A natural ciénega ‘spring’ was tapped in 1994 to supply the pond with water…but a coating was also put on the bottom of the pond in 1957, in a process called ‘mudding,’ to help it retain water

By Gary Meyer with Patric Hedlund and the TME team

During the summer of 1994, Frazier Park community members were worried because their beloved pond at Frazier Mountain Park was disappearing. The water level was dropping and nobody knew for certain why it was happening.

Sound familiar?

Oldtimers

This week, The Mountain Enterprise found…(please see below to view full stories and photographs)

Photo captions:

Left: An August 5, 1994 news article from The Mountain Enterprise describes, “a great deal of public concern…because the water level in the pond had been getting lower and lower…” The Frazier Park Public Utility District sent its employees to the park to fix the problem. And fix it they did. Right: A November 1957 photo, taken shortly after Kern County finally acquired the park and dredged the pond. The workers are “mudding” the bottom of the pond with a coating (perhaps such as bentonite) because this lake “wouldn’t hold water.” After that it held water until 2016.

May 30, 1957: There’s Trout in that Lake—760 rainbow trout were planted in the lake at the new Kern County Park in Frazier Park. Fishing was permitted on June 1. Overseeing the unloading of the trout are William Fox, Supervisor Vance Web and Bill Fredericks, park attendant. A limit of five fish was set.

OpEd: Where is the care and respect we need for the heart of our Mountain Community?

Left: This plea was run in August 2018 about the peaceful pond at the heart of the community.

Fiesta Days Fishing Derby 2013

Right: In 2018 Stan McCuen created fish and geese sculptures to remind people of their loss.

Fiesta Days Dry Pond Derby 2018

Some of the happiest memories and some of the most heartbreaking are clustered around this pond for local residents. Now they are asking how they can help.

Wade Jones at a Park Master Plan meeting in 2016

Kimberlee Hoven and Debbie Turner, founders of Friends of Frazier Mountain Park, now on hiatus

Stan McCuen sculptures, holding the memory of the spirit of the pond

Through art, research, lobbying or planning, it is a good time to add your talents to explore what can be done to restore Frazier Mountain Park.

Above: Happy Fiesta Days Fishing Derby competitors in 2013

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This is part of the April 26, 2019 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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