​MEET THE DENTON FAMILY

Recently Bob Richter, President of the Lake Association, received a distress call from a lake resident about a dead deer floating in the water just off shore.  He emailed the Board members for suggestions after the DNR and Sheriff's Office declined to assist.  One of our Board members and family did assist in the clean-up.  This is just background information on how I met Jackie Denton--the person who made the call to Bob!!
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Jackie and Clayton Denton have a cottage with their 3 children, Jaden age 15, Danielle, age 12, and Dillon, age 9. They live in Dyer, Indiana (a Chicago suburb). They have been coming to Lake of the Woods to camp at Timber Trails RV Park for more than 20 years. Jackie's parents, sister, aunt and cousins continue to camp there. Jackie and Clayton bought  "our little shack" (that is what she called their cottage) in 2011, which is located in the NW corner of the lake by the swim area.
Jackie, a CPA, is a working mom. She says Clayton makes his living selling credit card machines and processing. He is also an actor and writer! He performs with the Faith Theater Company in small and large productions at their church. He has also written his own show called The Gospel According to Joe (www.3sixteencreativeworks.com.)
They are very active at Faith Church in Dyer. Jackie leads kids worship (Shout Out) in the children's ministry.  Clayton is an elder.  Their children attend Christian school.
Jackie says they fell in love with Timber Trails RV Park. They bought a boat and would spend all day on the lake. They enjoy the fireworks on the 4th of July. Jackie says LOW is a nice community. They have nice neighbors. Everyone is friendly and they wave hi. They love watching wildlife. Last year Clayton saved a baby deer from the water (but it died later.)
The family likes to explore the area. They go fruit picking every year. They pick apples, blueberries, cherries, peaches, etc.  They like to watch movies in the local small theatres and visit the fish hatchery and museums.  They have relatives in Grand Rapids and Holland. Jackie loves to garden and she grows flowers around her cottage.  The family likes Nettie's in downtown Decatur for a meal out and love bringing people for the first time to the Hayloft to experience the giant servings of ice cream. The whole family enjoys coming to the lake. They don't have any Wifi and have only a small TV but the children love being at the lake. They read, play outside, use the paddleboard, row boat and enjoy nature. She quoted her oldest son as saying "even here, boredom is fun!"
One concern Jackie has about the lake is the weed growth this year.  She says it is the worst amount of  weeds they have experienced in the lake.
Jackie told me about "a murder on the lake" that occurred 4-5 yrs ago. She said her parents and nephews witnessed one swan killing another swan in front of the campground!  That must have been sooo exciting!!! I'm hoping she can dig up a video for us!
"We hit the Michigan border and we breathe deeper.  It's good living there!"  per Jackie!