Bill - Looking forward with gusto to your stories. - Steve
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Bill - Looking forward with gusto to your stories. - Steve
I suppose I should first tell you how I got the job at Lake X. When I turned 18, I applied for a job at Mercury, after growing up across the road from the factory in FDL.
A few weeks after I started, a buddy of mine started telling me stories about Lake X - he had just come back from Florida after being fired! ( somthing about a dead possum ):reddevil:
I was intrigued- I had always liked the water. So I went to personnel and started bugging them about working there and they indicated I had about a snowball's chance, but they'd put the word out for me.
After several visits to personnel, one day when I was working in receiving and I was on the dock waiting for some paperwork, I noticed an older gentleman was standing over in the corner watching things - after a bit he came up and asked me what I was doing. I explained what was going on and we made small talk - he left after a few minutes.
The next thing I knew, my boss rushed up and asked me what he wanted. I said "who?" and he said "Mr. Kiekhaefer!" I said "oh, that's who that was!" The next day I was called in to personnel and they said Mr. Kiekhaefer was offering me a job at Lake X, but before I left, I was to report to the boat house in Oshkosh for additional training.
I spot checked 500's for the rest of the fall. I learned alot there. some of which the boss would not like. I got real good at water fights!!!!!!!!!!! I really liked the freedom of having the entire Winnebago chain to run. It was hard work to run two outboards for 3 hrs each. That did not include unboxing,mounting,unmounting,and reboxing but truly loved it !
Did any of you sneek girlfreinds into Lake X ? Two of us did. The girls we were dating kept begging us to see where we worked. Well,one night we were drunk enough to see what we could do about that ! We drove up to the gate and it was one of the guards we knew. He opened the gate and waved us though. The girs were hiding on the floor. We took them to our trailer but got nervous and decided to get out of there ! bigggg problem ! NEW GUARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't remember exactly how we did it but I think we went back to the trailer to decide what to do:eek: Well my girl got on the floor under my feet in the back seat and the other girl put up her hood on her jacket and leaned against the passenger door up front:confused: We then drove back to gate. The guard came out to the front passenger door and asked were we were going so late ? We told him we were going to go have a couple more drinks. He then looked at the girl in the front seat. He could not see her face and said it looks like so and so (I can't remember who's name he said) has already had enough! went back to the guard house and opened up the gate!!!!!!!!!! We never tried that again:rolleyes:
One more thing tonight, does anyone remember who had the Chevy convertible, 64 or 65, maybe yellow and white (can't remember)? I'm having trouble remembering names anymore, so need to have people help me out. But that's who I was with that nite.
Sorry if I'm too boring for you guys:confused:. In spite of the fact I was only 18 I never was carded so I probably went to the same bars. Didn't one of those bars have a go go dancer or two ? Well, If I hear back from one of you I will talk about any questions you might have. Otherwise it was a great read !
Hey Musky William, yeah ,i get pissed off when it seems like your talking to yourself and nobody says anything for a couple of weeks. You have to remember that ALL these guys here are VERY old farts and have a job to read let alone remember and then comment on it. Just do it. Probably never met you but i could have. Write till the ink runs dry.
Musky Bill welcome to s and f...
I am not as old(still old tho) as most of the old farts here, but keep on writing please.
Absolutely keep on writing!!! While we are not all quite as old as Jackie ;), most of us are close and our synapsis' occasionally fire less frequently than our flatulance :leaving:. Watch the far right column numbers go up as you post. That will tell you that folks are at least reading what you post.
Best Regards From One Who Was Definately There - Steve Sirois
Whadya mean Stevo---not quite as old??????? I saw the pictures of the last OFFY and i was definitely one of the young ones. and definitely does not have a bloody "A" in it------------you bloody colonials !!!!!!!! will you ever learn?? swear to God there are times i despair!!!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by seeroy
Yer rite! No A in defin*tly. Sum tymes I furgit two youse tha spel chekr.
Ass usooal I are humbeld! :p
We are not old.... We are "elegantly seasoned". However, the name "Elegantly Seasoned Farts Forever" (ESFF) seems to lose something in the translation.
:D :p
Well...Good Morning Rich - Before I go...and I must in a few minutes, your acronym sounds like something I have heard OFF before. As you know, and others soon will, a certain similar acronym will soon bubble to the surface again. In the not too distant future, the Forums will light up with announcements.
Boat Racers & Fans - Just make sure you keep your calendars clear for 14-17 October 2010.
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: - Cadillac McDaniel, Jim Hauser, and Steve Sirois
It's already circled on my calendar........Quote:
Originally Posted by seeroy
Where the hell was the "ELEGANT" bit at the OFFY,?? Saw the Kitson/Hunt duo, The Seeroy/Hauser performance--------must have gone for a beer and missed it.
I thought you were pretty elegant...... South of France......"proper English" and all that.....Quote:
Originally Posted by jackie wilson
All I did was endurance at X. I remember Driving I/O's that were quite noisy and if I recall didn't run well when it rained and if I recall the 21 boat was a larger white boat that ran 1100's or twin 50's. The thing I hated the most was the barge:nonod: I did some bad stuff off the barge. All in retaliation of course because I was such a angel :D:D:D I'll tell the stories latter. I'm not sure about the boat numbers anymore.Please help me out on that if you can. I do remember a hole in the 21 if that's the right number and how it got there;) I can't remember if we had to wear life jackets? Did we ? I feal real bad that I can't remember names !!!!!!! Some of your names sound familiar but I just am not sure on who is who. I do remember Joe and those T bones he cooked :cheers: I liked him a little better than Clarence but not by much ! I remember lots of deserts . The food was the best:thumbsup:
Am sure glad to see some new blood on this thread,,,,,,,, With regards to Jackie stepping out for a beer, anyone who keeps his name tag upside down, just to see his name is definitely 4 years older than dirt,,,,,,,,,
:D:D:D I think I'll talk about the time the bosses were gone to a meeting.We were doing day shift endurance and some of us decided to start doing zig zag thu the trees. We were having a blast ! One of the guys decided to stop to pee. Not a dry thing to do :reddevil: I decided to give him a bath. I don't remember what boat I had but it turned very sharp and really threw the water ! I soaked him and he fell on his back. Well,one of the new guys decided to do the same thing I did. He had the 21(I think)when you turned it sharp it would slide and not dig in right away. BAM ! he hit the guys boat really hard :eek: I thought for a moment he would flip but everyone was OK :D Not so for the 21 ! Biggg Hole in the front port side or right side if port is suppose to be left ???? It was just above the waterline. Now what do we do:confused:
Port is left.
In English all the short words are on one side and all the long words are on the other:
Port . Starboard
Left . Right
Red . Green
To Jackie Wilson - Port is red
pass port to port?
except in Venice as you have to pass gondola's green to green
Sorry I haven't been back to finish the story of this event. We sat for a while in our little cove, out of the line of sight of the timing tower. We were trying to decide what to do next about the hole in the boat. I'm not sure what story we made up but no one got fired. However, the guy that had the #21 boat spent a few days learning how to patch fiberglass - on his own time. All for now till I'm feeling better.
I've got more stories, but would love to hear your questions and comments.
I've been meaning to thank all of you who have served our country - forever appreciated.
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.
Plant 7, it will celebrate 50 years this year, they make electronic and plastic parts for Mercury
Narcoosee Road, Brass Rail 28 Aug 2010. 46 years, 2 months and 6 days after I celebrated my 21st Birthday at this joint. - Seeroy
http://i54.tinypic.com/296kfaq.jpg
I watched a Cowboy ride his horse through the front door one night. Everybody, including the Horse, had a great laugh.
http://i56.tinypic.com/sl6xc5.jpg
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by 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
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.
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 .
Here's two questions that no doubt have been asked / answered before:Quote:
Originally Posted by seeroy
- who owns the Lake X facility now? Bing map's Birdseye view implies quite a party occurred there.
- why the round windows?
Seen in a lot of KAM buildings. I thought that Fred K. designed them, as a teenager.Quote:
Originally Posted by rdownes
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.
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.
Am glad to see the Lake is still producing good things and frienship,,,,,,,,,,,