CULLMAN – On the weekend of Friday, May 15 through Sunday, May 17 there will be a vintage camper rally at Smith Lake Park. For those that don't know what a ‘vintage camper rally’ is, don’t worry; Smith Lake Park Director Tony Harris was recently in the same boat.
“I didn’t know much about it at all,” confessed Harris about the esoteric subculture. He explained how he recently began learning about the vintage camper culture. “It’s similar to how car collectors get old cars and fix them up,” Harris said.
The campers are renovated and improved. Some people add bathrooms to them, and others restore them to working condition.
When asked if Cullman has ever had an event like the rally coming up this weekend, Harris who is nearly halfway into his second year as the manager of Smith Lake Park, said that he had never heard of any. “Most of these rallies take place out west,” he said.
Although there are similarities to car shows, Harris stressed that there is a big difference in car shows and camper rallies.
“Car shows are more for the spectators, while camper rallies,” Harris explained, “are more about the owners of the campers to get together with other people who like to fix up campers and talk about vintage campers.”
On Saturday, May 16, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. there will be a free open house.
Smith Lake Park will be having a Vintage Camper Rally this weekend (May 15-17). Campers will be camping in the center…
Posted by Smith Lake Park on Wednesday, May 13, 2015
This is a time when people visiting the park will be able to walk around, see the different kinds of campers, look inside the campers, and talk to the owners of the campers. There are no vendors scheduled; however, Harris says vendors are welcome.
There are currently 15 different campers scheduled to be present at the rally. Harris is looking forward to a big future for this event though. “I’m shooting for 50 to 60 entries in the next few years,” said Harris.
“Sure, everyone wants 200 at your event, but that’s not realistic.”
The camper rally is preceding Harris’ re-installment of the car show for which Smith Lake Park was once famous. CruiseFest, the car show, will be happening later this summer on June 6.
For more information on the vintage camper rally call Tony Harris at 256-739-2916.
