The Grand Lake Galaxy: The Playground of Shirley Webb!
Sometime in the late eighties, while being in the very early stages of the newspaper business, I was traveling through the Rocky Mountains. I stole the phrase, “Voice of the Rocky Mountain Empire,” which appeared on the front of one of the Rocky Mountain area newspapers, and customized it for use on Grand Lake in a fledgling newspaper entitled The Grand River Chronicle. And from that day forward, the phrase “Voice of the Grand Lake Empire,” appeared on every edition of The Chronicle while I was at the helm.
But with the passing of our dear friend, Shirley Webb this past week, it caused me to reflect back on this lake which has attracted so many really special people over the years, regardless of what one might call it. Even though many who visit this column will have never had the privilege of knowing or hearing of Shirley Webb, they will still recognize the characteristics of those who have made this lake a unique experience by those who came before them.
If you take a look at some of the key players, who over the years have made this a truly special place, the one thing they seem to share is that of being self made. Or, as the guy at the end of the bar has been known to say, “They threw away the pattern when they completed that one,” or “They don’t make ‘em like that anymore.” I’m thinking of people like Carlos Langston, Gene Gregg, Mr. Davis, John Mullen, Joe Harwood, Terry Frost, the Howsers, Denny Cresap and especially Shirley Webb.
They influenced what our lake has become by bringing us in order, Port Carlos Marina and a modern day approach to marina & boat maintenance, a sprawling resort now known as Tera Miranda which once was simply known as the airport, a step to the next level in the Shangri-La Resort at the tip of Monkey Island highlighted by the historic governor’s conference in the seventies, a shoot-from-the-hip operator and gambler who just keeps on keepin’ on with enviable success, a political science major who took a wrong turn after college which led him to arguably being the largest commercial operator on Grand Lake, the father of the rebirth of the Cherokee Yacht Club and the introduction of game changing events like Welcome Back Weekend and the Christmas Boat Parade, the builder of a super marina, the undisputed beer king of Grand Lake with that very special knack for promotions, which is no more and the bubbly blonde, who partnered with her hubby to bring Grand Lake its very own boat line, a Margarita machine with a reputation far and wide and a zest for life few would ever experience.
There was no offered degree, or field of study available, to train Shirley Webb for what she would bring to the world in her seventy-five plus years on the planet. Her assets, as I believe she would have listed them in their order of importance, would read like this: Mother, wife, grandmother, perhaps great grandmother, jokester, promoter of a good time would be had by all, including, but not limited to those horse races in Hot Springs, group dinner outings at area restaurants and yacht clubs, the selling of boats as a sport and pass time and wiggling one’s toes in the sand of a warmer place in the winter, college and professional football….watching and wagering, golf and much, much more. And all along the way, whatever she was inclined to do, she drew people into life-long relationships as dear friends of a special sort. For me, it started at the 1989 Tulsa, Boat, Sport & Travel Show….and I was sucked in just like so many others.
It was the first ever boat show edition for a publication I help found, The Grand River Chronicle. It afforded us a great opportunity to meet potential advertisers for our new pub and Shirley Webb, AKA Grand Lake Boat Sales, was just that operating out of Hammerhead Marina. Shirley never met a stranger, and immediately offered me a frozen margarita. I figured if this lady of the boat brand had given me a drink, some positive results from our “New Advertisers Campaign” might be forthcoming following the boat show. Little did I know the margarita offering was almost a registered trade mark of Webbcraft Boats. Shirley probably only served up 5,000 or so of those drinks at the ’89 boat show so it easy to see how I might feel special.
Shirley went on to become the first full page advertiser in The Chronicle. She occupied a back page position, which year-after-year was sought after by some of the Johnny-come-lately big boys, but as long as Shirley wanted it, it was hers. Sometimes old Marines are known to be faithful. And nobody served as her advertising representative but yours truly…..partly by choice, but mostly because she would send anybody else we assigned to the task back to our office with a simple message, “Send the big boy out here if he wants our ad.” And it always remained one of my most enjoyable stops of the week until they shut down Webbcraft and sold the dealership in the early nineties.
I can best describe Shirley’s status on my beloved pond in a number of ways, but the most telling might go like this: Any number of people could talk crap about Bill Webb, Shirley’s husband of some 50 plus years, regarding his boat sales and manufacturing techniques or on any number of other fronts, but if one negative word was uttered about Queen Shirley, there was going to be Hell to pay.
Shirley embraced friends, family and causes alike. She was always active in charity fund raisers. There were no social bounds when it came to her wide circle of friends….rich, poor and in between. And if they ever needed anything she could be counted on.
Shirley’s complete obituary can be found on our web site this week, as well as a photo gallery, but when I read one of those I always think, is that all there is? And in Shirley’s case there was so much more. With her selection of Grand Lake to spend some of the finer times in her life playing and working, while all the time humming a tune or two with that winning smile on her face, perhaps it time to promote our lake from empire to galaxy.
Just like a good Scotch, multi-overtime sporting events, fine cusine and more, Shirley Webb will always remain one of Grand Lake’s self made pioneers and not forgotten.
See Ya’ Around the Pond!!
http://www.grandlakenewsonline.com/
0 comments:
Post a Comment