MO: Ozark Winnies

The Ozark Winnies August meeting was held August 6-8 at Osage Trail RV Park in Nevada, MO. The first arrival was Chip Wallis who arrived on Wednesday. We couldn’t check in until 1:00 PM. By 1:30 on Thursday the rest of those attending had arrived; Eaheart, Mulvihill, Parsons and Van Meter. After set-up was completed, or nearly so, everyone congregated under the Parsons’ awning and visited until around 4 PM at which time the conversation changed from catching up to where we were going to eat for dinner. It was decided that we would dine at Dragon Wok. Upon arrival we learned they were carry out only. We then tried China One. Same result. We settled on the White Grill, a Nevada landmark since 1938. We returned to the campground and finished the evening with a watermelon feast provided by the Eaheart’s. There was no business meeting this weekend. Our President was in South Dakota cavorting with the buffalo and our Vice President was just home, after being hospitalized with pneumonia. On top of all that, we didn’t have a quorum. So, all the non-important business that was to be considered will be delayed until September.

Hosts for the weekend were Van Meter and Eaheart. Thank you guys. You done good. The first planned activity was Friday morning; a tour of the Bushwhacker Museum and Jail. The museum preserves the history of Vernon County, which was a very active area during the Civil War. This is a very interesting and well presented museum to visit. Lunch was at the 54 Cafe. We then toured the town, with a stop at Radio Springs Lake, where Marva used to come to dance when she was little younger. Friday evening everyone met in the clubhouse for the traditional ‘we never have enough food to eat potluck dinner’. Right. We could have fed our group and half the campground. We finished off the last half of the watermelon and made a good dent on the ice cream. After a short session of visitation everyone retired to their motorhomes.

On Saturday the Eaheart’s, Mulvihill and Wallis went to Fort Scott, KS to tour the Fort Scott National Historic Site. The fort was built in 1842 to protect the settlers migrating west from the Plains Indians, as well as to protect the Indians from the settlers' encroachment. The site protects 20 historic structures, a parade ground, and five acres of restored tallgrass prairie. They reported that there were more NPS employees there than visitors. Marva and Carol made a day of it by hitting every flea market in Nevada except one. We are all trying to figure out how they made that happen. That is, how they missed one. They did manage to get back to the campground in time to head to Buzz's BBQ & Steakhouse for dinner.

A little before six o’clock the carpool caravan headed to Buzz’s for dinner. It was decisions, decisions. Will it be BBQ or catfish? Both were delicious. Dwain Steward, who lives in nearby El Dorado Springs joined us for dinner. Dwain has sold his motorhome and will become an honorary member of the chapter. After dinner we all came back to the clubhouse for dessert of ice cream and cake. Like we all really needed that. Need or not; it was good. We were all looking forward to Sunday morning breakfast of Judy’s cinnamon rolls and Marva’s fruit. We woke up to rain, but fortunately it stopped, allowing a dry trip to the clubhouse. We were also able to get hooked up and on the road without getting wet. Staying dry on the way home may have been another matter. If you missed this meeting, you missed out on not having to sit through a boring business meeting. Shoulda been there!