Tourists still flock to Branson as residents seek ‘a small nugget of healing’
One roller coaster ride was finished. The Burrow family from Joplin, Mo. — five kids, two parents, up and out early Saturday morning — was raring to go again.
“It’s thrilling. It’s fun. It’s fast,” said an excited Larry Bacon, the 13-year-old in this blended family. He opened his eyes wide. He trotted back in line with his brothers and sisters and his mom and dad, Candice and James Burrow. The couple had promised their kids, ages 12 to 18, this summer weekend away.
“Have to make memories,” Candice Burrow would say.
Not 500 yards away from the Branson Coaster, down the main strip of this Ozark mountains town teeming with tourists, a makeshift memorial — flowers, balloons, candles and messages of comfort — continued to grow in memory of the 17 people who perished Thursday evening when the duck boat they were riding in sank in violent waters on Table Rock Lake.
The memorial sat outside the Ride the Ducks business, which has remained closed. An investigation is ongoing.
Friday night, hundreds of tourists and area residents gathered outside in the business’s parking lot for a 9 p.m. candlelight vigil, one of three held in the area at the same time.
And Saturday, it’s where tourists Angela and Albert Nunez and their children, Veronica, 11, and Marcus, 12, on vacation from Fort Worth, Texas, decided to place flowers in the moments before leaving town.
“It’s really upset my daughter,” Angela Nunez said. “She says she can’t sleep. She’s emotional thinking of all the kids and families. It’s just upsetting.”
Tourist towns, to be sure, are intended to build happy memories. On Saturday, the main strip in Branson — Missouri 76 — was as much a traffic jam as always. Lines at attractions like the water park and bumper cars seemed no shorter. The shows at Dolly Parton’s Stampede were scheduled as usual. The Burrows were gleeful as their cars spun around and down through the coaster’s loops.
“This is one of the most fun things I’ve ever done,” a breathless Carolyna Bacon, 12, would say.
As certain as Branson is to move on, residents insist that the tragedy of 17 deaths has forced the town, created and billed as a family-friendly place to distract from life’s woes, into days of reflection: on the fragility of life, on the dangers that can lie just beneath fun.
Mostly, they thought more deeply of the personal lives of the 7 million visitors who make Branson possible.
“When something like this happens, it just breaks you in half,” said Ali Kearns, 29, from nearby Kirbyville, who attended the vigil in the duck boat parking lot Friday night. “Even though I don’t, personally, know the people ... it still feels like everybody hits home to you, because they feel like they were part of the family while they were here.”
At a small, plain church on a hillside outside Branson, far from the bright lights and roadside attractions of the main drag, a second vigil took place Friday. A few dozen locals gathered and lit candles.
None of the people there knew anyone on the boat. The victims, all but one, were tourists. The churchgoers were from the tiny subset of permanent residents. Still, members of the tight-knit local community felt they owed honor to those who died.
“These are our guests,” said Belvie Coots as he touched his long, white beard. “This is a show town, full of good people, and we have a lot of good visitors.”
During the vigil, pastors spoke about the grievous injury suffered by the families who, being tourists, had the potential to carry the injury all over the country. The eyes of the world would be on Branson.
“Though many of us didn’t know the people this happened to, we grieve,” said the Rev. Kevin Reich of Brookside Church — a little building that houses a second church, Christian Life Center. His goal, he said, was for “a small nugget of healing.”
“They came here to relax. ... Here they lost their lives,” Reich said.
He’s lived in Branson his entire life. The tragedy, the stories of those who lost their lives, he said, sharpened his view of the millions who come as strangers every year.
“You get used to your hometown, and you have tourists come all the time,” he said. “It lets you realize there’s a world out there. There’s families out there.”
The Rev. Barb Johnston of Christian Life said that in the months and years ahead, it will be important to still remember the victims.
“For some people,” she said, “it’s going to go back to normal. But some of these families — their lives are torn forever.”
On the far side of Table Rock Lake that night, with the lights from the Showboat Branson Belle dock flickering in the distance, a shrine of candles cast feeble light outside the Rock Lane Lodge’s tiki bar.
About 50 people gathered after sundown for another vigil. Heather Cantin, a 25-year-old from Phoenix, happened to be there when it began and felt compelled to join in for an opening prayer, a group rendition of “Amazing Grace.” Others shared words.
“These were our brothers and sisters out there. This is a family place here in Branson,” said David Plummer of Springfield. “We don’t care much what happens on the East and West coasts. This is where life is to us.”
Tracy Kimmel, a bartender at the lodge, said the deaths on Table Rock Lake will reverberate long after the candles wink out, in how people see safety on the water. Others said that if the duck boats, named such because they operate on both land and in the water, continue to operate, they will always be a sad reminder of the tragedy.
“People are going to look at it and go ‘monster’ now because of this,” said Tyla Manley, 18, of nearby Lampe, Mo. She believed the deaths would change perceptions of Branson and the lake.
“It will never be the same,” she said. “For people who are compassionate and have empathy, it will never be the same.”
In the Ride the Ducks parking lot Friday night, people gathered around the flowers piled on the car of two victims, Bill Asher and Rose Hamann of St. Louis.
A minster addressed the crowd.
“Right now we don’t have words to comfort or to offer, because there simply are not any,” Zachary Klein said. “Rather by our actions of showing up ... showing those who are affected by this whole entire circumstance, that we are here with you. We do not want you to remember Branson for the tragic event which has befallen your loved ones, but we would offer our mourning with you, so that you would remember that the citizens of our community had a deeper obligation to endure it with you.”
But by the next morning, the car was gone, and so were the flowers. The makeshift memorial grew in its place.
Back at the Branson Coaster, the Burrows left the ride elated. As residents of Joplin, they have seen tragedy. In May 2011, 161 people died when an EF5 tornado destroyed nearly half the town. They are deeply sympathetic. They also know towns and people endure.
“It’s sad. It affects people, but it shouldn’t affect the way you feel all the time,” said Jerron Burrow, 18. “Things can happen, but it doesn’t happen to everyone.”
At 2 p.m., they were going to see a show by an illusionist. On Sunday, they’d try ziplines.
James Burrow and the kids walked again over to the coaster ticket window.
“I think we’re going to ride this one more time,” he said.
Sunday memorial
The College of the Ozarks, in conjunction with the city of Branson, will host a memorial service at 3 p.m. Sunday, July 22, in memory of the victims of the duck boat tragedy on Table Rock Lake. The service, open to the public, will be in Williams Memorial Chapel on campus.
“Our lives were forever changed on 7/19/18,” said Branson Mayor Karen Best. “We will honor and pay tribute to the lives of the victims and survivors and begin the healing process for our community.”
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This story was originally published July 22, 2018 at 5:30 AM.