TEHKUMMAH—Gordon’s Park Eco Resort co-owner Rita Gordon now has two shiny trophies to gaze upon as she sits at her desk finishing up the paperwork from the summer season and getting ready for next year, the newest edition from Camping Ontario cites Gordon’s as Campground of the Year—Small Award.
“It’s pretty exciting,” said Ms. Gordon. “It’s awesome to get that recognition. First it was Attractions Canada in 2001 and now the 2015 award for Campground of the Year from Camping Ontario.”
“We were pretty happy,” said Ms. Gordon, who travelled to the Camping Ontario gala in Windsor to receive their latest award. “Everyone has really contributed to this,” continued Ms. Gordon. “The Expositor coverage has always been very helpful.”
But it has been the constant innovation and upgrades by the Gordons that have developed the campground into the outstanding attraction it is today.
“We were extremely excited to have one of our Northern campgrounds win the Campground of the Year—Small Award,” said Alexandra Anderson, executive director of Camping In Ontario. “Gordon’s Park Eco Resort is an excellent example of how camping is evolving. The campground offers many different accommodation choices to consumers in a very natural setting.”
Gordon’s Park has been featured in a popular song by the comedy group The Arrogant Worms, a tongue-in-cheek ode to a previous iteration of the campground and trails, but it is in the couple’s whole-hearted embrace of the Dark Skies Sanctuary status of Manitoulin Island that has really put the resort on the map—that and a spring/summer/fall schedule of events that would be the envy of operations many times the Gordon’s size.
Another thing that has helped Gordon’s Park Eco Resort’s success tremendously has been its staff. “We have been fortunate to have the same staff returning to us for the past three years,” said Ms. Gordon. “It looks like we will have the same staff all returning again next year.”
The gala took place at the Windsor Casino on the waterfront, a location that had Ms. Gordon enthralled. “It is a beautiful park setting,” she said. “Looking across the water at the Chrysler building all lit up was breathtaking.”
As Ms. Gordon was being interviewed the sound of a tractor could be heard in the background. “That’s Terry working outside,” she laughed. “There are tables to put away and a thousand jobs to do before winter sets in and even more to get ready in the spring.”
The real award for all the work she and her husband put into their business comes with each returning happy customer. “That really makes it all worthwhile,” she said. “You make so many new friends.”
