Johnson Lake plans a full, fun summer

Johnson Lake

ON A SUNNY SUNDAY afternoon, boats come

and go at the entrance to Lakeview Acres at Johnson Lake.

Larry Ossenkop, the clerk of the sanitary improvement district, says the lake has 863 lots. About 320 are permanently occupied, according to the lake’s SID, but he noted that many who have seasonal homes live there through the summer.

One of its most attractive elements is that nearly all cabins and homes are on the waterfront.

Jack Wieland, who has lived at the lake for 22 years, agreed that as accommodations improved, the lake’s demographic makeup changed. “In the beginning, people came to enjoy fishing and boating and leave the cares of their weekly endeavors behind,” he said. “A great debt of gratitude is due those early families who planted trees, established lawns and constructed sea-walls as barriers against erosion of the shoreline.”

His wife, Joann, president of Johnson Lake Development, said new blood is also improving life at the lake. “The newcomers seem younger, energetic, more socially driven and have arrived with a host of ideas brought from where they lived of how to improve and diversify life at the lake,” she said. Some of the diversity comes in the variety of summer events that have been created. Memorial Day Weekend features a communitywide garage sale and a parade of boats.

A new activity is the Art and Wine Festival June 9 in the Lakeview Acres Park. The festival has been discussed and planned for two years. Painters and sculptors, many nationally known, have accepted the invitation to show their work and offer it for sale.

Organizers such as Realtor Patty Johnson view the festival as having great potential to grow. “We’re so excited at the enthusiastic response we’ve had from artists from across Nebraska and other states. For our first attempt at an art and wine festival, it’s shaping up to be a wonderful event for the lake and surrounding communities,” she said. Mac’s Creek Winery of Lexington and the Three Brothers Winery of Farnam will offer wine. Many food vendors will be present.

In addition to events, Johnson Lake now has several trails winding around it. Allan McClure, active in the trials’ development, said the Lexington Foundation has been a generous supporter of the trails, as has Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District, the lake’s owner.

“One purpose of the trail system is to get bikers and hikers off Johnson Lake Drive. Accidents have happened,” said Chuck Olsen, another organizer of the trails. The first trail winds through the state park and is named for the late Larry Roper, a former supervisor of the state parks at the lake. This trail is 1.1 miles long. The Matson Trail — named after Paul Matson, who led the creation of the trail, before he died of cancer — is on the west side of the lake and is 2.1 miles long. Work continues to create a trail that will circle the lake.