New store, registration office coming for Holly Lake Campsites

Kenny Hopkins said he knows Bob Raley, his father-in-law and founder of Holly Lake Campsites, would understand that after 50 years of business, the time had come for some serious improvements to the property. However, continued Hopkins, Raley wouldn’t like it all.

“Bob was a if-it-wasn’t-broke-no-need-to-fix-it type of person,” said Hopkins during an Oct. 18 interview. “Bob wouldn’t be happy with getting rid of the old barn, but he would also know that it was time to make the improvements.”

Hopkins, who is married to Raley’s daughter Suzette and has been working at Holly Lake for more than three decades, said Raley was the type of person who would buy things that other people didn’t want and make good use of them.

“Bob liked taking something old and turning it into something new,” said Hopkins, listing old boards off chicken houses and mismatched ceramic flooring as examples of Raley turning someone else’s trash into his treasure.

Raley purchased the land for Holly Lake in the late 1960s and opened it up Memorial Day of 1970, said Hopkins. For that entire time, guests have been checking in at the original building, which he said was a barn that Raley bought and moved from Rehoboth to the campground.

“I can remember Bob saying it just rained and rained and rained that opening weekend, and he was wondering what he had gotten himself into,” said Hopkins. “Fifty-one years later, here we are.”

That old barn was demolished recently, but when complete, the new building will house the registration office, store, restaurant and games. Hopkins said the new building will also allow the business to upgrade its behind-the-scenes technology, because it was getting tough to keep retrofitting new operating systems into the old barn.

“These plans have been in the works for years. The new building will be similar in size, but it’s designed a whole lot better,” said Hopkins. “It was time to modernize.”

Hopkins said there is some anxiety related to making the improvements, because people are concerned that Holly Lake will not be the same. That’s why, he said, they’ve saved a lot of the older pieces from the barn and plan to incorporate them into the new space.

The new building will be the latest improvement, but last year Holly Lake demolished and replaced its old storage shed. Of course, said Hopkins, the number of campsites has increased nearly 10-fold from when it opened – from roughly 150 to 1,000.

Hopkins said the new multipurpose building will look similar to the new storage barn. Construction is expected to begin mid-November and be completed by Memorial Day, he said.

“It’s got to be,” said Hopkins, pointing to the trailer currently being used as the office. “Our daughter Natalie, who is the office manager, does not want to be working there when next year’s season starts.”

For more information on Holly Lake Campsites, 32087 Holly Lake Road, go to hollylakecampsites.com or call 302-945-3410.