First Missouri River Cultural Conservancy Fundraiser a big success.

River landing plays host to diverse crew Cooper hopes to expand business.
By RACHEL WEBB of the Tribune’s staff
Published Sunday, June 12, 2005
Cooper’s Landing has grown from a simple bait shop to a campground, marina and haven for connoisseurs of Thai food, beer and barbecue.
Ed Pfueller photo
Steve Meyerhardt, left, sits in last night with the group Caravan, including, from left, Joan McElroy, Tomi Greentree and Jeanie Kuntz, during a benefit for the Missouri River Cultural Conservancy at Cooper’s Landing. Live music can be heard on summer weekends at the landing beside the Missouri River. Mike Cooper hopes to expand his popular hangout. Pam Forbes has been coming here since the 1970s, years before her friend Mike Cooper started his business.
Forbes, who lives near Harrisburg, likes a lot of things about Cooper’s Landing, but one feature always draws her back.
"You’re looking at it," Forbes says, gesturing to the sun-dappled Missouri River a few feet away from the hand-carved bench she is sitting on. "You need to be here when the sun goes down."
Cooper’s Landing consists of an acre and a half of land wedged between the Missouri River and the Katy Trail, on Easley River Road south of Columbia. Opened as a live bait shop in 1986, it has endured two floods and grown into a live music venue and community gathering place.
Last night, the site hosted a fundraiser for the newly formed Missouri River Cultural Conservancy. The organization is part of the Missouri River Communities Network and aims to document and preserve the cultural history of Missouri River communities, said Jeff Wheeler, the group’s acting president.
The group’s board of directors holds monthly meetings at the marina, Wheeler said.
"The people here are amazing," he said, gazing at the crowd listening to Don Choate strum an acoustic guitar. "There are no preconceived notions about newcomers. They accept you as you are."
Cooper said he originally envisioned expanding the bait shop into a boat sales and repair business. But the Flood of ’93 closed Cooper’s Landing for two years. When the business reopened in 1995, Cooper revamped the bait shop into a convenience store to serve the hikers and cyclists on the Katy Trail as well as the river traffic.
Eventually he added tent camping sites, live music and barbecue. The site has even hosted retirement parties and wedding receptions. In 2001, the business had perhaps its most interesting addition with Chim’s Thai Kitchen, owned by Pramuan "Chim" Duncan, in a mobile kitchen at one side of the store.
"We didn’t anticipate developing the way we did," Cooper said. "We took a different direction to community involvement and toward music."
Duncan’s children, Pantipa Wadtananussorn and her brother Jay Wadtananussorn, cook up pad Thai and other traditional Thai cuisine for visitors seeking something exotic at the river.
"People recommend this place," Pantipa Wadtananussorn said. "So many people come saying ‘We finally found it.’ "
Cooper Jay Wadtananussorn and his wife, Edwena, had their wedding reception at the landing in August 2004, Edwena said. The two spend much of their time there even though they live in Columbia.
"Everybody takes care of everybody else out here," she said. "There are never arguments or fights. It’s really, really safe out here, especially for kids."
Cooper said he wants to add a permanent structure for the Thai Kitchen as well as new bathrooms and showers.
At a May meeting of the Boone County Planning and Zoning Commission, several neighbors complained about noise and crowds, spurred by Cooper’s request for a conditional use permit designating the area as a recreational district. Planning officials granted his request.
William Crowley owns the property directly across from Cooper’s Landing. He has had problems with the business for several years, said his attorney, David Knight. Crowley is retired and lives full time in Spicewood, Texas.
When he visits his home on 300 acres on Easley River Road, Knight said, he is often plagued by Cooper’s customers parking on his property.
"Sometimes they have a big concert down there, and people just park wherever they can, and it spills over onto" Crowley’s property, Knight said.
Cooper said he has been responsive to noise complaints. He has moved musicians to a different side of the building to shield neighbors from the sound and tries to attract solo and acoustic acts rather than full bands, he said.
The music attracts several Cooper’s Landing regulars, including Buzz and Beverly Keiper. They drive from Columbia every weekend. Sometimes they show up for breakfast and return for music and dinner in the evening.
The Keipers say they like the mix of people, which sometimes includes heavily-tattooed bikers mingling with mild-mannered academic types.
"You’ll see old rusty pick-up trucks next to BMW convertibles," Buzz Keiper said.
Reach Rachel Webb at (573) 815-1713 or rwebb@tribmail.com.


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http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2005/jun/20050612news005.asp