By Lori McDonald and Mitchell Banks
“A glamper is a camper with personality.”
That’s how Bri Roll, executive director of Seymour Main Street, described the vintage campers on display Friday and Saturday in downtown Seymour.
The fourth annual Happy Glamper event, organized by Seymour Main Street, took place in the Robertson Mill and Walnut Street parking lots.
It was held in combination with the inaugural Happy Glamper Sip ‘n’ Stroll, which took place Friday night at various downtown locations. The event was sponsored by Vat and Barrel, Mike Kopp RE/MAX First Commercial Group, Wehmiller Express and Wischmeier Trucking.
Live music by Forrest Turner and Jeff and Joe entertained the crowd and food vendors were on hand during the Happy Glamper and Sip ‘n’ Stroll event.
There were extended downtown shopping hours Friday evening and dinner and drink specials at multiple restaurants.
“This would’ve been the fifth year for Happy Glamper, but last year, it was canceled,” Roll said. “This year, we are up and running and plan on 11 campers for the event.”
Roll said some of the campers were themed and original to an era, and some were all decked out.
“My favorite thing about this event is just the energy it brings downtown,” Roll said. “We want to see people enjoying the area and going in and out of all the businesses.”
The word glampers comes from a combination of the words “glamorous” and “campers.”
For some of the glampers, their own camper is a dream they’ve had a long time and have finally achieved.
Lindy and Rob Moscrip of Bloomington used to live in Seymour during the 1990s and had their vintage 1972 Shasta 1400 at the camper show.
Lindy said she has had the camper for three years.
“Another member of my family got a vintage camper, so I got kind of excited about it,” she said. “So I decided I wanted to get one, as well, then my daughter got one.”
The Moscrips take their camper around to different rallies at places, such as Ceraland and Spring Mill.
Rob said the camper is Lindy’s, and their whole family pretty much has one and so do their best friends.
“I pull the camper, but my husband has been a big helper,” Lindy said. “Once you start it, it’s just really fun.”
Jack and Jamie Knichel have brought their 1971 Shasta camper to all of the Happy Glamper shows since 2017.
“This is our first show of the year, and we usually go to several, but last year was kind of thin with the closings,” Jack said.
He said like a lot of people, they started out tent camping and got rained on, then went to a popup and he and his wife wanted to get something they could leave all of their stuff in.
“The vintage stuff kind of came after, and there are a lot of purists who don’t change anything on the inside or paint,” Jack said. “The first thing we did was cut a hole in the back and put an air conditioner in it. We got the camper one July, and it was ready to go the next month.”
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 five or six years now.”
Rita and Wayne, who were involved in the inception of the event, have helped with the Happy Glamper show over the years.
Rita and her friend, Karen Clark, along with Koop, a commercial real estate agent and downtown investor, came up with the idea for Happy Glamper.
“My friend was contacted and then she called me, and it kind of went from there,” Rita said. “We’ve been helping with it ever since.”
Wayne said his favorite part of coming to the vintage camper show is the people who come to it.
Shawna and Darrin Boas of Seymour had their 1962 Trailblazer camper at the show. The camper was purchased Aug. 26, 2018, and their first time out with it was Aug. 21, 2020.
“This is just our second event since the first three-fourths of last year was shut down because of COVID,” Darrin said. “The Trailblazers were similar to Pathfinders, but the difference is they put shutters on these.”
Shawna said she and Darrin both like antiquing, so they already had a lot of the decor before they ever bought the camper.
Kevin Greene of Seymour also had his 1958 Nasan “Ol’ Yeller” camper on display.
He has had the camper about four years, and until recently, he wasn’t sure what brand the mystery camper was.
“I finally found a guy who had one, and he knew what it was, and that’s where I got the information,” Greene said. “Apparently, they were only in business for about five years, so there aren’t too many of them around.”
Those attending the Sip ‘n’ Stroll event kept the streets of downtown Seymour busy Friday evening, going from door to door to try beer and wine from Indiana vendors at their favorite businesses.
“The Sip ‘n’ Stroll is a chance for vendors from the Indiana area to come into some of our local businesses and all of our of-age community members can sample and do tastings at each of those locations,” Roll said.
A ticket to the event included a sampling glass for people to try drinks from eight locations across downtown. For each business that participated, an Indiana beverage maker set up to give out samples and sell their product.
Two downtown restaurants, Rails Craft Brew and Eatery and Schwätzer’s German Restaurant, offered drinks they were brewing themselves.
Roll said the event also is an opportunity for people to check out new businesses that have opened in the past year.
Of the seven downtown businesses that were offered as sip locations during the event, four of them opened in 2020.
“It’s a way to get the community into the businesses to see what they have and what they’re offering, and it’s also a way to have them sample some really great local products,” Roll said.
Bargersville-based Mallow Run Winery set up inside The Castle Games. It offered wine samples to happy customers while being surrounded by trading cards, board games and collectible figurines.
Two customers, Matt and Emerald Robinson, left with a bottle of red wine after trying some samples and said they were glad to stop in since they come to the store often.
“I come here all of the time. I play a lot of Magic: the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons here every other week. It’s a great place,” Matt said.
On his gaming store selling wine out of its doors for the first time, The Castle Games co-owner Hutton Baird said, “It’s both weird and exciting for everyone.”
Stationed in front of Vat and Barrel was Holtkamp Winery from Dearborn County. The pairing of businesses was a perfect match because almost every product that the winery makes can be purchased at Vat and Barrel.
Marc Gebhart, co-owner of Vat and Barrel, said he has known Holtkamp Winery owner Doug Holtkamp for a long time and planned on selling his wine when he was aspiring to start a bar.
“He doesn’t have huge production, and he’s got a lot of really nice crafted wines, and I’m really stingy and don’t want him to do well with other people because he’s going to run out of wine,” Gebhart said. “I want to keep him all to myself, but that’s not realistic.”
Holtkamp said he was glad to set up in Seymour and meet some customers who are already familiar with his wine.
“We haven’t ever sold here in Seymour before, so it’s great for them to have our wines on his list. It means a lot,” Holtkamp said. “It’s great to come here and see all of his customers that already know our product.”