Life at Lake X in the '60s

[seeroy]

Go to page #20 to see #300 post as well - Steve

[Sheldon Tobey]

steve you probably dont remember me. was there at x 63 thru 65. was in 1 miami 9 hr with milt roeber for pardner. wayne meyers was my father in lw

[seeroy]

Hi Sheldon - Yes, I do remember you. Right now I am trying to picture you in my mind, but it is a little fuzzy at this point in my life (turning 65 next month). Of course Wayne was one of my Lake X favorites. He could be a little crusty, but I liked that. He was an incredible 4 cycle guy. I remember one evening he was adjusting a carb on a 427 in an SK boat for my brother. He was leaning over it looking down the throat when it backfired through the carb. All of his very short and sparse hair was burned crispy. Fortunately, he was not really injured. I have always remembered one of his favorite sayings, "Don't drink water. Fish f@#* in it". If you read this entire thread, I did mention Milt Roeber. He was at the Siesta Key Test Station when I first went to work for Kiekhaefer. I hope you enjoy this thread. Please feel free to add your recollections from those incredibly fun days.

Good to hear from you - Steve Sirois

[theopaul]

Bill,
I just happened on to this thread while looking for photos of Quincy Loopers. I had the pleasure of working at Lake X during the summer of 1968. My dad was the Mercury distributor for western Canada and Carl Kiekhaefer hired me himself to work at Lake X while he attended one of the Dealer Meetings in Winnipeg.

I remember staying on one of the big trailers there and getting used to the heat of a Florida summer. I think I calculated that I drove over 50,000 miles that summer around the lake. I remember the old cook who fixed us meals every day. I think he liked to drink a lot but he was a nice guy. Oddly enough it was he who inspired me to follow my life passion which is to be a chef.

I liked the second shift but got bored during the day so I worked the day hours cutting grass or spraying the water weeds around the lake. The manager at that time was Bill Collins, I think, and he was very nice to us. He let the student summer workers use the company van during the weekends to go the the beach. This was quite an adventure for me. I remember when the off shore racers came there before and after races to set up the rigs. They were quite a wild group as I recall. I had a lot of fun and it was quite a summer adventure.

Thanks for starting this thread. I hadn't thought of Lake X in years. This has brought back fond memories of a youthful summer.

[seeroy]

Bill,
I just happened on to this thread while looking for photos of Quincy Loopers. I had the pleasure of working at Lake X during the summer of 1968. My dad was the Mercury distributor for western Canada and Carl Kiekhaefer hired me himself to work at Lake X while he attended one of the Dealer Meetings in Winnipeg.

I remember staying on one of the big trailers there and getting used to the heat of a Florida summer. I think I calculated that I drove over 50,000 miles that summer around the lake. I remember the old cook who fixed us meals every day. I think he liked to drink a lot but he was a nice guy. Oddly enough it was he who inspired me to follow my life passion which is to be a chef.

I liked the second shift but got bored during the day so I worked the day hours cutting grass or spraying the water weeds around the lake. The manager at that time was Bill Collins, I think, and he was very nice to us. He let the student summer workers use the company van during the weekends to go the the beach. This was quite an adventure for me. I remember when the off shore racers came there before and after races to set up the rigs. They were quite a wild group as I recall. I had a lot of fun and it was quite a summer adventure.

Thanks for starting this thread. I hadn't thought of Lake X in years. This has brought back fond memories of a youthful summer.

Theopaul - Glad you have enjoyed the thread. Those were incredible days. The morning cook was Joe Dumbolden and the afternoon/evening cook was Clarence Pennell. Both of them treated us wonderfully. Lake Manager at the time was Ted Collins and his Grandson "Awesomebullet" has posted here. Ted saved my butt on more than one occasion. Bon Appe'tit - Steve Sirois

[nianticgary]

You know Steve, I'm just a little bit younger than you, but your memories about Lake X and the times of your youth mean alot to me also even though I wasn't at Lake X. But it is like a mythical place to me. I worked for a small Mercury dealer in Waterford, CT who was super great to us kids. He made sure I had a Mark 78A Dockbuster for my boat when we took it in trade. The use of any of his stock of propellors was available to help us go faster. He let us use his Quicksilver lower units to build hot rod motors. We literally blasted all over the Niantic River with motors and parts he provided for our use and at no cost. Boy and did we beat the hell out of these Mercs. Almost felt like we were testing these motors for Kiekhaefer. And when we couldn't get these motors to go fast enough, our boss would jump into our boats and tweek the motors so we'd get another couple of MPHs. I'm still running around in my PowerCat poweredby a Merc tower of power 150. So keep up the good work and all the great stories. I appreciate all the great tales.
Gary Larson, Niantic , CT/Bradenton, FL

[seeroy]

Thanks Gary - Your benefactor Merc dealer did much the same for you as did Al Holub for my brother Bill. Al had a small Merc dealership in Sarasota and he hired Bill, during his Senior year at Sarasota High School, to work in his shop. Bill had rebuilt an old KG-9 and raced it in Sarasota Bay. Al then allowed Bill to use company boats and motors to race in the local area. That was the start of an incredibly successful 40 year carreer in boat racing. I also worked for Al for awhile. He was an all around nice guy and I suspect that, like your benefactor, there were/are alot of dealers out there that have helped young folks get their feet wet. You should read the thread titled "Mercury Dealership Treasures" by Warrior74z (Barron Cooley). He tells great stories of his youth in his Dad's dealership. Best Regards - Steve Sirois

[nianticgary]

Steve, It is interesting to hear you tell of your brother's similar experience because I know of other small Merc dealers doing the same thing. It was as if Kiekhaefer instilled some kind of camaraderie or loyality amongst it's dealers. With my boss, you couldn't say anything bad about Carl K. He was kind of like his idol. I know he would talk to Carl and there always seemed to be Merc goodies around like Quicksilver lower units and racing parts you wouldn't expect to find at a small dealership. And my boss could make a Mark 78A sing. Guess thats why I've always been loyal to Merc because I knew they were tough to beat and real reliable. We were proud of our Mercs back then as I still am today. Gary

[Powercat]

Steve:
I was wondering if you might remember the situation as to why Bill was
in Long Beach California for the running of our Power Cat drag hydro back
in 1962. I know these motors were factory specials and some of the
very first black 100's off the line. I thought maybe Carl K. had him go with
the motors to be sure us west coast crazies knew what we were doing.
Danny Leger

[gofish7070]

Almost daily I read the replies to this thread and always my brain goes back to those absolutely crazy days over 40 years ago ,,,,,,,,, In speaking with Brownie the other day even though most of us havent seen each other in decades,,,,,,,,,, We all feel those are all some of our best friends,,,,,,,,,,,,,Would be very difficult in todays times to ever capture that spirit again,,,,,,,,,, Seeroy can you believe nearly 42,000 people have looked at this thread,and back than they paid us to do that stuff,,,,,,,, BTW Tobey remember you well,,,,,,,,I Think you were on swing shift,in the tower Right ????????????????????

[theopaul]

Keep in mind everyone this was in the late "60's,,,,,,,,,,After working out of Lake X for a couple years somehow wound up at the FDL boathouse,where just a handful of guys worked but its where Wayne Mayer ( Engine Builder Extrodinare) built the majority of the 4-cycle race engines,,,,,,,,, It was were Mr. K used to come when he wanted to get lost from the main plant,,,,,,,,, Anyway one day he came in and talked to Phil Schenk and myself and explained he had a project for us,,,,,,,,, It seems a company in California was developing ground effects machines (hovercrafts) and he was having them sent to the boathouse where he wanted us to become experts on operating them, it seems the company wanted Mercury to build and develop lightweight hi-horspower engines for this project. Within a couple of weeks we were to give a demonstration to a group who was to determine market feasability for this program,,,,,,,,,, When these things arrived,,,,they were a tad crude,,,,,,, we were sitting on top of a modified Volkswagon engine with a stick coming up between our legs,this engine drove a fan in the front which of course gave us lift,as well as the fan behind us which gave us speed and maneuverability,, we had a rocker swithch on the throttle which dropped a brush on the side which trapped the air,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,OK this was our project,,,,,,,,,,,, On a road you could get it to about 30MPH not bad On water Maybe 20 MPH and on Grass maybe 20MPH depending how tall the grass was as it created resistance,,,,,,,,,,, After a week or so of playing with this thing we became somewhat efficient,,,,,, However we also discovered we could only sit on the seat about 15 minutes at a time,as that VW engine was like a blowtorch blowing up your A--,,,,,,,,,,, Any way after acouple of demonstations The Execs at Merc agreed that it was a limited market type of thing,and went off to do their snowmobile thing,,,,, Not thinking to much about it one day received a call from Ms. Rose Mr K. wanted to see me,Going to his office he explained that the Mercury Distrbutor in Canada ( Sorry forget his name) had taken on this product and he wanted Mr. K to re visit the item,,,,,,,,,,,, He than sent me and John Hull a exec with the company to Winnipeg Manitoba to drive the new and improved version of this thing,,,,,,,,,,,, Well please understand that early in the month of May it is Cooooooooooold in Canada,,,, They asked us to meet them at some lake their,,,,,,,,,,,, Their are no lakes their that time of the year their are ICE CUBES their,,,,,,,,,,,,, We are standing on ice and they bring out this machine, which after seeing it was just like the crude version we tested,,,,, however about 40 more Horsepower, John looks at me and says well go Check her Out,,,,,,,,,, I than put on every piece of clothing I had and fire it up,,,,,,,,,,,, Keep in mind this thing came from California I came from Lake X,,,,,,,,,,,, One thing they forgot to tell me,,,,,, No one has run this thing on ICE,,,,, Their is no resistance while it was designed to go max out around 40,when I flew buy the group on the ice it was estimated around 70 with no resistance no chance of slowing down,,finally I see a patch ahead of me This is fluffy snow,,,,that means a lot of resistance,I aimed for that and when hitting it threw up a huge snowball it was like throwing out a 1000 lb anchor,launching me off this thing,,,,,, , No It did not get my endorsement and The project ended,,,, Later on these things did get deveoped and were awesome for rescue work,,,,,,,,but back oin the 60S That was my wildest Ride..............

The canadian distributor in Winniped was my dad Harry Paul. Yes Winnipeg in march can be cold. The hovercraft in question was designed and built in England. My dad was always looking at innovative new transportation ideas for the north. He was an early innovator of snow mobiles and encouraged Mr k to enter the snow mobile market.

[seeroy]

Steve:
I was wondering if you might remember the situation as to why Bill was
in Long Beach California for the running of our Power Cat drag hydro back
in 1962. I know these motors were factory specials and some of the
very first black 100's off the line. I thought maybe Carl K. had him go with
the motors to be sure us west coast crazies knew what we were doing.
Danny Leger

Hi Danny - I don't remember exactly why Bill was in CA during that time, but I think he was working for Kiekhaefer then. Additionally, I think he was staying with Eddie Morenz's family while he was there, which would further explain his presence in the picture with Eddie and Chuck Mersereau. I think Phil Schenk was also out there at the time. I hope to see Phil in Miami next month for the Don Aronow Memorial Race. I will ask Phil if he knows more. Sorry I can't help you more. Best Regards - Steve Sirois

[AwesomeBullet]

Steve,

They have built/are building a new guard shack...but it is on the right side of the road, across from the gated entrance to the lake. They are also improving/building new facilities to use the property as an educational tool for schools and other youth organizations. Unfortunately, it is going to be used for nature tours/education and not a historical tour of the legacy of Lake X. Not that a nature educational experience is a bad thing, I just wish that it would be combined with the strong history that is there....

[seeroy]

Steve,

They have built/are building a new guard shack...but it is on the right side of the road, across from the gated entrance to the lake. They are also improving/building new facilities to use the property as an educational tool for schools and other youth organizations. Unfortunately, it is going to be used for nature tours/education and not a historical tour of the legacy of Lake X. Not that a nature educational experience is a bad thing, I just wish that it would be combined with the strong history that is there....

Grant - Could you send me a PM with your phone number? - Steve Sirois

[seeroy]

Awhile back I posted some info about the Siesta Key Test Station and the fact that Midnight Pass had closed up some years back. Now I understand that there is a move afoot to reopen Midnight Pass in order to improve water quality of the bay. -Steve Sirois