Fishing at Ron's

There are almost no times when all of my brothers and sisters get together anymore. Adult children with kids of their own have kept us separated and busy with grand kids. This was not the case thirty years ago when we found times for all of us to be together. For many years, this was the annual get together at Ron and Bonnie's.

Ron and Bonnie moved to Collinsville in the early 1980's. Ron loved being near water, so they selected a home that was on a lake. The lake was famous in the area as it was originally a moat around the home of a southern Illinois mobster, Frank "Buster" Wortman.

Wortman was an infamous bootlegger and gambling kingpin. He built his fortress and moat in the 1950's. This was after one of his "business'" was bombed by a rival gang. Some time after Buster died, his son sub divided the land around the moat. Ron and Bonnie's home was part of that subdivision. Ron and Bonnie moved  across the lake from Buster Wortman's original house.

The gatherings were always in the warm weather. Ron and Bonnie started the event around July 4, and later moved it to Labor Day weekend. Our families camped out or stayed in the house, and like hippies in a commune, there were people sleeping everywhere.We fished, floated in tubes, and drank way too much beer. It was a great time for everyone, and yes, that is Buster's fortress in the background.

Ron went through a great deal of work to prepare for the event. Al had found Ron a boat which he painted and prepared for the get-together. Ron bought floating toys for the kids and the adults. He bought an electric trolling motor and provided fishing poles, grills, and life jackets, as well as lots of drinks. We all brought plenty of food, sun screen, sleeping bags, and more drinks.

With none of us driving home, there was plenty of time to get goofy, as you can tell by the photos taken over several years.

Since this blog is about  fishing, there was plenty of that as well. The lake was stocked by the home owner's association and Ron served on the board. The lake (moat) contained many blue gills, catfish, and  largemouth bass. I even managed to hook one, but for the most part the kids and other adults caught the fish.

Ron continued this tradition as long as he was able. After nearly twenty years, his family decided it was getting to be too much. I was there the day they decided to end the tradition.  It was a sad day.

The year before, Tim's son, Shawn, wrote a paper on Buster Wortman. He bought a powerful magnet and spent most of the week-end dragging the moat for any gangster type hardware that might have been tossed in the lake, Unfortunately, he never found as much as a nail.

Our kids grew-up looking forward to Ron's family gatherings. We all miss the good times. I am for ever grateful that he made this happen. Thanks for being the grand planner.