On April 10, 1894, President Grover Cleveland granted a patent to William W. Wilbanks for the property Cactus Ridge Resort was built on. William Wilbanks then deeded the property to Eliza and Mary Wilbanks on April 17, 1926. The Wilbanks then sold the property to Carl and Leona Henke on April 30, 1958. The Henke's built the resort. The resort business must have been as stressful back then as today because in 1962 they were divorced and the resort was sold to E. D. Curlee, Alyce Marbury and Dolores Poynter. The Curlee group then sold the resort to Blanche McCarthy on May 4, 1962.
I vaguely remember the Henke's. I do remember Blanche McCarthy. I am pretty sure she put in the swimming pool. She was friends with my mom, and we got invited up to swim in the pool occasionally. Blanche sold the resort to Frank and Rose Martinek on September 10, 1968.
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| Pontiac Resort Association members from left to right, Joe Morgan, Alice Morgan, Bill Haege, Edna Moody, Flo Haege, Hugh Moody, Fran Gregory, Bill Gregory, Theresa Shourek, Guy Johnson and Frank Martinek. |
I spent a lot of time at "The Ridge" during the time the Martineks owned the resort. They had four kids. Mike and Mark were the youngest and went to school at Gainesville. Mark was a little younger than me, but he and I became good friends. The Martineks had a great business; it was one of the busiest resorts in the area. I think mainly because they had their own restaurant, and they had the best cook in the country working for them, Argie Wilbanks. The Wilbanks family homesteaded in the Pontiac area, and some members of the family still live here today. The restaurant served family-style meals to their guests but would cook to order for hungry fishermen upon request. The Martineks sold the resort to Don (Bud) and Laura Herwaldt on June 30, 1973. The Martineks continued to live in the area after selling the resort, and I still see Mark about once every couple of years.
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| Argie Wilbanks |
The Herwaldts were very active in the community and very good resort operators. They continued to run the restaurant. They were one of the longer running operators of the resort. I was running the dock during the last ten years of their tenure at "The Ridge," so I did not have a lot of time to drop in on them, but I know they had a good reputation with their customers.
The Herwaldts sold the resort to Ron Bandy and Janis Allen on June 13, 1989. Once again the resort business took its toll on a partnership as Bandy and Allen dissolved their partnership in 1993. They ran the restaurant as well. Ron prided himself on his breakfasts. No offense Ron, but no one could take the place of Argie. Ron and Janis were avid golfers. She was one of the better women golfers in the area. I got to know her better after she and Ron broke up as she started dating Don Atchison. Johnna and I enjoyed many golf outings with her and Don.
I am not sure the exact date that Frances and Arlene Bahr bought the resort, but it must have been in the mid nineties. Frances and Arlene worked hard to keep the business up and stayed active in the resort association. The Bahrs' relationship could not survive the resort business either as they divorced and the resort was closed earlier this year. It was later sold by auction to local resident Charlie Dacus.
Charlie has been very busy remodeling and hopes to have it ready to open for the upcoming season.
Written by Cap'n T. Morgan
7 comments:
Nice to see this post about Cactus Ridge. It was because of Frank Martinek that my family moved to Pontiac! He and Rose had 3 children, though, not 4 - Frankie (girl), Mark and Mike. I believe only Mark is still living. :-(
Thanks for this post and the photo. Brings back a lot of memories (especially those great meals of Argie's!).
I was thinking they had another older daughter named Sandy. Mark told me last year Mike had died. He was not in great health but still kicking.
Tim
My name is Danielle and my grandparents are Don and Laura Herwaldt. This blog was a true blessing to our family the past few days. After leaving grandpa at the hospice home on Sunday, my sister and I took grandma to Steak-n-Shake. We started talking about the resort and she told me to "look it up" as she pointed to my phone. Soon after looking it up, I found this blog. I read this to grandma and she had the biggest smile on her face. We took her home and returned to the hospice home. I read this to grandpa, he smiled as I read and then raised his eyebrows in shock when I told him how many boat docks were at Pontiac. Grandpa passed away an hour later. When grandma returned she said "he never heard that article" and I reassured her that I had read it to him before he passed. Grandma said that owning the resort was the best time period of their lives. Thank you for sharing what wonderful people my grandparents were.
Danielle
Your grandparents were very hard workers and community minded. They did a great job at the resort. I was sorry to see them leave. I could not find a picture of them to include but if you could find one from their resort days and email to us, we will add it to the post.
Tim
You're right, Tim! I forgot about the other daughter. I don't think she came down very often. In fact, I don't remember seeing her at all! Frank and Rose were great people, and I'm glad I got to see them before they passed away.
I do have to make a small correction on my great grandfather's name. It was Elijah, not Eliza Willbanks. Great to have the details of this.
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