March 29, 2004 - Winnebago County

Willow Creek Resort Members Take Action

Updated 3/29/04 by Britten Follett for WTVO Channel 17

Members of a Rockford camp ground are speaking out. They say Willow Creek, a resort south of Rockford, has been closed for quite some time. but they're still being charged dues.

Members say over the past 20 years, they have paid about $5,000 a piece to become members of Willow Creek Resort.

Today, the campground is locked up but members signed a life-long lease, agreeing to pay nearly $200 a year in dues for 99 years.

" Now that the lifetime membership, it's a defunct campground, what do we get for the rest of our 80 years, 75 years that we own a resort that isn't operating?" asks Murna Lindsey, a member of Willow Creek, who organized the meeting.

Members say, the resort was up and running until a flood destroyed much of the campground.

" After the 1996 flood most of the members quit paying their dues because nothing was ever getting built. The swimming pool was never operational, the community building, all the facilities were getting neglected," explains Lindsey.

But members worry about the consequences if they don't continue to pay.

" People are scared and for a couple hundred dollars a year, it's better to pay than to worry about what's going to happen if you go to court," explains John Schiller, another member.

They hope the days of dumping money into an empty campground will come to an end.

" I would be nice to get a sum of what we paid to join. It was a 99-year lease, and we're 10 years or so it's not that. We get 90 percent or so back that would be fair," adds Schiller.

As for Willow Creek, the answering machine says the camp grounds will re-open May 1.

Willow Creek members say they are considering legal action and trying to notify as many members as possible. They are also urging members to file complaints with the Attorney General's office.

WTVO contacted the Willow Creek Office but no one was available for comment.