Harvey Mickelson was visibly moved when he recently received the Jack Denton Memorial Award from the Arizona Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (Arizona ARVC).
“I consider Jack Denton to be a towering figure in the RV industry, and I never considered myself to be on his level,” said Mickelson, who co-owns and operates J&H RV Park with his wife, Jo Ann. “He was such a prince of a man. He was so helpful to others. I never thought I would get this award in my lifetime. It gives me a huge sense of pride. That’s why this award was so surprising and so humbling.”
Jo Ann Mickelson is co-executive director of Arizona ARVC and managed to keep the award a secret right up until the moment the Arizona ARVC president presented Mickelson the award April 17 during the association’s annual convention.
Jo Ann Mickelson herself received the Jack Denton Memorial Award in 2015.
Denton, who died in 2012, was a campground and RV park industry pioneer who founded the Flagstaff KOA and helped establish the precursor of Arizona ARVC, the Arizona Travel Parks Association, as well as the National Campground Owners Association, which later became the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds.
While Harvey Mickelson never held an ARVC board position at the national level, he has regularly donated his time to support Arizona ARVC and its members for more than a dozen years, personally distributing hundreds of thousands of Arizona ARVC’s campground directories at the nine-day Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show.
“I would visit anyplace where they would give information out to newcomers on what there is in the area to see,” Mickelson said, adding, “It helps to get them out in the far reaches of Arizona. The newcomers come in from out of state and they want to know where to go and where to find campgrounds. It’s one of the services we offer to our members.”
More information on J&H RV Park is available at www.flagstaffrvparks.com.