Press Releases
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Jellystone Park™ Guests Eagerly Await June Opening Of 11,000 Square Foot “Kids Water Zone”
Donna and Monty Arnold’s granddaughter, Stella, is only 4 years old, but she knows the Jellystone Park at Whispering Pines is building a children’s water play park and she can’t wait to try it out. “She’ll tell us, ‘Nana and Papa, it’s time to go to Jellystone!’ ” Donna Arnold said, adding her family regularly visits the 116-site park, which is also installing six new cabins. The new 11,000-square foot Kids Water Zone is expected to open in June, said Jellystone Park co-owner Don Tardy, who bought the campground six years ago with his wife, Jan, and her two adult children, Colt and Bree Perrin. In addition to installing six new cabins from Champion / Athens Park Homes, the park is upgrading several existing campsites to “Platinum” RV sites that include covered decks, picnic tables and barbecue grills as well as hoses with spray nozzles that can be used to playfully spray other park guests as they pass by their campsites on hayrides on hot summer days. “We are constantly making improvements,” Tardy said, adding that the investments are paying off. Advance reservations are up 25 percent this year compared to last year’s figures, and the season is just beginning.
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Camping Enthusiasts Are Getting Ready To Wake Up The Bears At Jellystone Park™!
It’s been a long winter and Yogi Bear™, Boo Boo™ and Cindy Bear™ have been enjoying their hibernation inside the activities hall at the Jellystone Park Camp-Resort. But the bears’ hibernation will come to an abrupt end at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 27. That’s when campers of all ages, armed with pots and pans, will parade over to the recreation center and, at the count of three, bang their cookware together to wake up the bears. “The waking of the bears is our traditional way of kicking off the camping season at Jellystone Parks across the country,” said Michele Wisher, vice president of marketing for Milford, Ohio-based Leisure Systems, Inc., which franchises 84 Jellystone Parks across the U.S. and Canada.
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Cozy Cabins Will Be Available For Rent Beginning April 28 At The Adirondacks Jellystone Park™
2018 has delivered the longest winter Gina Lenhard can remember in the 26 years she and her husband, Mike, have operated the Jellystone Park. But the persistent cold weather isn’t stopping the Lenhards from opening their 170-site campground next Saturday, April 28. “As long as we can turn the water on, we’ll be ready to open,” Gina Lenhard said, adding, “The nice thing is we have 26 warm, cozy cabin rentals. We also have a new bunkhouse we installed last year that sleeps up to 15. This way, families can still enjoy quality time weekend getaways with lots of activities no matter what happens with the weather.” Voted the “Best Campground in the Adirondacks” in the May/June issue of Adirondack Life, Jellystone Park also offers a full lineup of organized activities and themed weekends for late spring, summer and fall, including a “Wake Up The Bears Weekend” May 18-20, when guests are invited to bring their pots and pans and join in a parade to wake up Yogi Bear™, Boo Boo™ and Cindy Bear™ from their winter slumber.
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Popular Ashland Area Campground To Reopen April 27 As The Cleveland Sandusky Jellystone Park™
Pamela and Todd McCreary have spent the past decade building Country Stage Campground into one of Ashland County’s top five campgrounds. Now they’re taking their 150-site campground a step further by reopening April 27 as the Cleveland Sandusky Jellystone Park. A grand opening ceremony with Yogi Bear™, Cindy Bear™ and Boo Boo™ will also take place at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 28, with speeches by Ashland Mayor Matt Miller and Amy Daubenspeck, executive director of the Ashland Convention & Visitors Bureau, who will talk about the impact of the Cleveland/Sandusky Jellystone Park on the local economy. “We’re beyond excited at this point,” Pamela McCreary said, adding that the park already has close to 20 reservations for their opening weekend, despite the cool weather. “We’ve never had so many people make reservations for our opening weekend,” McCreary said. “These are all new campers and they’re coming because we’re a Jellystone Park.”
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New Attractions Fuel A 183 Percent Increase In Advance Reservations At Jellystone Park™
Advance reservations are up 183 percent at the Jellystone Park at Tower Park, compared to last year’s figures, an increase park officials attribute to their investments in new amenities as well as new “Red Carpet” RV sites and rental cabins. “We’re investing millions of dollars in improvements and new amenities and people like what we’re doing,” said Zachary Bossenbroek, CEO of Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Northgate Resorts, which purchased the former Tower Park Campground in July of 2016 and converted it into the only Jellystone Park Camp-Resort on the West Coast. An impressive lineup of improvements and new amenities are coming to Jellystone Park this spring and summer, including a miniature golf course, which opens in early April, followed by a new fishing pier, beach and “bark park” later that month.
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Bear Cove Village Becomes Tennessee’s Third Jellystone Park™ Camp-Resort
Yogi Bear™ and Dollywood are about to become neighbors. Bear Cove Village, the closest campground to Dollywood, is joining the Jellystone Park franchise network with a grand opening celebration planned for park guests from noon to 2 p.m., Saturday, March 10. We’re going to celebrate by having a ‘Yogi Bear and Friends Birthday Bash’ with Yogi Bear, Boo Boo™, Cindy Bear™ and Ranger Smith™,” said park owner Heather Blankenship. “We will play birthday party games and serve free hot dogs, pizza and cake for all of our guests.” Blankenship is offering 50 percent off all RV sites and rental accommodations on the weekend of March 9 - 10 to celebrate her campground joining the Jellystone Park network.
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Timberline Campground In Waukee To Become Iowa’s Second Jellystone Park™
Timberline Campground will become Iowa’s second Jellystone Park Camp-Resort when it reopens April 1 for the 2018 camping season. “We’re really excited about it,” said Curtis Van Gilder, who is converting the 40 plus-year-old, 115-site campground into the West Des Moines Jellystone Park with his business partner, Marta Sirck-Docan. Dallas County’s rapid population growth, fueled by Apple’s recent decision to build a $1.3 billion data center in Waukee, was a major factor in their decision to convert Timberline Campground into a Jellystone Park, Van Gilder said. “Young families are moving into the Waukee area and bringing young kids, which is a perfect fit for a Jellystone Park,” he said.
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Marine Park To Become Canada’s Sixth Jellystone Park™ Camp-Resort
David Snow and his family have spent the past 21 years building Marine Park into the one of the most sought after seasonal camping destinations in Newfoundland. Now, Snow and his family are working to increase their overnight camping business by transforming their 450-site campground into Canada’s sixth Jellystone Park Camp-Resort. “We don’t want to reinvent the wheel, and by becoming a Jellystone Park franchise we can tap into their experience and expand our overnight traffic,” Snow said.
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Franchise Business Review Recognizes Jellystone
For the first time Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park™ Camp-Resorts appears on Franchise Business Review’s Top 200 list of award-winning franchise opportunities. The company has also moved up 207 slots to #265 on Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 list for 2018.
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Jellystone Park™ Featured On FranchiseBusinessReview.com Podcast
Jim Westover, the Vice President of Operations for Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp Resorts, offers some insight into how the brand has grown since its inception approximately 50 years ago. Listen as Jim is interviewed by Mike Cupfer of FranchiseBusinessReview.com.
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South Haven Jellystone Park™ Wins Regional Camp-Resort Of The Year Award
The Jellystone Park in South Haven has won the Camp-Resort of the Year Award for the Central Region. Park owners Susan and Kyle Novotny received the award from Leisure Systems, Inc. (LSI), the Milford, Ohio-based company that franchises 80 Jellystone Parks across the U.S. and Canada. The award is LSI’s highest award at the regional level. It is given to Camp-Resorts whose facilities and operations exceed all Jellystone Park standards. Recipients must be Pinnacle Club members, meaning they rate 95 percent or higher on the annual LSI assessment of their facilities and operations. Award recipients also must have achieved strong growth in business, implemented sustained improvements and be leaders in the industry.
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Henk John and Mary Ann Kuipers, who own and operate the 220-site Jellystone Park™ in Kingston, received a national award from the company that franchises Jellystone Parks in Canada. The Kuipers received the Maple Leaf Award from Milford, Ohio-based Leisure Systems, Inc. in recognition of their dedication to the Jellystone Park system in Canada during the past year. It was the fourth time the Kuipers have received the award in the past six years.
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The Frankenmuth Jellystone Park™ Achieves Highest Assessment Ratings In The Jellystone Park Network
The Frankenmuth Jellystone Park has won a national award for achieving the highest assessment ratings in the 80-unit Jellystone Park franchise network. The Frankenmuth campground was one of five Jellystone Parks that won The Carroll Award from Leisure Systems, Inc., the Milford, Ohio-based company that franchises 80 Jellystone Parks across the U.S. and Canada. Four other Jellystone Parks in Bremen, Ga.; Mill Run, Penn.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Tabor City, N.C. also received the award after tying each other’s scores for the highest franchise assessment ratings. “It is a real honor for us to receive this recognition,” said Cindy Keinath, a second generation co-owner of the Jellystone Park who works at the 250-site park with her husband, Allen; her brother, Craig, and her parents, Erv and Marilyn Banes.
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Door County Jellystone Park™ Wins A National Award
The Door County Jellystone Park is the oldest campground in the 80-unit Jellystone Park franchise network. But park owners Jim and Jill Kavicky continue to make improvements to the 49-year-old campground, and won a national award for their efforts from Leisure Systems, Inc., the Milford, Ohio-based company that franchises 80 Jellystone Parks with more than 17,000 campsites and vacation rentals across the U.S. and Canada. The Kavickys, in fact, won special recognition from LSI for having the most improved inspection in the Jellystone Park network.
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Richard and Nancy Felber’s campground has only been part of the Jellystone Park network for four years, but the Felbers have won top awards every year from the company that franchises the Yogi Bear themed campgrounds. The Felbers’ latest honor, the Regional Camp Resort of the Year Award, was presented to them in November by Leisure Systems, Inc., (LSI), the Milford, Ohio-based company that franchises 80 Jellystone Parks across the U.S. and Canada.
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Black Canyon Jellystone Park™ Wins The Entrepreneur Of The Year Award From Leisure Systems, Inc.
Black Canyon Jellystone Park has received an Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the company that franchises Jellystone Parks. The 142-site campground received the award after its new managers, Tom and Kay Vail, implemented a variety of improvements along with stricter enforcement of park rules, which have helped increase the park’s occupancies and revenue by 30 percent this year.
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