“Properties Never Stay the Same”

A Conversation with George Igualt

By Dale Dauten

We recently got to sit down with George Igualt for our annual review of plans for off-season updates to the park. But, first, we took the opportunity to get him to reminisce about his years as head of the parks’ management team. We started by inquiring about low points and high points and learned that his worst moments came early:

“It was 2018,” George recalled, “my first year taking over the management. I’d been working for the owners for years, but that year I got my broker’s license and Al LaCanne said, ‘Here you go’ — and my company was in charge of managing the properties, one hundred percent. And then, not long after, we had the storm that collapsed the roof at Silveridge. The fire department came and shut down most of the facilities. The residents’ homes were all okay, but we had no park offices. We had no internet. No power. My solution for that situation was to get us a portable building and put it in the parking lot. I was expecting something like a portable classroom. No. The insurance company sent a metal box. We pumped AC into it and we ran cables for internet. And the team rallied. Plus, the residents at The Resort welcomed Silveridge residents to their events and facilities and everyone made it work. Then, the next year, we had what I call the ‘mini-tornado’ at The Resort — it tore roofs off some park models and tossed around awnings and did damage around the park.”

(George Igualt)

So, in response to our asking about low points, here was the tally: two years on the job and two major weather-related crises. Thankfully, the weather has been kinder to the parks in this decade, but memories of turning around a long-running frustration led to George singling out this highpoint:

“For years we struggled to get internet access to everyone in the parks. The owners really wanted to provide that service for residents and we hired suppliers who said they could make it happen. But the internet just wasn’t reliable — problem after problem. So we changed suppliers. At the time, these internet systems were still rapidly evolving, and an RV park offered special challenges, so the problems didn’t end. Then, as luck would have it, one day I was in getting some pants tailored and I ran into my old t-ball coach’s son. I asked him what he’d been up to and he told me he was with a company that sold internet services. That’s how I met Jesse and Mickey. And they figured out how to solve the problems nobody else could solve. So, finding Jesse and Mickey — that’s a highlight.”

Speaking of highlights, we next asked George to fill us in on the major work that being is over the summer.

PLANS FOR THE OFFSEASON AT THE RESORT

As we got to our discussion of offseason projects, George sighed, knowing he had to disappoint some people to make a greater number happy: “The wait times to get on the court for pickleball has gotten so long that we have to convert one of the tennis courts into four pickleball courts. It’s… well, it’s time.”

Plus, it’s also time to protect the pickleball players from balls flying out of the softball field: “We’re not sure exactly how it will work just yet,” George explained, “but we’ll be installing nets to stop the balls coming into the pickleball courts — we’re just getting too many foul balls coming over. I know the softball players created a warning system, but when I heard how often it had to be used, I knew we had to up our safety precautions.”

In addition to protecting the pickleball courts, there will also be new replacement nets going in around the perimeter of the softball field.

Also, beyond the usual offseason work on landscaping and other routine maintenance, there will be fresh paint being applied: “Mike Hacker [head of Maintenance] loves painting and he’s really good at it,” George told us. “So residents will see fresh paint on several buildings, including those that house Fitness, Laundry, Lapidary, Silversmithing, Glasswork and other shops/classrooms.”

George having mentioned Al LaCanne of the ownership team gives us an excuse to end by reprinting a photo we love, George (left) with Al…