Life at Lake X in the '60s

[Speedfab]

Just out of curiosity, do any of you know the function of the big Mercury facility located about 7-8 miles NW of Lake X on 441 in St. Cloud? Was it somehow associated with the Lake? Appears to be a pretty busy operation today.

[JFL]

Plant 7, it will celebrate 50 years this year, they make electronic and plastic parts for Mercury

[seeroy]

Narcoosee Road, Brass Rail 28 Aug 2010. 46 years, 2 months and 6 days after I celebrated my 21st Birthday at this joint. - Seeroy

[seeroy]

I watched a Cowboy ride his horse through the front door one night. Everybody, including the Horse, had a great laugh.

[seeroy]

[seeroy]

[jackie wilson]

Did you not get carried away a tad, Handsome???? stretching it a bit much don't you think------------------what was it Pruett used to say---------Pail full'o worms on a mud fence.

[seeroy]

Maybe I did get a little carried away Jackie, but Iris was holding the camera and she is the one that said something about "Old Farts". Now that I think about it, maybe she never did use the word "Handsome". Just in case some of you are afraid to be wrong and therefore failed to make the identification, that is indeed Jim Emerson on the left, and the very "elegant" me on the right. "Emery" is living a very comfortable and laid back retired life in the Saint Cloud area. Iris and I spent 2 or 3 hours visiting with him last weekend. Jim came to Lake X from California with his Uncle Chuck Mersereau in the 50's. He was just out of the Army and wanted to visit Florida for awhile, but Mr Kiekhaefer offered him a job and the rest is history. Hopefully Jim will make it to OFF2010. - Steve Sirois

[jackie wilson]

Stevo, This is the third and final time i have tried to answer your pic mail. tried it on "reply with quote"--and got sent to outer mongolia and told i needed at least 5 characters before the bloody thing would come out and play. Hit every button on the site and as usual the whole shooting match buggered off into obscurity.
That's when i lose interest and think -----well screw you S&F-----It's a problem and it needs fixing el rapido !!!!!!!!
Might alk to you again if this thing makes it home. J.

[jackie wilson]

Hey there S&F, did you ever fix the problems i experienced with your new all singing and dancing website ???
ALL the old timers made it to OFF and it was a huge success, every one enjoyed except Cadillac who i understand collapsed in a bloody great heap-----totally knackered !!!!!!!!!!! I blame the mexican food guy, i had to use one of the portaloos in a hurry after my 3rd burrito. Try and get indian or chinese next time and lets really use those little red cabins.
As usual Willabee never made it to OFF--but i wish he had---he would have enjoyed it- we all haven't changed that much-just got a little slower and you just know what the next line from WILLA will be .

[rdownes]

Here's two questions that no doubt have been asked / answered before:

1. who owns the Lake X facility now? Bing map's Birdseye view implies quite a party occurred there.
2. why the round windows?

[GENE LANHAM]

Here's two questions that no doubt have been asked / answered before:why the round windows?

Seen in a lot of KAM buildings. I thought that Fred K. designed them, as a teenager.

[bernie]

Don't know if Fred designed them - they were held in place by a "inner tube" that surrounded the window and created an airtight seal so the plastic window floated within the inner tube. I remember when they put them in the Plant 17 die cast building in Fond du Lac - when it got down below zero the air pressure in the tube would get real low and they would leak outside air (and snow) into the building. Do not know what they did to cure that problem - windows are still in the building.

[flbuckeye]

Youth, Sheriff’s Office have new place to train
Thursday, 12 August 2010 07:00
By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer

The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office at Lake Conlin hosted 30 youngsters per week during its annual Sheriff’s Adventure Camp for at-risk youth. The Sheriff’s Office will use the Lake Conlin facility, which the county leased earlier this year, for both officer training and youth programs.

The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office signed a 25-year lease this spring for use of nearly 10,500 acres near Harmony to serve as a training facility and as an aid in its community service efforts.

The property, owned by the Kenneth Kirchman Foundation, includes the 1,400-acre Lake Conlin, also known as Lake X, where Mercury Marine carried out top-secret testing on boats and engines beginning in the 1950s.

The land also includes several buildings, which the county plans to modify. The bidding process for construction modifications has not yet started and may not take place this year, Osceola County Sheriff’s Office public relations director Twis H. Lizasuain said.

“We’re still in the beginning stages,” Lizasuain said.

The foundation requires approval of all construction slated for the property and before work begins, all construction documents must be submitted to the charitable organization.

Foundation president Hal G. Smith III, as per the lease agreement, may use the 5,000-foot paved airstrip on the property with reasonable notice to the Sheriff’s Office.

The foundation declined to comment on the lease at this time.

While the county is responsible for all taxes associated with the property, no money will be exchanged for rent. As per the lease, rent will be provided in the form of security for the property to keep people from fishing, capturing, poaching or hunting any animals or removing any plants from the premises.

The perpetual preservation of the property’s natural habitats for the enjoyment of the general public is a paramount objective to the foundation, foundation officials stated in the lease.

While the Sheriff’s Office has remained tightlipped about the type of training that will occur on the property, the lease gives specific examples of such training, including manhunt exercises in wooded areas, K-9 training, horse-mounted patrol exercises, a gun range with a state-of-the-art bullet trap system and an archery range.

Additionally, the foundation requires the Sheriff’s Office also use the property for charitable purposes, such as the Teen Driver Challenge and the Explorer Program.

For five weeks this summer, the Sheriff’s Office hosted 30 youngsters per week at its annual Sheriff’s Adventure Camp for at-risk youth, according to Lizasuain.

The Kenneth Kirchman Foundation was created by a banking software pioneer by the same name that established the Kirchman Corporation in Orlando in 1968. Kirchman died in 2007. The company often held meetings and events at the Lake Conlin site.

Several years ago the foundation considered turning over the Mercury Marine facility to the Central Florida Council of the Boy Scouts to be used as a camp, which would have been owned and operated by the foundation. However, the Boy Scout proposal stalled when the transfer of the land was tied up in court, local Scouting officials have said.

[gofish7070]

Am glad to see the Lake is still producing good things and frienship,,,,,,,,,,,