The world according to Ralph Brumbley

Ralph Brumbley is an American success story. From humble beginnings, he has built himself a comfortable life doing what he wants to do. Hard work and smart business decisions have paid off. And it didn't hurt that he worked at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., for more than 16 years.

For most of those years he was not only an electrician but also mayor of Disneyland. Dressed in a top hat, he greeted people entering the park. “It was a great job; I had to smile a lot,” he said. “I learned some valuable lessons working there.”

He still smiles a lot.

Although officially retired, he and his wife, Carol, own Brumbley's Family Park along Route 1 north of Lewes. He bought the manufactured home and camping park in 1994 and moved as an on-site owner in 2000. “It was a mess and needed a lot of work,” he said.

He's tried to bring a little Disney to his 16-acre corner of the world. “Disney's philosophy is to never stop building,” he said. And on a much smaller scale, that's also Brumbley's way of doing things. He's always got a project or two underway.

Carol calls the park a small, quiet mom-and-pop operation. The Brumbleys have carved out their own peaceful niche in the world that they are happy to share with those who live at or visit the park. The couple met in church and got married 15 years ago. The family also includes eight children.

Reuse as much as possible

As he takes a tour of his park, he is proud to show off its amenities, including a custom-made stone bridge over a large pond – stocked with bass, catfish and bluegills – in the middle of the park. Then there's a new pool that he designed and help build. There are two large waterfalls, a playground, volleyball court and pavilion.

Brumbley never found a piece of metal or building material that he couldn't reuse. “I tend to recycle as much as possible. Just about everything here was made from something else,” he said. “People are always giving me stuff, and I'm always thinking how I can use it.”

The bridge was fabricated from an old mobile home frame. He built the pool house/fitness room around two windows someone gave him. An old ladder was used to build a trellis and an old boat has been transformed into a large planter. Then there's a Dover Air Force Base guard shack that's been transformed into a small cabin.

An old travel trailer – that once contained more than 30 cats – is now the park's laundry room.

Many of the people who live at the park are transient workers who carry their home on their back, as Brumbley puts it. There are 25 campsites in the park with an area set aside for tent campers where Boy Scouts and groups from their church are permitted to camp free of charge.

The park also has water access for kayaks and canoes to the Hidden Ponds of Delaware in Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge. The park shares its northern border with the refuge.

Trip across country ends at Disney

A union electrician by trade, Brumbley has worked since he was a youngster. He learned how to farm growing up in northern Delaware. He graduated from P.S. duPont High School in 1956.

Brumbley's father had a home in Long Neck that he visited frequently and lived there for a time when he was working as a foreman at the Indian River Power Plant in Millsboro. But working seven days a week was not for him, and he left the job and drove crosscountry to California where his mom had moved to try her luck at being a movie star.

“I had been working so hard, I had never been west of the Mississippi River,” he said. “I went to California to be successful, but at the time I didn't take it too seriously.”

It turned out to be a fortuitous move. He started working for Disney in 1984, but also rehabilitated and sold houses, something he has done his entire life. “You can prosper if you are willing to work hard,” he said.

On a trip back to this area, he was driving from the Philadelphia airport and noticed the park was for sale. He made an offer and bought it in 1994. He said it had been for sale for three years for a good reason.

The park was filled with abandoned cars and trailers, overgrown with weeds, littered with large piles of beer cans and bottles and the large pond in the center of the park was filled in with more than 50 tires. It looks nothing like that today. Keeping things neat is important to Brumbley.

For the next few years, he took most of his vacation from his job at Disneyland to work on the park, flying back and forth from California.

Eventually, he realized it would take more than a few weeks here and there to turn the park into the vision he had. “Since I was 62 years old, I decided it might be time for early retirement,” he said.

Brumbley lives the lessons he has learned. “Everything is a gamble to see if I can make something work,” he says. “And be good to your surroundings, and you'll be paid back in the end. And don't forget to give back more than you get.”

He doesn't sit still for long. He newest project is to open a food truck business not only for park residents and guests but also travelers on Route 1. A conditional-use application must be approved by Sussex County Council before he can proceed with the project.

And guess where Ralph and Carol are spending this week? They're at Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

The couple has visited Disneyland several times, but has only made one trip to Disney World.