My son, Ric, at the age of 15 and I went down to the Wayne Fitzgerald State Park on Rend Lake in 2001 to attend the annual Celebrity Quail Hunt, sponsored by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Foundation. It was such an enjoyable experience and beautiful surroundings that we have attended this three day event every year since then.
As a result of our travels around the area we had the opportunity to meet a local Hall of Fame Fishing Guide who ended up taking us out fishing every time we went south to participate in the Quail Hunt. What was scheduled as a three day hunting event ended up becoming a five day event, split between fishing and quail hunting.
During one of our trips to southern Illinois we came upon a 9 acre parcel of land with a house, 10 stall enclosed boat storage building and a pole barn. It was for sale. Except for one neighbor it was totally surrounded by government land. In addition, it was practically right next door to Wayne Fitzgerald State Park and Rend Lake. We bought it!
Ricky was about to graduate from Bradley University with a degree in Construction Management. As a result he put his education to work and undertook to completely remodel the house and manicure the grounds in 2011.
Upon graduation he took up residency adjacent to the property and accepted a position with Shawnee Professional Services, a local Survey and Engineering company.
In addition, he is now a fishing guide with that Hall of Fame Fishing Guide, Todd Gessner of Todd Gessner Outdoors. He also has access to private goose and deer hunting facilities within minutes from our location.