PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID Southern Lakes Newspapers
**ecrwss POSTAL CUSTOMER
Lauderdale Lakes BREEZE SUMMER 2020 • Third Edition
MYWALWORTHCOUNTY.COM
FREE
Making waves A slalom water skier glides through Don Jean Bay in Lauderdale Lakes on a recent, warm weekday evening. Skiing and other activities on area lakes has proved a bit more challenging on the weekends when they’re bustling with activity. JACK CRUGER JR. Lauderdale Lakes Breeze
Glamping at a repurposed scout camp BY Tracy Ouellette STAFF WRITER
W
ith the coronavirus putting a serious damper in summer activities across the nation and world, one area couple has a solution to the boredom – go camping! Simona and Jeremy Ebner opened Camp Kettlewood in East Troy recently and are accepting reservations for this summer.
“It’s a very interesting time to open a business, that’s for sure,” Simona Ebner said. “We didn’t know what would happen, but being a private campground it’s probably one of the better places to be.” The Ebners purchased the former Oak Knoll Girl Scout Camp at W3524 Highway 20, East Troy, in June 2019 and have spent the last year fixing up the campgrounds and renovating the lodge. “It had some good bones,” Simona Ebner said. “We put
in a kitchen and created some bedrooms and then in the fall we turned our attention to fixing up the campgrounds. Jeremy has spent a lot of time blazing a trail through the woods. It’s amazing how much time and money it takes to turn a campground into a campground. Who would have thought?” Simona said she and her husband decided to move out to the country from Milwaukee because they wanted more space and when they started looking at properties to buy,
One campsite at Camp Kettlewood features this vintage 1957 Holly camper. The campground, owned by Simona and Jeremy Ebner, have “rustic” and “glamping” options for guests. SUBMITTED PHOTO Lauderdale Lakes Breeze
she heard about the Girl Scout camp from a co-worker at Toppers Pizza in Whitewater. “I knew the property, I passed it often and thought, ‘This is interesting,’” she said. With her husband being “such an outdoorsman” Simona thought it would be a good fit. “He would love it and we could fix it up and share it with the community,” she said. “Sort of like flipping a house but way more interesting.” So, the couple, who are in their 30s, decided to take the plunge. “We don’t have kids, but this is such a family friendly, awesome place for exploring and learning about the wilderness we wanted to share that with other families,” Simona said. Fixing it up One of the big issues for the Ebners was they needed to bring everything up to modern code to open. “The Girl Scouts had it in the ’60s and everything was grandfathered in for them, for us, we needed to meet today’s codes,” Simona said. She said that while her husband is a big fan of rustic camping, she is more of a “glamping” type of girl. “So, we met in the middle and decided to offer both types of camping,” Simona said. Part of the experience is the antique feel to the campgrounds, which took some doing, Simona said. “We were in the process of buying this for a while, so the summer before last I went to a lot of vintage flea markets and secondhand stores looking for stuff. I’ve been collecting things for a couple
of years to get the right feel. I really liked doing that,” she said. The Ebners started taking reservations for the campsites on Memorial Day and spots were filling up fast. “We had 12 reservations the first week,” Simona said. What’s on the grounds? Camp Kettlewood has four campsites in total – one rustic site and three “glamping” sites, Simona said. “We have two vintage trailers – a 1977 Airstream and a 1957 Holly camper. We decorated them and fixed them up. They’re all in working order. No air conditioning, but they both have fans and there’s a nice cross breeze.” Kettlewood also has a group See GLAMPING • Page 4
Lauderdale Lakes
BREEZE A publication of Southern Lakes Newspapers LLC
For advertising opportunities in the Breeze or any of our weekly newspapers or other specialized publications, please call PETE HANSEN at (262) 723-2250