The Write Stuff Could Win Campground

Retha Anderson is tired and ready to offer up the family business as a prize in an essay contest.

Someone with $500 and the right 500 words could cash in on Anderson’s Campground. Her family could retire with $1.2 million before taxes.

After 25 grandchildren and her husband Larrey’s round with cancer, she said it is time to retire.

“I want to play with my grandchildren,” she said.

None of their five children, including former state Sen. Larrey Anderson, is willing or able to take over the business, located at the Kimberly exit of Interstate 84, she added.

They tried to sell in 1991, but because of problems with the buyers it was returned in 1993, Anderson said.

Then her daughter, Mary Ann Stanger, saw “Spitfire Grill.” In the movie, a restaurant is given as a prize. The owner was in a position similar to her parents, said Stanger, a Kimberly resident.

“It’s hard for them. They’ve been wanting to retire for so long and it’s so difficult to find a buyer for that, and a realtor takes such a big chunk,” Stanger said.

Participants pay a $500 fee and write an essay stating, in 500 words or less, why the campground should belong to their family. The family will determine the 20 finalists, then the Twin Falls Area Chamber of Commerce will choose the winner.

The 19 other finalists get back their $500. There will be no outstanding bills or taxes when the new owners take over in January 1997, Retha Anderson said.

“If we do not receive 2,500 (entries) then everyone will receive their money back,” she said. The Andersons could earn at least $1.2 million from entry fees.

The 20-acre property includes a four-bedroom home, grocery store and inventory, mini-golf course, gas station, large hall, 125 campsites and two mobile homes. Anderson did not know the appraised value.

The contest sounds all right under state law, which provides for games of skill or endurance when the prize can only be won by the entrant, said Bob Cooper, attorney general’s office spokesman.