A Lifetime to Build Upon

By Joshua Starner

Throughout history, stories are passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation. In every family, hidden behind the get-togethers, the Christmas presents and the problems present in all families, there lies a unique story about the foundation of the family. And how it became what it is today. Two generations ago, starting with my grandparents, something happened to my family that has affected even me, and the way I grew up. This is the story of a father, a grandfather, and a builder; a builder that not only constructs buildings but also lifetimes to come.

A Lifetime to Build Upon By Joshua Starner Throughout history, stories are passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation. In every family, hidden behind the get-togethers, the Christmas presents and the problems present in all families, there lies a unique story about the foundation of the family. And how it became what it is today. Two generations ago, starting with my grandparents, something happened to my family that has affected even me, and the way I grew up. This is the story of a father, a grandfather, and a builder; a builder that not only constructs buildings but also lifetimes to come.

In 1966, my grandfather bought a plot of land between two branches of the Conewago Creek. The piece of land was obviously an island and was only accessible by a set of bridges that met on the end of the island. He also purchased a nearby two-story house, and an old, run down feed mill, which would later become the office for his business. With the newly purchased land, and a new place to call home, Floyd built a campground called “Flo-De-On”, the first campground in York County. Since I wasn’t sure how it was named, I asked him myself. My grandfather is 73 years old and is a slow walker, but a humorous and powerful speaker who served in the Korean War. He told me that the “Flo” stood for Floyd and that “De” stood for Delores, the first few letters in each of their names. I said my grandpa was humorous and will sometimes crack a joke, but I thought it was strange when he told me that the “On” stood for their “onery” kids. I’ve heard the term used before, but still wanted to be sure I understood him. To get clarification, I asked my mom and she said that’s what it stood for, so I guess I can’t argue with that!

Flo-De-On flourished and became a nice source of income for my grandparents and their family, but for wintertime, when the campground was closed, they needed a second source of income. My grandfather turned the old feed mill into an office for the campground and the upstairs into five single room apartments, which they rented out during the winter months. In 1972 and 1975, they experienced some hardships with the beauty island camping. Hurricane Agnes, in 1972, and another small hurricane, in 1975, caused flooding. This destroyed many of the camper’s equipment along with a lot of my grandpa’s equipment that he had worked so hard to purchase. He didn’t have insurance on anything because no one offered insurance for natural disasters at the time. Despite having these problems, he continued onward.

Flo-De-On, despite its problems, was actually such a big success that my frandfather needed more land for camping sites. There wasn’t much room on the island for trailers after all. Down the road, not far from his new home and business, he acquired another small plot of land in 1975. This land was on top of a hill in a forest of pine trees on Pine Hill Road. Respectively, he named the plot Pine Hill Campground. With some new land and a cleared section of the woods, my grandfather set up and operated a second area for camping.

Quickly and surely, Pine Hill Campground filled with campers in the small area that Floyd owned. With Flo-De-On’s future at a constant risk of flooding, and the small but secure Pine Hill campground, my grandfather still desired to maintain a safe and well managed campground. Instead of having plots of campgrounds here and there, my grandpa decided to make a final attempt with a large and stable area of land. In 1982, my grandfather reverted to his 100 acre farmland. Although he had sold the house on the property, he still owned the land. With this much land, he designed by hand (with the help of his children), a campground that would surpass all the campgrounds he has previously built.

While many of my grandparent’s children had careers and other jobs to concentrate on at the time, my mother continued to work with my grandmother at home and began to show an interest in the campground management business. In 1987, my mother and father leased the campground from my grandparents taking partial ownership in the business. My grandfather proceeded to sell Pine Hill Campground and Flo-De-On in hopes that Cedar Lake would flourish.

Construction started in 1982, and lasted for three years until the campground was completed and opened. During these three years, my mother and father, who were married fro three years, began building their home with the help of my grandfather. Over time, my grandfather built a total of ten houses on the 100 acre plot of farmland. He built one house for each of his children and he also helped to build houses for future grandchildren and nephews. In addition, he built a house for himself and his wife. To make his campground the best of the best, he wanted a lake built in the central core of the campground. By hand, my grandfather, his sons, my father (his son-in-law), and many other helpers, dug out a single lake that was a sight to see when it was complete. The lake took about two years to complete. Laker, another smaller lake was dug out in the same manner. This was for draining purposes and drained into the Conewago Creek that Flo-De-On had rested on. With cedar trees everywhere, and a lake in the center, the campground was named Cedar Lake Campground, which was very appropriate and the best name ever!

In 1992, Cedar Lake Campground was officially sold to my parents when my grandparents retired from the business. My parents became the sole operators of the campground and are continuing to pay off the purchased business. My two brothers and I grew up in the campground, working for my parents and helping when necessary. My parents are quite extraordinary when you notice everything that they do and have done for the campground. Every month, my father spends two weeks straight mowing the large campground with my older brother and his one assistant. Along with that, he must operate, maintain, and fix problems that arise within the campground. My mother manages the office and the store where most of the transactions take place. Since its opening, a gift shop has been built, called Baskets-And-More, and the store became a snack bar, which is hopping with campers on weekends. Today, things continue to go well for the campground. My grandparents still live in the house that my grandpa built in the campground by himself.

The campground has become a huge part of my life. Because my parents were rarely home during the summer months, I met a lot of my friends in the campground and hung out with them on the weekends. When considering a historical story in my family, my grandpa’s many achievements popped into my mind right away. To know the history, what my grandpa has done, and how the campground came to be is far more of an accomplishment than writing this story. Future generations will have something to look back at their great-grandparents for, because I researched this story and can now pass it along for generations to build upon.