2025 Traverse City, MI R-Pod Rally - Event Date: 12 Jun 2025 - 15 Jun 2025

This will be our 6th consecutive Rally held at Holiday Park Campground, which is located just south of Traverse City, Michigan.  For planning purposes, it has been and will continue to be held each year over Father’s Day weekend (this year checking in on June 12^th, and checking out on June 15^th).  Holding it during this shoulder season weekend allows us to request 30-35 sites each year from a campground that’s extremely popular.  30 sites have been reserved for this year’s rally, and site registration closed on March 31, 2025.  Anyone desiring to still attend will need to contact the campground directly to see if any sites are available.

June 12^th, being the first day of the Rally and the arrival date for most, is intentionally laid back, with no official Rpod Rally events scheduled.  Those interested are welcome to spend 3-4 hours around an informal bonfire starting around 6 pm at Site 177, which we commonly refer to as Command Central.  We call Site 177 Command Central because all official Traverse City Rpod Rally activities happen there.  

This year, as with last year, a few campers have decided to play a round of golf while in the Traverse City Region.  If you’re interested in doing so, please email Rich Richardson at gr8dreamer@richerich.com no later than May 15, 2025.  Tee time at the nearby Crown Gold Course is around 8 AM on Thursday, June 12^th, and Rich has managed to get the cost down from $85 per round (with a golf cart) to $62 per round.  Thanks Rich!

Also this year, the Traverse City Pit Spitters baseball team’s home schedule coincidentally coincided with our Rpod Rally, so we’ve included another optional event for Thursday, June 12^th.  The Pit Spitters play in the college-level Northwoods League, and that night they’ll be taking on the Kalamazoo Growlers beginning at 7 PM at beautiful Turtle Creek Stadium, which is also nearby.  Tickets are $12/ person for seats behind home plate.  Hot dogs at the stadium that night cost $2, and selected beers cost $3.  So far, 28 campers have indicated their desire to attend, and their names and the number of seats they’ve requested appear at the end of this email.  If you still want to join us, email me immediately at kellycg@aol.com.  We have 4 additional seats currently reserved, but with sufficient advance notice, I should be able to get more seats nearby the rest of us. The address to which all attendees should send their payments also appears at the end of this email. 

Friday is intentionally set aside as free time to visit the gorgeous Traverse City area, until 6 PM that is.  At 6 PM, we will all gather at Site 177 for a potluck, with everyone bringing a dish to pass and/or dessert, their own beverages, and their own table settings.  Very tasty hot dogs are the main dish, courtesy of your hosts.  Those wishing to eat something else are certainly free to bring or grill same on their own.

After dinner, we'll give away some promotional items provided by Forest River.  We’ll then have a lengthy conversation about all things Rpods, hosted by some of our more talented and knowledgeable Rpod owners, where everyone gets a chance to share stories and ask questions of the experts.  Thereafter, those wishing to do so will spend the rest of the night around the bonfire at Site 177 getting to know one another better.

On Saturday from 11-2 PM, we host a “Tour ‘de Rpod,” during which time those willing to open up their Rpods to fellow campers get an opportunity to show others what improvements they’ve made.  Participation is totally voluntary, but better than 75% of campers typically choose to participate.  Some people even claim this is the best part of the entire weekend!  Then it’s free time for the rest of the day, until we once again gather at 6PM.

At 6 PM, we’ll once again convene at Site 177 for a leftovers potluck and more hot dogs.  After dinner, we’ll be holding our back-by-popular-demand White Elephant gift exchange for those wishing to participate.  You can bring either 1 or 2 items, valued at no more than $25 each, for this fun-filled event hosted by yours truly.  Allow us to suggest that if there’s something peculiar to your hometown or your area/region, that you consider bringing that along as one of your gift(s). 

Every participant pulls a number out of the hat, and each gift can be stolen/acquired by others up to a total of 3 times maximum.  Participation in this gift exchange, as with all other official Rpod Rally activities, is entirely optional but highly encouraged.  After that, we once again convene around the bonfire on Site 177  to enjoy our last night of camping together if so desired

That’s about it.  Very laid back.  Very friendly atmosphere.  Lots of intentionally built-in downtime.  Attendance and participation in all optional and official events totally voluntary.  It’s not uncommon for games of euchre and corn hole to crop up during down time.  Also, even though Traverse City has so much to offer visitors, most people typically hang around the campground the entire weekend.

This year Stephanie Socha also designed Traverse City Rpod Rally t-shirts and sweatshirts in a variety of colors.  If interested, I would ask that you contact Stephanie directly via email at slsocha@sbcglobal.net  as soon as possible as the Rpod Rally is only 6.5 weeks away.

Those planning on attending the baseball game on June 12^th are asked to send a check in the amount of $12 per ticket to Jack Kelly, 10100 E. Avondale Lane, Traverse City, Michigan 49684.

Hopefully that gives you an idea of what the 2025 Traverse City Rpod Rally is all about.  As this year’s Coordinator, please let me know if you have any further questions by responding directly to this email.

Finally, the following list shows current 2025 Traverse City Rpod Rally campers, their site numbers, and those who’ve indicated their intention thus far to attend the June 12^th Traverse City Pit Spitters’ baseball game:

Schultz-  site 141

Mertz-  site 142 (Pit Spitters-2)

O’Dell-  site 143 (Pit Spitters-2)

Rosacher-  site 144 (Pit Spitters-3)

Perry-  site 145 (Pit Spitters-2)

Breen-  site 146 

Butler-  site 149 (Pit Spitters-2)

Socha-  site 163 (Pit Spitters-2)

Loy-  site 164

Bissonnette-  site 165

Dukatz-  site 172

Franckowiak-  site 173

Richardson-  site 174 (Pit Spitters-3)

Lengle-  site 175 (Pit Spitters-2)

Raupp-  site 176 (Pit Spitters-2)

Tollefson-  site 177

Swartz-  site 178

Birkhoffer-  site 184

Watters-  site 185

Seal-  site 186 (Pit Spitters-2)

Pacuta-  site 187 (Pit Spitters-2)

Wieringa-   site 188

Kelly-  site 189 (Pit Spitters-2)

Makela-  site 190

Beyer-  site 192

Starr-  site 193

Warden-  site 194

Miller-  site 195

Terry-  site 214

Corey-  site 215 (Pit Spitters-2)

Very sincerely yours,

Jim and Diane Tollefson, site 177

Jay and Debbie Raupp, site 176

Jack and Gail Kelly, site 189