LOOKING BACK

Looking Back BY DIXIE TERRY

WHEN THE Southern Illinois Power Cooperative opened its newly constructed lake to the public in 1963, a new life-style was begun around the beautiful 92-mile shoreline. The roads in and around the lake were mostly narrow gravel or even dirt single lane trails, that led to the farms scattered around primitive Johnson and Williamson Counties. It took many years to upgrade those roads to their present state. As lots were sold, small cottages and cabins were built, mostly for weekenders and vacationers. The McMansions would be built much later. Most of those original structures have been razed or replaced with finer homes. There was no water or sewer service, with each lot owner making do with outdoor privies and well water, or a direct line from the lake and their own water system. When word got around, by word-of-mouth, or from ads placed in metropolitan publications, (no Facebook then!) by developers, people arrived in droves to purchase the available lots, many from the St. Louis and northern Illinois areas. Some of those early purchased lots became the site of tents, campers and rustic housing, before homes could built. However, subdivisions began to be developed, with new roads being constructed, and finally, water and sewer services were built, a long story in itself. For a few years there was very scattered telephone service and since this was long before the arrival of cell phones, city folks could really "get away from it all," after arriving at the lake, where even electricity was unavailable in some areas. There was no fire protection district in the early days of the lake community development. A volunteer fire department was organized, after a few years, with fundraisers held in the subdivisions around the lake to finance the first equipment and a building on Lake of Egypt Road, which is now used as a storage facility. The so-called "new" Lake of Egypt Fire Protection building was constructed much later. The Lake of Egypt Association of Property Owners (LEAPO) was organized by the lake's first realtor, Blanche Jones, with a group of residents interested in forming a liaison between the power co-op and those living on the lake. That active organization continues today. As the development of subdivisions continued, Eagle Point Bay, in Johnson County, became the largest and remains so today. It was originally founded by Inland Development Corporation of Murray, Kentucky. Rules and regulations by each subdivision varied, and those by the power co-op were made to be followed for the good of all concerned. By 1996, a headline in the "Marion Daily Republican" newspaper, proclaimed "Lake Safety in Jeopardy." "If they don't abide by the laws, they're gonna be off the lake," said Jerry Jones, at a recent LEAPO meeting. Jones, speaking in his capacity as SIPC plant lake supervisor, a newly created position, made it clear that an emphasis of water craft safety was in effect. "This lake has always been family-oriented, but we can see a change, Jones stated. "We see the problems and I don't have all the answers," but he promised that water safety problems will be turned around. A concern of many users of the popular recreational lake is the unsafe and illegal operation of the increasing number of jet-skis or personal craft as they are called by the industry. The lake security patrol has been instructed to "crack down" on operators of water craft, seen driving in an unsafe manner. A new phone number to the power co-op will be announced in the near future said Jones. "Anyone seeing an unsafe handling of water crafts is requested to call. Jones said first-time offenders are given a warning, but the second time, "they're off the lake for good." At this time, the SIPC was installing additional buoys and repainting the present ones as part of their upgraded water safety program. The buoys are used to mark shallow water and no-wake areas and would have official Coast Guard markings. Beginning in October of that year, boat docks in disrepair or in danger of floating into the lake, were to be condemned and the owner forced to dismantle or repair said boat dock. The Shoreline Agreement, which each property owner is required to sign and pay $25 annually, for lake use, has also been rewritten, requiring a proof of adequate liability insurance. And, so it was, in August, 1996, on the beautiful Lake of Egypt. n

Dixie Terry and her husband lived in Crestwood Estates, on the ski area of the lake, from 1986-2000. At that time she was an active LEAPO member and reported on lake activities and development of the lake, for the Marion Daily Republican and The Southern Illinoisan, as well as other publications.