Reasor's Sale is about so Much More than a Grocery Store

The news last week that Reasor's Food Stores were being sold to a bunch unknowns from Texas triggered some thoughts that go way back. I was reminded of a column I had written long ago about the man, Larry Reasor, and what he had brought to the table for the South Grand Lake Community. And even more than that he was all about fun. The column as written in 2013 is as follows:

Remembering Larry Reasor’s Grand Lake Contribution

As I perused an article in the Tulsa World this week about the “Right Stuff at the Right Price” guys, Reasor’s Foods, preparing to commemorate their 50^th anniversary in business, I couldn’t help but be reminded of founder Larry Reasor’s influence on the South Grand Lake area. Old Lady Grand will celebrate her 73^rd anniversary come August of this year, and if memory serves me correctly, Reasor’s Foods has been here propping up the sales tax collections for at least 35 of those years. But his influence went much further than filling the coffers with sales tax dollars to transform the town of Langley.

The first time I ever saw Larry Reasor was in a television commercial on Tulsa’s channel 8, as the guy definitely had a knack for the unusual when it came to marketing his food store operation. The commercial opened with the following statement:

Larry Reasor, outstanding in his field….and the camera panned to an open field and there was Reasor, standing out in the middle of nowhere. I don’t even remember the punch line, but we all know the hook had something to do with shopping at one of his stores…And back in those days, they weren’t on every corner like they are today. It was a sad day when Larry Reasor died at the age of 70 in early 2004 for the Reasor’s family, including all their employees, Grand Lake and many others than the charismatic Reasor came in contact with throughout his life.

I personally became acquainted with Larry after inviting him to join me in being the MC of one of the early day Christmas celebrations near the Pensacola Dam. It was probably during one of my stints as president of the then South Grand Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and we were trying to establish an off-season event to breathe a little life into the December economy. It was bitterly cold that night and area churches were to bus their choirs over to the lake patrol parking lot to sing Christmas Carols as part of the program. Legendary former chamber executive director Barbara Conner was serving hot apple cider for fortification, but ‘ol Larry and yours truly weren’t having anything to do with that. In between the buses transporting the seasonal singers, we would trot over to the then popular Lakeview Supper Club for some fortification….And I’ll never forget how the man handled that night….never a negative word and even had me conned into thinking that’s exactly where he wanted to be.

In his 2004 obituary, Grand Lake is never mentioned, but it was a very special place to Larry Reasor. Not unlike Tulsa Chiropractor Rick Husky, who I have described on more than one occasion as a frustrated musician in a chiropractor’s body, Reasor had a love of music. After he had become a wildly successful grocer and could probably do anything he wanted, he chose to spend a lot of time on Monkey Island performing in a jazz group at Shangri-La in the glory days. I’m told he also got into horse racing and breeding, but he sure seemed to enjoy his new found entertainment career to the max…..But embracing the uncommon, or would that be unheard of, was not unusual for Mr. Reasor as long time Langley store manager Charlie Scott still calls him to this day.

Since Reasor’s relocated from the old metal building, just South of the NAPA store in Langley in the early eighties, I can’t recall a Memorial Day Holiday weekend Larry Reasor couldn’t be found at his Grand Lake store glad handing, sacking, consulting customers on a cut of meat or helping them select the very best possible produce. He wore a name tag, which immediately let the shopper know who he was, but he also stuck out his hand and introduced himself. He left no doubt as to who was the driving force behind the success of Reasor’s. And most of those shoppers came from the metroplex where they had no idea who owned the store where they might normally shop.

He was also there on a majority of other holiday weekends as well doin’ his thing. As the years rolled by and being a regular Reasor’s shopper, I would run into him from time-to-time. It had been years since that memorable and bitterly cold night we had spent together during the Christmas holiday season, but he never forgot and he always greeted me by name. It was a sad day when I learned of his death in 2004.

Larry Reasor would have been 79 years old had he not died from complications from back surgery and a related infection. We’ve witnessed a technology explosion never seen before since his death, but there’s a lot the I-Phone/I-PAD totin’ younger generation could learn from a guy like Larry Reasor….Relationship will never be replaced by gadgets and gigabytes.

I try to avoid going into Reasor’s on a Friday prior to a holiday weekend, but inevitably I will have forgotten something we just have to have for a successful celebration….And when I check out, almost out of habit, I look around as if to say, “Where’s Larry?” Great guy, great lake and great memories.

Congratulations to Jeff Reasor and all the great Reasor’s employees as they celebrate their 50^th anniversary this weekend. According to the Tulsa World, there will be a special section in this weekend’s edition dedicated to the new and old Reasor’s from 50 years gone by.  It’s an American success story with a bit of Grand Lake flavor mixed in for good measure.

See Ya’ Around the Pond!  

 

Rainbow Bridge to the Rescue..Again!

 

Rainbow Bridge to the Rescue…AGAIN!

In this life, we will all have just a few very good friends, that in a pinch, we could count on and that in itself may be why some wise old sage labeled the dog as man’s best friend. Or, if my readers have a sense of humor, it can be stated like this: Lock your dog and your wife in the trunk of your car and see which one is happiest to see you a couple of hours later? Dog and man, like hand and glove, have had an amazing relationship since the beginning of time.

And to some people, that four legged critter might just be a dog, but to a vast majority of us it runs much deeper than that. In my seventy-plus years, I’ve loved more dogs than I can count, but while I can’t be absolutely be sure of the number, I am absolutely sure I received more love than I gave. Ours have mostly been strays that found us out in the boonies here on Grand Lake, rather than us scrolling through the American Kennel Association ads for some high falutin’ dog as my dad would have said. And they have all been special in their very own way.

After losing one of my very special dogs, I had named her “Rat Faced Ruby” due to her long snout, I wrote a column about finding her after she had a terminal run in with some of the neighborhood coons. It was as though we had lost a family member and the loss of Ruby was tear-jerking experience for this 6’4”, 250 plus pound guy. One of our readers read my account of Ruby’s downfall with the coons and sent me a copy of the poem Rainbow Bridge. It brought a smile to my face and eased the pain and reminded me of all the good times we had enjoyed. It goes like this:

Rainbow Bridge

There is a bridge connecting heaven and earth
It is called Rainbow Bridge because of its many colors

Just this side of the Rainbow Bridge there is a land of meadows,
hills, valleys with lush green grass

When a beloved pet dies, the pet goes to this special place
There is always food and water and warm spring weather

The old and frail are young again
Those who are maimed are made whole again

They play all day with each other
There is only one thing missing

They are not with their special person who loved them on Earth
So each day they run and play until the day comes
when one suddenly stops playing and looks up !

The nose twitches !
The ears are up !
The eyes are staring !
And this one suddenly runs from the group !

You have been seen, and when you and your special friend meet,
you take him or her into your arms and embrace
your face is kissed again and again,
and you look once more into the eyes of your trusting pet

Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together, never again to be separated

Recently I had the chance to return the favor, as an old friend lost her beloved Taco to complications of old age. While the pain of finding one’s faithful companion drowned by coons was certainly painful, it has to pale in comparison to that final trip to the vet when that unavoidable decision has been made.

Yes, there was Rat Faced Ruby, Tuxedo, Smokie, Bitsy, Daisy, Homer, Honey and several more before the current sitting King Canine of choice, Radar, who came to us as a rescue dog. Before that Pistol Pete ruled our place. Pete’s had been through three back surgeries. My republican friends always ask, “So just how much have you spent on just a dog?” To which I reply, “Don’t figure it’s any of your damned business.”

There’s just something very special and unique about a rescue dog…..Maybe they just appreciate a second chance for a better life.

See Ya’ Around the Pond!!

Rick Huskey

 More to "Woodstock on the Water" Than Meets the Eye

In 2015, following the 75th anniversary celebration of the completion of the Pensacola Dam, Joe Harwood birthed the idea of an annual celebration for the Goose, who laid the golden egg for all of northeastern Oklahoma. After a couple of attempts to host the event near the dam itself, it has called Lawhead Hollow/Hippie Hollow Cove home for the past several years and continues to celebrate the completion of the dam and an iconic rock star. It has expanded into an overnight raft-out on Friday night followed by a concert from 1-5pm on Saturday. But it never could have become what it is today, without the full support of Rick, "I Love Music, Huskey and his participation.

 Huskey, who owns the former Leon Russell compound, was one of the first to voice strong support for such a gathering relocating in Lawhead Hollow. The Tulsa Chiropractor, who admittedly has been a Leon Russel fan since his junior High School days, jumped at the opportunity to honor Leon. Plans called for Huskey’s own band, the Barrett Lewis Band, voted one of the best in Tulsa over the years, to be performing from the very deck Russell once enjoyed.

 Huskey, who once had Leon Russell back on the property in the early nineties to perform at Todd Chapman’s thirtieth birthday party, has owned the property for some 30 plus years. Prior to that the compound was owned by Bill Ramsay. It was on the market when Huskey’s long-time real-estate partner, Rob Phillips, proved instrumental in getting Huskey to visit the property.

 Rick says, “A friend had told me about a place on the South end of the lake, which had previously been owned by a car dealer being up for sale, but I knew I couldn’t afford something like that. But Rob knew I was a huge Russell fan and encouraged me to take a look. On the way there to meet Bill Ramsay, Rob coached me up by saying, ‘now look, you don’t have to tell this guy you’re a huge Leon Russell fan’”

 Huskey adds, “That first trip we discovered the place had really run down, Ramsay didn’t even have a key to the recording studio and the pool had some problems. After a second trip, thanks to some creative financing, we got the deal done and we’ve been here ever since.”

 Rick seems to love reminiscing about the Russell days even more so since he has owned the property. His favorite story recounts an outing at the lake when Leon was hosting Bob Dylan as his guest. He repeats the tale like this: “Yeah, they had been out on the lake and needed some gas for the boat. They pulled in to one of the marinas and were having the dock girl fill up the boat. Leon had gone inside the ships store when the attendant jabs Dylan in the ribs and says, ‘you do know that guy you’re running around with, Leon Russell, is a rock star, right?’ Russell got a huge kick out of that since Dylan had been his musical hero forever."

 The stories abound, but Huskey’s greatest pleasure has been restoring the place, which is now over 50 years old. He’s had some dialogue with the powers to be about getting the place recognized as a Historical Marker and placed on the associated registers. A bit of Grand Lake history worth noting from days gone by.

 Now for some equal time for the counter-point. As we've previously written, this all started with an idea advanced by Pete Churchwell to possibly change the name of Lawhead Hollow to in some way recognize the one time presence of Leon Russell. Some suggested Russell Cove while others thought they had seen the cove referred to as Hippie Hollow on a very dated map. Since there’s not much documentation on how coves were designated at the time the lake first filled, how to change a name was complicated at best and then, of course, there is the counter point delivered to us from Barbara Haver.

 Barbara has been a property owner on Lawhead Hollow for over sixty-five years, and we’re paraphrasing here, but suggested Pete Chuchwell should discontinue meddling into the name of coves on the South end of the lake. She even pointed out that Pete’s Mom had been a good friend of hers and they were members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. I don’t know about you Pete, but it sounds to me like she’s not in favor of any name change. Her conclusion was that leaving the Lawhead Hollow name as is and to continue to honor our Native American families that sacrificed their land for our Grand Lake o’ the Cherokees.

 When it comes to Grand Lake, Barbara is a recognized historian and in the past has even been a contributing writer for our publications over the years. Our observation; Barbara is akin to the old E.F. Hutton commercial….when she speaks, it is usually worth taking note of.

 Our suggestion! Let’s all gather for a gigantic celebration in the cove just South of Drippings Springs for a really big birthday party and celebration of Russel's presence on Grand Lake come Saturday, August 7^th…with music once again provided by the Barrett Lewis Band. No, no, no…check that, I really meant just south of Grays Hollow…

 

Party Barge for sure!!

See Ya Around the Pond!!

 

 

 

 

Woodstock on the Water Set for August 7th 

There Was a Legend in the Neighborhood ….We Never Even Knew It!

The Pensacola Birthday Bash, dubbed Woodstock on the Water and located in Lawhead Hollow, now more readily recognized by many as Hippie Hollow or Leon Russell Cove, is set for Saturday August 7th. The event also embraces the Grand Lake legend of Leon Russell, always brings back some distant memories. Having purchased our place in 1976 on Grays Hollow, which is and was known as Dripping Springs by most, I had no idea a rock star icon was just a few hundred yards away. After Leon had left the lake, in 1981 we believe, the stories started to surface, at least for me, about his over ten year presence here on the pond.

 Russell, a Tulsan, had grown tired of the fast pace and had purchased an eight acre tract of land and announced plans to spend over a half million dollars constructing a new house, state of the art recording studio and refurbishing two existing cabins on the property. After completion of the project, his guest list read like a who's who of the recording industry. People like Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, J.J. Cale, Freddy King, George Harrison and the Gap Band were just a few of regulars who not only relaxed there, but used the facilities to record and produce as well.

 Some of the locals were more attuned to what was going on than yours truly and watched from afar as Leon's presence on Grand Lake grew. And people in the industry, like the late George Bingham, would certainly be able to share a tale or two, but there are vivid memories from the living as well.

 Long-time Lawhead Hollow resident Barbara Haver, who is our Grand Lake historian of record, says, "My kids were little in the late seventies and Russell would have his son brought over by power boat to play with my kids. Back in those days there was a lot of boat traffic coming and going to his place."

 Russell had a generous side as documented in an article published in the Tulsa World in 1974 which says in part, "The generosity of rock star Leon Russell will provide a summer of fun and education for some 30 to 40 boys who live at the Tulsa Boys Home. Rick Hill, personal aide to Russell, offered the palatial Grand Lake retreat of the singer-pianist-guitar-composer to a director of the Tulsa Boys Home for use by the boys throughout the summer."

 The boys were to be in charge of yard work and maintenance, but received instructions on swimming, water skiing and water and boat safety. Thanks to current property owner Rick Huskey, we were told of a current Grand Laker who participated that summer. Tony Mills is widely known as trader of sorts with guitar and Harley Davidson collections and being in the pawn shop business in the Tulsa area for many years. Tony was more than willing to share some of his memories from days gone by.

 Mills recollects, "Yeah, we'd work during the day and late in the afternoons we would swim, water ski and do a lot of fun activities that kids like us would have never had the opportunity to enjoy. I remember what at the time seemed like a huge cabin cruiser. Not all the boys got to come…it was a competition based on good behavior to see who got to go."

 During our conversation with Tony, we learned another Grand Laker, Darrell Hicks, was employed by the Boys Home and directly supervised Mills on a daily basis as a counselor. Hicks says, "I was going to Tulsa Junior College during the days and supervising one of the dorms early in the morning and at night. It was perfect for a college student. Did I give Tony any licks? Don't really recall, but probably so"

 The collaboration of a birthday celebration for the completion of the Pensacola Dam and recognizing the influence of Leon Russell on Grand Lake came about innocently enough from a phone call regarding the possibility of renaming Lawhead Hollow to recognize Leon in some way. Long-time Grand Laker and current GRDA board member Pete Churchwell initiated the idea. Many years ago, while fishing near the Russell compound, Pete had stumbled on to some musicians just jamming on the Russell lakeside deck.

 Pete told me during the phone call, "I was fishing when I started hearing music from further down in the cove. When I got closer, I realized it was George Harrison and J.J. Cale. I abandoned fishing and enjoyed my own personal concert. That's how I discovered Leon's presence on Grand Lake."

 Pete's idea was to change the official name of the cove to include, in some way, the Russell name, but no one is real sure how the coves even were named to begin with….probably from the dominant landowner, but who knows for sure. Pete ran it by the GRDA legal department…they had no problem with it, but weren't sure how it would be accomplished. Would the Russell family need to be consulted? Lots of variables here and as the United States congress is discovering, change doesn't come easily.

 In short, come August 7th from 1-5pm we will be celebrating the completion of the greatest construction project ever undertaken in Oklahoma and presence of a rock star icon on Grand Lake and his impact. Some say Hippie Hollow, others may call it Leon Russell Cove, while most maps will continue to proclaim it Lawhead Hollow, but we all know we will call it whatever we want to.

 Our next historic blog will detail how a frustrated musician and now the owner of the formerly Russell property, had to become a chiropractor to support his love of music. Tulsan Rick Husky has a few stories of his own about the property, including how the previous owner, Leon Russell performed for Husky and approximately 30 of his friends at Husky's 40th birthday party.

 See Ya'  Around the Pond!!  

The Pond Never Looked Better & Life Moves On!!

It's been almost a year now since we reached the decision to walk away from publishing a weekly newspaper, which had been our calling in one way or another since 1988. This marked the third time to attempt retirement and I must say this attempt has been the most promising of the three. But in spite of the pandemic, a short supply of new and used boats for sale and every Grand Lake realtor scrambling for salable listings, it's been a remarkable year in a lot of ways.

 

Many thought the pandemic, and a boatload of associated restrictions, would have a devastating effect on the lake economy, but the exodus from the various metroplex communities brought an entire slough of prospective buyers seeking the security of a rural location. We have neighbors here on Grays Hollow, who apparently took up full-time residence in their lake place to escape Covid-19, and have adjusted their lifestyle to now call this location home. A strange year to observe for sure here high on my perch overlooking the hollow. 

 But even though peering through our Grand Lake colored sunglasses, the last year has not proven easy, even for the most calculated operator. Adequate staffing has become an ongoing problem, many things we never have much thought about are now difficult to find and when you do, there has been a significant price increase. And that's not considering the long waiting period to get something, that before the pandemic, was readily available, but as they say, "Blame it on the Covid."

 An Observation on Mental Health

Our retirement has definitely got off the launching pad over the last ten months and its chances of succeeding certainly look much better than the first two attempts, but not without some associated pondering. We've taken care of some needed improvements and deferred maintenance for sure, but it has made me wonder if keeping the 'ol brain active wasn't a real contributor to my well-being and longevity of 77 years.

 As I mentioned in that last column associated with our final online edition of Grand Times and Grand Lake News Online, there could be a blog on the horizon. I set up "Grand Times on Grand Lake with Rusty Fleming," but it's been mostly inactive till now." We'll mostly concentrate of the colorful history surround our pond with an emphasis on a feature we have called in the past, "Legends of the Lake." If there are issues to be addressed, we won't be bashful about checking them out, but the fun stuff, like this weekend's Aquapalooza, I'm sure will be adequately covered by The Laker Newspaper, the Lake Bum, Grand Lake Living and the King of the Grand Lake social network, Jerry Cookson. 

 No specific schedule, but more to come. We'll be posting links to the blog on our Facebook presence at Grand Lake News online and Grand Times on Grand Lake, plus my personal page. Since we're not getting paid, we'll only work when we want to and as our friend Terry Frost has been known to say, "For Mental M@#$%^&!@#$%. And as I have been known to say.....

 See Ya' Around the Pond!!

Looking back on that Very First Christmas Boat Parade

🎅🎅🎄🎄🤶🤶

The very first Christmas Boat Parade was organized 31 years ago and has become a staple of the Christmas season on Grand Lake. That very first event, which had serious doubters when announced by the Cherokee Yacht Club’s former owner, Terry Frost, was a resounding success in 1989. The atmosphere at the pre-party could be compared to the electricity usually reserved for a championship sporting event.

I was on hand for that first event and can testify to the evening being a game changing promotion which contributed significantly to expanding Grand Lake’s season.

The atmosphere that night was unbelievable and the excitement could have been carved up and served as dessert. There couldn’t have been a Santa suit within 250 miles that hadn’t been rented by a Grand Laker for the evening. Those of us taking part that evening were witnessing a change in the Grand Lake business as usual approach to the off-season, which would benefit our economy for years to come.

That first year, the first place winner was the “Wild, Wild West,” a 42’ Houseboat piloted by Tulsa dentist Jim West and his crew. The decorations were very simple compared to what we see today and of course, the West crew had coordinated costumes for the evening.

Since that inaugural event, there have been peaks and valleys with the numbers of participating boats and crews being as high as 30-plus and as low as seven, but the event last year may have been the best one ever. Now Cherokee Yacht Club's Joe Harwood, Tom McKibben and staff have the objective of making this year’s event, scheduled for December 5th even better. Unlike many years in the past, when entry forms were distributed in the local media and in yacht club newsletters, this year the organizational committee has taken an active role in recruiting participants and have been the catalyst in laying the ground-work for another great Christmas party Grand Style..

It’s not too late to participate in this historic Grand Lake Christmas party. To join the parade contact either of the two organizing yacht club…Cherokee or Arrowhead. We're anticipating the best ever rendition of a truly Grand Lake Christmas tradition...

See Ya’ Around the Pond!!

A Very Strange Year Even by Grand Lake Standards

Seen some pretty weird stuff in 40-plus years around the pond, but 2020 has set the bar where no other year has ventured. With the introduction of the initial efforts to get a handle on the spread of the Covid-19 virus, things like high water events, described at the time as hundred-year floods, record setting snowfall during boat show week, a Blue/Green Algae crisis that almost wiped out the busiest weekend of the year, droughts and tornados took a back seat in the catastrophe department. I had never witnessed a migration to Grand Lake occur in in March and April as though the calendar had been fast-forwarded to May and June. They were abandoning the metroplex like rats on a sinking ship. But likemany times over the last 40-plus years, Old Lady Grand was willing and waiting to play the role of the goose who laid the golden egg. Unlike main streets all across Oklahoma, and the entire country for that matter, where businesses were collapsing under the pressure of the most recent Public Enemy # One, many Grand Lake businesses were thriving…especially boat and real estate sales. Some even said, "This is amazing and I've never seen it better." There were others who definitely felt the pain of a hundred year threat to the public's health as many of their regular customers hunkered down thinking they would wait it out….and the wait goes on…and on...and on. Things didn't go as expected for many Oklahomans on many fronts. President Trump wasn't reelected, the virus didn't disappear with summers hot weather or the day after the election and has spreadat an alarming rate, there's been no secondary relief package, despite who you might prefer to blame, our governor is intimidated by any form of mask mandate,conspiracy theories have been proven false and the overall economy hasn'trecovered with Hell Bent for Leather re-openings. The good news as it turns outis Dr. Fauci isn't the villain the Donald portrayed him to be and the vaccine iscurrently on the horizon and distribution should get underway soon with military supervision as opposed to more gridlock at its worst. This pandemic has been politicized from the get-go, let's hope we can eliminate that from the distribution mission…. As legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden explainedto his championship teams countless times, "There's no limit to what we canaccomplish, IF WE DON'T CARE WHO GETS THE CREDIT."

See Ya' Around the Pond!!