ARANSAS COUNTY, Texas — The day is special for Winter Texans.
“We just walked in but there’s a lot of people,” one Winter Texan said.
It’s Winter Texan Appreciation Day, a time city leaders in Rockport say thank you.
The Rockport Fulton RV Park Council organizes the event each year. Katie Mcleod is the President.
“I will say that me personally for my business as an RV park and a local community member. I heavily rely on winter Texans,” Mcleod said.
Mcleod and her team counted 2,500 Winter Texans who walked through the doors in the event’s seventh year.
Mcleod tells KRIS 6 News that’s only a small fraction of how many are in the city.
“Winer Texans can come from Canada from anywhere up north and we even had people from Switzerland who came here to winter with us. It’s a huge influx for the community,” Mcleod said.
Marg Vandezande, from Wisconsin, keeps coming back. This year is her 17th.
“Even after coming back here for many years, we still learn new things about the area,” Vandezande said.
As Winter Texans like Marg enjoy exploring for a short amount of time, others like David Skunes wants to see the view a lot longer.
“We had an RV, and we decided we wanted to live here. We bought a house in Fulton,” Skunes said.
“We sold our camper and now we’re renting from Golden Beach Bungalow,” Carol Simetkosky
All of those things, according to the RV Council, boost the Rockport community’s economy.
Also helping the big boost in Rockport is Stan Botterill, who drove more than 1500 miles from Chatam-Ontario, Canada.
“You’re outside playing or walking to a friend’s place. You really can’t do that at home when there’s snow and where it’s cold,” Botterill said.
While they rave about the great weather here, some told me they are looking at next week’s forecast and making plans to stay warm.
