Harmony Speaks: A Conversation with Holiday Hills’ Community Manager, Katy Eckman

On the coast of Oregon in a town called Lincoln Beach sits the stunning beachside community known as Holiday Hills. From her home inside the community, Holiday Hills’ Community Manager Katy Eckman can watch whales, pelicans, baby seals, and more on the harbor, Depoe Bay. Baby sand dollars wash up on their beach. “It’s the most amazing place to live,” Eckman says. “When the tides are high, the waves will crash against the sea wall and over Highway 101 in Depoe Bay. The view is breath-taking.”

Located two-and-a-half hours from Portland, Lincoln Beach draws 10,000 visitors in the winter months and 30,000-40,000 visitors during the summer. “It’s definitely a tourist town,” says Eckman. “We can watch the Coast Guard practice their drills. Storm watching is amazing. People visit Depoe Bay to go deep-sea fishing, crabbing, or take a boat out to see the whales up close.”

She offers this word of warning for first-time whale-watchers who venture out to view these magnificent species by boat: “When they greet you, they stink!”

Holiday Hills: A History

Although Harmony Communities has only owned Holiday Hills since 2018, the park and many of its residents have lived there for far longer – some for twenty years or longer. Holiday Hills was first established by the Bodeker family in 1960, and at that time was primarily used for tent camping. Over the years, visitors began bringing camper trailers. When the park was passed to the next generation, Andy Bodeker’s daughter introduced RVs and mobile homes.

Andy Bodeker’s grandson took over the park in 2017 and though it had been his dream to own and operate the park, health reasons prohibited him from continuing to do so. He maintained ownership for one year before selling the park to Harmony Communities.

Community Improvements

Upon acquiring Holiday Hills, Harmony Communities quickly went to work making needed improvements. “They put new water lines in,” says Eckman. “And since the ground was already dug up for the water lines, they had our cable and power lines placed underground as well. Now there are no more wires all over the park.”

Holiday Hills, which receives rain as much as 300 days out of the year, had loose rock roads, so Harmony Communities paved the park’s roadways and installed driveway pads for all its residents as well.

“Harmony has done amazing things to the park,” Eckman says. “Everything they’ve done has improved our community.”

Full-time resident Cathy Richway-Roberts adds, “I feel very secure and safe here, and that’s important to me.” Originally from southern California, Richway-Roberts moved to Holiday Hills from Idaho two years ago. “I can’t think of a better place to live,” she says. “It feels like a little community, my home, and where I’m supposed to be.”

A Community That Looks Out for One Another

As in much of the country and world, 2020 brought its share of difficulties to the residents of Holiday Hills, not only with the Covid-19 pandemic but with the wildfires as well. The property was thankfully spared from any damage from the wildfires, which impacted areas about 15-20 miles away. Still, “we all pulled together,” Eckman says. “When we woke up, it was pitch red and hard to breathe. We were all ready to help each other.

That sense of community helped set the stage for what was to come when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Although community-wide events have come to a halt for now – events like the annual potlucks Holiday Hills typically holds each summer were canceled in order to comply with guidelines concerning gatherings with people outside the home – people in the community still look out for one another. “It’s a family here,” says Eckman. “If someone is in trouble, we’re right there with meals and rides and whatever they need.”

The People Who Call Holiday Hills Home

An “eclectic group” of residents call Holiday Hills home, Eckman says, including many retirees and several families as well. Those who do work do so at one of the many hospitality jobs in the area, including the local gift shops and a nearby casino. During the winter, it’s difficult to find jobs, Eckman says.

Of the 94 spaces in the park, 83 are occupied and one-third of those by residents who consider their property in Holiday Hills a vacation home. Approximately 10-15 spaces are occupied by RVs, while the remaining spaces have double- or even triple-wide mobile homes. Holiday Hills doesn’t accept overnight guests, instead offering only month-to-month leases. “We don’t have a high turnover,” Eckman says.

A Typical Day for an Anything-But-Typical Community Manager

On a typical day, Katy Eckman begins her morning with a walk around the park to check for downed tree limbs. “It gets windy here,” she explains. Then she responds to her emails or gets a space ready to show as needed.

Mostly, she’s there for her residents and they know that well.

“During open deck time last summer, one of the residents gave Katy a crown,” recalls Richway-Roberts. “She’s very caring and if there’s something she can do to make the park a better place, she’s all over it. She’s taken people to doctor visits, has gone to their homes in the middle of the night. She’s our go-to girl.”

“I love my job,” Eckman says. “I am the perfect manager for this park because my heart and soul is in this park. No matter what kind of day you’re having, when you look through the window and see the ocean or go for a walk, it makes everything better.”

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At Harmony Communities, we feel strongly that each resident has a sense of home. That they come home from work and feel pride in their environment and in their place in the greater community. That families are comfortable raising children in our neighborhoods, and that couples and singles know that they belong to something bigger than their four walls. In other words, we seek to create harmony within each community, making our communities not just passable, but peaceful, safe, functional, and beautiful.