Outdoors reporter returns to place of internship and dam jokes

It's been a minute since I was the caboose of a dam tour.

You see, in between being a college student and reporter for the Branson Tri-Lakes News at the time, I also completed an internship with the Ozarks Rivers Heritage Foundation at the Dewey Short Visitor Center the summer of 2012.

"What is sleep? Never heard of it," I often joked.

Earlier this week, I returned to the ol' stomping grounds with photojournalist Nate Papes and a representative of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Little Rock District to tour Table Rock Dam.

(Yes, there are quite a few dam jokes to be made and have already been said, but I, for one, never get tired of them. Somewhere in my belongings is a button that reads: "I survived the dam tour!" and I treasure it.)

I say it's been a minute, but that's Midwest speak for it's actually been several years since members of the public could tour the concrete structure. Part of the nonprofit's role was providing the staff necessary to operate dam tours and since an operations management agreement was terminated in September 2013, this inside look of the dam has been cut off to the general public.

Being back was an immediate walk down memory lane. From overcoming a fear of snakes, thanks to Morgan Wyatt, or understanding nature just bit more, courtesy of many like Gala Solari Keller and Sherryl Walker, many of the folks I met during my internship then are still cherished friends to this day. And, because I shared a couple of posts hinting I got to go back to the dam this week, I wanted to reach out to a few of my friends about their own memories. 

A rather rainy day left Sherryl and David McClintock without glasses after theirs went tumbling while riding the open air trolley across the embankment. I was working that day and everyone, including me, was soaked. They had to lead their tours without their glasses, which was "quite an experience," Walker told me Friday. 

Me and David went searching for them and thankfully found both pairs, although his were rather busted up and Walker's were scratch-free.

For Gala, providing those dam tours for visitors was a favorite part of working at the visitor center. 

"Our guided tour inside the dam was often an eye-opening experience for visitors who had no concept about the inner workings of a hydroelectric dam and powerhouse," Gala said.

Giving dam tours made Morgan quite a hydropower nerd.

"I have long forgotten all the facts and stats about Table Rock Dam, but the sensations will stick with me forever," Morgan wrote in an email. "The gentle hum and vibrations of the turbines and generators, the cool, wet corridors through endless concrete. I admit, I enjoyed the vintage office furniture and tools, too. Table Rock Dam is kind of a time capsule from 1958."

Once Nate, Jay Townsend, with the Corps, and I made our way inside of the dam, I played caboose again and tried to stay out of Nate's way as he photographed.

The stairs are the same and there seemed like an endless number to climb and descend. We went into some new areas I had never seen before, like beneath the giant rumbling penstocks with stalactites forming. Other areas will have to wait until next time, such as the former fallout shelter.

Not all memories are sweet

This week is a tough one and returning to Table Rock Lake stirred other memories. The first time I met Nate was during the aftermath following 17 people dying on Table Rock Lake after an amphibious vehicle sank on July 19, 2018.

When Nate and I got done with our tour Wednesday, we walked Table Rock Lakeshore Trail near where the duck boat sank four years ago to see if we could locate a memorial marking the tragedy. We found none.

Sara Karnes is an Outdoors Reporter with the Springfield News-Leader. Follow along with her adventures on Twitter and Instagram @Sara_Karnes. Got a story to tell? Email her at skarnes@springfi.gannett.com.