WRC Guys & Gals.
Went to bed Friday night almost exhausted ! Ok Why, all we did was get ready for our Lagoons meet, Peg cooking for three days, me trying to clean up the winters ravage on our dock area ! To my advantage I have several members of our core Wednesday group that helped clean up, put up the canopy up on our framework and make the place presentable, Paul Wood, Al Carlson, John hagerman, Bob Joynt, Bob Davidson and Jerry Kay ! These guys are beyond great and really appreciated !
So the next big worry as usual is the weather ! As you all know Friday was one of those days we all dream about. Beautiful blue skies warm winds and hot summer like afternoons in the hi 70’s to 80’s ! Hoping the forecast for Saturday of mid 60’s and 30% chance of rain most of the day was just another one of Wally’s blunders ! So going to bed plenty tired I thought I’d fall asleep quickly, but neither Peg nor I lucked out with a good nights sleep ! I got up about 5:15 only to see the lights already on in the kitchen ! Peg was busy rustling the pots and pans making sure she had not forgotten anything ! She said I have bacon and eggs if you want some ? I said I think I’d better get down to the dock and make sure I have everything ready !
So I grabbed a cup of coffee, a PB& J and headed out ! Trying to remember what I thought needed to be done, I knew I needed to set up the coffeepot, get some ice for the cream, put an extension cord across to the tables under the canopy for the crock pots and put the table cloths on the tables ! All this is going thru my head as I sit in the truck, drink my coffee, eat my PB&J and now watch the rain drops fall on the windshield ! Oh Great now everything is going to get soaked, NO Wait ! It’s just a sprinkle it’ll pass, so out to do the chores.
I get everything done and it’s still sprinkling a little, maybe a couple prayers to Mother Nature and the Weather Gods helped but it did stop ! By now it about 7:15 and I get a message from Al Carlson saying he’s got the drinks and wanted to know if I was at the dock yet and when will they have the gate open so he can come in ? 8:00 clock and Al shows up with all the drinks in a couple coolers, we are good for liquid refreshment ! Peg calls and says our son is on his way over to help load the crockpots in the car and help her with all the other items she has ready ! That is a big relief to me knowing she has help !
They arrive about 8:30 unload just as some of the members start to pull in ! Tommy Kenepp is first to pull in and has 2 packs of coke to add to the drinks, Thanks Tommy ! John Hagerman is next to arrive also with additions to the menu, John’s wife Cindi is here too ! Bob Joynt arrives shortly after followed by Bob Korosa and Mike Seachrist. I can’t remember who was next but will name those that signed in on the sheet, Dick Bergan and son-in-law Brian, Steve Justice, Dave Nau and his friend Connie, Dom Durda and Maryann, Steve and Linda Schmitmeyer, Paul Wood, John Cannins, Jack Deck, Butch Wood and son Kyle? , John Fairgrieve, John Cannins, Chris Feldman, Bob Peters, David Weidner Ryan & Kelly Hollingsworth daughter Emma and friend Joe, Bill Jatzek, Lilly Mohat & her pet man Bill ! Erin Mohat and her dog Rupert and John Birchak ! I may have missed a few, forgive me my memory is not as good as it used to be.
Of these friends and members 9 of them brought boats, John Hagerman !4ft Aluminum with a beautiful 57 Evinrude 10hp maybe an18hp ? Steve Schmitmeyer with a 15ft aluminum and a “57” 35 Evinrude, Paul wood with his Penn Yan with a 10hp Scott Atwater, Bill Mohat with his 16ft aluminum and a 40hp mercury, Tommy Kenepp with a 12ft aluminum and a nice 55 Johnson 10hp, Bob Joynt with the Patina Special Aerocraft and a “57” 10 Evinrude, John Fairgrieve with a 14ft aluminum and an Evinrude 25hp?, Steve Justice with an 12ft aluminum and a Mark 7 Mercury and Ryan with their beautiful 18ft SeaRay and a 115 Mercury, All of them beauties in the eyes of we collectors !
I got a call from Chad Kozan that he was about 15 minutes out and would be there as soon as he could. Chad is the ODNR officer that we met at the Brooklyn Exchange meet. Bill Mohat suggested we ask him to come to our Lagoons Meet where he could inspect our boats to make sure we had all our safety equipment ! Chad being the Gentleman he is said he would be happy to accommodate ! Once he found us he was all about checking out our boats and making sure we were in compliance, and we all were ! Once all the boats had been checked out and the yellow patches given, he asked if we had any other questions, we didn’t so he was on his way to other jobs of the day Thank you Chad !
By now most of the gang were ready to venture out in their boats and see how the lake was, I had heard earlier it was fair to choppy so I didn’t expect many would be gone too long as it was getting close to lunch time and Peg wanted me to fire up the grill ! Being we had Sloppy Joe and plenty of HotDogs, I was on it like a Toad on a June Bug ! The Grill was hot and the dogs were cooking, I don’t remember how many I cooked but it seemed like hundreds ( probably only 50 ) Peg rang the dinner bell and the Sloppy Joe and dogs were being gobbled up along with all the other goodies people brought, Nothing better than seeing satisfied faces at the lunch tables !
Mother Nature must have heard our plea to give us a bit of sunshine as it was now starting to lighten up and the sun was peaking thru ! After the lunch most of the guys went out for another run and chase away some of those pesky mosquitos ! But what we really needed was Jerry Kay to give them a real dose of the ever famous 2 Stroke Blue Smoke !
By now the crowd was starting to thin and many of our members bid us ado, thanking Peg and I for hosting another Mentor Lagoons Meet ! That is what makes all the blood sweat and toil worth the time and effort ! Thanks to all that came and contributed to the menu ! But the biggest thanks is to my loving wife for all her hard work, as she says, she does it because we have such a wonderful bunch of friends in this club, and I agree !
See ya’ll at the next meet, so stay tuned !
Gary & Peggy