By Tom Oncken
I know that I may have caught you off guard with “Farewell to Longhorn Resort” in the heading above. Several months ago, Adam Finn was informed by the owners of the Longhorn Resort in Kingsland, Texas that we would not be able to have our scheduled October meet at their resort. Sadly, the Longhorn Resort has been sold, and by the end of this summer, all cabins are going to be bulldozed and the area will reopen as a RV park with a restaurant. Accordingly, we had to move fast to save our fall wet meet on the Colorado River and Lake LBJ.
Thanks to quick work by Adam Finn with assistance from Joe McCauley and Meatball Murray, we have found a suitable replacement meet site at the Heart of Texas Lake Resort near Burnet, Texas which is a short drive north of Kingsland. We will still be on the Colorado River, but a little further north with access to Lake LBJ as before. Be sure to check the details under “Upcoming Events” and make your reservations soon. I understand that Heart of Texas Lake Resort is somewhat popular and books up all rooms very quickly. So, please do not hesitate reserving your room, cabin, condo, or lake house immediately. We do not want you to miss out on all of the fun.
Now back to the story at hand. On the weekend of April 21st through 23rd, we unknowingly attended our last meet at the Longhorn Resort in Kingsland, Texas. Participation was down somewhat this year as a result of bad weather predictions during the days immediately preceding the meet. Fortunately, the worst of the weather was on Friday night, so we had plenty of opportunity to visit, go boating, fish, aggravate some of the children who attended, and to overindulge in various varieties of food and drink. As usual, our Texas Chapter family had loads of fun at the meet.
Those arriving early on Thursday included Adam and Susan Finn, Joe McCauley and Cornelia Kuffner, and Chip and Marilyn Rathbun. This gave them the opportunity to play on the water during the day Friday while the rest of us made our way up to Kingsland.
Stan and Donna Kremp made a short appearance on Friday night. Unfortunately, Nina Kremp and her children, Johnathan and Sarah Ann, stayed at home as the result of predicted bad weather for the weekend. We missed you and the kids, Nina! We hope you make it back to see us in October.
Jim Lancharic from New Braunfels made his first ever appearance at the Lake LBJ meet and he brought a couple of his restored motors with him as well as a boat. He displayed a very nicely restored Gale-built 1955 Atlas Royal 3HP along with his 1947 Mercury KE-7 Lightning 10HP. Jim had a pair of original unrestored motors in his van that attracted some attention also. They included a 1966 Evinrude Sportwin 9.5HP and a 1957 Wizard WH-6 5HP.
Jim also brought along his 1966 12’ Starcraft aluminum boat powered by a beautifully restored 1957 Wizard Powermatic 12HP which he used as his main source of transportation on the lake. If Jim is feeling up to it next January, we would be very happy to add some of his motors to our next display at the 2018 Houston International Boat, Sport & Travel Show. We can always use more variety at that annual exhibit.
We had a good turnout of children at this year’s spring wet meet. Katie Smith brought her kids; “Scott-Atwater Al”, Addison, and little Abigail. Tom and Cyndi Oncken got to spend time with Mike and Jennifer Oncken and their children Emma, Tommy, and Charlie. Between boating, swimming, bean bag throwing, and fishing, they all seemed to have a great time. The kids could not stay away from Dennis Schmitt’s hydro. Speaking of race boats, Doug Samstag and his father, Dave, split time running their Marchetti hydroplane powered by its Mark 58H. Dennis and Sharon Schmitt made a run or two in their Marchetti hydroplane powered by an Evinrude 45SS. That was very impressive, Sharon. Joe McCauley had a little difficulty getting his Power Cat running during the heart of the meet, so he took out his frustrations by running his son’s ever-popular Allison “May Fly II” with its 75HP Johnson Stinger. Determined to get the Power Cat on the water, Joe finally discovered the problem with his motor, and he and Cornelia Kuffner finally got to spend some time together on the Lake on Sunday morning.
Susan and Adam Finn had to leave the meet early on Saturday morning to attend a family wedding that night. Prior to leaving, they made arrangements for the Saturday evening meal to be catered in. John Slator and Tom Oncken volunteered to go pickup the barbeque. Glen and Lee Seureau volunteered their porch to serve as the buffet line for the meal. The meal consisted of turkey, brisket, sausage, beef ribs, pinto beans, and coleslaw. Cindy Slator provided a wonderful pie for dessert and Lee Seureau added to the cuisine with some candied pecans.
We had a few new-comers to our meet including Lee and Glen Seureau’s daughter, Caroline Jinks. Brenden Macaluso made an appearance with his friend, William Hesser. Richard Kairis and a lady-friend came for a short while during Saturday and they were wearing matching outfits including some great Texas flag shorts. Louis and Judy Collins also made a brief appearance.
John and Cindy Slator were again at the meet, but I do not think we give enough credit to them for the efforts they do for us. From experience, it is a lot of work finding items to bring to swap, trade, or sell and then having to load them up for the trip. It is a bigger effort when those same items go back home with you. Thanks John and Cindy. I just wanted you to know that we appreciate your efforts.
I would like to nominate Tony and Andrea Robinson for a “Most Impressive Tow” award. To clarify, they drove their family vehicle to the meet while towing a sizeable travel trailer which was also towing their Wizard outboard motor boat (see the following photos). I bet that drew some attention while traveling down the highways.
I am sure that I have overlooked someone somewhere in this article, so please forgive me if I failed to give you the attention you deserve. Let me know and I will make up for it next time. We will hopefully see you all in October.
Additional photos from this meet can be viewed at the following link: http://www.texaschapteraomci.com/gallery/2017-spring-wetswap-meet-on-lake-lbj-farewell-to-longhorn-resort/