25 Year Anniversary

Lilleys’ Landing Resort & Marina on Lake Taneycomo celebrated its 25th year in business in 2008. The small, family run operation on upper Lake Taneycomo actually hit the 25-year mark May 15.

The resort & marina, which sits halfway on the lake between Table Rock Dam and downtown Branson, has been open year-round for a quarter of a century, with the fly & tackle shop closed for a few hours on Thanksgiving and all day on Christmas in recent years. Until Ozark Mountain Christmas took off, only guests in the winter time were trout fishermen.

The fleet of boats has transitioned from a few leaky aluminum v-bottoms available only to resort guests to 12 river jon boats especially built for Lake Taneycomo, three bass boats and four pontoons, all ready to go from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily to the public as well as resort guests. It’s a 20-minute ride down to watch the Branson Landing fountains from the water side, and docking there is free.

The resort grounds have evolved from 14 one- and two-bedroom units with two-channel black& white televisions to now all wi-fi 24 units, including three three-bedroom units, one four-bedroom and two adjoining meeting rooms and an outdoor pavilion to accommodate area business meetings as well as vacationers. The second meeting room was opened with premium multi-media capabilities and surround sound for groups up to about 20.

“There’s no reason business people can’t conquer with their computers for a half day and finish their business from a boat in the other half,” Lilley said.

Phil Lilley, Jerry’s son, was the first to consider Branson as an ideal family resort area, both for the outstanding trout fishing and for the year-round business potential. He and his wife, Marsha, worked in Springfield for two years while they studied and prayed about various resorts with his parents. God seemed to move in all the details, Phil said, and the foursome purchased Rosadaro Resort in May 1983 from Rose & Sam Hepko, who had built it themselves from scratch 10 years before. Sam died in 2006, but Rose, known as “Sadie” to many, is still a beloved face in the community.

Phil’s love of fishing and love of sharing it kept him motivated to master first Taneycomo, and then other area waters. Eleven years ago he launched Ozarkanglers.com., a website/forum that covers most fishing waters in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas. The site now includes more than 100 articles with daily readership of more than 2,200 viewers.

“My passion is to educate those who wish to learn how to fish and to those who want to learn how to fish better, whether it be dunking a worm or casting a fly,” Lilley said. He was a member of Friends of Lake Taneycomo, and helped launch the Branson Chapter of Trout Unlimited of which he is now president again. He also travels and speaks at churches and fishing clubs across four states to share his joy of fishing.

Jerry and his wife, Carolyn, were delayed in relocating to Branson until 1990 due to his duties as administrator at Labette County Medical Center in Parsons, KS, but they spent most of their spare weekends and vacations working at the resort. Phil’s sister, Lisa, and her family moved to town in 1985, and after working off and on through the years has been the office manager for the past six years. Marsha’s parents, Dave & Jean Woolery, who had been Taneycomo vacationers from the 1970s, also “retired” to Branson — building a home just on down River Lane from the resort, where Jerry & Carolyn would also then build. Although never actually on the resort payroll, the Woolerys were instrumental with moral and childcare support.

“It was such divine intervention that our children and Lisa’s sons grew up with grandparents right on the block,” Marsha said. “It’s one of those God things that’s beyond what you could ask or think of to pray for — especially with four babies in eight and a half years! And it’s such a joy now to see them continue to have rich relationships with their grandparents.”

With the heavy weekend demands of the resort, Marsha & Carolyn ended up homeschooling the six children for most of their years to carve out more family time. As the resort added staff – now including Curtis Viscardis as maintenance/dock supervisor, Kathy Rudd as cleaning supervisor and Becky Newcomb as head housekeeper -- the family affairs began to extend more into the community: Phil kept active in fishing & outdoor venues, Jerry served a term as treasurer for the Branson Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, and Carolyn & Marsha grew more involved in church and charity work. Carolyn helped launch Options -- the Branson crises pregnancy center where Marsha is now a volunteer counselor -- and has been president of the Torchbearers Foundation, the area outreach to Cameroon, Africa, via Dr. Martin Niboh.

Life at the resort has turned a new corner with the addition of Megan Cummings, Phil & Marsha’s second daughter, working in public and guest relations. She is a 2006 graduate of College of the Ozarks in recreation administration married last summer to Jimmy Cummings. Their oldest daughter, Sara Clark of Denver, graduated C of O in 2003 with her husband, Josh, and is a senior analyst for a bio-fuels firm; son Caleb graduated in May and now works two part-time youth ministry jobs in the area while the youngest, Greg, is a sophomore music ministry major at C of O. Nephew Ryan Titus runs heavy machinery for Altom Construction and nephew Levi Elsworth also works in the area.

“Even though we are just reaching our 50s,” Marsha said, “I know we sound ancient to the kids when we reminisce about the first few years at the resort. People would stay two weeks at a time and really enjoy regrouping with other guests year after year. It sounds archaic that we would pass out extra foil for everyone’s tv antennas so we could catch some of the Olympics, and we actually showed outdoor reel-to-reel movies outside at night – until the skunks came too regularly for the popcorn droppings.”

With all the added tourist attractions to Branson, some resort guests still never leave the resort grounds – except to be on the water. “God did such a great decorating job here in the Ozarks, we are so delighted to be able to share it,” Marsha said, adding sardonically, “It’s a tough job helping people vacation – and we still love it!”