"There's a lot of people who live here that don't know that much about (the lake's history)," said Landon, whose family calls the lake home.

Landon's curiosity about its history was piqued after he took a hike around the lake with Helen Beckham, who was instrumental in getting the site placed on the National Register of Historical Places four years ago.

"They're pretty much all behind this," Landon said about Helen and husband Dwight, full-time lake residents since 2000. "There were so many things to do to get this on the register. They had to find the difference between buildings, sites, structures and objects."

On the hike, Helen Beckam's passion for the lake captivated Landon's interest.

"The next day after I took him, there was Landon with 10 or 15 people out in the rain giving a tour (of the park and lake)," she said.

Landon said since then they've worked together to "dig up as much history as we can."

The Marion County Park and Lake originated in the 1930s, when its excavation and construction was a project for the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Work Progress Administration, New Deal programs developed to provide employment and conserve natural resources.

Site designer was Marion County engineer James Meisner. Lt. Robert Horsley, commanding officer, and black veterans of CCC Co. 4755 worked on the project.

The Beckhams have compiled several three-ring notebooks that tell the lake's story, drawn from primary sources that include photocopies of articles from the Marion County Record and Campy's Camp Courier, the newspaper produced by the CCC group from September 1936 to February 1939, and blueprints and other documents.

They also conducted interviews with people familiar with the lake's history, Landon said.

Original structures and objects still exist at the lake, including the dam, stone guard posts, arched bridges, shelters and remains of game courts.

"Once all those stone structures are gone, they're gone forever and the history is gone, too," said Landon, an eighth grader at Marion Middle School.

After searching the area with Helen Beckham for remnants of the original golf course, Landon said he decided to draw some plans, based on the one depicted on the lake blueprint.

"I took it off and traced the outline and put it in here," he said about his drawings.

Plans also include restoring the game courts and picnic areas.

"We have the shuffleboard painted, and they're working on the checkerboard now," he said."My family will help some, too."

Dwight Beckham and Pete Williams restored the shuffleboard, and the Beckhams are painting the checkerboard squares black and white.

"We found some giant checker pieces we can buy," he added.

Park superintendent Dale Snelling has also helped with the project, cleaning weeds from the checkerboard and shuffleboard areas, Landon said.

Part of that renovation plan is to allow people to check out equipment with a deposit, he added.

"We bought the tennis net," Landon said, " and we have croquet sets we can use."

Landon said some materials have been given.

"We get a lot of donations for paint and different kinds of sets and money donations," he said.

Helen Beckham said some funds have come from donated aluminum cans.

This summer Landon captured visually the sites and structures around the lake in a 36-slide PowerPoint presentation that tells the story of the lake/park and plans to repair and restore the game areas.

Helen Beckham wrote the script.

"Then we just had to put in the pictures," said Landon, whose mother, Diane, helped with the project.

Landon estimates he put in more than 25 hours working on the presentation-taking pictures and composing the slides.

He debuted the presentation at the Marion Chamber of Commerce in July, adding that he's willing to show it to other community groups in Marion County.

Also, the Beckhams have worked on a self-guided tour of the lake, its facilities and historic points of interest. The Marion County Commission gave its approval to the tour, which begins at the CCC Worker statue and makes its way around the lake, noting the playing courts for roque, croquet and tennis, toilets, shelters, tables, sand boxes, ovens and incinerators.

Brochures for the self-guided tour are available at the Marion Lake office and the Hillsboro Free Press office.

Future plans include tying events at the lake/park with other activities already on the calendar.

"We're going to give historic tours," Landon said.

Margo Yates, secretary of the Marion Chamber of Commerce, has arranged three tours for September. Helen Beckham plans to give a tour Sept. 1 for group from Moundridge and another Sept. 21 for a group from Manhattan. The third tour is planned for Old Settler's Day, Saturday Sept. 30, with Landon as the tour guide.

Tour participants can make donations if they choose, he said, with the proceeds going toward purchasing equipment for the court games.

Earlier this month U.S. Representative Jerry Moran sent a letter commending Landon for "efforts to develop additional recreational opportunities at Marion Park and Lake."

Landon said he's not sure how Moran found out about the project.

But it's evident news has traveled.

"I made him promise me this would be his No.1 project lifetime project," Helen Beckham said with a chuckle.

Those who wish to donate aluminum cans can bring them to 48 Lakeshore Drive at Marion County Lake. For further information about the Marion County Park and Lake project, call 620-382-2671.