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First Annual Fall Festival
The 1Waters Ranch on
October 18 was a fun filled day for kids and adults alike.
It was a beautiful fall day as children and their parents and
grandparents arrived and were greeted by Stephen and Christy Johnson and Ray
and Jane Timmerman.
While at the festival they could choose from
many activities in which to participate style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> Carroll Piper gave rides to children on his ‘flag train’
while Dennis Brown took people down to the bluff on the hayride
wagon. After hiking up
to the bluff with Janice Putnam and Susan Goodwin to enjoy the view
of the camp, they were returned to the shelter house where Gene and
Barb Holtgrewe were holding square dance and line dance lessons. A
favorite activity for the kids was the ropes course.
Jenni Carey, Kendra Motley, Katie Hash, and Dan Meyer led
groups through the course throughout the day.
Levi Motley had his hands full with the Mighty Bucky machine
generously loaned to the camp by John and Jeri Adrian’s Rodeo
Ministry. Kids were
lined up throughout the day to try their hand at ‘bull riding’.
Cindy Brucksch, Chris McClimans, and Tim Jones were in charge
of the scarecrow paintball shooting activity.
Special thanks to Christian Sloan, Michael McClimans, and
James Carey for being very quick targets!!
Debbie Leiber and Jackie Traverson headed up the fall crafts
for the children who wanted to make a special keepsake while at the
festival. Face painting
by Gail Hale, turned out to be more like portrait painting!
Rodney Leiber was in charge of the GIANT slingshot as kids
and adults took turns chuckin’ mini punkins’ and gourds at targets.
Trina and Caleb
Taylor were in charge of the petting zoo complete with a pony, two
calves, a mama goat and her kid, and a piglet.
A special thanks to Pat Brownlee for the goats, Jim and Teri
Estes, Estes Pork Farm, for the use of the piglet, and Erica from
the Lowry City Bits and Bridles 4-H Club for helping out in several
events.
 Of course, fishing with Joni Bledsoe, Missouri
Conservation Department, was another popular activity.
Some even tried their luck with a cane pole.
Everyone caught at least one fish.
Thank you to Joni for the use of poles and Buzz’s Outdoor
World for donating an ample supply of fat, juicy night crawlers!
One of the most interesting sights was the
Dutch Oven Cook Off area.
Gage Fergerson won first place with his Cherry Dump Cake in
the kids’ division.
Terry Eaton of Nevada and Billy Hampton from Hermitage split the
honors in the adult division.
Billy earned first place with his Cornish Hens with Bacon
main dish and second in the dessert division with Apple Dumplings.
Terry took home first place with his Peach Cobbler and second
place for Chili and also first place with canned biscuits. He also won Best Camp for his authentic mountain man camp
site and clothing.
Prize money for the contest was generously donated by Kreisler Drugs
of Clinton. Many thanks
go to John and Donna Parks for judging the delicious food prepared
by the contestants.
The hay maze was an a-mazing attraction for all
ages. As participants wondered their way through the maze they
found several false exits.
A special thanks to Kendra Motley, Dennis Brown, Danielle
Taylor, and Norman Kottwitz for setting up the maze and Roland and
Geraldine Derby for helping supervise it during the festival.
 Several vendors, including the Heart House, set
up tents and tables to sell their decorative crafts and gifts.
The concession stand served many delicious snacks and
wonderful funnel cakes.
At the conclusion of the activities a hearty
meal was served by the St. Clair County Cattlemen’s Association.
Special thanks to Allen Haverland for cooking the brisket and
beans and Debbie Kottwitz for frying potatoes.
Many delicious desserts were donated by several people.
Everyone was treated to wonderful singing by
Kalina Hickcox and her Grandpa Ray Hickcox, followed by several
beautiful songs sung by Allison Yates. Earlier in the day Gene
Holtgrewe and Jenni Carey performed several duets on guitar and
fiddle.
 The rather chilly evening ended with the silent
auction bidding then the main program of Horse Whisperers Billy and
Dusty Epperson, father and son, working with a young colt provided
by Bob and Dani Mallett. . They successfully were able to saddle the colt and mount by
the end of the evening.
While working with the colt, Dusty explained that life before
becoming a Christian and receiving salvation by accepting Jesus as
our Savior, can be compared to a wild horse.
We have to allow ourselves to be trained in the ways of the
Lord; just like a young colt is trained to accept a saddle and take
new directions from a rider.
Older, broke horses were compared to more mature Christians
whose job it is to lead the newly saved Christians in learning about
God’s love and plan for us.
It was truly an inspirational evening.
Living Waters Ranch would like to thank
everyone involved with the Fall Festival.
The shelter house had just been completed in September with
the help of Gene Holtgrewe, Dennis Brown, Levi Motley, Ben Gardner,
Danny Fergerson, John Adrian, Norman Phillips, Jimmy Foltz, Gary
White, Kevin Lovewell, and Keith Bloom.
The electrical work was finished due to the generous time and
materials donated by Stan Thomas, Chet Jones, Gene Holtgrewe, and
Bob Hodges. Thank you also to Gene and Barb Holtgrewe, and Bob and
Wilma Hodges for cleaning up fallen trees, weed eating, and marking
a path for the hikers.
It was beautiful!
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