Canoe & campground owners: Rain is good for business - KOAM TV 7

Canoe and camping businesses in Pineville, Missouri are welcoming the rain, but still hope to see some sun over this holiday weekend.

Camper Linda Collins isn't letting a little rain ruin her Labor Day weekend with her family.  The grandmother says her family camps year round so camping in the rain is nothing new.

"We've been down here in all kinds of weather, we canoed down the river one time when it was really pouring down with the tarps over our heads, we were the only people on the river."

Campground owners like people with Linda's attitude.

"For this holiday weekend we've had people who have been coming for the 18 years that we've owned it and they're going to come no matter what the weather is, hot, cold, rainy, sunny, they don't care, they're going to come," says Bill Hanes, the owner of the Eagles Nest Camp Ground.

Most Pineville campground owners welcome  the rain, saying it will help business in the long run.

"It means that I can float boats, canoes, kayaks, and rafts from here," says John Tinsley, the owner of Big Elk Camp and Canoe.  "Haven't done that since June."

With the overnight boost to water levels campground owners say getting wet doesn't matter when your on the river.

"They all know we need the rain so as long as it ain't lightening, we'll put them in the water," says Dave Young, the owner of Kozy Kamp.

For Linda Collins' family, she says if it gets too bad she can always roll up her tent and head to a motel.

Campground owners say they still have plenty of space available for the holiday weekend.