WHISPERING SPRINGS

In the back of every secret entrepreneur's mind is the thought of building a successful resort, whether it be establishing a golf course in gopher-riddled Pingree or, just down the road, a tennis court/swimming pool/golfing complex along the Snake River called "Whispering Springs".

Area residents may remember the area as "Jackson's Trout Pond", but prior to that establishment an effort to create the resort began in 1964, Whispering Springs incorporating in June and already a site of picnic grounds for the Fourth of July.

Ground-breaking ceremonies for the family-oriented complex took place in September, and afterwards only members, to be vetted by a committee, would be allowed access. A sportsman's lodge of 1500 square feet was scheduled to be built, equipped with a cafeteria, a king-size family room, a dance floor, an ice-skating dressing room and a jukebox. Duck hunters were encouraged to set up permanent blinds, an archery range was planned, a boat ramp was in place, and the grass for the golf course was seeded.

To drum up support, IGA ran an ad in January offering a free lifetime membership for three families to the facilities.

Teen dances were scheduled to be a regular feature beginning in February of 1966, when "The Runaways" were scheduled to play.

By 1967 the facility reportedly had exhausted its funds trying to create the golf course, a proposition which comes with high costs that many developers fail to anticipate. But the Trout Pond lived on for local families for over thirty years.