Hot Dog and Chips at the Frosted Mug!

Forsyth MO - There are many different ways to serve the common hot dog. And while my favorite is the Chicago Dog, this offering by John's Frosted Mug comes in a close second!

At $4.99, plus tax, the Mug Hot Dog w chips is a pretty neat meal-a-deal. The bun is soft and tasty while the all beef dog is the real deal. For those with an interest, the image below is of a Chicago Dog!

Forsyth City Council acts...pointlessly

Forsyth Mo. - The Forsyth Missouri City Council decided on 7/22 to require face masks be worn at all times when out and about. No end date was set for this ordinance, either! Why? I have no clue other than the blatant exercise of political power or perhaps the spreading of fear. Whatever the reason, the net effect will be likely aid to further kill off local businesses while having little, to no effect, on saving lives. As of July 23, Taney County Missouri (where the town of Forsyth resides), had a total of only three deaths since the start of January! This out of a population of 56K plus.

Update: July 23, 2020 - Apparently the City decided to have metal signs printed up and then distributed them to area businesses. You be the judge as to the meaning. Me? I'm lost.

The sign, while well intentioned, was not issued by the City of Forsyth!

Disc Golf tournament comes to Forsyth!

Forsyth MO - July the 11th in Liberty Utilities Park near the town of Forsyth MO. witnessed a disk golf tournament the drew a surprising large number of contestants. 

I went down to the park to get a little bit of exercise and was thus surprised to see groups of 'golfers' roaming all over the 18 hole course that required sturdy legs as the competitors had to walk over five miles to finish the course. Only one golf cart was in evidence, so most competitors had to grind it out on their own two legs!

The sponsor of the event, I believe, was Innova who has affiliates that make disc related equipment.

This growing world wide sport looks to be a ton of fun while also giving all who compete a great workout.

License tag waiting at the DMV!

Forsyth MO. - Among the various forms of fallout delivered by the Coronavirus has be the partial or even complete breakdown of various government offices. Take the local DMV for example.

On a hot and moist 88 degree day, I had finally assembled all the paperwork needed to get my license tags renewed. This included an inspection, copies of my personal property taxes and proof of insurance. That done, I headed over to the DMV office on Main Street only to discover a rather long line of people being forced to sit or stand out in the heat. When I approached them I asked how long the wait was. No one had any idea, but those at the head of the line told me they had been standing there for over 15 minutes!

I had two problems with that scenario; 1) a recent back injury had made it difficult to stand and 2) sitting on the pavement was not an option as I would have a difficult time standing back up!

A call to the State office left me in a waiting line die to the 'virus'. A call to the local police left me with leaving a message. Lastly, due to the nature of my plates, I did not have an option to renew online. And, with the virus expected to come back in the fall, I was thinking that I would have to take my chances once the tags had expired.

Update: The very next day, I bit the bullet and got over to the office at 8:15 AM. My thinking was by arriving 15 minutes early, I'd get in quickly. No such luck. There was already 8 people inside the office with a line forming outside!  I got into line as #3 and by 8:30 AM, there were about 12 individuals standing around waiting..... After 30 minutes, I got into the office and so was at about the number 7 position. There were three people working, but it was a slow slog. The total time I spent waiting for get my plates and tags was about one hour!

Local Taney County gas prices rise, but will be lower than normal.

Chart runs from mid Jan 2019 to Mid June 2020
Conoco, Forsyth MO.

Taney County MO - Every summer, regional refineries change over from so-called winter blends of gasoline to the summer mixtures. This often accompanied with high prices that reflect the cost of the change over. Not so for the summer of 2020, as the Covid-19 virus has greatly impacted travel!

The above chart was compiled by the author and reflects dates and the cost of regular gas per gallon  at the White Oak Conoco station on Highway 160 in Forsyth Mo.

Arvest Bank location to become office and event space!

Forsyth MO. - I talked briefly with the owners who acquired the Arvest Bank building and who have work crews there now transforming the former bank into office and event space. I was informed that information concerning the structure would be made available as early as the 12th of June (Friday) and that I might be able to get inside for pictures. So, an update is coming...

Update: I stopped at this site on Tuesday, June 16 and was told it would be another two weeks before the office spaces would be 'presentable'.

A delicate balance of a few billion tons of water!

Forsyth MO. - For whatever reason (although I'll get into some in future blogs), the two bodies of impounded water controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers could just possibly get into trouble due to both recent and imminent future rainfalls. First, some factual information;

[Source – Wikipedia] 'The original purpose of the reservoir was for flood control on the White River. The dam had been authorized a month earlier under the Flood Control Act of September 3, 1943. The reservoir has a fluctuation of 16 feet (4.9 m). When the reservoir is above the maximum flood pool, excess water goes over the auxiliary overflow spillway at the north end of the dam.

Table Rock Dam’s spillway capacity was evaluated as a result of a dam safety program in the 1990s. Using improved weather data and more modern technology and safety requirements, engineers determined that the lake would rise ten feet higher during the worst-case flood than previously calculated. An event of this magnitude would over top the earthen embankment and destroy Table Rock Dam with catastrophic losses in downstream areas, including Branson. To prevent the potential loss of life and property damages, congress approved and authorized construction of the Dam Safety Project. After considering several options and gathering considerable public input, an auxiliary spillway was determined to be the best solution. The auxiliary spillway was completed in 2005 at a cost of approximately $65,000,000.

The worst case scenario of a catastrophic floodwater discharge from Table Rock Lake using the auxiliary floodgates would roughly resemble this:

At elevation 931 Table Rock Lake is at full flood capacity. The ten Tainter gates are opened to accommodate additional lake inflow from the White River Basin including the James River and Beaver Lake discharge.

At elevation 937 Table Rock Lake is 6 feet above flood capacity. The ten Tainter gates are opened wider in an effort to stabilize reservoir rise. Outflow from the Lake under these circumstances will be nearing 200-300 thousand cubic feet per second (CFS).

At elevation 942 Table Rock Lake is 11 feet above flood capacity and at its "design pool", or the maximum elevation that the reservoir is engineered to reach, under "probable maximum flood" scenarios. The dam’s ten Tainter gates will be fully raised to their maximum height of approximately 30 feet letting loose 550 thousand CFS into Lake Taneycomo. This scenario would effectively submerge and destroy the powerhouse, power transmission grid, hatchery, and wreak serious destruction down stream.

At elevation 947 Table Rock Dam would be at its maximum capacity and water would be at the very top of the dam. The auxiliary spillway would be brought online, in concert with Table Rock’s fully opened floodgates. This catastrophic or "last resort" protocol releases 1 million CFS of lake waters into Taneycomo and deals dreadful destruction to Branson, Hollister, Point Lookout and possibly the Powersite Dam. At this point there is a danger of water over-topping the concrete dam and breaching the earthen structure, which imminently leads to cataclysmic structural failure and the uncontrolled release of the Table Rock Lake impoundment—nearly 3 million CFS of water.

Historical facts: Table Rock Lake has a record crest of 935.47 feet, which occurred on April 27, 2011.

In December 2015, the dam released 72,000 CFS at its peak. This is the highest amount ever released.'

As of May 23rd, the water levels were at;

Click to enlarge

Now while the smallest impounded Lake (Beaver) was doing OK, her two downstream neighbors were carrying a bit of a load. The biggest worry being Bull Shoals, currently at 693 feet or just two feet below flood pool levels. Note that 'flood pool' as defined by Law Insider reads;

30 (24) “Flood pool elevation” means the maximum water surface elevation of a reservoir, equal to the elevation of the spillway.

This is the point at which a dam would be forced to start discharging 'against the will of those in control'. (Note that the Table Rock Dam level was at 926 feet with their flood pool set at 931 feet - That's 4 feet away)! Also note that when were are talking about the height of a body of water, we are referring to msl or height above mean sea level.

So, even though the coming week of rain only equals about an inch, the water game is certainly getting a bit dicey, to say the least!