Downtown Seymour was the place to be last weekend with glamper tours, music, food and a sip and stroll event.
The fifth annual Happy Glamper event, organized by Seymour Main Street, took place Friday and Saturday. It was held in combination with the Happy Glamper Sip and Stroll on Friday night that was set up at various downtown locations.
Live music by Forrest Turner entertained the crowd Friday, while Salt Creek Brewery, The Rolling Pig Pin and Junkyard Barbecue food trucks had beverages and food available for purchase.
Bri Roll, executive director of Seymour Main Street, said there were six participating sip locations.
Mallow Run Winery poured sample drinks at Lea Boutique, Holtkamp Winery and Vineyards was set up at Vat and Barrel, Hard Truth Distilling Co. was stationed at Brewskies Downtown and Mad Paddle Brewstillery was at The Castle Games.
Salt Creek Brewery also was there and Schwatzer’s German Restaurant served up Shiner Strawberry Blonde and Downeast Unfiltered Cider.
“We were satisfied with the turnout for the Sip and Stroll on Friday, and we had 180 participants with around 50 coming up the day of the event,” Roll said. “The six locations were set in businesses downtown and those locations were very busy, so it was great for those businesses.”
She said in addition, there also were a lot of people who stopped at downtown businesses without a sampling location just because they were walking by.
“Some businesses even saw the event as an opportunity to showcase their products and set up for a successful night,” Roll said. “This speaks to the interest and support we have in our downtown, and we thank those who attended the event to help us create more to do and see in our downtown.”
Thank you to our businesses who do such a large part in making our downtown what it is: A place to gather, experience, shop, dine and relax with those you care about, she added.
Seymour Main Street had 14 total glampers, three of which were new.
“We were excited to be able to host Happy Glampers in our downtown because having these “glampers” for public view is a unique event that we can offer,” Roll said. “There are not many events like this in the area, so it certainly creates an interest. It’s also fun to see the character and personality that is put into each camper. “
The vintage campers were set up in the Robertson Mill and Walnut Street parking lots. Roll describes a glamper as a camper with personality.
Seymour residents Tom and Jan Gray had three entries at the event: A 1959 Yellowstone, a 1965 Cree motorhome and a 1966 Bee Line.
“We participate in this every year to help support the event, and the numbers were kind of down this year,” Tom said. “They’d only had eight signed up, so I said I’d bring three of mine to help out the show.”
He said he has been a camper and attended rallies for about 10 years and has three more campers at home.
“It’s fun and we take them camping at different places in Indiana, like Spring Mill State Park, Boggs Lake and Jackson-Washington State Forest,” he said.
One of his campers was hitched up to a dark green Jurassic Park van he purchased on eBay from Universal Studios in California.
“I bought it and had it shipped out here about six or eight years ago,” he said. “It was a prop used in one of the ‘Jurassic Park’ movies, so it’s a good conversation piece.”
Greene County resident Leslie Cooprider was at the show Saturday with her 9-year-old daughter, Cheslee Cooprider, who thought the Jurassic Park van was really cool.
Jon and Mary Pritchett of Bedford brought their 1964 Yellowstone camper, which previously belonged to an elementary school classmate of Jon.
“It was parked out in the field by my house and I restored it, and I’ve restored four or five other ones,” he said. “I camped in it last night, and we go to the vintage camper rallies almost every weekend.”
Brownstown residents Wayne and Rita Wischmeier had a 1970s vibe going with their 1973 Lark camper. “My Miss Joyce Ann” was written on the side of the camper.
“That was my mother’s signature, and she owned the camper before we had it,” Rita said. “We have had the camper about six or seven years now.”
The Wischmeiers were involved in the inception of the Happy Glamper event and have helped with it over the years.
Brownstown residents Jack and Jamie Knichel brought their 1977 Winnebago Brave D-26 on display, which they purchased on Facebook Marketplace about a year ago up near Lake Michigan, Jamie said.
They drove up to Michigan to get the camper, and it was about a nine-hour drive to get it back home, Jack said.
“We redid everything in the camper, except for the bathroom, which we haven’t touched,” Jamie said. “It’s all the original colors on the outside.”
She said when she was growing up, her family went camping a lot, so she enjoys going to the rallies. The Knichels had been bringing their 1971 Shasta camper to all of the Happy Glamper shows until this year.
Trevor and Tricia Thien of Borden were with their 1965 Serro Scotty Sportsman Gaucho vintage camper at the Seymour show.
“We bought it April of last year and just finished it three weeks ago and have only camped in it once,” Tricia said. “We saw it in somebody’s backyard in New Albany, and it was in really bad shape inside, so it has taken a lot of work.”
Tricia said she decorated it as she would like it because they want to be able to enjoy it for years to come.
“This is our first vintage camper rally, and it has been really fun, so we’re glad we did it,” she said. “We are signed up for a couple more rallies this year.”
This was the first year for Jen Sandlin of Spencer to bring her camper to the show. She was there with her daughter, Michelle Roberts.
“My husband passed away a few years ago, and I’d been taking care of him and my parents, too,” Sandlin said. “So after seven years of taking care of other people, I didn’t have a lot of friends because I never went out to do anything.”
One of her co-workers told her how people fixed vintage campers up and went to rallies, so she decided that was the thing for her to do.
“I started looking and found one in Holland, Michigan, and I told my brother he might think I’m crazy but I was thinking about buying it,” she said. “So he went with me to pick it up, and now, there are about six of us that camp together who are either family members or friends.”
Sandlin said she has made new friends after embarking on her glamper adventure, so it’s doing just what she wanted it to do.