One of the "Holy Grails" of the Old Worldwide Church of God's Feast of Tabernacles was the Site which was located at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. It is this site I wish to focus on today on a more reflective post as the Festival 2019 draws near for those who celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
My memories are, you will understand, quite vague, as my time at the Feast of Tabernacles in the Ozarks was as a young child - 4 and 5 years of age. Yet decades on decades passed has not diminished many of the memories of the Ozarks in my mind. In fact, the details are as clear as ever -despite the fact this was so long ago. Perhaps my memories are shared by others who went there back in the 70s and 80s. Perhaps this post will bring back some memories.
The Feast was hyped up to me as a child. My family had two weeks reserved for the Feast, so we took our time going there - and took our time coming back. The first year we went, we stayed on a beautiful lakeside cabin at the now-defunct "Lazy-D-Resort". The Second year, we stayed at an inexpensive twin-story motel called the "Scottish Inn" off Highway 54 - which, surprisingly, still stands today.
There wasn't any lack of anything to do for young children on a vacation at the Ozarks. One of my biggest memories of the Ozarks was the Bagnell Dam - which still runs and exists much as it did back then. We were able to take a tour of the dam's powerhouse - a very frightening and loud place, I remember - and had no idea what the "two houses on stilts" on the dam's top were (turns out, they are massive cranes to lift floodgates). We visited a great Cave called "Jacobs Cave" just up the road a little bit - I can still remember the pitch blackness when they cut the lights, and the distinct "cave smell" that existed deep inside the bowels of the cavern. There was a little lady about my age I had a crush on at the time - whose parent ran the concession/gift area I still remember.
There was also the "Strip" - an entertainment and shopping district just across from the Dam - which contained a lot of fun activities for the whole family. There was a mini-golf course which contained a massive "sky-slide", and bumper cars. There was an arcade which had "Skee-ball" - a delight for a pre-schooler and adult alike. Two large statues of Indians flanked each side of the highway.
And, of course, there was the Tabernacle. A giant metal warehouse held all 14,000 of us Festival goers just outside of Route 54, right next to a tall water tower. There was never anything fancy about this "Tabernacle" - plain was an understatement. Yet, it did the trick for all of us waiting for a long, long time to get out of the parking lot when services were over. I also very clearly remember having picnics between services on the lawns of the Tabernacle - with egg salad sandwiches and potato chips. It was also at this site that I heard the infamous "Behind the Work" videos of 1981 and 1982.
As far as church-specific memories of the Ozarks, of course, there was Armstrong hollering about, echoing throughout the cavernous warehouse his kingdom proclamations. There was sitting on the grey floor with a "Little Professor" calculator and a gray etch-a-sketch. There was hanging on to the coat-tails of a parent - and the awe of so many people everywhere. And of course, the long, tiring days of double services. Yet, one of my most pronounced memories was hearing "Behold the Day Will Come" and shouting out to all who could hear over the singing that the day HAD come - the day of my birthday. It was a late feast that year.
Looking now, the Ozarks are, in many ways the same, but also, in many ways, very, very different. The "Strip" is but a shadow of its former self. The Dam is still there but looks more utilitarian and un-explorable then it used to be. The Lazy-D-Resort cabins are gone, and so is the massive Sky-Slide and bumper cars. Yet, a few of the long-standing memories still stand - the tall statues, the fudge store, and even Jacobs Cave.
The Tabernacle itself? It's now an indoor boat-storage warehouse for the ever-growing lake and boating industry of the Ozarks. Surprisingly, it still stands - another former ghost of itself - a ghost of an alternate universe of times past. Those who store their vessels within the walls of the Tabernacle would have no idea of what took place - and what we believed - within and around those walls. Yet those of us who were there remember. And remember well.
Much like the other Church-owned sites - Mt. Pocono, Big Sandy, and Wisconsin Dells, Ozarks had its own flavor and its own distinctiveness all of its own. For Worldwiders - whether you were a child, or an adult, for over 14,000 of us, the memories of times long past still hold clear and strong for those who experienced the times and the season of fall on the Lake of the Ozarks. And it's these memories that the onset of Fall brings clear for those who lived to experience the Feast of Tabernacles during the Armstrong Era of the Worldwide Church of God.
Submitted by SHT
