Life Is Simple

By Jerry Crownover

My first job away from the farm happened during the last couple of months of my senior year in high school. Along with four other boys in my class, we agreed to work at a local resort, where every cent of our salary would go directly to the school to pay for our senior trip to Washington, D.C. Since most of us couldn’t afford the trip without this option, it was a good deal. This particular resort was well-known as a premier destination for fishermen and outdoor enthusiasts, and many Midwestern businesses would, as a perk, send some of their employees there for a few days of food, fun and fishing. The resort charged a fee for all the fish that were caught, but since the companies were paying the bill, the fisherman would catch huge numbers of fish each day and bring them back to the main lodge, where the resort employees would clean, process and freeze the fish.

Spring Specials

Jerry Crownover farms in Lawrence County. He is a former professor of Agriculture Education at Missouri State University, and is an author and professional speaker. Jerry’s daily exploits on the farm are now viewable on YouTube at “lifeissimple678”.

To contact Jerry, go to ozarksfn.com and click on ‘Contact Us.’

Every Saturday and Sunday in March and April of that year, my friends and I would clean hundreds of fish during our eight- to 10-hour days. I can remember how raw my thumbs and fingers would be from scraping, gutting and deboning those fish. The feeling would barely re turn to my hands before the next weekend would come along. But, the desire to attend that week-long bus trip kept us going back.

That was 50-some years ago, but the resort is still there and more beautiful than ever. As a little getaway after a long winter of feeding cattle and spring calving, I took my wife there this past weekend for a little rest and relaxation. As we drove along the entrance to the resort, I could see that the river was full of fishermen in hip-waders, flexing their wrists with fly rods.

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