A DanO burger at the Park!

Forsyth MO. - One of the great joys of camping, for me at least, involves food. Everything (well just about everything) cooked outdoors seems to taste a lot better to me! Weather: Low 70's, south winds 10-20 mph. Sunny skies.

It was still early spring in southwest Missouri and while it was still a bit chilly to go tent camping, I wanted to go down to one of the area parks to try out my cooking skills on a Coleman propane stove. Armed with a plastic spatula, a fry pan and a few condiments, I planned to grill myself up a hamburger DanO style!

For this very modest outdoor culinary effort, I had visited a local grocery store to pick up a package of 'pre-formed' hamburger patties (yes, I'm that lazy) along with a package of buns. In the back of my Jeep was the aforementioned propane stove, 2 propane canisters, a very old fry pan, two hot pads, a spatula, paper towels, salt and pepper shakers, a slice of red onion, some potato salad, romaine lettuce, my special hamburger sauce and a couple of cherry tomatoes! Wow! That was certainly a lot of junk to haul around just to prepare one measly little hamburger! (But, I gotta tell ya, it was so worth it)!

Shadowrock Park

Setup of the Coleman stove on a picnic bench was a snap, even for me. And before I could say 'I'm really starving', I was up and running with a meat patty sizzling in the pan. I was making myself a 'patent pending' DanO Burger! And, while this burger has endured many transformations over the years, I still always find myself going back to the burger basics; good buns, great ground meat along with a few select condiments.

As my burger cooked, I looked around and noticed that there were very few people in the park. One couple that were standing nearby did look at me rather intently. (I'm sure they were wondering what that crazy looking old man was really up to. Actually, the crazy old man was wondering the same thing). As the day was on the coolish side for me (~71°), I was wearing a hoodie, dark glasses and a rather strange looking hat while standing over a fry pan that looked like it was on fire! That couple quickly turned and fled the area. Fine! OK, so sue me. I'm an acquired taste, don't ya know. Well, suffice it to say that the hamburger was all it could be and that I enjoyed myself thoroughly...

Area parks looking good! Shadowrock, Empire Park and River Run!

Empire Park aka Osage beach

Shadowrock & River Run

Forsyth MO. -  A drive through three local parks on April the 5th under hazy skies, light winds and mild temps (65°F) was a pleasant experience early this spring 2019. I visited Empire District Park on Y Highway, Shadowrock Park off Highway 160 and it's sister park across Bull Shoals known as River Run. And while work

was going on to renovate the showers and bathrooms at River run, Shadowrock was up and running and was filling up with RV's! I had the impression that a good number of the people I say at both locations were fishermen taking advantage of the mild weather. The water levels were near normal levels at 659 feet and rain appeared to be limited for the next couple of weeks, so flooding was really of no concern.

So now would be a good time to get down and enjoy all of these wonderful locations. You can reach the park attendant by calling (417) 546-2876 to see about reservations in Shadowrock Park. River Run, when it opens, can be contacted at (417) 546-3646.

A day in May! And, a bridge update!

Long Horn Family Dining!

Forsyth MO. – It was late May and since my most recent efforts at dieting had gone to hell, I decided to go out and eat something that was really fattening good! I was craving a good old fashioned hamburger and fries sort of meal, but I also didn't want it from a take out window. The Long Horn then came to mind as they have one of the best hamburgers around!

As it was mid-week, there wasn't a ton of customers eating there when I arrived for lunch at about a quarter to Noon. Just one family with a screaming kid. Outside the day was warming up quickly and was expected to reach the low nineties by the afternoon. Thank goodness for air conditioning!

I ordered the Kountry Burger Deluxe which was your basic hamburger along with a side of crinkle cut fries. Throw in a cold diet Pepsi and you have a not very shabby lunch! (I've ordered this meal for years and can attest to it's ability to satisfy the main human senses as well as filling the stomach up in good fashion). And were it not for a family with that screaming kid just a few feet from my ears, it would have been a nice experience. I left the place deciding that perhaps abortion wasn't such a bad idea after all....

Peggy's Park Place Market!

After enjoying that loud lunch, I decided to take a run down to Peggy's Park Place located near the intersections of Hwy's 160 and 76 for some grub. I've found that, very often, their price points for staples like beer seemed to be a little lower than some venues closer to home. They also offer a good selection of wines, liquors, canned goods and snacks all at competitive prices! While at the store, I ran into the Mayor who wanted to know what exactly was wrong with me... I made my purchases and skedaddled...

Shadowrock Park!

Peggy's has been dealing with a number of challenges, for some time, related to the fact that MODOT was building a multi million dollar bridge nearby and construction of that nature is most always disruptive to small and large businesses alike. I took a moment to drive down to the neighboring Shadowrock Park to see how well the RV's and other campers were dealing with everything. Only about one half of the camping spaces were now available due to the heavy equipment being located at the far end of the park. The sister park located across Bull Shoals and know as River Run, was closed for the season due to both bridge construction and to the flooding from recent rains. And, on this day, there were only a few campers in evidence, anyway.

As an aside, I did have some concerns as to what was going to happen to the old bridge as I'd heard a couple of different stories concerning its fate. One person told me it would be torn down and the other that it was going to remain for food traffic use. I called MODOT at 417-895-7600 and as to speak to the Project head, Johnny Teegardin, but he was not in office. I settled for sending him an email that addressed these questions as well as asking for an update on the roundabout that was still planned to go in later in the year.

[Good day Mr. Teegardin. My name is Dan Owen. I'm a Taney County resident and I've spoken with you before concerning the Bull Shoals Bridge project and just wanted to say you've done a very good job thus far. My concerns this day lie in two areas; 1) what the ultimate fate will be of the older bridge and 2) whether you had a time line for the start and completion dates for both the bridge and for the roundabout.]

MODOT response:

Mr. Owen:

The old bridge will be demolished after traffic is switched onto the new bridge.

The roundabout was awarded to the low bidder Lehman Construction which is the same contractor who is building Bull Shoals bridge.   At this time, I am not sure when he will start on the roundabout.  He was able to start it in mid-march, but has chosen to not impact traffic in this area until he gets the Bull Shoals project near completion.   We will have a pre-construction conference to discuss this and should know in the near future.  They could start any time after that conference.

The completion date for both the roundabout and the bridge projects are November 1, 2018.

JT

JOHNNY TEEGARDIN

Resident Engineer

One area Park seems to be open!

Check out a short video at https://youtu.be/MIA_Ps-Dkq8

Note that I have nothing just do with the parks, I just go to them to waddle around a bit!

Shadowrock Park open?

New bridge to be erected just off to the right of this picture!

Forsyth Mo. - I was able to drive through the popular Shadowrock Park near the town of Forsyth recently and it seemed non the worst for wear, in spite of being flooded for over four months!

Shadowrock playground

While most areas were a bit dusty, it was nice to see grownups and kids using the park facilities once again. Fishermen were also out in some numbers using the boat ramp on that side of the lake. River Run, on the other hand was still a bit inundated with flood water and was closed. It was important to note that the campsites in both parks remained closed, pending cleanup of the premises.

River Run was still flooded out!

I had to wonder, however, what sort of negative impact that the building of a new bridge was going to have, especially next spring when construction would be in full swing? That's always assuming that the area doesn't suffer through flooding spring rains such as were seen in 2017!

Death of person found by Shadowrock may have been accidental or not!

 

Indicated location a guess by author

Forsyth MO. – On the morning of Thursday, November the 17^th, it was disturbing to see the horrible news flashed on a social media outlet. Apparently, someone had discovered a body of a woman near a bridge leading to the popular Shadowrock Park next to the Bull Shoals lake area.

KY3 aired a piece on the discovery but supplied precious little hard information. The local sheriff's police did promise to release additional details when the became available. Of great interest to most people living in and around the park area would be to have some idea as to how the victim ended up where she did?

According to a later statement by the police, 'Forsyth Police Chief Roger Ellis reports the body was found by a citizen Wednesday evening, under a bridge on U-S Highway 160. The location of the body was concealed from view by anyone who was traveling thru the area on the lower bridge leading from Shadowrock Park and from the bridge on U-S Highway 160 on Forsyth Hill.

Ellis also stated in a news release the decomposed condition of the body made it impossible to absolutely determine the identity of the victim. An autopsy has been scheduled for Friday and Ellis says it could take several days or weeks before the identity of the victim is known to authorities.

Ellis added that the investigation at the scene by the Forsyth Detective, two Taney County Detectives and the Assistant Coroner all concluded that the incident appeared to be non-suspicious and there are no concerns of public endangerment involved with this incident.

For now, everyone will have to content themselves with waiting for forensic identification of the person a week or so from now...

Update: November 19 - I had come into possession of the name of the deceased (not verified), the cause of death and the name of a person of interest to the police. None of this information will be released by me until such time as it is made official by the authorities.

Forsyth Fun Day - Saturday September 10, 2016!

Lots and lots of food!

Forsyth MO. - I was finally able to get some information on a popular coming event that I wanted to share.

The annual Forsyth Fun Day will be held on Saturday, September 10, 2016 at the Shadowrock Park located at the intersections of Highway 160 and 76. The event will feature a fantastic BBQ cook off, live music, cardboard boat races, vendors and even an obstacle course for the kids.

The two live bands that have been booked to perform include NRG and Highway 13. Interested parties can obtain more information by calling the Forsyth City Hall at 417-546-4763. As of September 6th, the projected weather will be partly cloudy with a high of 80F!

Personally, I can't wait to sample some (a lot) of the bodacious BBQ creations that the hard working men and women will be creating, and then serving up to us plain folk during the course of the event! Check out a short video of the 2009 event at https://youtu.be/8MzuRdpWZ7U to get a feel of what you can expect!

River Run not ready for prime time!

Unwashed filthy signs greet park goers...

After a great early spring and with plenty of time, it appeared not much had been done to clean up the River Run Park near Forsyth MO on the eve of the Memorial Day weekend.

Locked gate screams stay out!

A closed gate on the Baker Street entrance, dirty unwashed signs and toilet/shower areas that had not been prepped.... these all spoke volumes to me. My thought was that perhaps I should find another park to camp in, say Shadowrock Park right across the river where everything was shipshape and many of the available camping spots had been taken.

In my mind the story was very easy to read. River Run is managed by the Federal government while Shadowrock Park is under local control. River Run is a mess while Shadowrock is clean and functional. That the difference, these days, with most everything that the Feds touch. My opinion? Perhaps River Run should be turned over to the city of Forsyth as they seem to know how to at least maintain while also making a profit....

 While Shadowrock support nice bathroom facilities, not so at River Run where porta potties are considered good enough....

2018 Update: The Park is closed for the season and partly under water. Great land management by the corps.

Shadowrock Park emeges from beneath the waves!

Forsyth MO - According to Forsyth City Supervisor, Chris Robertson, 'efforts were now underway' to clean up debris that were a result of flood conditions that affected two popular parks on the outskirts of the town.

Mr. Robertson went on to state that 'there are no plans to reopen the park for camping until next year'. He also implied that the barricades would remain in place in order to allow the ground under the roadways to thoroughly dry and thus prevent potential damage from vehicular traffic.The author of this post assumes that situation would also apply to Shadowrock's sister park, River Run, which is still mostly inundated as of late September.

At some point in time, during the fall, a public announcement will be made to request volunteers to help with the final cleaning. This will have to wait, according to Supervisor Robertson, until the park is completely dried out and the bathroom facilities can be made available. That could well be sometime after mid October, assuming we do not get any more significant rainfall.

River Run Park in danger of flooding!

A day later, all these canopy tops had been removed!

Forsyth MO. - Early spring rains that swept through southwestern Missouri have 'supposedly' added much depth to the chain of Lakes which include; Beaver Lake, Table Rock, Taneycomo and Bull Shoals. As of the morning of April 6, 2015 - the lake near where I live, Bull Shoals, was at 666.69 feet above mean sea level. At that height, lake water had begun to encroach on the River Run Park camping area and was filling in low lying depressions. And, while the Park is still currently open, there are growing concerns that more storms arriving late in the week could drop enough water over the area to flood it. Thankfully, a twin Park known as Shadowrock lying on the opposite bank is somewhat geographically higher up and so is not threatened at this time.

At left, is a view of the boat launch which is still barely useable. The bridge that connects Hwy 160-76 is visible at the upper right of the frame.

A mystery: Earlier, I used the word 'supposedly'. Here's the deal. The apparent large rises in water levels are not really supported by the average to below average rainfall we've had in 2014 and early 2015. In 2014, we were about 10 inches below normal. In 2015, through March, about even. Could it be that the Arkansas dam, at the terminus of this water way, has been holding back water for its own nefarious purposes? Is there a developing story here?

April 7 Update: The lake level continues an upwards creep then at 666.99 feet above seal level, (a trend that could bode ill should the predicted storms mid week prove correct). As I did an 8AM drive through of the Park, I noticed that the Corps of Engineers had removed all the site canopies that were located along the lake. So, about half the sites are not going to be used at least for the spring and summer season. That leaves about twenty sites that could still be used. Lastly, below is a graphical representation of actual rainfall amounts collected at a site that is within a quarter mile of River Run Park. The numbers in the panel are a little misleading since the April figure for the average is for an entire month, while the one for Forsyth is the amount rec'd as of the 6th. That said, the overall picture seems to represent a pretty average start to the year. so why the flooding? Or as one of my friends put it, 'Where did that extra ten feet of water come from?'

Update: April 10 - At this time the water level is receding. Abet, at a slow rate. The next storm system is some time off ( a week?) so it will be interesting to see just how fast that dam on the Arkansas border releases the water...

April 11 Update: Like some SciFi movie, the Bull Shoals lake level continues to rise even though little rain has fallen in SWMO this month!This morning at 6AM, it was at 667.17 feet msl.