The lower left picture is Jimmy Robbins on the left and Okie Wilson on the right. I remember the man in the middle on crutches but I can't remember his name. Notice the note at the bottom: 16 Bass weighing 82 pounds. Wow! Can anyone out there identify the men in the upper left picture?
On November 1, 1962, the Robbins family sold the boat dock to George Labuta. George was a bachelor. In addition to owning the boat dock he had a couple of swimming beaches leased at Lake of the Ozarks. There he had canoe rentals, paddle boats and a concession stand. George was a real character. He once told me that he didn't believe in banks or insurance companies, and it was his goal to make enough money to last until he died. He wanted to spend his last dime on his last day alive. George had a night man and a day man that worked at the dock. Jake Martin was his night man. He also owned Martin's Cabins (see previous post). His day man was Barney Jenkins. I could not find any pictures of George, Jake or Barney. When my parents first took over the dock it seemed everyone that came in asked, "Where's Barney?" There was a stray dog that hung around the dock so we named him Barney so we would be able to tell them where Barney was.
This is about the same time that my parents had taken over operation of the Green Trees Cafe (now known as Just Jackie's). George approached my dad and told him he really needed to buy that boat dock since he had two teenage boys to help him. It seemed like my brother was down there most of the time anyway whenever there were dishes to be washed at the restaurant. According to an article written by my mom for the paper, "we had a family meeting and decided that this was the one phase of recreation business we have not tackled yet and one phase that had always appealed to us." So, "we negotiated, came to terms, changed the proprietorship to read Joe Morgan and Sons, and it's been a family business ever since."
I have the original bill of sale from when my parents purchased the dock. It itemizes each dock and piece of equipment purchased. They listed model numbers and serial numbers for everything. I have included the complete list of motors and boats. I don't suppose anyone out there has one of these boats or motors and would consider selling them back so we can put it on display.
So, on November 18, 1964, the Morgan family officially became the owners of Pontiac Boat Dock. This is a special year for us. It marks 50 years in business. I'd really like to find out who our oldest living annual dock customer is. If you think that might be you, please share your story with us. And we'd love to see your pictures. Either comment on this blog or send them to Jabet at info@pontiaccove.com. In the meantime I will continue telling my stories.
Written by Cap'n T. Morgan
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