How We Got Here

In the late sixties my parents decided to buy some land. They along with my Dad's cousin, Larry and Mildred Winkler, purchased 15 acres from Guy Johnson, part of which Matt and Jabet's house sits on, for $1,500. Guy tried to sell them more. My Mom was all for it, but my Dad did not think we needed to be putting money in land. We needed to focus on the dock. Big mistake, huh.

The Winklers built a small cabin on their half, and my parents were going to build a house on their half. The new dock office (now known as the "dive shop") was being built about this same time. Larry Winkler was helping with the construction of the dock and suffered a severe stroke. He was unable to come to the lake any more so my parents bought their cabin. It was a good thing, as in 1970 my brother Dan married his longtime summer sweetheart, Patty Martinek. They moved into our trailer, and my parents and I moved into the cabin (now Matt and Jabet's living room).

Left to right: Me, Laura Martinek (Patty's sister), Dan, unknown and Patty Martinek.

My love for the lake still revolved around skiing. We had bought a different boat by now: a 16' Mark Twain with a 120 HP Mercruiser. I loved that boat. I named it Lizzie Beth after my grandmother, whose maiden name happened to be Caldwell. When I was home from Mizzou, I would sleep on the couch in the cabin. In the summer I spent many nights sleeping in our boat. It had back to back seats that would lay down. That way I could get up when I needed to in the morning to help customers, and my parents didn't know what time I came in at night. My love for the lake was about to change.

In 1969, Sue Ann Luna Jones graduated from high school and started school at Mizzou. She and I became good friends. She was also a lake bum. Her Dad, Mearl, and his cousin, John Luna, owned one of the four houseboats in the cove just around the corner from the boat dock, below Pontiac Lodge. We called them "houseboats," but they were really "boat houses." I think I knew her cousin, Johnna, by then, but Sue Ann actually introduced us in 1970. Johnna started school at Mizzou in the fall of 1971. After a couple wild and exciting years, including a diving trip to Grand Cayman in 1972, we were married on August 4, 1973.

Left to right: John Luna, Erma Luna, Johnna, me, Alice Morgan and Joe Morgan.

After my graduation from college in December 1973, I took a job with Tennessee Valley Authority in Knoxville as a Civil Engineer. It seemed like every time we could squeeze in a three-day weekend, we were coming home. Over Christmas 1974, we visited an old college buddy, Quentin Moore, in Kansas City. Quentin worked for Burns and McDonnell. He said they were hiring and that I should apply. I did, and they offered me a job (making more money) and to pay my moving expenses, so we were on our way. Our Tennessee neighbors weren't sad to see us go, as we really didn't see eye to eye when it came to college football.

Newspaper clipping Mom saved when we incorporated.

Now that we were living in Kansas City we were even closer to the lake. It seemed like every weekend we were headed home. The lake kept calling, and in 1975 my Dad turned 62 and was thinking about retiring. We decided the city life was not for us, so we left Kansas City and headed home. My brother had built a house by now (now Tom and Dee Glenn's house located behind Matt and Jabet's house), so we moved in the trailer on the hill and began working full time at the dock. Dan's summertime sweetheart from the city did not last long in Pontiac. After a short marriage they were divorced, and on August 4, 1975 he married the real love of his life, Joyce Fry.

Written by Cap'n T. Morgan