RANCH VOLUME 3, Number 2 LAKE ELIZABETH RANCH CLUB APR I Li 5,1959 HISTORY OF LAKE ELIZABETH hy R. T. liuni/iain, 1'residcnt Once nioic we feel il necessary lo pail from our continuing story of Lake lili/abclh in Ihe olden days lo deal with history in Ihe making and lo pay liihulc lo our Club personnel headed up hy our line (Icncial Manager, Jerry Brown, who with his devoted wife and wonderful people comprising the entire stall' all worked lo a point beyond exhaustion to cope wilh the effects holh good and bad, of our recent winter storms! On (he plus side of Ihe ledger we can rcporl Ilial no! a single dwelling on the entire ranch snITcied even the most minor damage. This despite Ihe knowledge o( terrible devastation in other areas of California. While our normally little Amcrgoso Creek became a raging torrent, spilling out of ils hanks lo dcposil new soil on fairways seven, eight and nine and in (lie (loll Pro Shop! We aiso acquired a lake over The "New" Luke Klizabethl two miles long! There is no question thai our severe series ol storms have exceeded I hose of any period thnioul Ihe last one hundred or more years. In a veiy lew weeks mother nature deposited about forty inches ol rain and snow in our valley. A natural result on the minus side was thai a part of our big valley in back of the Ranch clubhouse simply moved into all the recreation hall, rest rooms, offices, patio and dining room in the form of mud about four feet deep. ,„^i^TvV$ .V.•;-;.£..•* ; >*t fc-WH A herculean task was performed lo rehabilitate our North end of dam alter cut. Soon to he restored. 11 |'J 1 - . cnlirc facility in just a lillle over one week! We extend our This same tremendous flow of water inlo Ihe lake made unbounded apprccialion lo the many members who became it imperative lo cul a portion of the dam al Ihe noilh end, a shovel and wheelbarrow brigade, lo our cnlirc staff for since the spillway would not accommodate Ihe over How. such devotion and especially lo Ihe children of Ihe Club Had (his not been done the cnlirc dam might have been who suddenly became very tall and very dear to our hearts lost. Now will yon believe a lake presently over two miles in and minds. Icnglh wilh water on bolh sides of Ihe dam al exactly Ihe Bui enough from this corner, l.cls jusl goon lo another same level! This is a much larger body of water than we had page to Icl I'hyllis Brown and Schult/.ie, alias Jcanic Mann back in Ihe winter of 1946-7. loll it like il was. LAKE ELIZABETH RANCH CLUB until 12:00 PM. At 5:00 AM water was going over the dam. BUILDING NEWS by BERT KOCH The call for help was met by only a handful of men. A decision had to be made within a matter of seconds. Right or wrong, it was Jerry's responsibility. All the available men worked 12 hours straight trying to save the dam. They knew it was hopeless but still they worked on. Finally the dam had to be cut through to relieve the pressure. At 5:00 I'M covered with mud, svct, cold and hungry they quit. But still the day was not over. By now the phones and power were off. Telephone and power poles fell, wires snapped, trees fell and still the rain came. The Club had to be checked and the animals fed. Mud in the recreation hall was ping pong table high at the rear. The rest rooms and hallway had five feet of mud. There was mud, water and debris everywhere. Tana' (a horse) was ready to foal, so we took her and put her under Dick's house. It was decided whatever colt she had the name would be "Disaster". After such a trying day, the breaking point came. Because we are the working part of the Club and take pride in accomplishment, we felt no shame when we saw tears in the VAN D YKKN lodge and our builder Mike Hyland. eyes of our fellow workers. We could do no more until the next day. Thanks to Mike Hyland and his years of experience in building, we weathered the storms without damage to the FEBRUARY 26TH .... Ranch Club Road from Sandrock lodges. The heavy rains did slow down construction. After to the upper curve had gaping holes. The road into the Club many delays Glen & Betty Hodge have moved into their was water and mud, door high. Without Mr. Quinn's jeep new home. Welcome neighbor! we could not get to the Club. Phil, Tana and Maggie would Now for the progress report: John and Wcllha Thom- call the Club and Jerry would come in the jeep to take us sons' lodge is closed in, Lee and Ollic Bradleys' home has across. But this AM we started to dig out, so to speak. the foundation, grading and sewage is completed on Bob Maggie, Tana and I kept the coffee and chocolate hot and and Anila Sullivans' and Robert and Almo Kanes' , in plan the crew fed. It was a cold damp job. The men and children check are Paul & Lois llardins' plans and there arc many were mud from head to foot. I took some pictures, even more on the drawing board. though I didn't want a reminder of the unholy mess. By The current publicity on cost of money and con- 6:00 I'M we were a dirty and tired bunch. struction may be misleading. For the real answers, slop at our Model Home on the week-ends and find out for FEBRUARY 27TM .... Our first question of the day was, yourself. Lou Loveland and myself arc there lo answer your "lias the colt arrived?" To date no 'Disaster'. Maggie went questions. With spring and summer just ahead, now is the to town for food. Tana and I cooked and kept the crew fed. time to build that Ranch Lodge at the Club. There seemed to be no end to the mud and all had to be taken out by wheelbarrow. It was a back breaking job. Other troubles developed and it would take a book to list PHIL BROWN'S DIARY of a STORM! them. Dick was worried about his horses. It had been four days since they had been able to lie down. He took all the FEBRUARY 2 1ST .... Today was the beginning of a week saddles out of the Tackroom and put as many horses in as to try the souls of men! The rain had no let-up. Then (he he could. And so ends another day. power went off. We were in the Snack-bar trying to keep warm, discussing the narrow escape of Charlie Soos. The big FEBRUARY 28TII Today we can sec the floor of the tree (where Mr. Burnham parks) blew over only seconds recreation room and most of the mud is out except in the after Charlie was in the very spot. It hit the back of his car. rest rooms. We are beginning to feel good, but the Raingods Margaret Jarrett, our chef, and I said in unison, "the Gods have no mercy. It has started to rain again. We are all must be very angry." It was so cold in the dining room, I praying our work will not be in vain. Jerry rented a shut the big door and feel today it helped keep the mud out mudpump to suck the mud out of the rest rooms, but it of our dining room. The power was off 414 hours. wouldn't work. Oh yes, Jerry's truck broke down yesterday when Dick went in to pick up another pump. He had to FEBRUARY 22ND . .Today we had snow. The Ranch leave it in town, so Carl went in to pick up Dick and the was white as far as the eye could see and very beautiful. pump. They get back with both trucks. Jerry had to move Louie Loveland's car and breaks the FEBRUARY 23RD Another cold day and more rain, muffler; moves it again and dcnls (he back end. The car just marking the beginning of a bad storm. three days old! Louie is on the 'cat' and hits a water line. He and Jerry get soaked. Jerry fixes Louie's car so he can FEBRUARY 24TII Icrry's birthday and (he last get home. All in all it has been one awful day and you can carefree time any of us were to know for days. Again a quote me for all of them. power failure. MARCH 1ST.... The rain has stopped we hope for a FEBRUARY 25TII This day will live in our minds good long time. The mud is still carried oiit of the Club- forever. The dam had been checked every hour on the hour house. Louie worked the 'cat' and Virge the grader today. Page 2 LAKE ELIZABETH RANCH CLUB The grader broke down. Some of the members are up lo Don and Jerry trying to pull a telephone pole from the check their houses. Maggie, bless her soul, served in the Pro-Shop to the dam. snack bar today! Ask Jerry where he was the night of the earth tremor and Don Thomas about his prowler the same night. MARCH 2ND .... After six days of backbrcaking work, Picture us crawling over the mud to take pictures.