New Momentum at the Meadows

New Momentum at the Meadows

A Carolina Paddler article

By Alton Chewning

∞ Think of where we were a year ago. Smoky Mountain Meadows had long been the campground home for the CCC’s Week of Rivers. The ground zero of trip planning, socializing, late day entertainment and all the other camp life we have enjoyed for many years. Whether you stayed at SMM or somewhere else, you made a visit there for the morning meetings, the carpooling and the hum of excitement.

A year ago, we didn’t know if we would still have a home at SMM.  The owners were up in age and ready to sell.  The land is beautiful and valuable. Many a developer would like to put a subdivision on the property.  And where would we be?  No other campgrounds in the Bryson City area offer the capacity and setting SMM does. A CCC committee scouted for other options.  One recourse was to use an old fairground as the meeting point but it didn’t offer the camping facilities.  There was no good solution.

Ah, but wait. A solution was right here, under our noses, the whole time.  A home-grown solution, Drew and Hannah Bowers.  Both are raised in the area, Drew within a stone’s throw of the the campground. Drew said recently, “I always had plans to buy the campground, from childhood.” The owners, John and Frida, liked him.  Drew said, “John made me a promise years ago that I would be the first person he’d speak to if he decided to sell. I told him how concerned I was about a developer coming in here and sticking houses on the property.”

Last fall, Drew and Hannah purchased the property. Besides growing up in the area, the Bowers had other credentials. They own an excavation and construction business as well as another campground. They know the ropes of running a place like SMM.  They are dedicated to making SMM a ongoing success, one they hope to hand down to their three boys one day.

As Drew will tell you, one of the best assets of taking over SMM is the continuing support of Jim Mazzola and Susan Seay.  Jim and his wife, Kim, live much of the year at the campground. Susan has been the manager and main contact person for many years.  This continuity helps the Bowers maintain the relationship nurtured with the CCC and other regular visitors.

Anyone who’s attended WOR probably knows Jim Mazzola.  He’s everywhere. Testing paddles and PFD’s. Wrangling parking. Working the River board monitor, leading trips, repairing any multitude of broken things, doing what needs to be done. As Drew says, “If it weren’t for Jim, I don’t know if the campground would still be functioning. His involvment goes back for several years.”

Jim likes to stay busy.  He doesn’t shy from work.  He’s retired from a pretty responsible job in the automotive industry. Rumor has it Jim has numerous patents to his name. If he gives you an opinion, you may not agree with him but you know he has an informed reason for his opinion. And he’s a team player.  Drew says, “I never question him. If I pull up and see something he’s bought, I don’t question it. I trust his opinion.  He’s an absolute asset.”

Susan is the steady hand at the office, checking in the multitudes, answering questions and giving advice. She can be firm when needed. Don’t even think about speeding around the campground – too many kids and distracted adults wandering about to tolerate poor driving.

So, what has changed at the campgroung and what has stayed the same?  First, the basic elements are where they have been, at least for now:  the office, the pavilion, the playground, the bathhouse and so on.  Most importantly, Smoky Mountain Meadows still has the quiet, casual, pastoral feel it’s always had.

What’s changed?  A lot … with more to come in the next couple of years. Here are some of the changes.

-The bath house is small but adequate when the campground is partially full. With a full complement of 300-400 campers, the bathrooms sometime show the stress. A new asset is Drew’s mom, Sheila Bowers. Sheila takes great pride in cleaning the bathrooms. She is diligent in cleaning them, twice a day, as thoroughly as possible considering the volume of traffic.  One example of her take-charge attitude is a new retaining wall at the entrance to the bathrooms. Heavy rains would sometime flush runoff into the bathrooms. Sheila grew tired of this and said something had to be done.

A new retaining wall was constructed in the spring and this should help with the run-off.  Thanks, Sheila.  Drew followed up, “We had torrential cloud burst yesterday. We didn’t have any flooding.”

Drew points out the long-term plan is to build a new building, incorporating the office, a new bath house, a larger laundry and other amenities. This would be located in the upper meadow.  The hope is to get underway in the next year.

Speaking of a laundry, SMM has a new “Cargo Laundry.”  Drew wanted to offer laundry services. Jim suggested they buy an old shipping container to use as the home for the new laundry. Drew asked Jim to take on the project, sharing, “I take no credit for the laundry, Jim did all that himself.” It’s not large but it is very functional and clean and well organized. The rear compartment stores miscellaneous campground gear.

A large, beautiful table invites the  folding of clothes. Industrial quality washers and dryers accept quarters. We’ll have to be considerate in sharing the machines but this is a big improvement and a taste of more things to come.

The three cabins by the creek had a make-over.  Drew said, “We took them down to the studs. Put in new tongue and groove, new flooring, beds and mattresses. We also made a new driveway to the cabins.”

The campsites by the creek received attention. Drew said, “We put in gravel to make defined parking spaces. Geotextile material was laid to encourage grassy areas for tents. Later, we want to put in power and water to all those spots.”

The waterline that feeds the campground is a PVC pipe that runs suspended above the creek, held up by a rope. Drew said, “We drilled a new line under the creek and up to where the well house is.  The old PVC line would sometimes break when the creek gets up or it would freeze in winter.”

Remember how the day-parking area would become marshy after big rains?  Sometimes requiring Jim to tow a car?  A small water retention pond near the parking area handled some of the run-off but not enough. The  SMM crew improved the retention pond and dressed it up with irises and sunflowers (a Jim favorite).  Drew said, “The retention pond does its job for the most part. However, in heavy rains, it can’t handle all the runoff. We’re working on a solution, a pump system with more drainage, to handle those cloud bursts.”

The entrance to SMM received attention, including a new landmark.  Drew: “We cleaned up the office area. Cut some of the trees hanging over the office. Added decking all around. We have new products in the office, snacks and SMM memorabilia.

We set up the old truck out front. We don’t even have a sign made yet. People know where they’re coming to when they see the truck.”

The focus of the morning meetings is the Pavilion.  Drew, “We cleaned things out. Installed a new television. Drink machines are in good order. Added new accent lighting.”

The playground equipment was spruced up and the area neatened. Children are busy testing swings for durability.

 

The day before this photo was made, Jim pulled the trampoline out of storage. Several parts were missing. A couple of the posts were bent. Everything was a little dirty.  Today, the campers look happy.

One benefit Drew saw from buying SMM was a place to consolidate his construction equipment. Drew said,  “The upper part of the field, near the barn, is where we store our construction vehicles.  We’re building a new drive at the top of the meadow so the business vehicles will use it and not come through the campground.  We hope to finish it before WOR but weather is unpredictable. The storms shut us down some days.”

One of the attibutes of Smoky Mountain Meadows is the beauty of the mountains that ring the campground. Drew has grown up appreciating this view and wants to preserve it. He wants to install a trail on the mountain beside the creek.  In order to do it right, Drew met with a trail builder to plan trails for mountain bikes. Drew said, “It’s something to work on in the next couple of years.  So people can camp and ride bikes nearby.  There’s nothing like that in the area right now.”

Drew continues, “The whole place is a work in progress. My background is in construction, so we have a pretty good grasp on what to do but we’re still learning a lot. Hannah and I want to make the campground successful. We have another campground we operate. They are our long time goals, our retirement plans.”

Drew has continued his relationship with the previous owners, John and Frida. Drew, “I talk to John quite often.  John is really excited about the changes.  He said their time had come and gone and they didn’t have the vision for the campground we have. John and Frida have been incrediby supportive. They still give us advice, tell us what they think. If we have any questions about water lines or other details, they are very helpful.”

With the assistance of John and Frida, Jim and Susan, the Bowers are hopeful. They have three sons: Luke, 14 years old,  Mason who is 8, and Banks 2 years.  People will notice them around the campground. You could see Luke on a lawnmower. Mason sometimes drives a golf cart delivering firewood.  The boys are around. The Bowers family is part of the campground.  Drew said, “Our long term goal is to raise these boys so they know what’s going on and let them take over someday.”

The CCC has been coming to Smoky Mountain Meadows for a long time.  Drew said, “I’ve seen the CCC groups come and go over the years. I’ve always assumed one day I would be involved in it somehow. We’re excited to be a part of it, to meet everybody. We’re thankful we can provide a place that’s big enough for everybody to come to Week of Rivers.”