afternoon or they'd milk it dry."
Ed Andrus' parents, Ed and Lillian, developed the campground as "Saybrook on the Lake."  After World War I, they replaced the temporary cottages with 50 permanent structures.  It was the first camping area in Ohio to be licensed by the Department of Health.

Ed grew up in his parents' campground business and ran it for them after high school.  One of the services he offered campers was a twice-daily trip to Canada aboard the "Yacht Dottie," a 32-foot boat that could hold 26 passengers.  But the campground and its amenities could not produce enough income to support Ed and Dottie, their three children and Lillian.  Ed decided to strike out on his own with a new campground that could offer more room than his parents' seven acres.

In 1964 he found 50 acres of farmland four miles to the west, on the west bank of Indian Creek.  Only a house, old barn and four trailers stood on the land.  Ed made his deal, then went looking for financing.

"It was very, very difficult," Dottie said.
"The banks didn't know what a campground was," Ed added.  "They believed it was just undeveloped land."

After multiple rejections from the banks, Dottie and Ed struck a  three-year land contract deal with the owner.  Then they started clearing brush and old grape vines from the property.  "We pulled the brush out with a tractor and car<" Ed said.  "We didn't own a truck.  You'd hook both them on and you did a pretty good job pulling."

They carved out a 60-space mobile home park so they would have a source of steady income.  They needed it - bad weather their first year on the land dampened the camping business.  "I think we took in a sum of $1,600 the first year," Dottie said.  "It was the weather, not  having the facilities."
Dottie sold Avon and Beeline clothing to keep the bill collectors away.  "Every month we'd think we were going to lose the place," Dottie said of those early years.

THEIR FIRST BREAK

A 1967 brochure for the campground shows a very youthful Dottie adorned in tight shorts and standing next to the campground's sign.  The flier advertises 50 acres of camping, but the amenities were limited to picnic tables and fire rings.  Swimming was across the street in Lake Erie; entertainment and food were up the street at Geneva-on-the Lake.

Dottie said business built up slowly in those early years, but the couple kept people coming back by being friendly and accommodating.  "Everyone who came in, we welcomed them and begged them to come back," she said.

The couple ended 1968, their first year as an incorporated campground, with a powwow to thank their campers for staying with them.  It is a tradition they continue to this day, except the event has grown so large they have to limit attendance to the first 300 who buy a ticket.

Their first break came in 1970, when the campground was nominated as the site for a fan rally.  Dottie said two things helped them land the rally, which brought 450 units to the park: plenty of land to accommodate the trailers and circus tent, and city water.  Ed said many campgrounds depended upon well water and could not handle the large influx of people in mid-summer.

Dottie said the first rally generated about $3,000 that helped pay for more improvements to the park and carry them through to the next season.  Perhaps more significantly, 450 camping families experienced Indian Creek's friendly, accommodating owners.  Many of them returned the following year, and some brought their friends.  But  the extra income generated from these campers didn't go for luxuries.  Sites were improved with water, then electricity.  The old ban was remodeled to provide a recreation center, office and store.  Playground equipment and other amenities were added.  "Everything we made went right back into the property for years and years," she said.

GROWING WITH THE TIMES

By the early 1980's, the campground needed more land.  Not only had Indian Creek become a popular spot for camping, but recreation vehicles (RVs) were getting longer and families expected more from a campground than a place to park their rig overnight.

"We needed the space," Ed added.  "We had some good ideas and no place to put them."

They bought 60 acres east of the campground, land that continues to provide expansion room and grassy commons for events like dog shows, volleyball tournaments, remote-controlled airplane club meets and other recreation.

Now licensed for 575 trailer/tent spaces and 60 manufactured homes, Indian Creek bears little resemblance to the farm Ed and Dottie purchased 35 years ago.  But two things have remained constant: the old barn, which houses their corporate offices, the store, restaurant and lounge; and the house, in which the couple live.  Dottie said the fact that they are resident owners/managers impresses many campers, who are accustomed to dealing with managers hired by a board of directors. 

The business is very much a family affair.  Three of their four children work for the corporation.  Their oldest son, Edward II, is park manager; his wife Debbie is office manager.  Son Donald Edward also is a full-time employee.  Another son, Scott Edward, is a firefighter / paramedic with Ashtabula City, but also works at the campground.  Only their daughter, Donna Mae McGrath, who lives in Dallas, is not an employee.  And with 12 grandchildren, the couple have a good source of future help and perhaps owners.
But there are not enough people in the Andrus family to do all the jobs in the park, so every summer more than a dozen high school and college students are hired to assist with its operation.  Ed said it takes about 60 people to keep the park running in the summer.  Even in the winter months, the complex employs between 17 and 24 people between the restaurant, lounge, store and gas station, the only one at Geneva-on-the-Lake.

The resort also has the village's only church.  Built in 1995, the multi-faith chapel is believed to be the first dedicated church building constructed on an Ohio commercial campground.  The church is used for a weekly service during camping season and has been the site of many weddings.

Ed said some of the amenities that have been built on the campground cost more than the entire campgrounds.  The three restroom/shower buildings feature pre-cast construction with tiled interiors. During the camping season, staff members clean these buildings 24 hours a day.  That kind of attention to cleanliness has earned the campground the Good Sam park Network Sparkle Award since 1996 and the Trailer Life Sparkle Award for rest room cleanliness and construction quality.

"No matter how old your building is, it has to look like it was built just yesterday," Ed said, explaining the high standards set for the award.

Some of the other amenities the couple have developed include two heated pools, two stocked fishing lakes, climate-controlled recreation pavilion, numerous playgrounds, a basketball court, baseball diamond, volleyball and tetherball courts, and 31/2 miles of paved roads.  Campsites offer water, phone, sewage and 50-amp electrical connections.  The couple say they have enough land to tale the park into the next generation of ownership, but they do want to expand the primitive camping section, which is located in Geneva Township (the park extends south a mile from Route 531).  More and more people are tent camping  these days, thanks to advances in tent construction and materials, and the popularity of small cars, which cannot pull large rigs.

The campground is so popular that about 50 percent of the sites are rented throughout the year.  Dottie said the resort has seen an increase in use every year, and there were many weekends last summer when the campground was at 100 percent capacity or higher.  She estimates that at least 100,000 campers stay at Indian Creek Camping Resort every year.

Ironically, although they operate a campground and Ed is involved in many state and national trade organizations, they do not own a recreational vehicle.  Dottie said that there simply is not enough time to travel in this leisurely style.  However, they do have a summer home at the campground, lot 301A, where they rendezvous for lunch during the busy days of summer.

Neither Dottie, 64, nor Ed, 70, plan to retire in the near future.  But after 35 years of plowing their profits back into the business, they are starting to enjoy their success.  They recently took the Concorde to Paris for an eight-day European vacation, a much deserved reward for years of sacrifice and hard work.

As they mark the start of their 35^th season at the park, they dwell upon only the good times and the many friends they've made over those years.  Musing about those days when she had to sell Avon to keep the wolves from the door, Dottie notes, "You tend to forget those things."

"Our life has been very exciting," Dottie said.  "It has been wonderful."