Last Call

The Shut-Ins will close after Sunday for a winter of rebuilding and redesign. DNR states that the park will not be fully open next summer, should be totally rebuilt by the summer of 2008.

Here is a link to the DNR press release on this subject.

Need a Really Big Cork

FERC has given Ameren permission to build a cover for the shaft that filled and drained the Upper Reservoir. As I had posted earlier I had always thought that the shaft was six to eight feet in diameter. It is really 26 feet in diameter, a really big hole to cover.

We might have our first frost tonight, so today will be busy with protecting plants.

Blunt/Ameren

Here is an article about Blunt's efforts to get Ameren.

For full disclosure in this era, I should state that Jay Nixon just ordered 100 coffee mugs from Peola Valley Pottery. Wonder what the Gov. drank his coffee out of this morning.

Rare Sight

After lunch I needed to go to the bank and post office. As I approached the new bridge a large bald eagle flew from a tree on the SW bank of the river and headed down toward the Mill Creek shoot. This is only the second eagle I've seen in 23 years in Lesterville. A friend said that he thought we would see more this winter because the Lower Reservoir is drained and they will need to find a new source of fish.

Missouri Parks Association

Plan now to attend MPA’s 25th annual meeting September 29 – October 1 featuring the rebirth of Johnson’s Shut-ins. The meeting will include a picnic lunch at Elephant Rocks, an outdoor barbeque dinner at Fort Davidson with tours of a Civil War re-enactors’ camp, and an optional hike on Church Mountain.

More information on MPA web site.

Weather Report

We had 3" of rain on Saturday including an inch in half an hour around 8am. Many people from the lodge talked about how the thunder kept them awake over night. The good news is no damage in the Lesterville area. There were a number of homes in the Oates area and along highway 32 in Iron county that had a lot of damage. There was another tornado that did some damage north of Fredericktown. So we needed the rain and didn't have any local problems.

Church Mountain / Taum Sauk

I received the following email recently and thought it might be of interest to all who read this blog.

If Church Mountain Matters to you, please help!

As you may know, the DNR State Park Division has begun developing plans for Johnson’s Shut-ins State Park, but they are giving no consideration to the need to protect Church Mountain. Negotiations may be in progress between the State and Ameren toward a settlement for the damages done: we hope you agree that any settlement must include provisions for protecting Church Mountain and Taum Sauk Valley . Prior to the reservoir break, Ameren had revived plans to construct a second hydroelectric plant on Church Mountain , a proposal that received wide-spread public opposition years ago. Early this year, conservationists around the state began calling for permanent protection of Church Mountain and Taum Sauk valley as mitigation for the damage done to Johnson’s Shut Ins. Even Governor Blunt called upon Ameren to put Church Mountain into permanent protection, but nothing has happened. It is time to remind Governor Blunt that Church Mountain needs protection, and it is very important that he hears from local residents.

DNR has had a lease on 1300 acres of Ameren property on Church Mountain since 1993 for trail development, but they have yet to develop any trails. Now is the time to secure and provide access to these superb resources in recompense for the damage caused by the collapse of Ameren’s Taum Sauk Reservoir. It is essential that those of us who care about protecting the aesthetic and biological resources of the region give voice to our concerns about the need to protect Church Mountain and the Taum Sauk Creek Valley.

Please write a letter to Governor Blunt, with a copy (or separate letters) to Attorney General Jay Nixon and DNR Director Doyle Childers. We suggest you address the following:

Thank Governor Blunt for proposing that Ameren protect Church Mountain as mitigation for the damage done to Johnson Shut Ins.

Ask why has there been no further action to protect Church Mountain and Taum Sauk Creek Valley? At more than 7,000 acres, this natural area is the largest in the state, and Church Mountain and Taum Sauk Creek are at its core. These areas are geological gems with high scenic values and important biological diversity.

Mention that you are a rural resident who supports permanent protection of these areas. It is completely unacceptable that a hydroelectric plant be permitted on Church Mountain : a new lower reservoir would destroy the pristine creek, and the denuded mountaintop would be visible from Taum Sauk Mountain . Express concern about illicit ATV traffic, trash dumping, poaching and arson activities that have proliferated into Taum Sauk State Park and on nearby private lands because of poor management by Ameren of their property. Developing low-impact hiking trails on Church Mountain and along Taum Sauk Creek Valley could help restore lost tourism to the broader area while preserving the fragile ecosystem.

Addresses:

Governor Matt Blunt: State Capitol, 201 West Capitol Avenue, Jefferson City, MO 65101

Attorney General Jay Nixon: Supreme Court Building, 207 W. High Street, Jefferson City, MO 65101

Doyle Childers, Director: Department of Natural Resources P.O. Box 176, Jefferson City, MO 65102

Upper Reservoir II

Here are three paragraphs from a letter that FERC sent to Ameren about the 70% design papers for the new Upper Reservoir. The next meeting to consider the 90% design is October 2.

At the next BOC meeting please place on the agenda a discussion on the
location of the emergency spillway, details on how the critical elevations were
selected, breach parameters and expected inundation areas and associated
structures, if any.

A prototype demonstration of the aggregate preparation and material blending will
be required to determine the feasibility of the RCC system design. The demonstration
should include a third crusher location to produce the fine sand aggregate. This should be
scheduled and it is not clear when this will be conducted.

The designer should consider redesigning the precast panels for the
emergency spillway. The current detail will admit water into the joints between the
horizontal cast in place concrete and the vertical precast panels. This will allow
freeze thaw jacking and the potential for extensive panel damage in the event of an
overflow. While this would not lead directly to a dam failure, it may require
extensive repair.

Maybe we will know by November 1 whether the Upper Reservoir is going to be rebuilt. Anyone want to start an office pool?

Who Knew?

Tomorrow is National Hunting and Fishing Day. That's news to me and I'll bet to most folks. While I have a friend from St. Louis that comes down to Lesterville often to stay at his cabin and go fishing, I know that most folks that come to the area are not outdoor sportsmen. I even have a neighbor that always leaves Lesterville to go deer hunting in Texas county. So as many local business try to find ways to appeal to more visitors, I don't think that hunters and fishermen are going to think of the Black River area first when they decide where to visit.

Now For Something Different

Those of you that know me well will remember that before I started studying ceramics I was a student of architecture at Georgia Tech. So today in my email I received notice about a book that I look forward to buying and reading. The Perfect $100,000 House: A trip across America and back in pursuit of a place to call home.

I built my home here in Peola Valley in 1983 for $30,000+ and nine months of my life. One of the reasons that the pottery has been successful is I have not paid rent or mortgage in 23 years. I've always loved good design and the building process. So if you have any interest in architecture check this out and poke around on some of the links.

Ozark Trail / CNN

Here is a CNN story about the Ozark Trail.

Brrrr!

It was 41 degrees this morning. I was quite surprised to find one lone hummingbird feeding at 7am when I went to the store to turn on a kiln. Even though I still have two feeders out, I really thought they had all headed south. There is a little color in the forest. The maples have started turning yellow and the poison ivy is turning red. One never realizes how much poison ivy there is until it starts turning color. It's everywhere!

East Fork Plan

Here is a DNR press release about the plan to clean up and start a stream restoration program on the East Fork of the Black River in the Shut-Ins park area.

Ameren vs. Missouri / Katy Trail

Here is a link to an article from Kansas City about the Katy Trail and Ameren/Taum Sauk.

This paragraph jumped out to me.

The corporation has a powerful incentive to come to a civil settlement that satisfies officials and the public. If the Attorney General pursues legal charges against the corporation their insurance coverage of the damages could be lost.

As with all things in print, I don't know that this is really true, but if it is, this fact sure would change the game.

Good Music

If you love traditional Irish music check out this web site. The banjo player is a former student from my former life at Drake University.

September 11

This is always going to be a special day, but in my family it is special because it's my fathers birthday. He died in 1999, but today is his 99th birthday. So in the Ferber family we never
used the words 9-11, we just look forward to a great mexican meal at my dad's favorite restaurant and lots of great stories. Happy Birthday Pop

Cheap Gas!

Just found this web site. If you are coming down from St Louis it looks like you should fill up in Farmington.

Lower Reservoir Clean Up

Talked to a friend that is working on the Lower Reservoir clean up last night. He said that they are still doing a lot of prep work and that the real work has of removing all the sediment is before them. He stated that starting tomorrow, September 11, they will be working 12 hours a day 6 days a week. I'll try to get up that direction sometime this week and see if I can get any new photos.

We had more business yesterday than we had all three days of Labor Day weekend. Such is the joy of retailing, you never know who the next person through the door will be. Riversedge had the largest trailride in many a year this weekend, over a hundred horses. So its good to see the new owners bringing back some of the old traditions.

Can't Make This Stuff Up!

Just discovered a scheme to help the local Lesterville economy. This is an actual quote, honest.

For those denim aficionados that love a great looking pair of distressed jeans, but hate looking like you just walked out of a homeless shelter then Blue Blood Brand has your back. Dubbed “the Human Experiment”, each Italian cotton picker and Blue Blood worker were given a pair of raw denim to wear for six months, after the six months were over the jeans were taken and each worker received a new pair. The worn in jeans were then dry cleaned, repaired and sent directly to a boutique near you. Each pair comes packaged in a Blue Blood potato sack. Some raw denim enthusiast might consider this cheating, but you get a great looking pair of distressed jeans that don’t make you look like you just got in a fight with a piece of sandpaper. No word yet on price or availability, but Blue Blood’s jeans generally range in the $250-$300 range and I would not be surprised to see these at around double and in very limited quantity.

I'll bet all those guys loading canoes and cutting firewood would love to age a pair of jeans for you.

Lazy Media

Last night, KFVS (the CBS station in Cape Girardeau) ran another story about Lesterville and the Taum Sauk breach. Once again they took the easy way out and interviewed the usual suspects, Denny from Lenny's and Bob Franklin. They both talked about how business was down during the week this summer and Franklin stated that you could always find a canoe to rent on the weekends, something he said was unusual in past summers. I don't know if this is true or not, but I wish after driving two hours from Cape (or St Louis) that reporters would make their way down Peola Road to hear the rest of the story.

Upper Reservoir

I've had a couple of people ask me if I planned on continuing this blog. The answer is yes, as long as the Shut-Ins is being rebuilt and especially if the Upper Reservoir is rebuilt. So while there may not always be some breaking news to report I will keep the blog going for at least another year. Now for todays news, the following quote is from a letter that FERC sent Ameren.

You further state that (from a letter dated May 11, 2006) you will submit a plan and schedule to complete this work within 60 days of a rebuild decision but no later than Sepember 1, 2006.

Does this mean that a decision will be made by November 1?

Break Out the Wool Shirts

It was 48 degrees this morning in Peola Valley. All summer I've needed to do some house repairs and kept saying I wanted it to cool off. Sure got that a lot sooner that I expected. When we moved to Lesterville 23 years ago it was not uncommon to have the first frost before October 1. Seems like that could happen again this year.

Labor Day Weekend

This was one of the slowest holiday weekends, as far as sales go, in a number of years. The weather was great, although a number of folks commented on the cool Saturday for floating. I took my son and daughter-in-law up on the West Fork on Sunday. There seemed to be a lot of people floating and the temperature was fine after a month of baking.

The Big Winner

Many of you purchased a raffle ticket for the "Relay for Life" old bridge table over the past summer. We had the drawing today and the winner is Rose Loehr of St. Louis. Congratulations Rose and thanks to everyone that helped support the American Cancer Society.

Wildlife on Parade

This afternoon I went behind the pottery to get a lawn mower and was surprised to find 14 turkeys feeding in the tall grass. There were three hens and the rest were half grown chicks. We hear a lot turkeys calling in the woods, but it is very unusual to see this many. Have a great holiday weekend, I'll let you know how we did on Tuesday.

10,000 + 65

I got a nice birthday present yesterday. Sometime after noon the 10,000th visitor logged on to this blog. Every week this summer a number of you come into the pottery and said with pride, "I read your blog every day." I keep thinking that the story is going to play itself out, but with the new plans for the Shut-Ins and continuing design work on a new Upper Reservoir there seems to be some news every week. I talked to the owner of a B & B last night and she said that her numbers were down because many of her guests during past summers were people that wanted to go to the Shut-Ins, but didn't want to camp at the park. She did say that she has rented out two rooms long term to employees of Mactec, the firm that is going to rebuild the park. So it will be interesting to see how everybody did in the past summer season.

I received word yesterday that DNR has fixed the "cookie" problem on their recovery page. So if you have not looked at the new plans and given DNR your opinion on the rebuild, please do so.