Tragedy at Woodhaven Lakes, Sublette, IL

When writing these entries I try to be light hearted and keep to subjects that emote happiness and pleasure from my readers.  But recently there have been some severe storms in Illinois that have caused my family some initial distress and then after finding out that we were unharmed, relief for us but sorrow for our neighbors and the residents of Woodhaven Lakes in Sublette Illinois who have suffered mightly from the EF-1 tornado that moved through the south and south west corner of the recreational park.

Woodhaven Lakes is almost 1,700 acres consisting of around 6,000 privately owned lots for RV or camping usage.   The park is or was heavily covered with trees mostly oak and pine and for those in the northern half the trees still remain.  But in the southern half most of the trees are either down or stipped bare of their leaves and branches as a result of natures furry that was unleased the evening of June 22nd, 2015. 

I am unable to really asses or confirm the extent of the damage due to what appears to be a communication blackout from the park but I don't know if this is intentional or simply a matter of the web site being overwhelmed by the over 4,000 owners trying desperately to get information.

The management of the park is elected and serve with little or no compensation.  This is fine in most cases but when a disaster happens I am sure they are completely out of touch with the management tools required to establish an emergency response effort,  especially with the widespread effects of this present disaster.  This evening it will be 48 hours since the tragedy and I would think that a statement to the owners is due.  They do have a website and what better way to post a statement than a static page on the Website.  

As an owner of a lot at Woodhaven Lakes I feel that we are due a response from the management - maybe not details yet but at least a response.

I do know that our properies are safe and relatively untouched from the storm but we are unable to enter the park to really determine the state of our RV because the park is closed until further notice.   I understand why it is closed, and I am sure that once it is safe to re-open it will be re-opened.  What we don't know is when and hopefully we will get some information on what is going on soon.

We will keep those who were injured or lost property in our thoughts as the details get sorted out over the next few days.  Pray for them and be diligently aware of the power of thunderstorms.

Thanks.

Summer - Yea Summer!

Yep.  Summer is almost here.  It is now the end of May and things are beginning to warm up.  It has been a rather cool and wet May but finally the trees are green and the grass is growing faster than the squirrels run from our lab on her walks.  We spent the Memorial Day weekend at our RV in Sublette Illinois and had a very relaxing albeit a busy weekend.   We were there for 5 days and only one - Saturday - was a rainy day.

Having a long quiet weekend was high on our wish list but it just wasn't about to happen.  On Friday morning my wife's mother passed away and that started all the emotions rushing to the surface.   Needless to say this event set the tone for the remainder of the weekend.  Since my brother-in-law was taking care of all of her mothers needs he made the final arrangements. 

We remained at the RV because the ceremony on Memorial Day was an annual event that has come to mean a lot to my wife.   The closing playing of Taps brings tears to both of us but it really causes my wife to cry.  It was her dads favorite memory of his military service to hear Taps at the close of the day.

Back to the weekend story.  She wasn't about to miss the Memorial Day ceremony.

Then on to cleaning up our little RV lot after a winter that always leaves things in disarray.  Branches down, leaves and other rubbish, the cleaning of the Shed which had been made a home by the mice, and the initial mowing of the grass kept us busy.   Those damn rodents can eat through most anything and there is always caulking to do to cover the latest entry point.  Next fall we will put out mouse baits to see if we can control it a bit better.

The spiritually  moving Memorial Service which included the changing of the Flags, a 21 Gun Salute by the members from the local 'Amvets' chapter and the playing of Taps made for a very memorable day.  I wish all of you could some day be part of such a simple but moving ceremony.


Our sympathies go out to those being affected by the floods in the Texas and other regions as the rains are really battering that area of the country.
So here we go into Summer.   And as the song says - 'The living is easy....'  (for some of us).   Keep your neighbors in your prayers.  God Bless You ALL.