Memories

Edward Ferking Recalls - "How I First Met Rob"

“It was a quiet Saturday morning in the historic business district of Lake Wales, FL.

I was standing outside my office building taking a break from an all-nighter refinery project.

Coming down the sidewalk from the east was a tall slender, athletic looking older man pushing his $3,000 high-alloy racing bicycle.

He stopped and asked if I worked in the building behind me and I of course said yes.

He then started to tell me everything about the history of my building … how it was once a Rexall drug store in the late 1940’s, etc., etc.

I was amazed, ... it was my building and he knew as much or more about it than I did.

I told him there was a large, framed picture inside that showed the town’s businessmen sitting at the soda fountain and I invited him in to see it. He obliged me of course.... it was a historic picture! ....Rob could hardly wait!

.... As I look back, when I walked through that building door with him on that calm, quiet, springtime morning .....I had no idea of what was about to come. ....church bells should have been ringing out!

We sat and chatted for a while and he then left ... as if into the mist of everyday life.

As it turns out, it was the start of something huge ....a long , interesting, great, and epic friendship / partnership ....and who wudda thunk?! ...it was all about "the history" of my city, my county, my state, my country, ...and my planet !"

" It was a Grand Day! "

Now when I look at that picture (see here =>) .... it is as if they were looking back at Rob & I on that very morning and smiling ... as if they knew what was about to come.

EDWARD FERKING RECALLS - "When i first learned about "Lake Cooper"

I had a really neat loft over my conference room. It had all the good stuff ...nice leather sofa and chairs, wet bar with ice machine, small refrigertor with cold drinks, big screen TV, seperate section with work table and large grease board, lots of book shelves and books.,etc.

My buddies Rob and Kenny Hampton would thus often appear and go directly up there to "catch up and discuss things we were working on". It was remote and secluded so no one paid them any mind, besides they were harmless!

One day (among many others)....Rob came down and appeared at my office door and said "Ed, you've got to come up to the loft and hear this. I want you and Kenny to hear this together at the same time."
So I abruptly followed him up to the loft, Kenny was sitting there, Rob was twitching around ...and finally he said "I just got of the phone with a guy I know. I was telling him about our plans next week to scope out the dryed up little lake right next to the sawmill. He said "Oh you mean Lake Cooper" ... I said "no Dan it is the one right next to and south of the antique gauge rail tracks leading to the old saw mill." Dan said "yep I know it well .... some locals call it Lake Sullivan after the boy that drowned there several years ago .... but the official historic and USGS map name is Lake Cooper!"

Totally Shocked ....We ditched our previous plans and went there the very next day!!!!

Rob's Muse for many years was a young lady named

"Effie Cooper"

She died at an early age during the late 1800s in what is now the Ghost Town of White Oaks, NM .

Her married name was

"Effie Cooper Wood".

Only two lakes butt directly up to the historic "Wood" sawmill we investigated They are:

Lake Effie and Lake Cooper

Memories

Edward Ferking Recalls - "How I First Met Rob"

EDWARD FERKING RECALLS - "When i first learned about "Lake Cooper"

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