We are saying goodbye to the sunny but often sweltering days of Summer and will soon welcome the cool, crisp days of Fall!
In this month’s newsletter, we take a special look at all the pets, our furry friends! We share a personal, heartfelt story from Rachel Freiman Lockwood about her late, beloved dog, Speck. Not only penning a sweet eulogy for Speck, but also telling the funny, inspiring story behind Gettysburg Battlefield Resort’s upcoming Member Build, which starts on September 17th.
We are also having a TRA Pet Contest, with Members sharing the best things about their pet and what they like most about camping with them here, at TRA. Winner will be selected, September 12th, and get a free month of Barkbox, or Meowbox! Be sure to enter your submission in before then!
(Link in the newsletter)
There are a lot of fun events coming down the pipeline this September, be sure not to miss out!
Check out the each Resort’s Newsletter for more info.
“A pet is never truly forgotten until it is no longer remembered”
– Lacie Petitt
The last thing we needed was another dog. Full-time RVers, we already shared our home on wheels with a reasonably sized 16 pound chiweenie, , and a not so reasonably sized 120 pound German Shedder. My husband and I were in total agreement it would be completely illogical to add another dog to our already crowded space … until I saw a picture of a tiny long-haired chihuahua on Facebook.
To this day, I cannot explain how I knew he was to be ours, but I just knew. And so last spring a tiny speck of a chihuahua became ours. Well, sort of … you see, Speck quickly became everyone’s dog at Gettysburg Battlefield Resort. He literally went everywhere with either Bruce and I, and since we both are team members here, Speck became part of the team as well. He proudly wore a tiny blue polo with the TRA logo on it to work, just like every other team member. He accompanied Bruce when he escorted campers and delivered wood to their sites. He manned, er… puppied, the concierge desk, attended every activity, and every staff meeting – even our CPR training class. Speck apparently never read the chihuahua handbook – he loved everyone he ever met. If a child skinned a knee at the playground, or got their feelings hurt, the best cure was a cuddle with Speck. It wasn’t long before Speck became a sort of canine campground ambassador. He had an innate ability to soothe and schmooze simultaneously. A tiny dog with a big heart and joyous soul was our Speck.
Unfortunately, we lost our little boy after a routine procedure, a simple neuter. He just never woke up, despite all our veterinarian’s efforts. His pre-procedure labs and EKG were completely normal, he didn’t hemorrhage, he didn’t give any warning – he just … left. I don’t know how to describe how devastating his loss was without sounding overly dramatic, but I can tell you it was the absolute worst thing I have ever been through. We cried for days. The team here and our members were amazing – they grieved with us, and for us.
I will never forget that they were the reason we pulled through those first awful days. That … and this … Ironically enough, two days before Speck passed, I had jokingly entered him in an online photo contest. He quickly became a front runner in the state, and after he died, I just couldn’t bear the thought of him losing the Pennsylvania contest. So we voted daily, our friends voted daily, members voted daily, and got their friends to vote daily. And a week after Speck passed, he won 1st place, not just in the state, but in the world. Over 8000 entries from around the globe and our little Speck won. Imagine my surprise when $1900, his prize money showed up in our PayPal account the next morning. We had already decided something good had to come out of Speck’s passing.
We wanted him to be remembered in the place where we and so many other people had loved him, so we decided to donate his prize money to improve GBR’s dog park. When the folks at TRA (btw, the most amazing employer!) heard what happened to Speck, they matched our gift and decided this year’s member-build at GBR would be to give the dog park a major makeover. We are so grateful and honored TRA chose the dog park as our member-build this year. There is just something so Speck about making the dog park a safer and more welcoming space. In this way, he will always be remembered as the happy little dog who spread joy around the place he called home.
Mollie is a 6-year old Chocolate Lab & Weimaraner mix. She loves people, other dogs, the water and camping (of course her favorite campground is Sycamore Lodge).
What makes Mollie so special is how she is with their grandchildren. especially when it comes to one the granddaughters, Kyleigh, who is 6 years old. Kyleigh came to them after going through some terrible trauma. Mollie must have sensed her fear and anxiety and never would leave her side. Always there for her. When our granddaughter, Lily was learning how to walk, Mollie would hold still to let Lily pull herself up and walk around her. Mollie would hold perfectly still so that Lily wouldn’t fall. When sick, Mollie lays beside us the whole time. When we need to get Kyleigh up for school, Mollie runs upstairs and coaxes her out of bed with kisses and nudges. This is the most amazing, caring and beautiful dog. A sweet addition to the family.
Mollie lives to go camping. Taking hikes, riding around in the golf cart greeting everyone. Mollie likes going in the water and lives running in the dog park. She never barks while outside. She just greets everyone with slot of tail wagging.
Charlie & Gus are Therapy Dogs!
They volunteer in the community and also do Animal-Assisted Therapy with their owner who is a therapist.
Bob and Marion Welch have two cats, "Maize" (the mom) and "Blue," who love to go camping with them. Maize is probably about 5 years old and son, Blue, is 3 years old this year. They have a very important job to do inside their camper--they are the "guard cats." As they sit up on the dash (when not asleep!), they cautiously watch all the activity outside their camper. True, they are not as fearsome as dogs would be, but any possible intruder does not know that. An intruder would not know if the cats would bite or want to be petted! So it is with Maize and Blue. ( We think most campers chuckle as they walk by their "site" at Sycamore Lodge and see a cat asleep on the dash!)
Jerred and his Potbelly Pig love frequenting Rocky Fork Ranch, walking around and hanging out at the campsite
They have Rottweiler named Fury who loves everyone and everything! They have been to Bass Lake, Northshore Landing, Pymatuning Adventure, St. Croix River, and Wally World Riverside. He's a member of the family so it's great to have a place that is accepting and welcoming to our 4 legged family members.
This month, we are celebrating Team Members from Bass Lake Resort, Gettysburg Battlefield Resort, Pymatuning Adventure Resort, and Wally World Riverside Resort.
We are celebrating these team members for being with us for 5+ years, some of them have even been with us for over 20 years! We are very lucky to have such a hard-working and dedicated staff for all these years!
This month, we are celebrating Team Members from Bass Lake Resort, Gettysburg Battlefield Resort, Pymatuning Adventure Resort, and Wally World Riverside Resort.
We are celebrating these team members for being with us for 5+ years, some of them have even been with us for over 20 years! We are very lucky to have such a hard-working and dedicated staff for all these years!
This month, we are celebrating Team Members from Bass Lake Resort, Gettysburg Battlefield Resort, Pymatuning Adventure Resort, and Wally World Riverside Resort.
We are celebrating these team members for being with us for 5+ years, some of them have even been with us for over 20 years! We are very lucky to have such a hard-working and dedicated staff for all these years!
Unfortunately, we lost our little boy after a routine procedure, a simple neuter. He just never woke up, despite all our veterinarian’s efforts. His pre-procedure labs and EKG were completely normal, he didn’t hemorrhage, he didn’t give any warning – he just … left. I don’t know how to describe how devastating his loss was without sounding overly dramatic, but I can tell you it was the absolute worst thing I have ever been through. We cried for days. The team here and our members were amazing – they grieved with us, and for us.
I will never forget that they were the reason we pulled through those first awful days. That … and this … Ironically enough, two days before Speck passed, I had jokingly entered him in an online photo contest. He quickly became a front runner in the state, and after he died, I just couldn’t bear the thought of him losing the Pennsylvania contest. So we voted daily, our friends voted daily, members voted daily, and got their friends to vote daily. And a week after Speck passed, he won 1st place, not just in the state, but in the world. Over 8000 entries from around the globe and our little Speck won. Imagine my surprise when $1900, his prize money showed up in our PayPal account the next morning. We had already decided something good had to come out of Speck’s passing.
We wanted him to be remembered in the place where we and so many other people had loved him, so we decided to donate his prize money to improve GBR’s dog park. When the folks at TRA (btw, the most amazing employer!) heard what happened to Speck, they matched our gift and decided this year’s member-build at GBR would be to give the dog park a major makeover. We are so grateful and honored TRA chose the dog park as our member-build this year. There is just something so Speck about making the dog park a safer and more welcoming space. In this way, he will always be remembered as the happy little dog who spread joy around the place he called home.
Unfortunately, we lost our little boy after a routine procedure, a simple neuter. He just never woke up, despite all our veterinarian’s efforts. His pre-procedure labs and EKG were completely normal, he didn’t hemorrhage, he didn’t give any warning – he just … left. I don’t know how to describe how devastating his loss was without sounding overly dramatic, but I can tell you it was the absolute worst thing I have ever been through. We cried for days. The team here and our members were amazing – they grieved with us, and for us.
I will never forget that they were the reason we pulled through those first awful days. That … and this … Ironically enough, two days before Speck passed, I had jokingly entered him in an online photo contest. He quickly became a front runner in the state, and after he died, I just couldn’t bear the thought of him losing the Pennsylvania contest. So we voted daily, our friends voted daily, members voted daily, and got their friends to vote daily. And a week after Speck passed, he won 1st place, not just in the state, but in the world. Over 8000 entries from around the globe and our little Speck won. Imagine my surprise when $1900, his prize money showed up in our PayPal account the next morning. We had already decided something good had to come out of Speck’s passing.
We wanted him to be remembered in the place where we and so many other people had loved him, so we decided to donate his prize money to improve GBR’s dog park. When the folks at TRA (btw, the most amazing employer!) heard what happened to Speck, they matched our gift and decided this year’s member-build at GBR would be to give the dog park a major makeover. We are so grateful and honored TRA chose the dog park as our member-build this year. There is just something so Speck about making the dog park a safer and more welcoming space. In this way, he will always be remembered as the happy little dog who spread joy around the place he called home.
