Covering some 6,500 acres, it offers camping, trails for hiking and riding horses, plus fishing, boating and swimming in its 690 acre lake.

The park is a major contributor to the area’s quality of life and economy.

But establishing it was an effort, sometimes filled with controversy, that began about 60 years ago and took decades to accomplish.

On Wednesday, about 40 people gathered at Olde Boston’s Restaurant & Pub to thank three people who played key roles in getting the park created.

- Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Richard Stark talks Wednesday at Olde Boston's Restaurant & Pub about the efforts that were made to get the lake at Brushy Creek State Recreation Area. Stark asserted that he only made a couple of phone calls, but others close to the effort said he did much more than that and was a key player in the project.

They are:

• Janet Adams, a former state representative who later became mayor of Webster City.

• Jerry Fitzgerald, of Fort Dodge, a former state representative who became a lobbyist

• Richard Stark, a local businessman who advocated for the park

Also recognized Wednesday were two men who were involved in the effort who have since died. They were Don Avenson, a former speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives, and Michael Carrier, an employee of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

- Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Janet Adams, a former state representative who later served as mayor of Webster City, talks about the legislative manuevering that was needed to pass the bill which led to the creation of the lake at Brushy Creek State Recreation Area.

“We did it on behalf of everyone,’ Adams said.

“There’s something for everybody there, which is kind of a magical thing to have in your community,” she said of the park.

According to Fitzgerald, Adams led the effort in the state House of Representatives to pass the legislation needed to establish the park.

“She was well-liked in the caucus,” he said. “She was respected.”

He said Stark started an advocacy group for the park and paid for most of its expenses.

- Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Jerry Fitzgerald, of Fort Dodge, talks about the development of the Brushy Creek State Recreation Area lake Wednesday during a gathering at Olde Boston's Restaurant & Pub.

Stark, however, gave much of the credit to Fitzgerald.

“Jerry was the puppetmaster who got it all done,” he said.

“I didn’t do anything,” he added. “I just made a couple of phone calls. Then I went hunting with Don Avenson and let him shoot all the pheasants.”

According to Fitzgerald, the saga began in 1962. That’s when the Iowa Conservation Commission, the predecessor of today’s Iowa Natural Resources Commission, began exploring the idea of creating four lakes in the state. The Brushy Creek site was one of the four proposed places for a lake.

In 1974, the legislature appropriated money for creating a lake at Brushy Creek. No work was done, the money was never spent and 1980, the legislature took it away from the lake projects.

- Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Amber O'Neill, the manager of Brushy Creek State Recreation Area in Webster County, talks about the site's features Wednesday.

Then in 1988, the state Senate passed an amendment which would have stopped any spending on a lake at Brushy Creek.

Fitzgerald, who was working as a lobbyist in the state Capitol, recalled that he got a call from Stark, who asked him if he could do something about the Senate amendment.

Fitzgerald promised to call Stark back in an hour, then went to see Avenson, While confirming that Avenson was still in favor of Brushy Creek Lake, he learned that the speaker would be going to a fundraiser for Adams that night in Webster City.

Fitzgerald called Stark and asked him to go to the fundraiser. Then he drove Avenson to Webster City.

Fitzgerald said Stark and Avenson met at the fundraiser and from then on were allies in the effort to get a lake at Brushy Creek.

Back in the state Capitol, Adams led a successful effort to kill the Senate amendment in the House.

After the legislative session ended, she worked with DNR officials and took lawmakers on tours of the Brushy Creek area.

During the 1989 legislative session, Adams, Avenson and Fitzgerald worked to pass the legislation that created a funding program that is still in place called the Resource Enhancement and Protection program. The bill creating REAP specified that the first $8 million of the program would go to Brushy Creek.

Adams said some of her fellow House members were “very tough to convince,” but the bill passed.

With the money approved, construction of the dam to create the lake took about a decade to complete.

Today, Brushy Creek is “probably the most diverse multi-use area the state park system has,” Park Manager Amber O’Neill said Wednesday.

“I’m constantly amazed at all the new people who come through from all across the state, the country and even the world,” she said.