Updated: 12/27/2007 4:50:55 PM
Ann Kelch has helped to open the campground each spring and close it every winter for more than 40 years.
"My in-laws, Mr. and Mrs. Kelch, would come to the Smoky Mountains on vacation, and they decided that they wanted to come to Tennessee," Ann says. "So in '65, they bought this piece of property and started the KOA campgrounds. In august they bought their franchise, and in June they had they had their first camper."
Back then, the campground consisted of a building in the middle of a field.
"The campers were very small, pop-ups and a few travel trailers, and over the years it's changed to huge big motor homes with big 5th wheels," says Ann.
Heather Kelch grew up around campers and began helping her parents at an early age.
"We did the trash route. That was always one of the big things because we got to drive the club car," Heather says. "I helped my dad count money, because he had to do the change machines in the laundry room and in the game room, and I would help him count it out."
The family worked together at the campground until 1997, when Dick Kelch suffered a massive heart attack in the campground's main building.
"You just know he would want you to be strong and just go on and carry on and keep the business going, and it's like he's there making the business go on," says Ann.
Ann's kids helped run the campground, and Ann used the skills her husband taught her. Four years ago, after graduating from college, Heather decided to return to the family business.
"I think it's awesome I have a good boss as well as a great mother," says Heather.
The campground has become a tradition for other families, too.
"You enjoy all the people. They become like family to you, and you enjoy seeing them all come back over the years," Ann says. "Some have been coming for 25 or 30 years, and they always come back. Heather--they watched her grow up, so they really enjoy seeing her."
Ann and Heather are featured as kindred spirits in this month's issue of Skirt magazine.
