The Suttles' Tiki Point, Grove, OK (other)

Name:The Suttles' Tiki Point
Type:other
Street:Lake Road #6
City:Grove
State:OK
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:
Status:operational

Description:
This is a large Moai located in the Courthouse Hollow area which is off the arm of Honey Creek by Grove, OK on Grand Lake O' The Cherokees. The sculpture reportedly still exists and is rumored to have been the location of an old nudist colony.

I'm "moving" this thread from it's origin in General Tiki

[ Edited by: SilverLine 2006-03-09 20:47 ]

[ Edited by: SilverLine 2017-01-04 17:39 ]

Here's a challenge!: Find me some pictures of that Moai with some nudists around it! We know they must exist somewhere....

Silverline's find has furnished me with no small amount of entertainment.

I found a very nice woman near Grove who was able to tell me a little about Suttles' Tiki Point, but there is no indication I know of, at present, that ties it to having been a nudist colony. That's the kind of thing that gets conveniently forgotten, though.

My information (second-hand, but I have a good feel about it) so far is that the head was built in 1967 by camp owner Earl Suttle, who had been to Hawaii and also had an interest in Easter Island. He is now deceased and the property has been sold; I think it was parceled into residential lots. The tiki still resides on one of those lots, not easily accessible by land, and latest info indicates it currently sports an ear ring.

Now here's where it gets even more interesting to me: Suttle's widow says he took a fiberglass mold from a "big Easter Island head" in Wichita, KS.

I've lived about 45 minutes from Wichita for 22 years and have never seen such a thing there, but if her recollection is correct and a Wichita moai did exist, it was probably concrete and might be extant. That is, unless it was a mini-golf obstacle and was thin concrete over wood and wire, in which case it might have vanished with the wave of mini-golf banality ushered in by the Putt-Putt chain (the mini-golf equivalent of back-lit plastic signage).

The only tiki I know of in Wichita is associated with a small bar and the bar owners know nothing of a giant Easter Island head having existed anywhere in the Wichita area. I'm doing quite a bit of photography of googie and other mid-century signage and structures in Wichita, and will add the moai to the list of things I usually ask about.

I'll dig more and may manage to visit the Oklahoma lake site by water. One can't see too many moai, you know; it simply can't be done.

Now THAT'S interesting! Let us know what you find. We're thinking of taking a road-trip down to try to see it in June sometime.

My wife's family lives in Wichita and we travel there once a year. I'll ask around a little to see if any of them have any recolection of the Wichita moai.

Turns out my mother-in-law also has a lake house down at Grand Lake (out on the tip of Monkey Island, next to Shangri-La). We spend a week over the 4th of July every year down there. We have been going every year for 15 years and have cruised all over Grand Lake. However, I have not seen this fellow. I have been down Honey Creek too many times to count, but really haven't explored the hollows off the main channel. Looks like a exploration trip this summer. I'll take out one of the boats over the 4th of July and see if this guys still exists.

Zulu

I found survey of powerlines overhanging the lake that mentions a line over Courthouse Hollow:
N 36° 32.935' W 094° 48.163'

Aerial Photo of Courthouse Hollow: http://www.geostats.info/satellite/36.5542/-94.8183/11/1/Courthouse+Hollow

Good work tikijackalope! Based on that, a GOOGLE map of the area, and the post card info, I'm going to guess that Tiki point is right HERE!

Now, the question becomes . . who's gonna get there first??

After we find the moai, we should swim across the lake through waters infested with drunken spring break jet skiers and buy an egg at the inevitable over-priced convenience store on the other side (that would be at Shangra-la on Monkey Island, unless I miss my guess). First person back across the lake with the egg intact gets to post the moai to TC.

If the moai still happens to inhabit a nudist colony, I volunteer to stay behind there and shoot important documentation photos while I clock your return. It's a sacrifice but thats what I'm all about...take your time and be careful with those eggs.

Seriously, there's an element of tiki-related nostalgia for me in this. When I was about eight years old, my uncle had a house on Grand Lake. I had read some version or other of Kon Tiki and decided to launch a plastic soldier out into the cove in an aluminum potato boat in order to prove that the Gulf of Mexico could have been colonized from Oklahoma.

Fortunately, I grew up all nice and normal-like.

On 2006-04-11 01:19, tikijackalope wrote:
First person back across the lake with the egg intact gets to post the moai to TC.

And don't forget, BigBro wants to see nudists with the Moai so whoever gets there first has to strip for the photo. (I don't beleive Ace Jackalope has ever posed "au-natural.")

Over the 4th of July weekend I took my family down to my mother-in-law's lake house down on Grand Lake for our annual holiday visit. My wife's family has been splitting time between their Wichita homes and their lake homes for over 50 years, so they know a lot about Grand Lake. No one knew anything or had ever heard about a nudist colony on the Lake. Knowing what I know about the lake and the culture in that corner of Oklahoma, it sounds like it may have been a good story, ala urban legend.

But the mention of a lost tiki hunt on the lake piqued a lot of interest with the family, so one afternoon we loaded up the house boat and headed off to Courthouse Hollow to try to find the infamous 'Tiki Point'.

From the fly deck, rounding the point at Shangri La, the entrance to Courthouse Hollow is directly ahead.

The entrance to Courthouse Hollow. Keep your eyes open for lost tikis as we proceed.

What's that off to the port side? It's the lost tiki of 'Tiki Point'.

Not very big is he? The postcard is misleading, the photographer shot it from below and made him look bigger than he really is. But, he is still standing proud on his never ending lookout.

The boat moves in closer for a better view.

Notice anything interesting about the floating dock next to the point?

Somebody knew something about the history of this place and named the dock. The speed boat in back on the pontoons is also named 'Tiki Point' on the back in the same font.

'Tiki Point' is further back in the hollow than originally thought. But he can easily be found from the water.

Afterwards, we dropped anchor at the back of the hollow, just off 'Tiki Point', for a few hours, went swimming and had lunch before heading back to our dock. All in all, a fun afternoon for everyone.

Zulu

[ Edited by: ZuluMagoo 2006-07-17 06:51 ]

Nifty-neato, ZuluMagoo!

someone brought to my attention that there were some discussions about Suttle's tiki point on Grand Lake, OK. my family has owned this property for about 15 years or so. i never really gave this statue much thought other than just novelty, but we do have some pics and some site history that i can post later. anyone interested or that has any info or input can reply. i have not heard about the nudist camp as far as i know mr suttle ran a fishing guide service. has since been sold as seperate residents.

[ Edited by: tiki point 2009-06-08 19:36 ]

ok tiki point post up them pics! if you need help uploading just ask or read the "add images to your post.

mahalo

i don't have the pics with me. when i get them i will post.

[ Edited by: tiki point 2009-06-08 19:37 ]