The trashing of a local park area! Where are the Police?

Ain't this pretty?

I'm not sure whose in charge of the Shadow Rock Park area, but whoever it is they should be ashamed! I'm guessing that would be the City of Forsyth and their seemingly callous neglect of an area just across from Swan Creek that is being progressively trashed by a group of what I consider to be inbred morons! Individuals who I'll bet aren't smart enough to realize that they look like complete idiots as they mindlessly run their vehicles through muddy area in a field adjacent to Shadow Rock Park. Duh!

The end result is a piece of utterly destroyed ground that will probably never recover as the soil has become so compacted that nothing will grow (reminds me of a scene out of some Third World country). And, for what reason? So that a few retards can pretend they're somebody cool? Give me a break! (I'll wager that the collective futures of these dimwits is not very good and that the words 'welfare' and 'prison' are or will soon be significant words to them).

Motorcycle Swap Meet set for Sunday April 21, 2013

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Senior Friendship Center Swap Meet

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Seems like more and more of us are becoming seniors every year! One great gathering place down where I live is the Forsyth Senior Center. A great place to find 'homemade' food served each week day at 11:30 AM along with good people who like to get together and have fun.

This event helps keep the Center going and growing. Please come and give your support at the Swap Meet to be held on Saturday, October the 13th at Shadowrock Park just to the east of Forsyth, Missouri off Highway 160! Click on the picture above for additional information.

February 1, 2012 Shadow Rock Park Update!

You know, for all the flooding we had in 2011, I have to admit the Shadow Rock and River Run parks both look to be in pretty good shape. I feel this was due, in no little part, to efforts by the volunteers and city workers who spent time earlier this fall to help clean things up.

Today, the first of February it’s 64F outside as I stroll around, camera in hand. For whatever reason, the really cold air has been bottled up way to the north and so we have had a mild winter. I heard on the TV that Chicago has had the mildest winter in over 80 years! (Well, if that city is warm, then you know it’s got to be even warmer this far south)!

Today, there were quite a few people out and about in the area; either driving around in their cars our out in a boat. I was too far from the fishermen to ask how their luck was, but I’m hoping it was fair to middling.

Over on the River Run side, someone has been working on cleaning up the public showers and bathrooms. In addition, most of the driftwood has also been removed, so it looks like it’s getting close to being good to go also.

I know what’s on a lot of people minds as we edge towards spring. That is, will the rains be as heavy as they were last April and May? I can’t tell you what Mother Nature is planning on, but I sure hope not. It’s just that over the last five years, it seems the park has been flooded more often than not.

I’ll try and get another report out later this month. Hope everyone stays warm and dry!

Shadow Rock Lodge to see new life!

Last September, representatives of Pensco Trust and Lincoln Trust stopped by to take a look at Shadow Rock Lodge located at the junction of Hwy 160 and 76 just outside of Forsyth, Mo. and apparently liked what they saw. They acquired the building and have already put a new roof on the building that they plan to completely refurbish in 2012. Included in the sale was the motel/motor lodge that has been deemed structurally unsound and which in all likelihood will be razed to the ground.

According a Taney Times article published on December 28, 2011; Forsyth Mayor, Ron Potter stated that the two trust firms envision an open air restaurant on top of the lodge that would attract motorcycle and eco-travelers throughout the region. If true, this development could breath new life into the area it is expected that much of the work will be awarded to local companies and contractors.

Personally, I’m looking forward to watching and recording the refurbishment progress here on this blog. It will be exciting to see the Lodge restored to its former glory and once again attain the status of an attraction as opposed to a vacant building.

Shadow Rock Park needs helpers to paint on Sept the 10th!

On what turned out to be a picture perfect day in early September (a high temperature was 79), I packed a light lunch and headed down to Shadow Rock Park in Forsyth, Missouri to see what was going on. I even brought along my bike for a little exercise.

Even though the area where this park is located has been spending most of its time lately under water due to the floods, when I arrived I was still impressed with the extensive recovery efforts. It seems both the city workers and not a few volunteers from the Forsyth Baptist Church had been busy getting the area back up to snuff. I noticed right away that much of the debris, in the form of branches and twigs, had been collected and burned. Even the grass was coming back, poking bravely through a coating of mud that had covered nearly every surface. Now the roads are clear and the due to the efforts of a hard working few the park is beginning to shine again. Another sure sign of recovery was the numerous fishing trailers parked by the bathrooms as you enter the camping side.

I parked next to the Park Attendants RV and was surprised to find Chris Robertson there. Chris is the Manager of Forsyth's Public Services Department (hope I got that right) and is currently doing double duty by watching over the park. He informed me that the park will stay open until either the traffic stops or it gets too cold and they are forced to shut off the water. He then indicated that even after that should hunters want to stay there, the park may be able to offer electrical hookups. In any case they would want to call ahead to make sure.

Chris also informed me they were looking for additional volunteers to do some painting on Saturday, September the 10^th. Anyone who is interested in helping can plan to show up at about 9AM on that date. Otherwise, please make an effort to come down and enjoy all the Shadow Rock Park has to offer!

Flood waters are receding in Shadow Rock Park!

According to my sources, the water level downstream of Powersite Dam is now dropping very rapidly and in just a short time, people will be able to access Shadow Rock Park which as been under water for close to four months now. That's great news!

But, before the park can be allowed to open, city crews will have to fix damage that was done during the long term period that the park was submerged. This will include some sanitizing and the fixing of some electrical lines that became damaged by debris.

I also understand that the city will be looking for volunteers to help with a clean up effort some time soon. This will more than likely occur after the Labor Day weekend. If you think you might be interested in lending a helping hand, you can either call City Hall at 417-546-4763 or email the Mayor, Ron Potter at ron.potter@cityofforsythmo.com.

Shadow Rock Park Flood Update for August 2011

From May the 9^th to August the 7^th, the composite pictures above tell a story of flood waters that have been slow to recede. The extreme rain events of late May that covered the entire region with over a foot of water was a major contributor. Then, heavy rains falling over the Midwest and which inundated the Mississippi river served to really back things up for the remainder of the summer.

The end result, here in Forsyth Missouri, has been a set of flooded parks that have not yet recovered from actions initiated by the Corp of Engineers. Both Shadow Rock and River Run Parks which are across from each other have been closed during the peak summer months and it would appear they will remain closed as fall approaches. The river level chart, here, show just how high the levels rose and give some idea that it will be quite some time before they get back to normal. The question, asked by some, are whether the levels will ever drop back down fast enough before the coming fall and then spring rains raise the levels again! It seems we may have entered a period of extreme weather.

Either it’s too dry or too wet it seems! There doesn’t seem to be much middle road left anymore; a fact that residents of Central Texas can attest to. They’ve endured one of the worst droughts in decades with temperatures this summer getting into the hundred plus degree mark on a daily basis. And, while it’s also been on the dry side here in southwest Missouri, we have still been blessed with the occasional pop-up storms that have helped keep the vegetation from dying off entirely.

Weather, experts tell us are all about patterns, regular patterns that people depend on from year to year and season to season. When those patterns get weird, however, they can bollix up the entire works. Let us all hope for a return to normalcy sometime soon.

The Forsyth Park Audit: Fair or Not?

By nature, I confess to two recurrent problems in my life; one, an ongoing and entrenched form of naivety and two, a sense of curiosity that often gets me into trouble. Blindly walking into problems is no way to live a life, but that’s just the way I was built. So, it was with a growing sense of curiosity that I began to follow the exploits of the City of Forsyth and its seeming trouble with parks.

Let me begin with what I think a park actually is. By one definition, it’s ‘an area of land, usually in a largely natural state, set aside for the enjoyment of the public, having facilities for rest and recreation, and which is often owned, set apart, and managed by a city, state, or nation.’ That would seem to be a pretty good starting definition to me. But, I also feel that a city’s park(s) should be locales that are planned, implemented and managed in such a manner that the citizens feel they have been a part of the process. Did that happen here? I’m not sure.

Here in Forsyth, Missouri we have now have two parks; Shadow Rock Park, a site that spends part of it’s time underwater and a recent addition, Shoals Bend Park. Interestingly, neither park actually resides within the city limits. Shadowrock lies on federally owned land and Shoals Bend is…well, it’s down Highway 76 a piece.

The first park, Shadowrock, has been under the control of the City of Forsyth for some time. As I understand it, we rent the place from the Corps of Engineers. However, the stuff built there over time has come from the city and the folks who paid property taxes. That was until a bill was passed in 2000 whereby a half cent city tax was enacted. The proceeds of which went into a fund for the future management of local city parks. (This act then repealed the City Ordinance numbered 128 which levied a portion of the funds collected from property taxes for park purposes). A move that would hopefully make money spent on the park systems much easier to track. Theoretically at least.

That half cent tax, by the way, amounted to something like 1.6 million dollars in the ten year span of time to up to 2010. How exactly that money was disseminated over that decade has only recently come into question by some in the community. The problem some have with Shadowrock is one of visual infrastructural accounting (VIA). Over the last ten years, where has the money gone and for what purpose? (I believe that even the walking path which runs from the Shadowrock Park proper to the property managed by Empire Electric was subsidized by the Federal government at a cost to the city of only $40K)! Then, there was the recurrent flood damage over the years. I’m not sure what the cost was there, but I do know that volunteers were employed at least once to help make things right. (I know, because I was one of them). Other expenses that were visible was park maintenance and the building of a bandstand. Other than that…what? I need some help here!

Now, we have us a brand new park area known as Shoals Bend Park. A sprawling 78 acre track of land which I understand was purchased by the city and which has now has been leased out to the Taney County Fair Board for a period of thirty years. As I understand it, both the city and the Fair Board will help build a couple of baseball parks and an arena along with other needed improvements to function as a vehicle for future Fairs and such. The profits of which will be funneled back into the park system for additional improvements. Did I get that even close to right? But, wait a minute! What about that half cent tax thingy? Are they still collecting it, and if so, which park will it go to? Both? Neither? I dunno. Tangled webs were never my bag man.

The bottom line is this park deal seems to be a bit of a mess, and I wholly endorse the expenditure of monies to have an audit performed at this time. I’m also confident that there is enough concern in the Forsyth community to warrant such an investigation. A process I would like to see done in a timely and transparent fashion.

Disclaimer: All the opinions expressed in this article are those solely of the author and may or may not be factually accurate. Readers are encouraged to do their own research, and in doing so, come to their own conclusions.