The Party Crashers

A week ago last Sunday I went to a 50th birthday party for Lester and was talking to Laura when she told me she had run into Steve Hoffmeyer, an old Laker. She said he was going to be having a party the following Saturday, the 13th. I called Matt over and told her to tell him. His immediate reaction was that we were going to crash Steve’s party. You see, there was an article in the newspaper (maybe the Journal) last year about Steve and the house he built on a barge that floats on the Mississippi River. Matt called to tell me to read the article and he sent it to a few family members. He started to harass Jim – trying to talk him into taking the boat on the river to Steve’s house because he wanted to see it. Well, needless to say, his harassment didn’t work and the issue was forgotten. Until, that is, Laura told him about the party.

So Matt and I agreed that we’d crash the party and that I would call Ron & Janet to see if they wanted to be crashers, too. Jim wasn’t too thrilled with the idea as he doesn’t know the Hoffmeyers and he felt kinda funny crashing a party where he didn’t know anyone. Well, Jim ended up going & Ron and Janet ended up wimping out.

Matt & Sharon came over to pick us up and we went out to dinner at a place on the way to the river. We were kind of winging it with the directions Laura gave us but when we drove down a farm road towards the river and I saw a huge bonfire, I knew we were at the right place. Anybody who knows the Hoffmeyer boys, knows that they don’t have a little campfire – it’s always huge tree trunks burning at least 10 feet into the sky. As soon as we parked I saw Steve so I went up to him and told him I hoped he didn’t mind us Zimmermanns crashing his party. Well, he didn’t mind at all and while I was talking to him, Joe Hoffmeyer, Danny Schultz and Mel Clore walked up. It was good seeing all of the old friends

We asked Steve to give us the grand tour so we walked on a bridge/gangplank over the water and onto the deck walkway that went around the whole house. The river was brown. The bugs were massive. The house was cool.

Steve told us he had a friend that floated the barge down from somewhere by Hall Street and it took him 4 years to build. It’s a 2-story with 4 bedrooms and Steve did a great job. The woodwork is beautiful and even though the water was brown, it was pretty neat standing out on the deck with the river flowing all around. He said he had to power wash the house at least once a month or there’d be bugs plastered all over it and if he left a light on outside, there’d be a huge pile of dead bugs on the deck the next morning. There was a tall post that Steve had marked when the St. Louis/St. Charles area was flooded earlier in the summer. His mark was about 10 feet above where we stood and he said that was where his deck floor was at the time. He said he’d take his john boat to get to his car that he had parked on higher ground when he went out. When we asked about taxes he said he’s battling the State and/or? the City of St. Charles now because they want to charge him but he says he’s on a national waterway so they have no right.
Matt asked about fishing and Steve said he caught big ones & he ate them. Matt was grossed out and Steve said he just cuts the brown/black? stuff off!

At one point when Sharon & I looked into the bathroom, the toilet water was brown and we thought someone had done a job and forgot to flush. As we were trying to skat outta there, Steve came in to show us the bathroom and the toilet didn't phase him. I realized a little later when I had to use it that it was river water. I just prayed the sink was clear & it was. After much thought, I'm pretty sure his " jobs" are going into the river. When I talked to Matt about this later, he said it's "the circle of life" Jeanne! All's I can say is "Steve is one rugged guy"! And all's Jim can say is "River Rats"!

We didn’t stay long because the mosquitoes were horrendous. It was fun popping in unexpectedly and knowing that being old “Lakers” made us welcome anytime.