Grand Lakers United Enterprise
PO
Box 2
Langley,
Oklahoma 74350
September 29, 2006
Ms. Gretchen Zumwalt-Smith
Grand River Dam Authority
P.O. Box 409
Afton, Ok 74331
Dear Ms. Zumwalt-Smith:
Grand Lakers United Enterprise is an organization formed
earlier this year to represent the views of moderate thinking Grand Lakers. We
favor managed and well organized growth while protecting the environment and
water quality for generations to come.
The visionaries known as the “Rainbow Chasers Coalition,”
who were the driving force behind the construction of the Pensacola Dam, had a
dream of a lake being formed which would spawn a great economic engine to
benefit the residents of Northeastern Oklahoma. Even the
most optimistic of the Rainbow Chasers couldn’t have envisioned what Charles
Davis would bring to Grand Lake
in the way of Shangri-la Resort and the glory days.
Davis molded two 18-hole championship
golf courses out of the resident flint rock in Delaware
County, built a five star hotel and brought
never-before-seen luxury lake homes to Grand
Lake. The glory days saw executives
from Phillips, Conoco and countless other major
corporations using Shangri-la Resort for board meetings, training sessions,
conferences and the entertaining of clients.
One of the most positive spin-offs created by the Davis
empire was the exposure of Grand
Lake to thousands of visitors. Many
of these same visitors came away with plans, either at the time or in the
future, of investing in the Grand lifestyle. It was a win-win proposition for
all of Grand Lake,
bringing jobs and dollars to the economy. The hosting of the 1982 National Governor’s
Conference was the crown jewel of the Davis
years. Ultimately, the oil bust and a
declining economy led to the bankruptcy of a Grand
Lake legend.
The following years saw multiple owners of the resort, none
of whom had a vision of the Grand Lake
dream. The resort faltered, and through the years fell into a state of
disrepair. What had once been a positive experience for visitors was no more.
The glory days, which had provided a livelihood for, not only the resort, but
many other area businesses, were gone.
We now have an opportunity to bring the glory days back to Grand
Lake and the Authority can play a
pivotal role with the approval of the resort’s application for the construction
of a new marina in conjunction with a planed hotel and convention center. Pete
Boylan, who purchased the resort property approximately two years ago, has been
working towards bringing investors to Grand
Lake to build such a project on the
island.
When I was the publisher and owner of The Chronicle of Grand Lake, I often wrote that “as Shangri-la goes,
so goes Grand Lake”
when it comes not only to the economy of Monkey Island,
but all of Grand Lake.
It was true then just as it is now.
Our organization urges the Authority to move quickly in
approving a giant step forward for all of Grand Lake.
Sincerely Yours,
Rusty Fleming
Executive Director