After Years of Falling Behind, Keomah Quickly Becoming Go To Spot

Cablevey made a donation of some trees to Lake Keomah this week. Picture here is from left to right, Phil Hall, Chad Malone, and Carole Kelderman.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – A relaxing jog around Lake Keomah one day lead to a connection being made that brought to light many positive changes taking place at one of Mahaska County’s parks.

Phil Hall is the president of Cablevey Conveyors, and a chance meeting with the Sheriff lead to an introduction to the park ranger who takes care of the state park that is Lake Keomah.

Hall has been a user of the park since his days in high school, and over time the park became overgrown and fell into some disrepair.

What impressed Hall was the amount of clean-up that was taking place, including the overgrown brush, and forest areas. Hall asked if there was something he could do, like donate some trees to help out with the effort.

After some discussion, it was decided that hardwood trees would be best for the renewal project that is underway.

Hall hopes that inviting his staff at Cablevey to a lunchtime picnic and the donation of the trees will help shine a light on the many improvements taking place at the lake. “What a great resource for Oskaloosa and the surrounding area,” said Hall.

Hall spoke highly of the work Friends of Keomah has done to help clean up and advertise the improvements taking place at the park.

Chad Malone is the park ranger for Lake Keomah and has been a driving force behind the clean-up and revitalization efforts.

Malone said that the park can trace its roots back to 1934 as a CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) project, and was completed in 1938. CCC was a New Deal program for unemployed, unmarried men.

Malone explained to the gathering of Cablevey employees that all the rock used to build the original structures came from what would have been the lake bed.

The restoration projects at Keomah also revolve around bringing the lake area back to its more natural state, an oak savanna, says Malone.

According to Malone, oak savannas have tall grass (big blue) areas with trees where the canopies shouldn’t touch, allowing light to enter. “As we progress, we’re actually seeing more animals come back into the park.”

Friends of Keomah spokesperson, Carole Kelderman, was also on hand to talk about the efforts that the group has undertaken to help open and run the concession area and boat rentals.

The group has been active on social media and various other promotions to help bring awareness to the changes taking place at the lake.

You can find out more about Lake Keomah by visiting the website: https://www.lakekeomah.com/