Shell Factory stays busy during summer
Just because summer has arrived, that doesn’t mean the Shell Factory has rolled up the pavement and gone into hibernation for the “off season.”
The historic attraction, which has seen attendance grow a whopping 40 percent this year, has lots of fun planned for the summer, including Father’s Day and Christmas in July
They expect continued good attendance as families turn out.
The Memorial Day celebration, for example, brought hundreds of families out, according to Rick Tupper, chief financial officer and marketing director.
“Memorial Day was very successful. It goes along the lines of starting out small and getting bigger. We had an awful lot of families,” Tupper said. The fun park and Nature Park were very busy and everyone had a good time.”
Next in line is Father’s Day, which will feature a lot of specials just for dad, including free admission into the Nature Park and rides on the zip line, as well as free rounds of mini golf for the whole family.
There will also be live entertainment and a special cookout menu.
“We’re really trying to get families in here with their dads. We typically haven’t done Father’s Day, so this is another one where we start out small and try to make it an annual event,” Tupper said.
Tupper said he plans to do something on July 4, but will keep it small so as not to interfere or compete with the larger events with fireworks.
Perhaps the biggest event coming up is the annual Christmas in July at the newly expanded Holiday House, where all items will by marked off 20 percent, with blue-light specials throughout the month.
Thousands of ornaments and high-end collectibles will be on sale, and there will be a 12 Days of Christmas giveaway, where you could win a Christmas House.
Santa Claus will also be making appearances on July 9, 10, 23 and 24 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for those kids who have made their early Christmas lists.
Another big promotion will be daily live music in the Swamp Bay from 4 to 7 p.m. Chuck Pederson will highlight the event on Fridays, which Tupper said they have committed to until the return of season in the fall.
Tupper said they have also expanded the Nature Park, which has seen attendance grow by 23 percent, to include several new animals they have purchased, as opposed to having them donated.
“We just got a toucan and 10 turacos birds which will be in the aviary in addition to the sloth and a few other animals. We continue to upgrade the Nature Park,” Tupper said.
Tupper attributes the growth to Groupon, a marketing campaign that has brought more Latino families, and its Monday Cruise-In which was brought over in January and has been a phenomenal success.
Unlike in past years, where it ended after Memorial Day, Richard Dunmire is going to keep it going for the summer, albeit smaller.
“Richard has gotten together with some car clubs and will keep it going until Larry Day comes back in September,” Tupper said. “At the height, we had 450 cars. It wasn’t long ago that we were closed on Monday.”