Travel Resorts of America Newsletter

October Newsletter

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Happy October Y'all

Fall is finally here! And while October signals the end of camping for some of our locations, we have still have a lot going on here, at TRA!

In this October Newsletter, we highlight one of our most exciting and spooky events at Sycamore Lodge, the Haunted Forrest! Sycamore Lodge Assistant Manager, Bobbie Seiler, writes about our Haunted Forrest, the 20 years of its charitable origins, and all the spooky fun to be had! The Haunted Forest runs from October 14th through October 30th. Be sure not to miss out!

With the arrival of October, camping season is coming to a close for our locations, but there is still plenty of fun happening going on at our open locations, especially the Fall and Halloween kind of fun! Be sure to check out the each Resort’s Newsletter for more info.

Sycamore Lodge Resort Hero

Sycamore Lodge Annual
Haunted Forest

The Haunted Forest was started 20 years ago with a spooky walk in the woods which evolved into the 13 room, maze and graveyard event that it is today.

The charity LLS was chosen by owner Steve Baldelli in remembrance of his mother who had passed from leukemia/lymphoma.

Last year’s event generated the most sizeable donation to date of $25,705.21. The second largest was from 2019 with $13,857.27

Our amazing group of over 160 volunteers pull off this amazing feat every year on the last three Saturdays in October.

We average around 500 to 600 visitors each night of the event.

The total donation is compiled of other charity events as well prior to the Haunted Forest which include a car show, golf outing, auctions and the concession stand during the events.

Ashley Davis, Campaign Development Manager for The Leukemia & Lymphoma was present to accept the ceremonial check. Actual donation is sent prior to event.

October Newsletter 2022 Haunted Forest 1

Member of the Month

End of Season Contest – Winner

Laura Moyer
Laura Moyer

Congrats to our Member of the Month, Laura Moyer! 

Laura has been a member with us for 7 years! Frequently visiting our Bass Lake Resort location in Parish, NY. She enjoys our Cornhole tournaments and our Cards games, and she would like to see more them in the following seasons, possibly include an exchange in the card games, like the wine exchanges. 

She has participated in some of Member Builds! When asked about what Member Builds we should do next, she said she would like to do something with the Lake, which could use more paddle boats, and help clear up the weeds and the muddiness of the water. 

She would like to thank our employees, Heather & Norm, for a great job on everything they have done for Bass Lake Resort. She thanks them for all of their involvement with the activities that go on at Bass Lake Resort; Heather has done a great job stepping up, and Norm is doing a great job at the bar.   

Thank you, Laura Moyer, for being valued member with us for 7 years! 

And Congratulations again, for being our End of Season Contest Winner!

 

TRA End of Season – Finalists

February, 2022

January, 2022

December, 2021

November, 2021

October, 2021

September, 2021

August, 2021

February, 2021

January, 2021

December, 2020

November, 2020

October, 2020

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.