Tanco Lumber in Forsyth Mo to relocate?

Forsyth MO. - Apparently Tanco Lumber a lumber yard currently located at 240 State Hwy H, on the outskirts of  Forsyth Missouri, will be moving a bit closer to town to a new location that used to be Bob's EZ Package Store and which was renamed Pump 30 some months ago! The reason for the change of address remained unknown to me as the time of this post. Perhaps the ownership was going to keep the original Tanco location as a storage facility, but that would be idle conjecture on my part. 

One concern I had was the fact that this store slash gas island was used by many residents of both Rockaway Beach and Merriam Woods. Now, customers may have to drive a bit further down the road to get either food or fuel!

Shadowrock Park re-opens!

Forsyth MO - While driving by Shadowrock Park, located just to the east of the town of Forsyth Missouri, I noticed that the gates were no longer closed and so drove on through.

I did spot a few electric coop trucks effecting repairs and that was encouraging, in of itself. After many months of having been flooded, the park infrastructure didn't look all that bad. I mentally made plans to go on an impromptu picnic early next week. (That was assuming that it stayed open).

River Run Park, over across Bull Shoals still had a ways to go, it would seem. The lake level, on the day of this post, was 672.86 feet above msl. I was guessing that it would be another week or so before it too became accessible to auto traffic.

You can reach the people who man this Park by calling 417- 546-2876...

Area parks had dried out, yet remained closed!

Forsyth Mo. - As the summer of 2019 drew to a close, I was happy to see the flood waters in the Bull Shoals Lake area receding to levels that were closer to normal. On the date of this post, the water level had dropped down to 673 feet msl and was dropping at a rate that averaged a third of a foot per day. At that average rate, it was still going to be another 49 days before levels got back down to the normal level of 659 feet! But it was at about 677 feet that Shadowrock Park was pretty much clear of water. (That occurred toward the end of August and so a couple of weeks later, most of it was high and dry). And, there had been evidence that park personnel (or perhaps volunteers) had gotten much of the debris removed to debris piles for removal or burning. I drove down there to snap some pics and to maybe walk around a bit. Sadly, the park remained locked down.....

I made a call to the Park people about when the park might re-open and was greeted with a message informing me that the park was closed 'indefinitely'.

Shadowrock Park emerges once again!

Forsyth needs its own Park/Tourist Center!

After spending yet another spring and summer season languishing beneath the waters of Bull Shoals, the one popular park located just to the east of the city of Forsyth, MO has emerged. And, as you may have guessed, there's a boatload of assorted debris that will now need to be hauled off.

With the final holiday of the summer just a day or so away, Labor Day will have to be celebrated at some other area park should one be so inclined. Empire and Shoals Bend are the two closest that I can recall. And while Empire Park does only have a few amenities, it still shines brightly when compared to Shoals Bend. Here's a very short rundown on all four;

Shadowrock Park - May become available a few days toward the middle of September.
River Run - I'm guessing the the Corps will keep this park shuttered until perhaps next year.
Empire Park - Open for business
Shoals Bend - This is actually not a park. It's a fair ground that few seem to want to go to... I definitely don't like going there after dark.

If I might be so bold as to say WTF? is the town of Forsyth so strapped for resources that we can't develop a fully functional and equipped park somewhere in the city limits? And, I'm not talking about a few picnic tables dumped on some vacant field with a porta potty. I'm talking about a fully landscaped area that could support such amenities as; flush toilets, a stage, a public indoor swimming poll and meeting hall, vendor sites. Well, you get my drift. All that's lacking is the public's will to plan and develop what I feel would be a true visitor attraction that could also pay for itself over the long haul. Will this ever happen... no, probably not.

A Pittsburg salad with fries? And at the Frosted Mug? Uh no...

Forsyth Mo - Here’s the real deal, salad lovers. Sometimes we all want to eat a salad that’s simply full of lettuce and vegetables. Other times we want to eat a salad that’s full of lettuce, vegetables, shredded cheese, croutons, Ranch dressing, more cheese and more croutons.

But we had no idea we wanted to eat a salad that’s full of lettuce, vegetables, cheese and FRENCH FRIES.

That’s right. There’s an actual real life salad that’s topped with our favorite French cuisine — fries. WTF??

I had the occasion to observe this creation served, recently, at a local venue and had to admit that the patron who ordered it (special) seemed to enjoy the experience totally!

So, is this so-called salad now on the menu at the Mug? No. It would seem that only the intelligentsia has access that mere mortals, such as myself, can only dream...

Shadowrock Park may soon reemerge!

Park at 678' or just after it was closed for the 2019 season!

Forsyth MO. - After spending the bulk of the spring and summer resting beneath the waves of Bull Shoals Lake, a popular area park may once again make an appearance by early October or just in time for the end of the Summer season. The graph below is based on water level trends and assumes a relative dry month of August (dotted trend line). The more aggressive purple line represents the most recent trend based on higher release rates at the Bull Shoals dam.

Bull Shoals Lake level

What's missing regarding restaurant condiments?

I think that most everyone who lives in and around Forsyth Missouri has likely had a chance to  visit one of the many fine sit-down styled restaurants that my small town supports; Long Horn Family Dining, Fat Daddy's, Thrive and Mountain William's Pizza to name a few. All offer a great dining experience and my only, as of late, concern has been with the table condiment selections as of late...

Most venues have the basics always in place at each table; table salt, pepper, sugar and sugar substitutes being the most common. Other venue's table side condiments reflect the food that is served with places like Fat Daddy's also having a nice selection of sauces to go on that shredded pork sandwich or BBQ. But, there is most always something(s) missing, and I wanted to address that point in this post.

Even if unused, these open tubs must be tossed!

The picture above was taken at the Long Horn on the date of this post. Notice that there is no salt substitute or packaged jellies. Whenever I dine out that this venue, I often have to request the jelly and always have to bring my own ' fake salt'. Seriously, in a town with a pretty large population of older persons, you'd think everyone had gotten the message about why per capita salt intake is at record high levels! Likewise, I prefer that the jelly be in sealed packages along with the salt and pepper. Please see my other post on 'The Gross Reason You Should Never Pepper Your Food in Restaurants'!   

Friday, Aug 16th Back to School Party!

July 19 power outage!

It was about 8PM, or so, on Friday July the 19th when I noticed that the cable had died. No internet and no TV. Then, about five minutes later the power went also. So, there I was sitting in the dark on one of the hottest evening of the summer....wondering...

Apparently, something blew at the Powersite substation above the Powersite Dam (which was also not working at the time). And so, I went on to bed and lay there in the dark wondering when things would get back to 'normal'. About two hours later, the power did come back on as did my air conditioner, so I was able to get some sleep. But as I fell to sleep, my mind pondered the question of out power infrastructure and what sort of shape it was in. Were the problems sporadic and local or were they more widespread? Following is the response I received from Liberty Utilities after I inquired as to the cause of the outage;

From: Doreen Maynard
Sent: Saturday, July 20, 2019 10:20 AM

Subject: Outage

Unfortunately we cannot promise service 24/7 but when we do experience an outage we respond as quickly and safely as possible. We did have and issue with a substation,  we can’t predict when this might happen however with the extremely high heat index we have experienced that may cause extra load on our equipment. With our lineman responding quickly and our customers conserving usage we will do our best to make sure outages are as infrequent as possible.

Thank you

Doreen Maynard | Liberty Utilities  (Missouri) | Customer Service Rep-Contact Center-Sr

VAT#123456
While I greatly appreciated the prompt response, I still could not help but be a little troubled. Was the power grid getting a bit old? Was it not able to keep up with the increased loads placed on it by a society that craves electrical devices? It was my sincere hope that Liberty Utilities, a Canadian owned power company, would stay on top of these questions.

Repairs to damaged gates could happen in early August!

Forsyth MO. - On or about June the 28th of this year, some form of flood debris damaged a part or parts of a pneumatic line that was used to inflate air bladders that would raise or lower the gates as needed. When this line was 'cut', a goodly section of the barrier lowered, allowing water to flow freely from Taneycomo. On July 15, I was able to get in touch with a spokesperson at Liberty Utilities who informed me that repairs would have to wait until the water level on the Bull Shoals side had dropped enough for it to be safe. I was told that level would be 685 feet above msl. (I had posted 675 feet and got a correction notice from Liberty Utilities - see update below)! A situation that could be hampered due to Bulls Shoals Dam in Arkansas having to restrict their release rates, somewhat, until things improved on the Mississippi (my assumption).

While it may be hard to see in the graphic above, those little black triangles represent sensors that show when the body of water they are located on is above flood stage. It would appear that the Missouri and Mississippi rivers were both a little high, (to say the least). What is not apparent, yet, would the be effect of all the rainfall dropped on the Mississippi by tropical storm Berry. Again the bottom line is, in my limited view, it could be quite a long period of time before these main waterways get back to something close to normal.

 Update From Liberty Utilities:

'Heavy rain and flooding conditions in the lower Mississippi river valley have impacted several of the lakes in our Southwest Missouri area. 

Flood debris recently caused damage to two sections of the spillway gates at our Ozark Beach dam on Lake Taneycomo. Because of the damage, these spillway gates can’t be raised due to broken or cracked air lines. A breach to the dam has not occurred, and there are no immediate safety concerns. Crews will repair the air line damage once the water level in Bull Shoals lake has dropped to 685 feet, allowing them to safely access the dam equipment. Until that time, residents may experience dropping lake levels at Lake Taneycomo. 

If you plan on boating at Lake Taneycomo now or in the near future, please check the lake levels before entering the water and practice caution while traveling on the lake. Repairs will be made to our Ozark Beach dam as soon as conditions allow.'

Extrapolating from that new guideline and assuming that we do not experience any more heavy rainfall in the near term, I cam up with the following graphic click on to expand):

If correct, the 685 foot level could be reached at or before August the 10th! That's a big 'if', however.

Frosted Mug to offer spaghetti meal on Sunday in Forsyth Mo!

Date: Sunday, July 14, 2019
Time: 11 to 5PMish - Call for exact times.
Location: 15861 US-160, Forsyth, MO 65653
Tel: 417-546-4149 

Some fun pasta facts:

• Spaghetto is the singular word for spaghetti. ...
• Before machinery, pasta was kneaded by foot. ...
• Al dente pasta not only tastes better, it keeps you full longer. ...
• There are approximately 350 shapes of pasta... ...
• The average Italian eats 60 pounds of pasta per year... ...
• And a typical portion is only 100 grams.

Update: While this special was not over, I did get a chance to ask a customer how he felt about the fare. He told me that the sauce was great, the spaghetti a little over done, the garlic bread good and the small salad OK.

Disclaimer: Quantities may be limited, price subject to change, Sunday only

Powersite Dam barrier broken and utility company seems clueless!

Forsyth MO. - On or about June the 28, Powersite Dam suffered a mechanical failure in a water blocking mechanism that normal projects up a few few allowing water to be withheld up to 702 feet or so. This insures that folks living along the Taneycomo waterway have water for their boats and docks to ride on. When it fails, the water is allowed to flow freely and so some dock owners awoke to find their stuff high and dry! Now it's been a couple of weeks and no repairs had yet been forthcoming.

I was also told that the Corps of Engineers were withholding water from Table Rock dam in an effort to get Taneycomo's level down far enough to replace what had broken. Powersite Dam, which is run by Liberty Utilities (formerly Empire), seemed clueless when a recent call to their Corporate office came up empty. No one seemed to know what the status of this repair effort was at! And, while they promised to call me back when they had an answer, I was left wondering just who is in charge concerning the Canadian owned enterprise... I'll post an update when I hear back from these folks.

Update: Monday, July 15, 2019 - I talked with a spokesperson from Liberty Utilities and was informed that the damage was to a pneumatic line that services the movable gates and that it will be inaccessible for repair until such time as the Bull Shoals water level drops to or below 675 feet msl. This morning Bull Shoals was at 687 feet.

Forsyth MO restaurants and other eateries in July 2019!

Forsyth MO. - If the town of Forsyth Missouri can boast about anything, it can concerning the number of eateries available to its some 2300 residents. Everything from fast food to family dining to Asian and Mexican specialty houses abound! In this post, I wanted to take a quick peek at all of them;

McD's - As you enter town from the north on Hwy 160, one of the first venues you'll likely run into would be McDonald's, a fast food enterprise situated on the corner of 160 and Coy Blvd. And, while I haven't stepped inside the place for some number of months, it looks to always be doing a brisk business. [One rumor I had heard was that this location was to soon sport auto cashier stations. I've also noticed that the prices are on the high side.]

Sonics - Just a little further south on Hwy 160, also on the left side and just past the Country Mart grocery store is a Sonics. I still do the drive thru from time to time and generally order a premium hotdog and fries. This is one of very few locations where you can get yourself a good dawg at a reasonable price.

Mountain William Pizza - This relatively new venue that used to be the Mexican Burrito place has an interesting menu in that they offer both pizza and pasta dishes. I really wanted to stop in an order a gold old dish of spaghetti and meatballs, but a current diet I was on prevented me from going there. I hoped to remedy that sometime in early August when I was a bit slimmer.

Yummy Donuts - Located just down the line of this eatery killers row is a place that I had not yet attended. As a man on a low carb diet, I just haven't had the nerve to step across the threshold. Others more bold than me tell me that the food there is divine.

Frosted Mug -  This venerable old location is one of the few all smoking restaurant/ bars in the area. When I go there to eat, I'll often order either tacos (a special on Wednesday) or the French dip and French fries which are specially priced on Tuesdays. You can eat there or have carry out. Your choice.

Oaxaca - The one and only true Mexican restaurant in town sports a very large menu selection. I ate there, recently, and enjoyed the food. I had a taco, burrito and rice combo which was great although I also felt that the prices were just a tad high.

Long Horn - Another long standing family dining affair serves up a mean hamburger and fries. I go there on a regular basis for both breakfast and lunch.

Fat Daddy's - Pulled pork on a bun with a side of fries is a favorite of mine. FD's is all about BBQ and they live up to the fine tasting rep they have.

Charlies - Currently closed.

Thrive bistro - Situated just across from the Forsyth public library is a nice little venue that serves an assortment of Italian leaning entrees. Recently, when I dined there I had their angel hair spaghetti and sauce offering with garlic bread sticks which was fabulous!

Shadowrock Cafe and Grill - Currently closed.

Just water under the bridge! Circa 2019!

Forsyth Mo - On April 18, 2010, I recorded a sound set by a band at the Frosted Mug. The song was about life experiences now under the bridge. As a Nation, on the eve of our Declaration of Freedom from foreign shore tyranny and oppression, a date which we call Independence Day, I do so submit this rendition... enjoy - https://youtu.be/2fAjqskLXJQ

Powersite Dam problems!

Forsyth MO. - On or about  the 28th of June, 2019, a air bladder mechanism failed at Powersite Dam resulting in the top retention area lowering. This allowed water levels at Taneycomo Lake to plummet to such an extent that some dock owners went out to find their docks were resting on mud!

The effects of lowering water levels fro 702 feet msl to 698 were easy to see! Areas that were normally covered with two to three feet of water were laid bare!