A Fine Place for a Proposal

Today we were passengers on a short trip down memory lane. Once again, Jerry and Barb Zinn served as tour guides as we visited Lake MacBride State Park, just 14 miles north of Iowa City.

The ride itself through the tree-lined approach to the lake was relaxing and seemed to set the tone for the afternoon.

The conversation among the four of us was not as animated as it had been in other settings, and I found myself just admiring the scenery. The photographer in me seemed to have taken the day off.

As he was driving, Jerry pointed out the ranger station that had been built in the 30s, but I completely missed the opportunity to photograph that beautiful stone building.








An effort to establish the wooded valleys and lake as a state park was initiated by the Iowa City Chamber of Commerce and J.N. "Ding" Darling, a noted Iowa Conserva-tionist. To raise funds to purchase additional land for the park, lots were sold in the area.

In June of 1937, the park opened to the public. The park was named after Thomas Macbride, a distin-guished professor of botany and president of the University of Iowa.

He has been called the "father" of conserva-tion in Iowa. In 1895, he addressed the members of the Iowa Academy of Science on the need to establish a statewide system of "country" or "rural" parks.

Although I would love to feel comfortable enough in the water to learn to kayak, for the time being I prefer to photograph these colorful crafts.

All boats must operate at "no-wake" speed. A 10 horsepower motor limit is in effect on Lake Macbride from the Friday before Memorial Day through Labor Day.

The kayak (above) and sailboat (right) represented the ideal forms of transportation on the lake.

The setting was ideal for a proposal nearly 44 years ago.