HURON – He inherited the ‘Camper Bob’ moniker when he accepted the job 16 years ago.
But Bob Houge, going strong at nearly 81 years old, has certainly earned all the accolades he gets for keeping folks happy while camping at each South Dakota State Fair and all of the growing number of off-season events in between.
State Fair Manager Peggy Besch refers to him as the “Energizer Bunny.”
“The man goes 100 miles an hour,” she said. “I don’t know where he gets his energy.
“He’s extremely passionate about the job he does out here and is very conscious about customer service and our revenue, because, obviously, camping is a big revenue stream for us,” Besch said.
This weekend, Camper Bob was on duty for the North Central Simmental Show and the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Races.
A retired investment broker, he once was a volunteer campground host at West Bend. He volunteered during the races at State Fair Speedway.
State Fair staff talked him into trying out the job as camping superintendent on the fairgrounds and he accepted, although he says he was pretty nervous that first year.
“I kind of got a little panicky about that time,” Houge said. “I’d been camp host out at West Bend. No problems at all.”
But  that wasn’t the case when he started serving as fairgrounds camping superintendent. But gradually it all worked out, and he said it really got better when Shelly Noonan joined the State Fair staff.
“That made a big difference,” he said. “Her ability to work with the campers solves a lot of problems; they’re solved before they happen.
“We pack them in here and we don’t get any complaints,” Houge said.
With a crew helping him, he marks out all the camping and car parking spots with a striping machine prior to each State Fair.

Once the campground is full and he’s not as busy, he spends time moving around the grounds to see how things can be done better the next year.
In South Dakota, a big campground accommodates 100 to 120 campers. But, while not all of the spots are on the fairgrounds, each State Fair attracts more than 2,000 campers, with about 300 more on the waiting list.
Houge said he loves the contact with the people. “I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t like campers,” he said.
“If you’re on a downhill, a business going down, it isn’t very much fun,” he said. “The first year we had 860 or 870 campers. Last year we topped 2,000 for the fair.”
The year before he came on board, one fellow named Bob was the camping superintendent. Another Bob was the guy on the water truck. When they were called on the radio, one was referred to as Camper Bob; the other as Water Bob.
The Camper Bob name continued when Houge was hired.
During his business life, he said he stayed in a lot of nice hotels.
“They were really top level hotels,” he said. “I’ve never seen a hotel yet that I’ve liked as well as a campground.
“People are friendly; it’s just a laid-back atmosphere, you know.”
Houge said some people may think he’s a little too lenient.
“But, you know, if you aren’t doing something to hurt our facilities or your fellow camper, why should I worry about it?” he said.
“I hire a crew and I say, ‘now don’t get any pistol matches going out there because I don’t like them,” he said.
“If I listen to the camper usually they can come up with a really good solution,” he said. “We’ve just got it worked out to where the problems are minimal now. We just don’t have them.”
Houge said he sees his main responsibility to be one of keeping the campers happy.
“It’s their vacation after all,” he said.
Parties among campers on the state fairgrounds are a part of the experience.
When he once mentioned it to law enforcement officers patrolling grounds, they came back with “Amen.” They’d much rather have parties on the grounds than having people on the road after a party.
Besch said Houge is always trying to figure out how to improve things on the campgrounds.
“Every year he comes up with new ideas to enhance the camping experience, to make things go smoother,” she said.
Houge has no plans to retire again.
“I work with the inmates and they usually kind of tease me a little bit – ‘Camper Bob, how long are you going to do that?’ – and I say, ‘well, I’m going to go to 80 and then I’ll go on the five-year plan.’”
He’s on the five-year plan now.
Enjoying company with 2,000 to 3,000 friends he says he wouldn’t have otherwise.
“It’s just been a really good run for me,” Camper Bob said. “If you keep the peace, that’s the whole thing.”