Gillways offer camp host services

Kimball County Sheriff Harry Gillway petitioned the Oliver Reservoir Advisory Committee (ORAC), of which he is a member, to consider him and his wife, Ann, for a possible position as camp hosts at the west lake in Kimball during the 2016 Summer, on Tuesday, Jan. 26.

The board, along with representatives from the South Platte Natural Resources District (SPNRD) were pleased to know that Sheriff Gillway and his wife will be camp hosts at the lake. The SPNRD has been in control of Oliver Reservoir since Feb. 1, 2014.

Gillway will continue his duties at the Sheriff's office, per usual, but will prove as an authority at the lake on weekends and evenings. Mrs. Gillway works in the Sidney public schools and has the summers off.

The couple has some experience with this type of service according to Gillway. Last year Ann lived at Lake McConaughy near Ogallala through the summer and Harry would visit on his days off.

"It was also a good place for the rest of the family and grand kids to vacation," he said.

While there Ann rented out kayaks and paddle boards, and worked with the Nebraska Game and Parks.

Gillway explained that they are not expecting to make money at Oliver, but that they wanted to provide visitors of the lake, located west of Kimball, with some fun activities and further promote the reservoir.

"I offered 5.5 percent of sales to NRD and we give 10 percent to Christian Charities. For my wife and I it's really about providing a recreational service," he said.

The couple plans to offer a couple of water fun and safety days this summer, during which they will teach a free class to kids and teens and offer free rentals that day.

One additional advantage of having the pair stationed at the lake, is to offer security during the summer.

"In the last two years there have been problems at the lake not having security," Harry said, "with me and my wife being host campers, it will help with security issues."

Gillway added that, as part of the community's emergency management team, he is concerned that the lake has no storm warning notifications. He suggested placing a manual siren at the lake to notify campers and visitors of impending weather events, such as tornadoes.

"This is the third year that the ORAC has been in existence," ORAC Committee Chairman, Timothy Nolting, said. "Our monthly meetings are held on the last Thursday of each month at 10 a.m., at the Visitor's Center and are open to the public."

Nolting added that the committee holds their annual meetings in the spring and invited all Kimball County residents to attend and hear about the exciting plans that are coming for the warmer, sunnier seasons.

"At that time we recruit volunteers from the community to assist with cleanup, setup, and other chores that are needed," shared Nolting, "From the very beginning we have advocated that the lake belongs to the people of Kimball County and our surrounding areas and the level of participation has been excellent."

Nolting further added that besides voluntary fees and local monetary donations, the SPNRD provides funding through their budget of needed capital equipment and wages for the project keepers' part-time caretakers.

"So, the entire project is a joint project with the folks in our region," he noted. "It is exciting and rewarding to see the people of the community come together on a project such as this and I am certain that the enthusiasm will continue into the years ahead."