Ozarkers Come Home

On June 21-22 the David family gathered back in the Ozarks. 

We've been doing this every other year for some time.  It seems that the "first" big family reunion was the Golden Anniversary of Ed and Nina David in 1961.  After their passing the next generation started hosting reunions in Mountain View.

Our tradition has been to photograph each "clan".  Only four of nine "clans" were represented this year. 

Lloyd's clan:

Wayne's clan: 

Evelyn's clan: 

Gene's clan: 

We were missing representatives of the clans of Robert, Imogene, Erma, Mildred, and Eileen. 

These are from the third generation after Ed and Nina David. 

Tournament Golf Just Beyond My Corner

For the sixth year the Legends of Golf professional golf tournament was played at Ridgedale, MO, just south of Branson.  The tournament is now known as the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar Lodge.  (Owner Johnny Morris is good at marketing.)

The Legends of Golf event began in 1978 and sparked the creation of the PGA Tour Champions.  Before coming to the Ozarks, it was played in Florida. 

The first year the tournament was held at two Ozark courses, Top of the Rock and Buffalo Ridge in 2014.  I attended one day, got soaked in a pouring rain and left early.  The last three years I have been a volunteer marshal.  It has been fun to see PGA Champions Tour golfers up close. 

This year for the first time a new course Ozark National was used for part of the tournament.  Ozark National was designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.  It is a beautiful and tough layout. 

It seems like every year the rains interfere with some part of the tournament. 

It takes about 200 marshals for the five days of the tournament, two days of pro-am and three days of pro competition.  There were only 28 new marshals this year; everyone else was a returnee. 

The Legends tournament is a two-man team event.  This year's winners were Tom Pernice and Scott Hoch. 

They always play part of the Legends event at Top of the Rock, a beautiful nine-hole par 3 which was re-designed by Jack Nicklaus.  Nicklaus usually plays in the Legends division, but he was ill this year.  Notables in attendance this year include Tom Watson, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Ben Crenshaw, John Daly, Mark O'Meara, and Colin Montgomerie. 

The charitable beneficiaries of the event are the College of the Ozarks and the Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium. 

I enjoy volunteering at the tournament, but I wish the weather was better and it was not during spring turkey season. 

Our Spring

Why do I always desire to blog about springtime?  It must be that feeling of renewal, activity, growth, and optimism.

I started mowing the lawn in March while my son in Chicago still had snow.

It was wonderful when the redbuds bloomed.

I was fortunate to call in and harvest a 22-lb. gobbler the second morning of the spring turkey season.  That makes Number 22 for me.  My dad shot 68 turkeys in his hunting lifetime.  I have a ways to go.

It is always a thrill to see the woods come alive with flowering dogwoods.  We have a dogwood in our back yard to enjoy.

Springtime in My Corner of the Ozarks often brings stormy weather.  Yesterday, April 30, found the Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks hit with heavy rain, strong winds, tornadoes, flooding, and wind damage.

No storm damage at our house, but we got 3.5 inches of rain overnight and a lake in the back yard.

So springtime can be wonderful or terrible.  Pray for those folks in scattered places in the Ozarks (Lebanon, Miller, Purdy, Ozark Rogersville, Wheaton in MO, and Bergman and Lead Hill in AR) who lost everything last night.

Trouble for Turkeys?

This is the season for snapping photos of fall colors.  Sorry.  My view of the fall foliage has often been as seen below:  peering through the woods out of a ground blind.  Not the best vantage for good shots of the fall colors. 

The Missouri fall turkey season extends for the whole month of October.  I got a gobbler in the 2018 spring season, but nothing this fall.  Sure.  I enjoyed some beautiful afternoons scouting for turkeys and sitting and watching for turkeys.  I saw lots of other birds and many deer.  But not one turkey.

I'm not alone.  Hunter interest in fall turkey hunting and hunting success is always low.  But it is still a pleasant fall activity. 

I expected it to be a challenge.  Before the season the Missouri Department of Conservation reported that wild turkey production had been low for three years.  I didn't think much about that.  All wildlife populations fluctuate.  That is especially true for ground nesters.  It can be too wet, too dry, too cold, or too hot for good hatching. 

Then... I read an article in the Wildlife Professional entitled "Are Turkeys in Trouble?"   That got my attention.  Dana Kobilinsky, staff writer with The Wildlife Society, interviewed wild turkey biologist all across the Midwest and eastern U. S. Biologists in New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Missouri and others reported declining harvest correlated with declining population indices. 

Oh no!!  Don't tell me we are going to lose our good turkey numbers like we did our quail populations back in the 1980's! 

Why?  Reproduction is dwindling. Why?  Good question.  Spring nest season weather has probably been a factor.  After our April 29, 2017 flooding rains in the Ozarks, that is what one would expect.  Hopefully, weather will cooperate to permit good nest success in the coming years.

But there could be other factors.  High predation by raccoons on turkey nests has been observed in some areas.  No doubt, harvest pressure on raccoons is low and raccoon numbers are high. 

Habitat is almost always the bottom line answer to this kind of question.  Better cover would protect nests, and broods, etc.  Better habitat interspersion and conjunction reduces risky animal movements. 

So, what is happening on the landscape in My Corner of the Ozarks?  According to Kobilinsky, Missouri turkey biologist, Jason Isabelle reported encroachment of shade tolerant woody species into our oak-hickory forests.  This change can impact oaks and acorn production, an important food for turkeys.  Woodlands are also being invaded by honeysuckle and Callery (Bradford) pear. 

In some areas of the eastern wild turkey range, grassland habitat is being lost.  That is probably not true in the Ozarks.  However, our Ozark hay and pasture lands are very heavily used and frequently disturbed, making rather poor nesting and brooding cover for turkeys. 

What does the future hold?  I hope better nesting season weather.  And better luck for this hunter.

LOVE AT CAMP DAVID

At the 2018 Camp David at Bunker Hill, we, Larry and Linda, celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary.  We were blessed to have all our family with us to celebrate in My Corner of the Ozarks. 

The Bunker Hill Chapel is a beautiful setting.  

We renewed our vows with the whole family as witnesses.  

Music was provided by Lance, Brad, and Matt.

Our three sons have been a blessing, a pleasure, and an inspiration.  

The flower girls scattered petals for the "bride".  

But...someone had to pick up those "littered" flower petals.  

We were blessed to be supported by beautiful bridesmaids.  

Many, many sent greetings, memories, and congratulations.  

Thank you for your kind words.  

God has blessed us beyond measure.  

I STILL LOVE CAMP DAVID

Last year I posted some photos from our annual Camp David week with the grandchildren at Bunker Hill on the Jack's Fork in My Corner the Ozarks.  This summer all the grands were back including the two-year old rookie AND all the parents were invited.  It was a great week of fun. PLUS, we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary at Bunker Hill with our family.  What a week!

Matt, Jackson, and Cami came from Illinois.  Lance, Grace, Karis, Olivia, and Emily came from Maryland.  Brad, Fatymah, and Mariam came from Kosovo.




August 2018 marked the 8th Camp David.  In 2011 when we started this tradition, only Karis and Olivia came.  Karis was 8 and Olivia 5.  Camp David has been held in My Corner of the Ozarks every summer except 2016 when we convened in Maryland to accommodate Karis' busy schedule.  2018 was the third time we had gathered at Bunker Hill for Camp David.

The water was very popular.  August heat made the cool Jack's Fork feel very good. 

These kids don't need many toys to be busy and have fun.  

The younger Davids at Camp David having fun.










When the river water feels cold, Mimi can always offer snuggles.

Thumb sucking is optional.

Karis and Olivia were our first "campers" eight years ago.  They have sure grown up.  They are pictured here with our oldest son, Lance, their dad.

Several evenings we gathered on the river bank for singing, stories, and laughter.

Brad, our middle son, furnished the musical accompaniment.

Seated next is our youngest son, our baby, with his baby.

Next is Lance followed by Mrs. Lance (Grace).





The older Davids at Camp David also had to join in the silliness.  As we watched from the bank, this canoe approached us.  Out of nowhere appeared a canoe full of giant chickens, clucking and shooting water guns.

Gene David and Corliss Depee would have been so proud!!

More about our 50th ceremony at "Love at Camp David".

Too Much Water

Although it did not impact my corner of the Ozarks, I want to mention the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1993.  This summer is the 25th anniversary of the most devastating flood in modern U. S. history according to the U. S. Geological Survey. 

In April 2017 we had flash flooding in the southern Ozarks, and it was devastating.  But when the Mississippi, Illinois, Missouri, Des Moines, and other rivers spread out over 400,000 acres in nine state in 1993, 47 people lost their lives. 

This image is from the Quad City Times:


It was a terrible summer all along the major Midwestern rivers.  Over 1,000 levees broke.  The flooding lasted 200 days in some places.  The damages cost $25 billion. 

Emergency volunteers were put to work all along the rivers filling sandbags to try to save the levees.  Illinois Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologists took their boats to the Illinois and Mississippi rivers to transport sandbags.  Actually the DNR lost some boats and motors in that effort.

In far southern Illinois a levee break allowed the Mississippi River waters to flow across farms and homes to dump into the Ohio River creating a new temporary channel.  I witnessed the scars and deposits of gravel in the middle of productive crop land.  For months farmers and levee districts removed gravel deposits and rebuilt levees. 

The historic city of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, was saved.  If the flood had crossed into that area, it would have been in the Ozarks, although not "my corner". 

In July 1993 I stood on the steps leading down to the Mississippi River at the Gateway Arch grounds in St. Louis. The river was lapping at the upper steps at that time.  It was a scary scene. 

An article, "Where Dark Waters Raged", in the August Missouri Conservationist describes the flood of 1993 and tells of subsequent restoration, including development of fish and wildlife habitat out of disaster.  That's what we do.  We rise from the mud and gravel and build something new.