Owner Dave Snow says plans have been in place for a long time to enhance the Pouch Cove park, known for its RV camping and beach, and to expand its services. He’s been planning since 1997, and now that momentum is building, his hard work is finally coming to fruition.
“It wasn’t really until the last five years that we were able to access bank or institutional money, that we had the capital to work with to do the projects that we had envisioned,” Snow said. “And as we invested money in the property, those investments started generating more revenue, so we started being able to self fund.”
Things snowballed from there, and over the past five years or so, the 1,100-acre park has seen some significant development. Heavy equipment operators have been forging new paths, opening up 39 new RV sites last year, and 50 the year before. At the end of this year, they will have a total of 350 complete, plus some tenting sites — a first for Marine Park.
Dave’s brother, Bruce Snow, has been helping with the expansion. He thinks the new sites will make for some happy campers.
“It opened up two more ponds, and some of the views from there are pretty majestic. When you look out across, you can see the other side of Conception Bay, and you can see out to the ocean over Pouch Cove. We have some spots that we’re going to be able to introduce tenting,” he said. “We think 500 RV sites is doable in the next couple of years in terms of the space to do it, but we have to do the right pace of development.”
They say new RV sites are booked up almost as soon as they are built. While they can be reserved for shorter times, many families set up for the whole camping season, and some leave their RVs at the park all year round.
The Snow brothers say there’s a sense of community among the regular campers. It’s something they try to foster with treats such as a night of fireworks, playground equipment, and Christmas and Halloween events in the summertime.
Tenting
New sites are being developed this summer to open up the park to a different clientele: tent campers.
Dave said the existing sites built for RVs are too big for tenting, and that camping in such a space, on crushed stone ground, would be like camping in your driveway.
“What we want to do is a little bit more experiential, where you would park your vehicle and take your stuff up a small path or through the woods to a camping pad amongst all trees and a little fire area. So you’re a little bit more like you’re out in nature, but you’re three minutes from the snack shack where you can get a poutine,” he said, laughing.
The plan for this year’s pilot project is to open up 20 or 25 tent sites, and the longer-term vision is to have 50 sites at the park. Each would have wooden camp pads to keep the tents dry and out of the dirt.
“We will find places that have nice views or foliage, and then put a spot in place,” said Bruce. “It’s almost like visiting the animals in the wild versus seeing them in the zoo. It’s a more natural, sort of get-back-to camping in nature as opposed to paving everything over.”
They see tenting as a gateway to a few other projects they’d like to get into in the future, including trailer and cabin rentals.
New enterprises
Campers, as well as visitors to the beach and giant waterslides, will have access to some new services at the park this year.
Inside Levi John’s Country Convenience — the new store at the mouth of the park — people will be able to get snacks, beer, a few basics and grub from Greco or Captain Submarine. The plan is for the building to eventually house laundry facilities and accessible bathrooms and showers.
“It’s nice to know that food, and the car, and a hot shower is close by. It is cool to sit down in the woods by the tent and the fire and the starlight and stuff, but it wouldn’t be bad to have a donair after, or come down for a breakfast sandwich and a hot cup of coffee that doesn’t taste like dirt,” Dave said.
On the other side of the building, at the new Parkside RV, employees will be repairing and readying RVs for customers. The Snow brothers will be selling everything from small, basic “mom-and-pop” trailers to top-of-the-line destination trailers complete with flat-screen TVs, full-size fridges and lofts.
Employment
Along with those new ventures come new jobs, which the Snow brothers aim to give to local residents when possible.
“Some is very local,” said Dave. “A lot of our teenage campers, the children of the camping families, are employed here — in the summer at the beach, in the food services, in the yard and lawn maintenance, running the waterslide equipment. Three or four have trained for Greco and Captain Submarine, so their summer job is right at the place where they come for the summer.”
Last year, 23 out of 24 staff members were campers. He said camping is in their DNA, and they know what makes a good experience for other campers.
This year, the brothers expect to employ 40-50 people.
As the camping season gets into full gear this weekend, the Snow brothers and their staff will continue other projects meant to revamp the existing facilities. Among them: the beach will get a new wharf and 14 new paddle boats; two AEDs will be put in place and staff will be trained to use them; a partnership with St. John Ambulance will bring a babysitting course to the park; and a Max summer camp for kids.
“Overall, it’s like we’re looking around and saying, what else can we pick up a notch?” said Bruce.
Levi John’s name lives on
Brothers and business partners Bruce and Dave Snow paid tribute to their great-uncle, Levi John, by naming a store after him.
A member of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, he was killed in action in the First World War.
“He never got to come back and start a business, or have a family even,” said Bruce.
Levi John was their grandfather’s younger brother. Their grandfather never went to war, and he ended up having 14 children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“It’s two brothers — we picture them near in age to us growing up — and one guy got called off to war and nothing happened after him. He just died and was buried in France. And hundreds of other people exist because this one guy didn’t go to war,” said Dave.
“And we thought that was pretty sad. And we thought now as two brothers ... we thought it would be nice to pay honour to him by putting his name back out there in the world.”
Next year is 100th anniversary of Levi John’s death.
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Owner Dave Snow says plans have been in place for a long time to enhance the Pouch Cove park, known for its RV camping and beach, and to expand its services. He’s been planning since 1997, and now that momentum is building, his hard work is finally coming to fruition.
“It wasn’t really until the last five years that we were able to access bank or institutional money, that we had the capital to work with to do the projects that we had envisioned,” Snow said. “And as we invested money in the property, those investments started generating more revenue, so we started being able to self fund.”
Things snowballed from there, and over the past five years or so, the 1,100-acre park has seen some significant development. Heavy equipment operators have been forging new paths, opening up 39 new RV sites last year, and 50 the year before. At the end of this year, they will have a total of 350 complete, plus some tenting sites — a first for Marine Park.
Dave’s brother, Bruce Snow, has been helping with the expansion. He thinks the new sites will make for some happy campers.
“It opened up two more ponds, and some of the views from there are pretty majestic. When you look out across, you can see the other side of Conception Bay, and you can see out to the ocean over Pouch Cove. We have some spots that we’re going to be able to introduce tenting,” he said. “We think 500 RV sites is doable in the next couple of years in terms of the space to do it, but we have to do the right pace of development.”
They say new RV sites are booked up almost as soon as they are built. While they can be reserved for shorter times, many families set up for the whole camping season, and some leave their RVs at the park all year round.
The Snow brothers say there’s a sense of community among the regular campers. It’s something they try to foster with treats such as a night of fireworks, playground equipment, and Christmas and Halloween events in the summertime.
Tenting
New sites are being developed this summer to open up the park to a different clientele: tent campers.
Dave said the existing sites built for RVs are too big for tenting, and that camping in such a space, on crushed stone ground, would be like camping in your driveway.
“What we want to do is a little bit more experiential, where you would park your vehicle and take your stuff up a small path or through the woods to a camping pad amongst all trees and a little fire area. So you’re a little bit more like you’re out in nature, but you’re three minutes from the snack shack where you can get a poutine,” he said, laughing.
The plan for this year’s pilot project is to open up 20 or 25 tent sites, and the longer-term vision is to have 50 sites at the park. Each would have wooden camp pads to keep the tents dry and out of the dirt.
“We will find places that have nice views or foliage, and then put a spot in place,” said Bruce. “It’s almost like visiting the animals in the wild versus seeing them in the zoo. It’s a more natural, sort of get-back-to camping in nature as opposed to paving everything over.”
They see tenting as a gateway to a few other projects they’d like to get into in the future, including trailer and cabin rentals.
New enterprises
Campers, as well as visitors to the beach and giant waterslides, will have access to some new services at the park this year.
Inside Levi John’s Country Convenience — the new store at the mouth of the park — people will be able to get snacks, beer, a few basics and grub from Greco or Captain Submarine. The plan is for the building to eventually house laundry facilities and accessible bathrooms and showers.
“It’s nice to know that food, and the car, and a hot shower is close by. It is cool to sit down in the woods by the tent and the fire and the starlight and stuff, but it wouldn’t be bad to have a donair after, or come down for a breakfast sandwich and a hot cup of coffee that doesn’t taste like dirt,” Dave said.
On the other side of the building, at the new Parkside RV, employees will be repairing and readying RVs for customers. The Snow brothers will be selling everything from small, basic “mom-and-pop” trailers to top-of-the-line destination trailers complete with flat-screen TVs, full-size fridges and lofts.
Employment
Along with those new ventures come new jobs, which the Snow brothers aim to give to local residents when possible.
“Some is very local,” said Dave. “A lot of our teenage campers, the children of the camping families, are employed here — in the summer at the beach, in the food services, in the yard and lawn maintenance, running the waterslide equipment. Three or four have trained for Greco and Captain Submarine, so their summer job is right at the place where they come for the summer.”
Last year, 23 out of 24 staff members were campers. He said camping is in their DNA, and they know what makes a good experience for other campers.
This year, the brothers expect to employ 40-50 people.
As the camping season gets into full gear this weekend, the Snow brothers and their staff will continue other projects meant to revamp the existing facilities. Among them: the beach will get a new wharf and 14 new paddle boats; two AEDs will be put in place and staff will be trained to use them; a partnership with St. John Ambulance will bring a babysitting course to the park; and a Max summer camp for kids.
“Overall, it’s like we’re looking around and saying, what else can we pick up a notch?” said Bruce.
Levi John’s name lives on
Brothers and business partners Bruce and Dave Snow paid tribute to their great-uncle, Levi John, by naming a store after him.
A member of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, he was killed in action in the First World War.
“He never got to come back and start a business, or have a family even,” said Bruce.
Levi John was their grandfather’s younger brother. Their grandfather never went to war, and he ended up having 14 children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“It’s two brothers — we picture them near in age to us growing up — and one guy got called off to war and nothing happened after him. He just died and was buried in France. And hundreds of other people exist because this one guy didn’t go to war,” said Dave.
“And we thought that was pretty sad. And we thought now as two brothers ... we thought it would be nice to pay honour to him by putting his name back out there in the world.”
Next year is 100th anniversary of Levi John’s death.
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