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Motor coach owners on a roll
By JAMIE MALERNEE © St. Petersburg Times, published February 6, 2001 Traffic on U.S. 41 seemed worse than usual Monday as hundreds of motor homes came rolling into town for the annual motor coach rally.. But many Hernando County residents said they were more than willing to forget the minor inconvenience, given what else the rumbling legions bring each year: namely, increased sales to local businesses. "It's already affecting us," Maurie Friedman, manager of the Masaryktown Cafe, said of the event that doesn't officially begin until Wednesday. "I've got three extra people scheduled to work this weekend. For a small place like us, that's a lot." The rally, which is expected to draw more than 5,000 people to its 100-acre site at the Hernando County Airport, is the annual winter meeting of the Southeast Area Family Motor Coach Association. This is the fourth year it has been held in Hernando County, with members traveling from all over the United States and Canada. According to county records, the February in which the rally was held in 1999 brought in $51,000 more in sales tax compared to the month before. In 1998 it was $76,000 more than the previous month. Figures for last year were not immediately available Monday. County tourism Director Sue Rupe said the cause for those increased numbers is obvious. "The rally is just real good for the restaurant business, the gas stations and the grocery stores," Rupe said. "All of a sudden, they're just swamped." Members of the motor coach association pay $70 to attend the event, which lasts Wednesday through Saturday. The public can also attend some of the festivities, which are from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day except Saturday, when things close early at 3 p.m. Tickets are $4 per person. Those who sample what the rally has to offer will find motor home vendors who show mobile homes that cost anywhere from $50,000 to more than $1-million, as well as food and rows and rows of homes-on-wheels. Special entertainment and seminars are available to motor coach association members only. Although the rally represents increased cash flow to many businesses, it means much more to many of the people who attend it. On Monday, even with the official opening two days away, the airport rally area had already taken on the feel of a small city. Motor homes lined the runways as people tooled around on foot, bikes and golf carts. Bob Wells, an Ohio native, said he'd been attending rallies since 1970, and he's not tired of it yet. He and several friends sat in lawn chairs, soaking in the sunshine and chatting as the afternoon passed. "I love this because of just what we're doing now -- sitting and doing nothing," Wells said. "I like visiting, socializing. There aren't too many unsociable people here." Henry and Kathy Gartner have also been going to such events for 25 years. Gartner, better known as "Flakey the Magic Clown" does magic tricks to entertain children and adults alike. He, his wife, their two dogs and two rabbits (put to use in Flakey's routine) all pack into their motor home together. And they don't feel a bit cramped, Mrs. Gartner said. "It's nicer to pare down and get along with less," she said. "When you have a house, you have more to take care of. This way, if we want to move, we just drive away. We've been all over the United States and back."
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From today's Hernando Times |
