Thursday, July 24, 2008

Amid lush greenery between railroad tracks and Neville Island's Ohio River back channel is what Jane Tallon calls "a little piece of heaven."

At age 20, she and her sister chipped in to buy a small 17-foot Starcraft motorboat. They found a place to dock it, at the Groveton Boat Club, just a few miles from their Robinson home. Three decades later, it's the place where she and her husband have spent hundreds of weekends, taught their now-grown children water ski and still spend much of their free time.

"You pack a cooler. It's just 15 minutes from home, but as soon as you cross those railroad tracks, it's like you're on vacation," said Tallon, chairwoman of the parks and recreation committee of Robinson, which encompasses Groveton.

Adjacent to the former Lewis Foundry & Machine Co., the area was for years known as Joker's Camp. Lewis workers and their families would gather on the weekends to camp out and picnic, said owner Geri Morgan.

It had evolved into a small clubhouse with a rental dock by September 1980, when she and her husband Dick landed their pontoon houseboat there, 9.2 miles from the Point, Downtown.

Morgan said she'd formerly run a bar in Glassport, and wasn't looking to get into business again.

"But it was just so nice, so laid back. Just looking at it, you could see the potential," said Morgan, 70, who said she made a deal to buy the business the very weekend she laid eyes on it. "We docked our boat here and never left."

She cleared undergrowth from an area that is now a gracefully sloping picnic spot shaded by towering maple and sycamore trees. The 9-acre area is dotted with mulberry trees, a weeping willow, a flowering crabapple and a rare chestnut that Morgan nurtured from a seedling.

Rowing clubs from Robert Morris University and North Allegheny High School use one of the two docks and a boathouse, while Morgan cleared a space for additional private crafts to park on land.

Business is brisk this summer, with the owners of 50 private crafts renting space. Morgan theorized that high gasoline prices are the reason, as hauling boats to more distant lakes and rivers has become cost-prohibitive.

That was the case for Dana Crow of Avalon, picnicking with her family and friends last weekend.

"We were going to go to Yough Lake, but gas is just so expensive right now -- between towing the boat, and then to put gas in the boat itself," Crow said. "I said, 'Let's just stay locally.' "

As first-time boaters this season, Crow said she and her husband appreciate the friendliness of the club's veterans, who helped them launch their 24-foot Rinker on its maiden voyage.

Among such self-described "weekend warriors" is Chuck Adkins, 42, of Brighton Heights. The Morgans are looking to sell the business, and perhaps retire full-time to Florida, where they winter. Hoping to forestall that plan, Adkins said he and other members are quick to pump gas, help clean up and otherwise make things a bit easier.

"We want them to keep it," he said, "so we want to help."

Bonnie Pfister can be reached at bpfister@tribweb.com or 412-320-7886.