October 2023-Issue 11

Lost on the Lake TABLE ROCK

OCTOBER 2023

ISSUE 11

INSIDE

OCTOBER FISHING FALL RECIPE

HARVEST FESTIVALS

THE PUMPKINHEADS

Adrianne Tucker VP, Mortgage Lender NMLS #569045

Dana Crowell SVP, Mortgage Lender NMLS #564440

Renea Daniels Mortgage Lender NMLS #543805

Roger Frieze VP, Commercial Lender NMLS #1785245

Shawn Clemens VP, Commercial Lender NMLS #1402734

Julia Fokina Consumer Lender NMLS #2509163

Casey Whitaker EVP, Lending NMLS #1911531

Ryan P. Ricketts Consumer Lender NMLS #2362987

IN THIS ISSUE

18

EXPLORE

A Day on the Lake - w/ PumpkinHeads

2 5

LOCAL EVENTS

Seasonal Events to enjoy the Season

3 1

LOCAL WILDLIFE

E astern Chipmunk

37

HOME & LIFESTYLE

Family article

EDITORIAL:

Myra Thornton - hello@lostonthelake.us

Eric Prey - www.focusedfishing.com

Christal Valbracht - AireServ

Jeff Woodward - The Rogue Chef

Edward Jones Financial

PMS Boat Sales-Premiere Marine

Tom Koob - wolpublishing@gmail.com

PHOTOGRAPHY:

Myra Thornton

Eric Prey

Tom Koobs

SALES:

Bill Crosby - ads@lostonthelake.us

Thank you to all of our partners!

Please consider them for your needs:

Adventure Cave Tours

AireServ of Branson

Black Oak Amp

Butterfly Palace

Central Bank

Edward Jones - Grant Beasley

Health Markets - Nick Morris

PMS Boat Sales

Scout & Petal

Table Rock Fishing Intel

Talking Rocks Cavern

US Tow Boat

Underfoot

A Season of rest

Fall on the Lake

a note from the editor

As nature shifts its attention to a colorful show on land, I am still mourning the loss of days floating in the lake... I’m not so excited about the idea of putting the pontoon away for the season!

I do love the crisp evenings, sitting around the fire and the beauty that the hills of the Ozarks present as fall sets in.

Sweaters slowly creep into my closet and jeans replace shorts. Flip-flops are traded for boots and beach hats become beanies. Its so bittersweet when beauty is all around but the lake still calls to me.

I am excited to enjoy time on the lake fishing and watching the leaves change.

I hope this season is an opportunity to reset and refresh, every day by the lake is a blessing!

Be happy~

W: www.lostonthelake.us

E: hello@lostonthelake.us

P: 417-363-3030

Best five lures for fall on Table Rock

BY: ERIC PREY - TRL Fishing Guide

Fall is a wonderful time in the Ozarks; nights are cooler, trees turn, boat traffic slows, and fish move shallow to feed before winter arrives. If you’re not in the deer woods, you’ll find you have the lake almost to yourself and with our list of the top five bass lures for fall on Table Rock you should be able to catch numbers and quality fish.

backs of creeks in fall, once they are there the bass will be too. Watch for bass surfacing to give you an idea where they are at, but don’t leave an area just because you don’t see surfacing fish. Cast to any cover you find in a creek; boat docks, laydowns, deadheads and even brush piles can all be excellent top water areas.

2. Mid Depth Diving Crankbaits: Plugs and Crankbaits that dive between 5’ – 12’ can be a great option as fish move from deeper water to the shallows to feed. Look for bluff ends and channel banks to be key locations but don’t pass up a ledge rock point. On bluff ends and channel swings parallel Wiggle Warts, Rock Crawlers,

1. Top Water: Quite possibly the most fun lure you own could be the best lure to throw once fall arrives. Spooks, Whopper Ploppers, buzz baits and Poppers are all effective presentations, each has a time and place but as a category top water lures are money during autumn. Look for large schools of shad to move towards the cont. on page 12

Bomber Model A and Rapala DT 10 from the bank to the boat trying to maintain bottom contact all the way back to the boat. On ledge rock points fan casting is the deal; position your boat in 15’ - 20’ and cast all around the point dragging the crankbait up and down the ledges until fish are located.

3. Spinnerbaits / Chatterbaits: You don’t hear people talking about spinner -

baits and Chatterbaits on Table Rock like you do on other lakes, but rest assured they are just as important here as anywhere. Windy days with or without cloud cover are prime for throwing spinnerbaits and chatterbaits. Fish follow schools of shad up shallow on wind blown banks, when this happens you need to throw your bait as shallow as possible and reel as fast as you can. Gravel and rocky flats are key locations, if there is wind blowing on the bank the fish will be there.

4. Football jigs and Carolina Rigs: Gravel points with drop offs into deep water are great fallback locations when fall cold fronts move through. Smallmouth and spotted bass will move out to 18’-25’ deep during post front conditions holding tight to the bottom. Football jigs and Carolina rigged plastics worked out to these depths will draw strikes when nothing else

will. Position your boat 25’ - 30’ deep and retrieve either lure slowly along the bottom to draw strikes.

5. Jigging Spoons and Ice Jigs: As fall progresses and schools of shad move from the backs of creeks back to the main lake schools of bass follow and feed. Generally, the shad and fish will be deeper when this migration takes place, usually 25’ deep or deeper. To reach these deeper

schools of fish a jigging spoon or Ice jig is the top choice of most anglers on Table Rock. Both lures are heavy and can reach deep fish quickly once they are located on sonar. Vertical presentation directly above the feeding fish is key to success.

After a long hot summer, the cooler weather and scenery of fall are a welcome change to anglers on Table Rock. Throw in aggressively feeding fish chasing moving bait on a regular basis and it can be one of the most fun times of year to fish.

Eric Prey is the Owner / Operator of Focused Fishing Guide Service on Table Rock, Taneycomo and Bull Shoals lakes.

To book a trip or contact: www.focusedfishing.com or call 417-860-4743

Boating

The saddest day of

It’s hard to believe the summer is over already! Sadly, it’s time to start thinking about closing up the boat for the season.

Winterization is a necessary part of boating in our climate. Be sure to get your winterization scheduled with your shop as soon as possible. The shops around the area get busy really fast this time of year.

In addition, take a close look at the fiberglass on your boat. Do you have dock rash, dings or scratches? Winter is a great time to have fiberglass repairs made. Your shop can repair it and get it looking like new before the new season opens up.

Winterizing is the symbolic final step in accepting that summer is over, .

Most of us wait until the last minute to do this because we know there are still warm days ahead. However, the shops fill up quickly as fall sinks in.

It is crucial that you prepare your boat for the months ahead in storage to ensure that your next season begins with fewer setbacks. Remember, the work you do now, can reduce the preparations needed to launch again in Spring!

a day on the lake with Pumpkin Heads

Avoid these investment mistakes

We all make mistakes in many areas of life. These mistakes are usually fairly harmless — we took a wrong turn while driving, used the wrong ingredients in a recipe and so on. But sometimes, our mistakes can be costly — especially those connected to investing.

Here are some of the most common investment mistakes:

• Too much buying and selling – Some people find it exciting to constantly buy and sell investments in the pursuit of big gains. Yet, frequent trading can work against you in a couple of ways. First, it can be expensive — if you’re always buying and selling investments, you could rack up taxes, fees and commissions. Perhaps even more important, though, excessive purchases and sales can make it difficult to follow a unified, cohesive investment strategy. Such a strategy requires, among other things, careful construction and management of an investment portfolio that’s appropriate for your goals, risk tolerance and time horizon. Heavy trading can disrupt this strategy.

• Failing to diversify – If you only owned one type of asset, such as growth-oriented stocks, your portfolio could take a hit when the financial markets go through a downturn. But not all investments will respond the same way to the same forces — for example, stocks and bonds can move in different directions at any given time. And that’s why it’s usually a good idea to own a mix of investments, which can include domestic and foreign stocks,

bonds, certificates of deposit (CDs) and government securities. Keep in mind, though, that while diversification can help reduce the impact of market volatility, it can’t guarantee profits or protect against losses in a declining market.

• Trying to “time” the market – “Buy low and sell high” might be the original piece of investment advice, but it’s pretty hard to follow — because no one can really predict when an investment will reach “low” or “high” points. Also, trying to “time” the market in this way can lead to bad decisions, such as selling investments whose price has dropped, even if these same investments still have good business fundamentals and strong prospects.

• Not understanding what you’re investing in – If you don’t know the nature of investments when you buy them, you could set yourself up for unpleasant surprises. For example, some companies, by the very nature of their business and the type of industry they’re in, may consistently pay dividends to their investors even though their stock prices may only show relatively modest

price gains over time. If you bought shares of this stock, thinking it had the potential to achieve quite substantial appreciation, you might end up disappointed.

• Making the wrong comparisons –You’re no doubt familiar with some of the most well-known investment benchmarks — the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite. But it might be counterproductive to compare your results against these indexes. If you have a diversified portfolio, you’ll own an array of investments that won’t fit into any single index or benchmark, so you

won’t get an apples-to-apples comparison. You’re better off comparing your portfolio’s performance against the only benchmark that really matters — the progress you need to make to help achieve your goals.

Investing will always have its challenges — but you can help make it easier on yourself by staying away from as many mistakes as possible.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor. Edward Jones, Member SIPC

Seasonal Events

Shepherd’s PumpkinFest

Now through October 29

Visit The Shepherd of the Hills PumpkinFest Featuring:

• Entry to the farm and activities

• Barnyard Animals

• Jump Pad

• Mega Tube Slide

• Hayride

• Kid’s Corn Pit

• Bounce Houses

• 9-Hole Mini Golf

• Lil’ Pete’s Playland

• Tunnel Slide

• Pumpkin Painting (pumpkins priced separately)

• Photo-Ops

• Treehouses

What an opportunity to create family memories while enjoying traditional and unique family activities. This fall event features so many festival attractions for all ages.

While you are here, be sure and take advantage of the photo opportunities throughout the pumpkin event.

Purchase Tickets in advance here: Shepherd’s PumpkinFest Tickets

The Shepherd of the Hills 5586 W 76 Country Boulevard Branson, MO 65616

Click for more Info

Fall Roundup at Sycamore Creek

Now through October 29

Activities Include:

• Hayrides

• 6-acre Corn Maze

• Kids Corn Maze

• Ranch Rider Super Slide

• Animal Barnyard (Alpaca, mini Scottish Highland cow, Jerusalem donkey, goats, chickens)

• Cow Train

• Tiny Tractor Races

• Hay Bale Fort

• Corn Bins

• Tumbleweed Hill Playground

• Farm Frisbee Golf

• Gourd Launcher

• Fire Pits (S’mores available for purchase)

• Pickleball Court

• Bocce Ball Court

• Shuffleboard

• 9-Square

• Ga-Ga Ball

• Football Throw

• Lawn Games (Horseshoes, Cornhole, Ladders, Jenga)

• Great fall photo ops under the vintage string lights

• Low Elements Challenge Course Activities

• Wood-fired pizza food truck

• Concessions Items (Apple Cider Slushies, Iced Coffee Drinks, & more!)

• Pumpkins for Purchase

• Sycamore Creek Mercantile (Merchandise available for purchase)

Purchase Tickets Here: Fall Roundup at Sycamore Creek

Sycamore Creek 2657 Sunset Inn Road Branson, MO 65616 (417) 278-6675

Download Map Click for more info

Voted America’s #1 themepark, Silver Dollar City once again presents Harvest Festival!

Featuring:

• Garden of Giants

• Pumpkins in the City

• Rides into the Night

• Master Pumpkin Carver

• Pumpkin Dance Party

• Harvest Treats

• Character Photo Ops

• Harvest Treats & Eats

• Illuminating Fun

• Cowboy Camp

• Visiting Craftsmen

• Cowboy Emporium

A glowing event that gets even BIGGER & BRIGHTER! Stay late for RIDES INTO THE NIGHT where there are thousands of illuminated pumpkins and non-frightful fun for the entire family.

A glowing event that gets even BIGGER & BRIGHTER! Stay late for RIDES INTO THE NIGHT where there are thousands of illuminated pumpkins and non-frightful fun for the entire family. The park is alive with pumpkins and rides.

Purchase Tickets in advance here:

Harvest Festival Tickets

Silver Dollar City

399 Silver Dollar City Pkwy

Branson, MO 65616

Click for more Info

417-336-7100

Ask an Expert: Home and Property Maintenance

Welcome to Ask an Expert: Home and Property Maintenance.

Each month our featured home and property expert will answer questions that provide information, tips and advice on a medley of homeowner topics. We hope to help our readers gain new insights into a variety of local home service professionals, services and products. Our goal is to make maintaining your home easier and empower you with the knowledge that you need to be a successful homeowner in the Table Rock lake area. Let’s get started.

Who is our March expert?

“Tyrel Middleton, Service Manager with AireServ Heating and Air Conditioning of Springfield/Branson.”

What services do you offer?

“AireServ provides professional maintenance, repair and installation of home comfort systems with residential properties in the Spring-

field and Branson area. We also prioritize indoor air quality (IAQ) and provide services as well as equipment to ensure your home has healthy air.”

What should homeowners be doing to get their HVAC unit ready for Winter?

“The first action that I would recommend is a Tune and Clean?

What is a Tune and Clean?

“A Tune and Clean is when one of our technicians comes out to the home to inspect and clean the unit. This is a great idea after surviving the Summer heat. In the Summer, units will have times when they are working very hard and very stressed to keep the home cool. That can cause wear and tear. It’s perfectly normal but if there are any underlying issues with the unit it will very likely come to light when you switch your unit over to heat.”

What are the types of issues that can arise?

“Many things. The outdoor portion of your system can get hail damage in storms. We had hail this season and that can be an issue. Capacitors can be weak or bad. Fan motors can be stressed, the unit could have rust buildup, oil can also be leaking, refrigerant can be leaking or your coil could be damaged. Lots of issues could be lying under the surface. Getting a Tune and Clean NOW can prevent a Winter emergency later. You just don’t know for sure how your unit held up this Summer unless you get it inspected.”

How much is a Tune and Clean?

“Normally it is $99. However, if Lost on the Lake readers mention this article, we will give you a special price of $69.”

Wow! That’s great news. I also see that you have an Advantage Plan? What is that exactly and what does that look like?

“Our Advantage Plan is a maintenance program that provides TWO maintenance services a year. We check all electrical and refrigerant components for proper operation. We also clean blower wheels and coils. Advantage Plan members also receive a 15% discount on parts that may be needed throughout the year as well as priority scheduling (which is incredibly helpful) in the event of a failure.”

Are you offering a special this month for your Advantage Plan for our readers?

“Yes. If you mention this article, we will give you a one-year Advantage Plan for $129.00. (An Advantage Plan is normally $189.00) That’s a great deal for that service.”

By: Christal Valbracht www.aireserv.com

www.dryerventwizardspringfield.com

www.MrRooter.com

Chipmunk

Truth be told, I love these silly critters. Now, I know they can be destructive, and a pain in the rear, but they are rather adorable to watch scamper through the woods. Not quite as cute when they burrow under the walk way and disturb the foundation.

Our locals are the eastern chipmunk and they are a small, ground-dwelling squirrel. They have stripes along their backs, sides and cheeks. Their tail is covered in fur, but not bushy. It tends to be flat and shorter than the body. The fur is rust colored with black/brown stripes and a whitish underbelly, They have cheek pouches, made of extendible skin. These cheek pouches enlarge as the animals age and act as storage where the chipmunks usually carry large amounts of food to later hoard at their burrows.

Chipmunks make many different calls including “chips” and soft huffs. They will also make a running “chippp-r-r-r” sound when they are startled.

These are small little creatures, only 8-12 inches long with tails between 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 inches long and they weigh just 2 to 5 ozs.

While they prefer the borderlands timber over deep forests they can also be found around city homes and farmhouses. They tunnel and nest in wooden banks, stone piles, logs, rocky ridges or even rubbish piles. Shrubbery and old outbuildings are also a favorite spot to hideout.

They feed on seeds, nuts and berries which are pletiful here in the Ozarks. Stor -

cont on page 32

ing and stashing food ensures they will have sufficient food for winter and the colder seasons. Chipmunks will stuff their cheek pouches with seeds and nuts and bringthem back to their living chamber for storage. This storage may contain up to a half a bushel of food. They also enjoy eating mushrooms and berries, but they won’t store foods that can perish. They sometimes eat insects and their larvae. Earthworms, slugs, millipedes and other small animals are sometimes enjoyed.

Chipmunks are known to hibernate to some extent in winter, becoming more active as the weather permits. Their form of hibernation ends in early Spring and then they begin breeding season. They can live up to 5 years in the wild.

LINKS:

https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/fieldguide/eastern-chipmunk

https://animalia.bio/eastern-chipmunk?taxonomy=111

Favorite Recipes with The Rogue Chef

Fusilli with Broccoli and Pesto Sauce

Serves 4

Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

● 8 oz Fusilli Shaped Pasta

● 12 oz Broccoli Florets

● 2 T Mushrooms and Sage Olive Oil

● 4 Garlic Cloves, minced

● 1⁄2 C Reduced-Sodium Chicken or Vegetable Broth

● 1⁄2 C Fresh Basil, chopped

● 1⁄2 C Fresh Italian Parsley, chopped

● 2 T Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

● 1⁄4 C Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated

● 3 T Pine Nuts, toasted

● Salt and Pepper

Instructions

1. Cook fusilli until al dente (just firm)

2. Chop broccoli florets into bite sized pieces

3. Add the broccoli to the pasta about 2 minutes before the pasta is ready, reserve 1⁄4 cup of the pasta water before draining

4. Heat olive oil and chopped garlic for approximately 1 minute in a large skillet on medium

5. Add stock and reduce by half, approximately 5 minutes

6. Reduce the heat to low

7. Add the pasta and broccoli, stirring until fully coated

8. Add the basil and parsley and stir to combine

9. Transfer to a serving bowl and drizzle with the extra-virgin olive oil (if too dry, add a tablespoon or so of reserved cooking liquid)

10. Top with the cheese and pine nuts and salt and pepper to taste

Go Rogue by adding Red Pepper Flakes or Sauteed Shrimp.

Don’t want to make this yourself?

Hire Chef Jeff, The Rogue Chef, in Branson, Missouri. He will make the perfect meal for you.

www.TheRogueChefBranson.com

Growing up on the lake

I grew up going to the lake almost every weekend with my parents and brother. I learned to waterski behind an 18-foot aluminum Jon boat with a 20 HP Mercury, on a used pair of wooden skis that were a bit too big for me. We vacationed at a friend’s cabin at Lake of the Ozarks for many years. This was back in the day when we had to boil the water to cook and bring in drinking water. We had the best times there simply swimming off the dock and taking turns skiing with the one pair of skiis we had to share. The only tube we had was from a tire store down the street that was off a tractor…..we had to watch out for the stem because it could get ya! We had so much fun with it though.

Once I got married and we had children, we

knew right away they were water bugs. We bought our first boat when they were young and I was dying to take them on a vacation to experience the clear water and the scenery of the Ozarks. I wanted them to take walks and explore nature. I was concerned, however, at what I was hearing about Lake of the Ozarks and how much it had changed since I had been there years before. We had some friends that used to take their kids to Table Rock Lake every year that suggested we try that. He drew us a map of their favorite places to visit such as the Pizza Hut at Shell Knob and the swings. We decided we would give it a try.

We found a little cabin to rent from a lady. She did a great job at reassuring me the kids would be safe and have a ball. We had my

Story By: Michele Schlup

mom and her husband come with us to help keep an extra eye on the kids and to experience it all with them. They had a ball catching the little sunfish and seeing the baby turtles. They swam and jumped and never quit moving. We bought them a tube and we couldn’t get them out of it. They rode it until we were tired of pulling them.

The next year we gave them some choices on where to go on vacation and they emphatically wanted to go back to Table Rock, even over Florida! So that is what we did and have continued to do for the next 23 years. Some years we go into Branson for a day and sometimes we never make it away from the resort we have been staying at for the last 21 years. Once we bought the kids their first tube, we continued expanding our watersports. We ended up buying a second tube and would pull them in tandem. Then that led to buying my son a kneeboard.

My mom continued to come with us for several years until she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She beat it but has stopped coming on vacation with us. My daughter has since married and now has 3 children. We have taught our son in law how to wakeboard and surf, he had never tubed before coming to our family. He learned very quickly that no one outrides my daughter on a tube!

The kids chose to have their senior pictures taken at Table Rock Lake. Erika and Jake had their engagement pictures taken at the lake

They had fun with that until they tried out a wakeboard.

By now we had upgraded boats from a little Bayliner to a Mastercraft. The wakeboard led to the addition of a couple more slalom skis.

Eventually we bought a surfboard too. All of it has its place and time and is a blast.

Our oldest grandson got on a tube with his Momma when he was 2 and rode very slowly around. He loved it. He got his own pair of skiis when he was 3 and got up on his first try. Boy they make some nice kids skiis these days! He was so surprised when he got up that he just crouched back down and sat on the skis. Now he will ski until you make him quit.

He loves to tube and gets pretty wild on it. This past year he challenged his Momma to ride with him, lets just say he has a whole new respect for her and her riding abilities now.

The oldest convinced me to get back on a tube with him even though I assured him my days of that were over. He chattered and laughed and screamed nonstop, it was infectious. I thought I was somewhat safe if I was out there with him!

One of his favorite things to do is surf with his Uncle Ryan. They started doing that when he was three. This past year he tried it on his own and decided it wasn’t quite as easy to do by yourself.

He also likes to get on his Uncle’s back and swim to the bottom of the pool at the resort and go the whole length of it in one breath. He is pretty proud of himself that he can do it. His Uncle used to be a Swim Team Captain, maybe someday he will be too.

Riding the jet ski with his Uncle is also very much a favorite thing for him to do. We can hear him screaming across the lake “faster, faster”. I don’t know how he holds on like he does.

Our middle grandson made his first trip to Table Rock when he was three weeks old.

He also started to waterski when he was 3 years old. He gets bored with it a little faster so gives up sooner. He loves to dive and jump in nonstop. He will surf with his Uncle too. He tubes but doesn’t like to go as fast. He was quite a fisherman this year and caught several off the dock.

The youngest, our granddaughter Khloe Belle was four months old when she got to make her first visit this year. She loves to play in the water and doesn’t like to get out.

The pool at the resort is where we have taught and are teaching the kids and grandkids to swim.

We spend every moment we aren’t in the pool or on the boat, on the dock until dark.

We teach them about water safety and the importance of life jackets. When on the boat we teach them about being considerate of others and watchful for hazards.

One favorite thing to do is take a boat ride up to Cape Fair marina to eat on the water. They have feed you can buy from the machines to feed the turtles, ducks, geese and fish. I’m sure they get fed more French fries than anything. It was so cool to see my daughter get to do this with her kids like I got to with mine.

Of course stopping for ice cream is always fun too. Then we all take turns skiing or surfing or tubing on the way back to the cabin. Once we are in for the night its always time to make Smores…why not?

The trip home is usually pretty quiet as everyone is exhausted!

For years now I have worried that this might be the last year we all are able to get to vacation at the lake together. Its so hard to coordinate so many work schedules and just life. We learned a long time ago that we just book the next year before we leave to go home. Everything gets scheduled around that one precious week in July.

We have seen a lot of changes around the lake

over the years. When we started staying near the Hideaway Marina it was an old place with maybe one gas pump and one little freezer of ice cream and I’m not even sure it had air conditioning. I was sure it would be closed and torn down just any time. Now it is a modern, thriving well established and comfortable marina.

The boat traffic went from very little during the week and mostly smaller family fish/ski boats to being busy much of the time. The boat size, and certainly wake size, has increased a lot. It is not nearly as quiet and sleepy a place as it used to be many years ago. There are fewer trees and more structures, but one thing that hasn’t changed, is the lake’s beauty and calming ability. The way it beckons you to relax and enjoy it is still very much alive.

The special feeling of having my entire family and different generations together is irreplaceable.

Get to know our team

Welcome to our office!

My team and I will take the time to get to know you, so we know we’re bringing you closer to the future you see for yourself. Together we’ll create a personalized strategy to help you achieve your goals.

We’re passionate about getting to know your hopes and dreams and helping you turn them into reality. We’d welcome the opportunity to do that for your friends and family, too, if you’d like to introduce us.

Thank you for your business, and welcome to the Edward Jones family.

Our commitment to you

We believe when it comes to your financial journey, you deserve a personal relationship and professional advice. This means focusing on the future you see for yourself, building strategies just for you and helping you stay on track.

Our areas of focus include:

• Retirement Income Strategies

• Business Owner Strategies

• New Investor Education

• Insurance and Annuities

We work as a team in our office to provide the information and answers you need as quickly as possible. Tiffany will often be your first point of contact and can help you with most inquiries.

Tiffany Daugherty Branch Office Administrator

Client meetings

Putting our clients’ interests first is – and always has been – at the core of what we do. Regular reviews are one of the most important ways to help keep you on track toward your goals.

Meeting regularly, we’ll:

•Discuss your goals

•Understand your comfort with risk

•Review your financial strategy

Grant Beasley Financial Advisor

1 Lakeshore Drive, Suite 1 PO Box 1373

Kimberling City, MO 65686 417-739-5575

Office hours

Monday-Thursday 8:00am-4:30pm Friday 8:00am-3:30pm

After hours available by appointment

What LiesBeneath ...Fairy Cave

Stories About What Is Buried By Table Rock Lake © Tom Koob 2023

Truman Powell homesteaded on Fall Creek in the 1880s. His farm Echo Glade had a large orchard and a steam-powered sawmill. He founded the Stone County Oracle newspaper in Galena and was part owner of the Marble Cave Mining and Manufacturing Company.

The mining operation hauled tons of profitable bat quano out of what is today Marvel Cave at Silver Dollar City.

Truman’s son Waldo developed a homestead up on Indian Ridge near today’s Highway 13. Walker Powell was born on

photo courtesy of Tom Koob

John Ross and Will Powell at the mill on Fall Creek

this farm. The Powell’s had a very special feature on their property—Fairy Cave.

Walker Powell tells the following story about the discovery of Fairy Cave in the late nineteenth century:

“Two young boys were out hunting. Their dog ran a rabbit under a rock. The boys moved the rock and there was an opening under it. They told their father about their find and he reported it at the mill over on Fall Creek. My granddad Truman Powell heard about it and decided to explore it. There was a 90 foot drop at the hole. My uncle Arthur Irwin had the homestead where the cave was located.

Louella Owen was writing a book on caves. She’d heard about this cave and wrote Truman letter asking if she could come down and visit it. She wanted to go down in the cave. Grandpa had been down there at least once. They had rigged up a windlass to let ‘em down into the cavern.

Miss Owen went over there in a buggy. It was a rough road. They could ride up close to the cave and then walk down to where the entrance was. She thought that was a terrible ride in that buggy. She was wantin’ to go down. They had candles and lanterns. They let Uncle Will down first. Then Truman went down. He got down about half way and hollered at ‘em, ‘Hold on a minute!’ They thought something had gone wrong. ‘What’s wrong, Mr. Powell?’ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I justwant to stop here a minute and look at all this beauty.’

After that, Louella backed out and went back and sat under a shade tree. They were in there about six hours. When they came back out, she went up there and

asked my grandpa, ‘What’s it like down there, Mr. Powell?’ He said, ‘All I can say is it looks like an underground fairyland.’ And she said, ‘Well, let’s just call it Fairy Cave.’ And that’s where it got its name.”

Fairy Cave was opened to the public in 1921 as a tourist attraction. Walker Powell helped his family with the operation of the cave. As a boy, Walker helped park cars and serve lunch at the attraction. When visitors arrived to tour the cave, Walker would offer them lunch—a dollar for adults and 50¢ for children. He would then help his mother and sister prepare and serve the orders at their home. Fried chicken and biscuits was the usual fare.

The Powell family built a two-story building over the cave entrance that included a museum on the second floor. They installed well-engineered steps and railings inside. Originally, they used gasoline lanterns to guide tours, but later installed electric lighting. Walker Powell gives the following description of Fairy Cave:

“You walk down about two flights. You look across the entire cavern. It’s a crack, a limestone fault. It’s not cut out by water. That first view is one of the most beautiful caves you’ll ever see. There’s one formation that’s 85 feet high. It’s a big dome shape, hollow inside. It’s got all the natural colors in it from the iron and copper, red and green. It’s a beautiful sight. There are thin draperies you can see the light through. Some of these are twelve, fourteen feet long. They’re called stalactite draperies. The Elephant Ear comes down from the ceiling eight or ten feet. When you come through the door in the back, you have to walk under it. We had to have someone stand there to see that nobody bumped their head on it. It had a curl on it that got knocked off.

The formations form a cubic inch every hundred years. The stairways were put in 80 years ago and have about a half inch formation on the edge of the steps. It’s a live cave. There’s always some water dripping or flowing. There’s a pool of water. There’s blind, white salamanders and cave crickets living in the cave.

Concrete was mixed for the stairs in the cave. The gravel and cement were lowered down in a five gallon bucket. The pool water in the cave was used to mix the cement and build the stairs from the bottom up. Concrete railings were also built to replace the original wooden stairs and metal railings.”

Fairy Cave contains many wonders including the “Cathedral”, a massive 85 foot high dripstone formation, unusual draperies, stalactites, stalagmites and many “fairies”, combinations of flowstone and coiled and spiraled draperies. There is active water flow in the cave, a

small lake and wet passages. The cave contains white salamanders, cave crickets and some bats. Connected to and below Fairy Cave is Mud Cave, which is typically not open to the public. In 1970, the Powells sold Fairy Cave to the Herschend family who continues to operate it as Talking Rocks Cavern.

Walker and his wife Johanna worked at Silver Dollar City for many years. Walker and Johanna worked as authentic characters at the entertainment venue and were featured in television promotions for Silver Dollar City. Until their recent passing, they resided in a beautiful home overlooking a steep, forested hollow not far from Fairy Cave.

Tom Koob is a local author who has written several books about Ozarks history. His work is available on Amazon “new” books or by contacting him at:

wolpublishing@gmail.com

Waldo Powell at Fairy Cave entrance

Photo Courtesy of Tom Koob