Time has come to do something about Lake Contrary
By Alonzo Weston
A friend the other day asked me about Lake Contrary in its heyday. I told him I’m too young to remember the ballroom and amusement park although there is a sepia-toned photo of a 5-year-old me standing in front of one of the amusement park rides.
My memories of the lake are of the beach. Like many other families, we took our kids there when they were young. In the ‘70s it was full of families looking for an affordable way to keep cool on hot summer days. We’d also go fishing there in the evenings and on weekends.
Whenever I wanted to learn about the history of the early days of Lake Contrary, I visited the late historian Clyde Weeks. Weeks lived right in the middle of a bean field near the lake. He told marvelous tales of ballroom dances and the colorful amusement park about the lake’s early days from his front porch.
The lake today is a sad sight. Three-foot-high weeds cover the area where water used to be. Wildlife there is nonexistent. No pelicans in the spring and no fish, frogs or turtles, only a stray dog or two. Families still use the picnic area and adjoining soccer field on weekends. During the week it is a desolate place with poverty as its backdrop.
There are always tales of lake revitalization but to this point, they’ve been just wishes.
However, that may change soon. The Missouri Office of Administration met with Buchanan County commissioners last week to clarify the responsibility of the lake’s upkeep.
“The bottom line is the state of Missouri said once the lake dries up it’s not ours anymore, Presiding Commissioner Scott Nelson said in a recent news article. “It comes under the charge of the county to take care of it and maintain it.”
Where have I heard this all before? I’ve been told for years that the lake is the county’s responsibility. So now another meeting to clarify this fact?
When is something going to be done about the lake now? Who else do we need an OK from?
There’s talk of turning the 300-acre lake into a wetland of sorts.
That’s fine and dandy for some parts of the lake but what about the beach area? If there’s nothing planned, take down the impressive-looking “Welcome to historic Lake Contrary” sign at the entrance to the beach area. It seems like a “National Lampoon: joke now. “Come see historic ‘weed contrary.’” Is this the legacy we want for our historic lake?
