The following is a report from The Times-Tribune of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
A business born in a backyard that provided temporary living spaces for residents impacted by the Agnes Flood will shut down at the end of the month.
Wide World RV Center Inc. in Plains Township, Pennsylvania, will close its doors Oct. 31 after nearly 60 years of serving the community.
Guy and Joan DiAndriole were inspired to start the business outside their Old Forge home in 1966 after purchasing a 13-foot Serro Scotty camping trailer in 1962 and embarking on trips with their three daughters – Faith Hales, Francine Ogonosky and Maria Torre.
Ogonosky recalls the cozy sleeping arrangements as a child.
“We had five people and the camper had a dinette area that dropped down to a bed,” she said. “You unrolled the canvas cot and that’s where we slept. You had to make sure you did everything before you got in, and as little kids that’s kind of hard, because then we were up there until the next morning.”
In 1967, the family’s three-car garage was transformed into an office, service center and store, and the DiAndriole’s had eight campers for sale.
For Ogonosky, growing up with campers in the backyard was a treat.
“When we were elementary school age, we had all these trailers in our backyard and a little girl’s dream is always to have her own little dollhouse, and we had many,” she said. “We always wanted to sleep in the campers and every once in a while mom and dad would let us.”
Hales cherished the family time spent together exploring different areas.
“We always had fun no matter when we went,” she said. “It was just about getting away from home and going to see a destination. It was very simple, but it was enough.”
Sometimes the drives didn’t go exactly as planned, specifically a trip to Disney World in Florida, Hales said.
“We were pulling the trailer with a station wagon and it kept overheating,” she said. “We had to keep stopping and when we got all the way to Georgia, my father said we have to turn around. Once we turned around, we didn’t have one problem all the way home. The car was fine. We couldn’t figure it out, but we weren’t destined to do Disney at that point.”
Significant revenue from sales to a government agency catapulted the company forward when flooding from Hurricane Agnes ravaged the greater Wilkes-Barre area in 1972.
“When Agnes hit, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development contacted my dad and asked if we could get campers to house people in Forty Fort,” Ogonosky said. “My dad contacted manufacturers and he sold 60 to 90 campers to HUD. It was a major boost for a little backyard dealership.”
The business relocated to its current location on Highway 315 in Plains Twp. and incorporated itself as Wide World RV Center Inc. the same year.
The dealership later introduced enclosed cargo trailers, utility trailers and dump trailers to make it a year-round business.
Hales, Ogonosky and Torre took on bigger roles with the business during the past 10 to 15 years ago and experienced steady growth as interest in camping has grown. However, they felt the time was right to step aside.
“We’ve decided we’re going to retire and we’re coming down to the last few weeks,” Torre said. “We’re an icon on this highway. This is the end of an era.”
She added there wasn’t a viable option to keep the business running.
“We did think of carrying on the legacy, but our children are all grown and some don’t live in the area anymore,” Torre said. “They’ve all moved on with their careers so there wasn’t anyone behind us and it didn’t financially make sense for us to sell the business to someone else.”
Torre expressed gratitude for the many customers who frequented the store throughout the decades.
“We’re thankful and feel blessed that the community supported our business for all these years,” she said. “They were kind to us and became like family.”
It wasn’t an easy decision for the three women who grew up around the business, Ogonosky said.