Fooda­palooza was a big fes­tive, gut stuff­ing hit!

Fooda­palooza 24 was enjoyed by hun­dreds. What a beau­ti­ful day, the weath­er was amaz­ing. Over 30 grills were fired up, and some very cre­ative drinks, desserts and fin­ger food. Top hon­ors went to Tree lancers and their Pork Swords. But every­one did such a great job! We enjoyed, bacon-wrapped Ore­o’s, French Mac­a­roons, A char­cu­terie board in a cup, Pineap­ple kabobs, Jel­lo shots in syringes. So much cre­ativ­i­ty. And thank you every­one for shar­ing. Yes we had some great prizes, but Fooda­palooza is all about Lake friends hav­ing a great time togeth­er. A big shout out to all our Lake sup­port­ers: Sports­man Inn, Oak­dale Bar & Grill, Tall Tim­bers, Susan’s Free­man Bay, The Madam Car­roll and The Sum­mer Beach House. THANK YOU! A $100 dona­tion will also be made to Food Find­ers to help those in need. Enjoy the photos.

Foodapalooza 2024

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No one left hungry! So much fun.

Here’s an inter­est­ing con­cept, Mus­sels hibernate.

Well they don’t actu­al­ly hiber­nate. They go into a state of dor­man­cy. Like most water crea­tures, mus­sels are not active in the win­ter. They bur­row deep­er into the sandy bot­tom of lake and stream beds. They also do not eat. So that means they don’t need a large amount of water. (500cfs) This is fact and based on sci­ence. Win­ter would be a good time for USFWS, FERC, NIP­SCO and SFLECC to come to the table and agree to back off the water efflu­ence from the Oak­dale Dam. It would give Lake Free­man time to heal and not harm any endan­gered mus­sels. A win win. Every­one is look­ing for a bet­ter solu­tion and this one makes sense and is bio­log­i­cal­ly driven.

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Mussels know how to survive. They've been on planet Earth for millions of years

Stay Clear Dur­ing Sail­ing Regattas

When boat­ing on the South por­tion of Lake Free­man on a Sun­day after­noon and you see orange boy’s in the mid­dle of the lake, be aware that the Lake Free­man Yacht Club is prob­a­bly hold­ing a regat­ta. It’s fun to watch the sail boats, but be respect­ful and keep your distance.

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Watch­ing Jaws float­ing at your dock is crazy fun

On a whim, I decid­ed to have a par­ty. Not just any par­ty, a par­ty with some teeth. I invit­ed thir­ty or so friends over, had them bring their floats and bev­er­ages, got a pro­jec­tor and some speak­ers and watched the clas­sic Jaws”. I thought it would be fun, but it was real­ly fun. Hey, the Lakeshore Dri­ve-In is still pret­ty cool, but if you’re look­ing for some­thing dif­fer­ent on a hot sum­mer night… it was a blast!

Lake Freeamn Jaws Party

The Super­man of Lake Freeman

Carmel-Harrison
Carmel Harrison doesn't stay in shape by sitting around.

Carmel Har­ri­son is one of the neat­est guys I’ve met in the area around Lake Free­man. He’s 80, that’s right 80, and still cuts wood like a lum­ber­jack! Carmel has the best fire­wood you can find around Twin Lakes. He sea­sons it, sorts it, and loads it. He’s got fast and hot burn­ing Pine, slow burn­ing Oak and wood smok­ing Hick­o­ry. He’s locat­ed down road 1100 & 421, at The Land­ings. Swing by and pick up a load. He’ll be glad to see you.

The Eagle has landed

By Susie Karberg

Dur­ing the twen­ty-five years that we have lived full time on the lake, until this year, we have seen Bald Eagles in the sky only a few times.
Last week, Lindy, my hus­band, and I were begin­ning to think about the errands we had to do in the after­noon, mov­ing unhur­ried­ly in late morn­ing when sud­den­ly, Lindy said qui­et­ly, Suzy, your eagle has final­ly land­ed.” For years, I have wished and wished to be one of the lucky ones able to catch more than a fleet­ing glimpse as eagles fly by with a tease of their mag­ni­tude. Lindy took a deep breath, head­ed off to grab his good cam­era. A full minute lat­er, with fin­gers crossed, he began to pho­to­graph. Trans­fixed, I watched. We want­ed so bad­ly to get a few good pic­tures. Mag­nif­i­cent in bear­ing, it’s all about the stance, the broad shoul­ders, the head held high. Proud, assured, yet com­fy on the branch 30 feet from our large pic­ture win­dow and 50 feet above the lake. 

Lindy was not only able cap­ture a moment before our guest moved on, for the next TWO HOURS , he con­tin­ued to shoot pho­to after pho­to as our new friend sat, for the most part, qui­et­ly on his nar­row branch. Still, the Bald Eagle is elu­sive. The pic­tures don’t quite tell his sto­ry. He is larg­er than life in per­son. And, by the way, what was he doing on the branch? So serene. Rest­ing? Watch­ing for fish in the fresh­ly thawed lake? Or, as I would like to believe, maybe prac­tic­ing his morn­ing rit­u­al as only Bald Eagles can.

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Enjoy a fire and a laugh with friends

Whats bet­ter than star­ing at a fire? Anoth­er spe­cial Lake Free­man expe­ri­ence. The song is an old Hank Williams tune. Hap­py sum­mer peo­ple, enjoy and be safe!

The Best Boat­ing Grill For Lake Freeman

If you’re look­ing for a grill to bring on the boat, look no fur­ther than the Weber Q.

This grill has been bat­tle test­ed on the Lake Free­man Sand Bar. And passed with fly­ing col­ors. If your boat has an extend­ed swim plat­form, the Weber Q fits per­fect­ly. Just put an old tow­el under­neath it to catch any grease. You can also buy a nifty, light­weight stand that can go right in the water.

The Weber Q heats up hot and even­ly with dis­pos­able camp­ing propane tanks.

There are two mod­els the 1000 and 2000, basi­cal­ly small and large. This year they are also avail­able in a num­ber of col­ors. It’s not the cheap­est grill, about $199, but after the first time you use it you’ll think it’s worth every penny.

So come on, become a sand­bar chef. Ok, end of commercial!

WeberQ

100 fun things to do around Lake Freeman

  1. Go for a cruise on the boat
  2. Work on your tan (But put on some sunscreen)
  3. Enjoy friends and family
  4. Enjoy a bonfire
  5. Don’t for­get the S’mores
  6. Hit Indi­ana Beach Amuse­ment Park
  7. Catch a flick at the Twin Lakes Drive-In
  8. Come on, at least try waterskiing
  9. Fish for Bass, Crap­pie and Walleye
  10. Check out a Fest in down­town Monticello
  11. Go for a tast­ing at Whyte Horse Winery
  12. Go to a sports event at Pur­due. Boil­er Up!
  13. Golf at Tippeca­noe or Bat­tle Ground C.C.
  14. Maybe minia­ture golf is your style
  15. Ride Bikes
  16. Ride Hors­es at Crooked Creek
  17. Ride a four-wheel­er through the woods
  18. Ride a Jet Ski around Ski Island
  19. Jump off your dock!
  20. Wear wild swim shorts
Number-4
Enjoy a Bonfire
  1. Wear a wild bikini 
  2. Eat at the His­toric Sportsman’s Inn 
  3. Jog around the Lake. (Or at least try!) 
  4. Sleep out in a tent 
  5. Ahh!, a frosty Mar­gari­ta at The Boat House. 
  6. Read a book by the Lake 
  7. Fire­works. Fire­works. Fireworks! 
  8. Watch an awe­some sunset 
  9. Go fly a kite 
  10. Go for walk and enjoy the fresh air 
  11. Go to Crasian Brewery 
  12. Get up ear­ly and watch the sunrise 
  13. Stay up late and gaze at the bril­liant stars 
  14. Catch a band on the Madam Carroll 
  15. Get an Ice Cream Bar at Susan’s Free­man Bay 
  16. Tube with your best friend! 
  17. Bird watch. Wood­peck­ers to Eagles. 
  18. Rel­ish a big, deep breathe of fresh air 
  19. Play vol­ley­ball at the sandbar 
  20. Explore the countryside
Number-6
Hit Indiana Beach Amusement Park
SandBarPano
Play volleyball at the sandbar
  1. Catch a local band
  2. Buy veg­eta­bles at local stand
  3. Make sil­ly faces
  4. Mas­ter pad­dle boarding
  5. Get mar­ried lakeside
  6. Duck under Tio­ga Bridge
  7. Jump off the Tio­ga Bridge (Only kidding)
  8. Enjoy some Indi­ana Lobster
  9. Go duck hunting
  10. Hunt for clams and mussels
  11. Take a ride in a golf cart
  12. Play Beers­bee” at the Sandbar
  13. When was the last time you did a cannonball?
  14. When was the last time you skinny-dipped?!
  15. Join the yacht club
  16. Look at the Dam from Oak Dale Dam Bar & Grill
  17. Go the whole week­end with­out shaving
  18. Break out your guitar
  19. Vis­it a local business
  20. Grab a beer and a game at Anglers
Number-8
Come on, at least try waterskiing
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Get married lakeside
  1. Play a game of cards
  2. Get a pad­dle and Kayak
  3. Swing in a hammock
  4. Take a nap
  5. Why does beer taste so good at the Lake?
  6. Keep an eye out for deer
  7. Catch fire flies
  8. Turn OFF the TV
  9. Turn up the music
  10. Have a water bal­loon fight with the kids
  11. Open the windows
  12. Play Bags” with your buddies
  13. Go Antiquing
  14. Climb a tree
  15. Plant a tree
  16. Enjoy the Fall colors
  17. Jump in a pile of leaves
  18. Catch a frog
  19. Smile more
  20. Sing some Karaōke
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Watch an awesome sunset
  1. Play hide and go seek
  2. Play ghost in the graveyard
  3. Play Mar­co Polo (Wait don’t)
  4. Skip Stones
  5. Throw some shrimp on the BBQ
  6. Eat out­side
  7. Tell ghost stories
  8. Let your dog walk you
  9. Check out down­town Delphi
  10. Check out down­town Brookston
  11. Eat a watermelon
  12. Buy the kids bubbles
  13. Do a flip on a wakeboard
  14. It’s five o’clock somewhere
  15. Let the kids stay up late
  16. Vis­it the Mon­ti­cel­lo His­tor­i­cal Society
  17. Wave at some­one on a boat
  18. Check out all the cool lake houses
  19. Buy a cool lake house
  20. DO ABSO­LUT­LY NOTHING!
Number-43
Make silly faces

Some Good Tips When Launch­ing Your Boat.

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I saw this and just had to share it. Always important to be kind and mindful at the boat ramp. Ha! The stories I could tell.
Lake Freeman Facts

Length: 11.99 miles.

MONTICELLO WEATHER