This year, the Bill and Marsha Cable family is celebrating the 80th anniversary of Austin Lake, the 80-acre lake that Bill’s parents and grandparents created in a beautiful forested setting in the Ohio River Valley, near the tiny town of Toronto, Ohio.
In addition to being the focal point of Austin Lake RV Park & Cabins, which opened in 1965, the scenic lake is also the site of one of the largest Wibit water playgrounds in Ohio — a massive play area with over 40 individual inflatable structures, including pyramids, trampolines, slides and floating walkways.
The Cables, in fact, just purchased five more Wibit sections last fall, both to replace aging sections and to add new obstacles they didn’t have before.
The Cable family began their Wibit adventure in 2014 with the purchase of two inflatables from Commercial Recreation Specialists (CRS), the Verona, Wis.-based distributor for Wibit Sports GmbH Corp.’s in Bocholt, Germany.
While costing anywhere from $3,000 to $35,000 or more a piece, the Wibits proved to be so popular that the Cables purchased more of them each year, eventually creating a one-acre floating water sports park that can accommodate up to 200 guests at a time.
“It’s our most popular amenity, aside from the lake itself,” said Bill Cable, 79, who has run the 250-site park with his wife, Marsha, since 1990, though Bill has worked at the park since age 12.
The Cables, in fact, have become such important Wibit customers that Pat Whalen, CRS’s product sales specialist, invited them to join the owners and operators of half a dozen private parks across the U.S. and Canada on a multi-day tour through the Wibit Sports GmbH Corp.’s headquarters in Germany.
Bill Cable and his son, Austin, who is now moving into the top management role as the park’s fourth-generation owner/operator, visited the Wibit factory in January.
While the Cables paid for their own flights, Wibit covered their hotels, food and in-country transportation as they toured the facility, where they learned details of how Wibits are made and how best to care for these units to maximize their longevity. The Cables said they purchased a contract that covers the installation, removal, cleaning and preparation of the Wibits for winter storage each year.
The Cables and other park operators were also given an opportunity to visit an indoor aquatic center and to try out the latest inflatables. Even though he was just a few weeks shy of his 80th birthday, Bill Cable didn’t hesitate to dive into the indoor pool and try out the newest Wibit structures himself. An avid swimmer, Cable has logged 8,677 miles of lap swimming over the past 31 years.
Visiting park operators were also given the opportunity to provide Wibit with their own drawings and suggestions on designs for future inflatable attractions.
The Cables told Woodall’s Campground Magazine they aren’t exactly sure how long it takes for each Wibit to pay itself. This is partly because they sell tickets to their Wibit park as a package deal that also includes access to their fleets of kayaks and paddle boats, as well as their pedal karts and tube slide.
But they do know from their past 12 years of experience that Wibits are easily the most-sought-after single amenity at their park, and that Wibits have helped them to broaden their customer base to include significant numbers of day-use visitors, many of whom tell their friends and family about the park and return to camp at Austin Lake, either as overnight or seasonal guests.
Austin Cable says the Wibits are most popular with adolescents and teenagers, although parents often accompany their younger children and even join their older children on the floating obstacle course. Wibit users can be as young as 6 years old.
The only time Wibit use is restricted is when they reach capacity, which can happen a few times on weekends during the busiest summer weekends. When that happens, they rotate groups off the Wibits every hour or so in the afternoons to give everyone a chance to enjoy them.
Austin Lake RV Park & Cabins was built in a narrow valley that includes Austin Lake at the south end of the park. The lake and campground are surrounded by over 1,300 acres of rolling hills with dense stands of hickory, red oaks, white oaks, maples, ash and pine trees.
The park is located just a few miles away from the area where the Cable family originally settled in 1810 after immigrating to the U.S. from Germany and England.
The park features 250 campsites, including 18 park model cabins. About 70% of the campsites are seasonal sites. All campsites are pet-friendly. Dogs cannot go on the sand at the beach but there is a “Bowser Swimming Area” by the boat launch. Dogs are allowed to go on rental pontoons and golf carts.
While Austin Lake RV Park & Cabins has one of the largest Wibit sports parks in the state of Ohio, the park also offers an old-fashioned camping experience, complete with fire pits and grills.
“Cell phones do not work in our area and Internet service is very sketchy,” Bill Cable said, adding, “We look to provide our guests with a weekend away from cellphones and the Internet. Our saying is, ‘There’s so much to do here!’”
