Campbellsville is a small town. I think I’ve already mentioned that previously.
It was founded in 1817 and is named after Andrew Campbell, who moved there from Virginia. He owned a gristmill and a tavern and began selling lots in Campbellsville in 1814.
The population grew slowly. The earliest census data I found was for 1860, when there were 446 residents. It had periods of growth and contraction. The largest population was in 2000, when there were 10,498 folks living there. 9,108 folks were counted in the 2010 census.
I imagine the dip in population over the last few years is due to the Fruit of the Loom plant closing.
That plant closed in 1998.
The Fruit of the Loom plant wasn’t vacant that long. The Amazon Fulfillment Center opened there in 1999, and it replaced some of the jobs that were lost when Fruit of the Loom exported their jobs to the Caribbean and Central America.
This is why I came to Campbellsville. They hire seasonal workers with RVs for Peak Season as part of their “CamperForce.”
Part of the package is that they put us up in RV parks in the area. I imagine that it is quite a boon for the RV park operators to have an extended season. Rather than closing up after Labor Day as many places do, these folks have full occupancy until Christmas.
My start date wasn’t until the middle of October. CamperForce workers had started rolling in at the end of August, so I really had to scramble to find a campsite. I finally did find a spot at a place that I think was a person’s private campground that he runs for family and friends.
It was kind of an odd arrangement.
It was in the middle of a field and he had hook ups for maybe six or seven campers. There was no on-site management or permanent structures – unless you count open-sided shelters that seemed like places to hold a family reunion.
After about a week, I managed to get into a site at Green River Resort, where I stayed when I was part of CamperForce in 2014. The day I moved to my new campsite, I had an unpleasant surprise.
When I disconnected my power cord, I found that it had melted. In the words of Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent, “What The Heck?!”
Then I had to look to see what the power outlet looked like.
Man! I guess I am lucky that I didn’t have a fire.
But, it was an opportunity. Oh, those blessed opportunities! I sure hope 2017 provides fewer of these sorts of opportunities.
I started calling around to try to find a mobile RV technician that would be able to come help me. I left a few messages and then figured that I could go get the parts I would need.
In talking to the guy at the RV shop, I asked how hard it would be to do it myself. He said it was easy. When I got back to the RV resort, I opened the package and read the directions. It did look easy.
And so I did it myself! I got everything hooked up and working in about an hour.
Hooray for me!
Green River Resort has a loyal following of people who come back every summer, and I’ll bet people who are there for cookouts, campfires and splashing in the pool while on vacation have a grand time.
The CamperForce people are there to work, and they roll into the Resort in all manner of rigs.
This is one of the smallest units I’ve ever seen – outside of a tear drop trailer. I never met the people who belonged with this trailer. I would have liked to have met them, but when people work all sorts of shifts, you never knock on their doors. If you don’t see them out and about, you never meet them.
This is the largest get-up I think I’ve ever seen anywhere! A tractor that has its own small quarters behind the driver’s seat, a huge fifth wheel AND a Smart car wedged between the two of them!
There was this smaller sized Class C rig of indeterminate age that was a joy-filled place with seasonal decorations. It was customized by the owners with anime images they painted on the side. They had two or three children traveling with them.
At our first day of work, they took our photos for our ID cards. I still had the one I got in 2014, which is on the left. The on-the-road lifestyle seems to suit me, I’d say.
I haven’t aged a bit. (or something like that)
Amazon didn’t work out as well for me this year. I still enjoyed the work, and I got the department I requested. I had worked in ICQA last time and so I was happy to work in that department again. ICQA is what I’d describe as “quality control”. I am not sure what the initials stand for. No one seems to know what the initials stand for in any of the departments, but we all know what the departments do.
My job was to make sure that the right items were in the bins. I would walk around the huge plant and count whatever I was assigned to count. I actually enjoyed the work.
The part that didn’t work for me was that they had switched over to mostly apparel. All the items were wrapped in plastic and ready to ship.
I never really thought about it all that much, but clothing is HEAVY! The next time you are in a department store with a display of jeans, pick up a stack of them.
Then, imagine that those heavy jeans are individually wrapped in slippery plastic and that they are trying to slide every which way.
Further, imagine that you are up on a ladder trying to wrangle this shifting load.
After a few weeks, I decided that I didn’t really need the money badly enough to risk falling off a ladder and getting hurt.
So, I did something I’d never done before.
I just quit.
Oh, we parted on amicable terms. I went in to explain why I was leaving and to thank the people I’d worked with. I even took in cookies for break.
I had things to do and places to go!