People look inside a vintage trailer owned by Kevin and Brenda Burk of Greenfield Saturday at an open house for the Mid-Central Indiana Vintage Camper Rally at KOA Campgrounds. The rally featured retro trailers decorated in a paradise theme.
Becky Lime looked around at the classic trailers on display at KOA Campgrounds and was ready to open her checkbook.
A friend from Crawfordsville had invited Lime, who lives in Indianapolis, to the public open house Saturday for the Mid-Central Indiana Vintage Camper Rally, where owners show off their rebuilt miniature recreational vehicles.
“That’s trouble for me because I’ve wanted a canned ham [camper] for like, forever,” Lime said, standing outside a peach-colored 1970 Chaparral trailer owned by people from Brazil, Indiana. “And then the other side of me says, now, what are you are going to do with it?”
About 30 campers registered for the event, which travels to campgrounds throughout the Midwest. This was the rally’s sixth year in Crawfordsville.
“We’re addicted to this kind of lifestyle,” co-host Buffy Wilkerson said as visitors stepped inside the red-and-white 1961 Shasta Compact she shares with her partner, John Howard.
Rows of trailers decorated in a paradise theme lined the campground. Leessa Levendoski’s version of paradise is shopping, as shown by the Christmas tree decorated with clothing store bags sitting outside the 1967 Shasta Air Flight she restored with her husband, Tom.
A credit card wreath hung on the camper as a baby doll sat in a toy electric car surrounded by bags. Home shopping channels were “tuned” on a fake television set.
Tom had a different idea of bliss: a day without chores. His side of the campsite featured an idle lawn mower and a chair with a bottle of beer in the cupholder.
The couple, which lives near Michigan City, attends at least five rallies each year around Indiana. During one recent event, fellow campers pitched in to help fix a broken-down trailer.
“Everybody’s like a family here,” Leessa said.
When Kevin and Brenda Burk of Greenfield arrived at KOA last year, they came as visitors. Their 1968 Timberline, purchased from another rally couple, wasn’t yet ready for show.
This year, visitors ducked in to the 14-foot long red-and-white trailer to see the sofa reupholstered with denim used from jeans purchased at Goodwill. The ceiling was covered with maps Kevin’s parents used on trips with the Winnebago club.
The couple spent weeks personalizing the camper, uncovering the original gold-and-white paint scheme as they replaced windows.
Seated around the campfire during a rally last fall, Brenda decided the colors didn’t stand out.
“He said, you’re going to repaint this,” Brenda recalled, “and I said, uh-huh.”
