Memories of a vibrant Lake Contrary

By Alonzo Weston

When I drive down by Lake Contrary, or what once was a lake, I remember what it used to be and what it could be again.

Signs there heralding what once was historic Lake Contrary now welcome visitors to a lake bed of two-foot-high weeds and debris.

I remember on hot days like these when my dog and I would hop in my old Ford pickup, drive to the lake and hop in to cool off. In the evenings we’d go there to fish for carp and catfish.

There’s a black-and-white photo of me as a toddler standing by the Chute the Chutes water ride at the old Lake Contrary Amusement Park. That was a time when the lake was in its heyday with the amusement park, ballroom and other fun activities.

I remember old-timers talking about before integration, Blacks from small towns all around had the run of the park for a day. It took place in August, which was considered our emancipation day here in Missouri, I was told. That ended sometime in the early 1960s when all people were invited to enjoy the lake.

In the 1970s, I remember the lake being crowded with people and their children with picnic baskets and umbrellas. There also was a bar right on the lake as well. I remember the pelicans and mudhens there in the spring frolicking in the muddy waters. The bullfrogs on the north end of the lake would grunt in chorus.

For years afterward, the lake gradually fell into disrepair. It’s an oxbow lake that needs water pumps and the like to keep it flowing with river water. Each year a little bit more of the lake disappeared and the weeds began to take over.

I never got to take my grandkids there to swim and see the pelicans.

The county recently did a study and is beginning to look at dredging the lake, killing the weeds and restoring it. It’s a story we’ve heard many times before. Nothing ever happens except talk.

A town our size needs a lake. We have Corby Pond and Krug Park Lagoon for water activities. Both have had restoration projects to keep them vibrant and in use. Although I hate fishing in Krug Park. That to me was a numbskull idea. The lagoon is for swans, ducks, goldfish and paddleboats. If you want to fish, Corby Pond is a few blocks away.

I see a future with Lake Contrary thriving again with boats, fishing and families having picnics. Maybe it won’t achieve the grandeur of earlier years with ballrooms and amusement parks but at least a lake for fun summer activities.

It’s our lake. Let’s save it.