Mel’s, Holiday Acres nominated for inaugural Outdoor Industry Awards

Matthew Day

Staff

August 4, 2025

RHINELANDER – Rhinelander-based businesses Mel’s Trading Post and Holiday Acres Resort were among the nominees for the inaugural Wisconsin Governor’s Outdoor Industry Awards. 

Recreation retailer Mel’s Trading Post was nominated in the Outdoor Business category, while Holiday Acres Resort was nominated in the Outdoor Destination category. 

Per the Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation, the awards were created “to celebrate outstanding accomplishments that drive economic impact and amplify the profile of Wisconsin’s thriving outdoor industry.” 

Emily Popp, front-end manager/social media coordinator at Mel’s, as well as Pete Zambon, manager/fourth-generation co-owner of Holiday Acres, said the statewide recognition had both the businesses’ customers and the broader community buzzing. 

“To see some of the other businesses that were nominated for this award – [they] are phenomenal businesses,” Popp said, “so [for Mel’s] to be seen in the same category as some of these businesses, that are really big, is really exciting.” 

Zambon and Popp said the recognition of each other’s businesses amounted to a brighter spotlight being on the City of Rhinelander. 

“It’s not just, ‘Oh, the one little place from the Northwoods,’” Zambon said of the nominations. “No, we’ve got a whole thing going in Rhinelander.” 

Mel’s Trading Post 

According to melstradingpost.net, Mel Mode was a minor league baseball player, who, if not for a back injury, was set to sign as a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs. 

Returning to his hometown of Rhinelander in 1946, Mel began working at a local sporting goods store called The Trading Post, eventually purchasing the business and moving it to its current location, formerly a Montgomery Ward department store. 

“Now, his son, Mitch [Mode], owns it and still runs it full-time,” Popp said, noting the building still has some original flooring. 

She said she compares Mel’s to a small-town version of outdoor equipment retail chain REI. 

“We have everything you would need for ‘silent sports,’” she said. “We have hiking stuff, biking, camping, cross-country skiing, canoeing and then we also do hunting and fishing. We’ve really got a little bit of anything you could want to do and to be outside.” 

In the era of online retail, Popp said Mel’s stays running and relevant for several reasons, chief among which is a sense of community. 

“We have a lot of people who want all of their little local stores to stay around,” she said. “It’s partially that we don’t have as many options up here to go to big-box stores, because we don’t have them. But people have really tried to keep us around.” 

Popp also said the staff at Mel’s exudes real passion for outdoor recreation and is generous with insights for equipment, whether customers are looking to rent or buy. 

“If you’re coming in and you’re looking at a kayak, we have people who have paddled all of the kayaks we have, and we can give you a genuine, personal recommendation on what we think is going to be best for what you need, because we’ve tried it all,” she said. 

Staff members, Popp said, also openly share suggestions for regional places to explore, and have even compiled a list of favorite trails and more. 

“If you’re looking for a certain kind of hike – a pet-friendly hike, or a long hike or a short hike – we’ve got a lot of personal recommendations for people,” she said. “If you’re coming up looking to fish, we have people who work here who used to guide and are happy to share all that info on which lakes to send you to if you’re looking for a certain kind of fish or anything.” 

Popp said the staff share this social sensibility – “we just really want to talk to people” – as customers will also bring their own recommendations and stories. 

“A lot of our staff – sometimes it’s hard to pull them away and say, ‘Hey, I know we’re having so much fun talking, but we still have work to do here,’” she laughed. 

Mel’s makes for further interaction with customers at its monthly Kendell’s Korner events, where Popp said staff member Kendell hosts free, interactive classes on plants and animals native to Wisconsin. 

Though such events are newer for the store, she said Mel’s has always had a friendly history of community engagement. 

“We’ve had a lot of people who’ve come in and told stories about how Mel Mode sold them their first bike,” she said. “He did a layaway for them, and these kids would be running their paper routes [via bicycle] – that’d be their only job – and they would come and make payments to Mel weekly on a bike that he had given them.” 

Popp said it’s the long-term customers who deserve the credit for Mel’s Trading Post’s sustained success and recent recognition. 

“We’re so grateful for them,” she said. “It’s because of them that we can do the types of events that got us nominated for this award. It gives us a reason to keep doing those things, and gives us an excuse to try new things.” 

Holiday Acres Resort 

Like Mel’s, Zambon said Holiday Acres is also one of Rhinelander’s legacy businesses, which, according to holidayacres.com, celebrated its 76th anniversary this year. 

“My great-grandparents started the resort together with my grandparents,” he said. “My dad grew up on the property, and my grandmother actually grew up on a resort on the neighboring lake when she was a girl, and they started [Holiday Acres] as kind of her project. I guess I was born into it.” 

Zambon said he describes Holiday Acres as “a classic Northwoods resort.” 

“It’s a place where families can come to reconnect in nature and by the lake, and literally do nothing or do everything,” he said. “You can go fishing, go for hikes, go foraging, play tennis and go birdwatching. There’s really a plethora of things you can do.” 

Zambon said the resort on Lake Thompson features 32 unique cottages and 28 lodge rooms – “rustic, but not ‘outhouse rustic’” – as well as sports courts, trails, recreational equipment, an indoor pool, sauna and its own supper club, Three Coins Restaurant. 

Though he manages Holiday Acres year-round, his older brother and sister work there seasonally and his significant other, Tabitha, also invaluable to the resort, Zambon said it’s his father, Kim, who’s still really “in charge.” 

“He’s 73, but he still is probably working 60 hours a week in the summer…,” he said. “My dad – he’s a force of nature. He built all the trails at the resort… I try to maintain what he started, and we’re working on expanding our trail systems as much as we can.” 

Four generations of hard work, Zambon said, have served to create a level of comfort guests can only attain in nature. 

He said guests – primarily traveling from larger, Midwest cities – enjoy the relaxation and freedom Holiday Acres avails. 

For many families, Zambon said annual visits are a matter of tradition. 

“There are a lot of people who fly in from around the country, who have been coming since they were little kids,” he said. 

Providing such an experience for the resort’s guests, Zambon said, is rewarding for the “wonderful staff” who often get to know the returning visitors over the years. 

“We love what we do here,” he said. 

For him, Zambon said his efforts are a matter of duty, upholding not only the hard work of his ancestors but also the expectations of guests year over year. 

“I grew up with all these people… or some of them, they grew up with me at this point,” he said. 

As much as he appreciates the recent recognition of the Outdoor Industry Awards, Zambon said what’s probably most rewarding about Holiday Acres is seeing the way kids “light up when they get here.” 

“Seeing kids outside playing, running, swinging, swimming, whatever it is – you can really see the human energy in its purest form…,” he said. “When I see that, that’s when I know what we’re doing really matters, because we need more opportunities to keep kids doing stuff. [Nowadays], they have so many options to not do anything.”

Options for resorts like Holiday Acres, however, are dwindling, Zambon said, as “there are very few places left that run and operate with full amenities.”  

“There are plenty of small places left, but, for example, on our lake – Lake Thompson – when I was a kid, there were probably three or four other resorts left, and I would say there were five or six other little resorts that had already turned into condos or just shut down,” he said. “Now we’re the only one left.” 

In the midst of this broader trend, while bearing responsibility for his family’s legacy and his guests’ traditions, Zambon still said managing Holiday Acres is “a huge privilege.” 

“People really do love tradition, and it’s a beautiful thing to be able to be a part of it,” he said. 

And the winners are… 

The Outdoor Industry Awards ceremony was held June 26 in Madison. 

Popp and Zambon said they were both excited to attend as representatives of not only their respective businesses, but of their shared city. 

“It felt like we were going down to Madison with an entourage,” Zambon laughed. 

He also said after having attended restaurant- and hotel-related events previously, he greatly appreciated the company of his peers in the outdoor industry. 

“I felt more like I was amongst a bunch of my people, so to speak, at the event,” he said. “The reason I was there wasn’t because we have a hotel. It’s because we’re in the woods.” 

Ultimately, neither Mel’s nor Holiday Acres was selected as winners in their categories, but both Zambon and Popp said they found the experience encouraging nonetheless. 

“Just being nominated for something like that – being noticed in places other than Rhinelander is super exciting,” Popp said. 

The creation of the Outdoor Industry Awards, Popp and Zambon said, will not shift either businesses’ focus – but have instead inspired them to redouble their efforts. 

“The nomination definitely made me a little bit more motivated, and I want to work a little bit harder for the next year to see what other things I can do to see if we could win it,” Popp said. 

Zambon said he’ll keep trying to find “whatever ways I can to keep reconnecting people with the outdoors.” 

“[The nomination] really solidifies the knowledge that we’re on a course that’s for the better,” he said. “It feels like it’s right for the business, and also right for our hearts.” 

Both Popp and Zambon also noted how their businesses are independent – increasingly rare examples of family-owned operations in retail and hospitality. 

The two said they appreciate how the Outdoor Industry Awards may have gained broader attention for their businesses and city, and welcome any new visitors resulting from the statewide exposure. 

“We want to share what we’ve been privileged to grow [in Rhinelander],” Zambon said. 

Popp said as someone originally from Oshkosh, she especially enjoys getting “people who are new to the area, or people who are new to these hobbies” outfitted with equipment and ready for outdoor recreation. 

“I just want more people to enjoy the outdoors,” she said. “It’s beautiful. It’s good for your physical health and your mental health.” 

For anyone interested in exploring the region’s natural opportunities, Zambon said there’s no rush. 

“The Northwoods is here waiting for you when you are ready to get away,” he said.