Branson

Written by 
LeRoy Walls 
CEO 

Jerry and Linda Rogers and Paula and I were celebrating the fact that Jerry and I would be graduating from SMS College in a couple of weeks. I took off work at my Saturday job so we could go from our apartment in Springfield down to Branson.

It was a beautiful May day for our visit to the sleepy town of Branson. At that time Branson was a bigger version of my hometown of Cabool. It did have some distinct differences that would affect its future. It was located on the White River which is actually Lake Taneycomo, a trout fishing lake. Upstream from Lake Taneycomo is Table Rock Lake. Bull Shoals Lake begins just below the dam that forms Lake Taneycomo.

At that time Branson had a few tourist attractions on Highway 76 which runs from Branson on past Silver Dollar City. There were a couple of country music shows - The Bald Knobbers and the Presley Music Show plus the Corn Cob Theatre.

We stopped briefly at the Shepherd of the Hills farm and then on to Silver Dollar City. The only ride was the train and a spring wagon ride behind the biggest Missouri mule I’d ever seen. It didn’t take long to make the loop to see all the attractions. These included the Glass Works, Blacksmith Shop, Wilderness Church and some candy shops.

To finish the afternoon - we all went for a horseback ride at Uncle Ike’s Stables. We did this even though Paula and Linda were both in their second or third month of pregnancy.

As the years have passed Branson has changed a bunch - but some might even notice changes to Jerry, Linda, Paula and to me. As best I can figure it the objective of Branson’s entertainment today is to send visitors back home tired and happy just like they did for the four of us back in the 1960’s.

12/31/1999