Buttercup Woodlands Campground under new ownership
CONNOQUENESSING TWP — When Jacob Hagofsky first took a job at Buttercup Woodlands Campground more than a decade ago, he saw it as nothing more than a job. By 2024, the campground has become more than a job for Hagofsky; it’s become his passion and his life’s work.
Last Friday, Jan. 5, Hagofsky officially signed the paperwork to become the new owner of the campground, purchasing the property from prior owner Ed Tanski.
“I can’t believe I walked into my lawyer’s office, sat down at a table and signed paperwork on a dream and goal,” Hagofsky said in an official statement.
Tanski will remain a presence at Buttercup Woodlands for the time being, as he will shadow Hagofsky for the first few months of his tenure.
“I’ll just be an adviser for a bit until he gets his feet wet,” Tanski said. “It’s his operation now.”
This week, Hagofsky and Tanski were among the few presences at the campground, which spans 40 acres and consists of 247 permanent camping sites. During the first Monday of the new regime, the two spent much of their time clearing away snow from a recent winter storm.
The campground is currently in its offseason, which lasts from Oct. 15 to April 15.
Hagofsky was first approached about the opportunity to purchase the campground last summer, when Tanski told him he was considering selling the property. Hagofsky jumped at the chance to return to his old stomping grounds.
“We had a conversation with Ed about possibly selling, and I talked to his wife,” Hagofsky said. “Here we are six and a half months later, and I'm sitting here as the new owner.”
“Age is catching up, and it’s time for me to just slow down,” Tanski said.
Hagofsky started his career at Buttercup Woodlands in 2006, performing maintenance and doing various odd jobs before being promoted to manager in 2012.
“Cutting grass, weed eating ... wherever they needed me, I went,” Hagofsky said.
During his first stint, Hagofsky watched as his place of employment sustained damage from a severe microburst in 2011, which knocked out over 100 trees and damaged several trailers, although no one was injured. Seven years later, a brush fire roared through the campground and took out three campers, although again, no one was hurt.
“It really opens your eyes so that you know how to prepare for any kind of situation and you know what to expect,” Hagofsky said.
Throughout his time at Buttercup, Hagofsky’s passion for the business of campgrounds grew by the year, and he started having aspirations to one day own a campground of his own — if not Buttercup, then somewhere else.
“Originally, it was just going to be a job, to put me through college and stuff,” Hagofsky said. “By the time I graduated high school and I started college, things changed for me and I had a real passion for this. I wanted to get more involved.”
After nearly a decade as manager, Hagofsky left his post at the campground in June 2021, deciding it was time to explore new horizons in the campground industry. That year, he took a position as executive assistant for the Pennsylvania Campground Owners Administration.
“In the years that I was gone, it was just learning more about the camping industry and what all that entails in the backside of things,” Hagofsky said.
Hagofsky is already making plans for the upcoming camping season. He will spend the rest of the offseason revamping the campground’s activity schedule and making the grounds look fresh by the time they open in April.
“The plan is to paint the buildings and give a whole new fresh look to what the campground has,” Hagofsky said. “We’ll possibly be moving our cabins up to a new location, being able to refurbish those and rent those out a little bit more.”
