2006 Mountain Stream RV Park News

Well, 2006 is just about gone and the nights are beginning to get chilly here in the mountains but it's still really quite nice during the day. It's mid-December and we still have afternoon temperatures in the 50's and 60's. Even though the regular camping season is over remember that we are still open for those who want to do some winter camping. Sites will be available throughout the winter except for when we shut down for the holidays (December 20th through January 2nd). During the winter the bath house is closed, but water, electric and sewer hookups are still available on the sites. So, if your camper is self contained and equipped for cold weather, come on up and enjoy the mountains in the winter.

We'll be working on some improvements through the winter. The biggest improvement project will be reworking sites 11 through 22. Two sites will be eliminated but the remaining sites will be enlarged to handle bigger rigs and some will also be moved (rotated about 30 degrees) to make them easier to get into. Sites 14, 19 & 20 will be enlarged quite a bit and will become double sites like site 13.

Rates will change a little in 2007. Rates for non-stream sites will remain the same, but the stream sites will go up $1.00 and double sites will go up $2.50. The charge for 50amp service will go up 50 cents but the air conditioning charge during the summer months will go down 50 cents. Also, the air conditioning charge will be included in the base site price (as a summer rate) rather than an additional charge, so discounts (Good Sam, AAA, etc.) will apply to the A/C charge as well. This all works out to an overall average rate increase of about 1.2%.

Once again we had great weather for the Mountain Stream Thanksgiving Dinner. It was sunny and 60 degrees. There were 52 people for the afternoon meal and so much food that we did it all again at 6:00pm. Spending Thanksgiving at Mountain Stream is becoming more popular each year.

October is a special (and busy) time at Mountain Stream. We were completely booked every weekend in October (hint: October books up early, so don't wait too long to make your 2007 reservations). The fall colors are really a sight to behold in the mountains. Vibrant reds, fiery oranges and brilliant yellows abound in every direction. The colors this year were more brilliant than they have been in years and the view from the overlooks on the Blue Ridge Parkway was awesome - so was the traffic.

In the middle of October, we have Christmas in October. This weekend is always a big hit. Some campers decorate their rigs, Tom and JoAnne do a special Christmas show, and Santa and Mrs. Claus are here for the children.

The choir from Pleasant Gardens Baptist Church returned for another "road trip" to Mountain Stream the weekend between Christmas in October and Halloween. This time it was a little chilly compared to what it was when they came in June, but that didn't seem to hurt their performance one bit.

Halloween weekend was a lot of fun for everyone. Several campers decorated their sites and a number of strange creatures were out and about gathering vast amounts of candy! As always, we also had a pumpkin decorating contest but unfortunately the pictures of the winners were lost. Sorry guys.

Once again Barbara Hogge did her rendition of Christina Smith's song "Chocolate" during the Halloween weekend show. Barbara and husband Andy have been coming to Mountain Stream for years going back to the time when Dave & Chrissy Smith owned the park. Barbara does her "Chocolate" performance as a tribute to Chrissy's memory.

September was a busy month. In addition to the 10th annual Mountain Stream Duck Race, we had The Master's Quartet, Rebecca Evans and the 8th annual Mountain Stream Chili Cook-Off.

The Mountain Stream Duck Race is an event looked forward to by many of our campers. This year was the 10th annual race. 62 ducks (and a few other assorted floating creatures) were entered. The course is about 100 yards long starting in the swift water running over and between big rocks behind sites 11 & 12 and ending in the calm, shallow area behind site 2. First there are heat races of six or so ducks and then one final race between the winners of the heat races. The winner received a nice t-shirt embroidered with the image of a racing duck and the words "Winner of the 10th Annual Mountain Stream Duck Race". This year's winner had just recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq. Our thanks to him him and all the other service men and women who are going in harm's way to for their country. God Bless you all!

By the way, all of the entry fees collected (a buck a duck to enter) are donated to Missions of Hope, who travel to Nicaragua each Christmas bringing toys and clothing to children who would otherwise have nothing.

We very fortunate to have the Master's Quartet this September. This was their first performance here and they were a big hit with everyone. Hopefully, we'll be able to schedule them again next year.

The winner of this year's Chili Cook-Off was Cheryl Ford. Cheryl is from Dover, Florida and this was her first trip to Mountain Stream. Cheryl is an RN and CEO of a healthcare company. Her husband Jan Craddock is a dentist. Both were in the forefront of the battle for Terri Shaivo's life and are co-authors of the book Fight4Terri.

Rebecca Evans debuted on the 23rd with her first performance at Mountain Stream. Rebecca is from Marion and is blessed with a truly fantastic voice. Her opening number was a performance of "Second Hand Rose" that showed that she is wonderful comedienne as well a great singer. Ray Munn (the bass player with the Tom & Jo Show) and Ova Brown (one half of our great workamper team) accompanied Rebecca on several of her numbers.

We had two guest group performances in July. On the 15th, one of our favorite gospel quartets, the Songsmen, were back to for the third year. Their previous performances were real crowd pleasers and this year was even better. The following week, the Friendship Dulcimer Group came back for a return performance. And, as before, they were a big hit. In addition to a healthy dose of delightful mountain music, we were treated to a lesson in the history of mountain music and the construction of dulcimers.

Spring, summer and fall - nature's colors are all around you at Mountain Stream. This year, the big Stargazer Lily in front of the bath house really took off! It hadn't done much the previous two years, but this year it shot up to over five feet tall and produced many beautiful blooms.

This month we had a real treat; the choir from Pleasant Gardens Baptist Church came to Mountain Stream. They called it their "road trip". They performed a number of contemporary Christian songs along with some selections from their Easter Cantata. This was their first trip "up the mountain", but hopefully not their last. The choir wanted to know when they could come back and the campers wanted to know when they were going to come back - so we're trying to set up a date in October for their return.

Here at Mountain Stream we have a covered dish supper Saturday evenings before the show. There's always plenty to eat and most folks usually eat too much - but that's just part of Saturday nights at Mountain Stream.

This month we had another treat. Tom & JoAnne's granddaughter, Elizabeth, joined them on the stage for their Saturday night Tom & Jo Show. Keep an eye out for this little lady. She's only nine years old, but she's really talented - you'll be hearing more about her!

True Bound Gospel Quartet returned May 20th for another engagement at Mountain Stream. Everyone enjoyed their uplifting music. They first performed here in 2005 and we look forward to having them back again the future.

April is always a special month. Spring is coming, the flowers and trees are blooming and camping season has begun.

Easter is also part of early spring. Adults tend to think of Easter as a time of religious significance, of rebirth, of new beginnings, but children think of Easter as a time of fun - like Easter egg coloring and egg hunts...

Of course, for camping families Easter (or any other time for that matter) means eating. And at Mountain Stream eating means the Saturday night covered dish supper.

As pretty as the cherry blossoms are, it isn't long before they turn into "pink snow".

We had a real good turnout for work weekend this year. It was chilly, but sixteen families came in for a weekend of free camping to help get the park ready to open for the season. Our good friend, neighbor and long time camper Larry Freeman cooked up a fantastic meal for everyone Saturday. From the pictures, it looks like all anyone did was eat, but in reality a tremendous amount of work was done. A great big THANK YOU to everyone who came and got the park into shape for the new season.

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