When Chris Edgar took office as Camden County Sheriff, he didn’t just inherit a badge — he inherited a mess.

Welcome to Season 2 -- aka year two -- of Take On The Lake! We're starting this year off with a bang... specifically, hundreds of missing flashbangs.

In his first year on the job, Edgar discovered missing flashbangs, non-functional AR-15s, weak ballistic vests, unsecured firearms, and IT systems so broken the office lost dispatch for an entire week. In this episode, we talk through what he found, what he fixed, and what still keeps him up at night.

Topics include:

• Why hundreds of flashbangs were unaccounted for

• How deputies were issued rifles they didn’t trust to fire

• Why some ballistic vests wouldn’t stop a 9mm round

• Rebuilding firearms security, armories, and inventory systems from scratch

• The financial reality of running a full jail — and why it’s a losing deal for counties

• Mental health, burnout, and why suicide is the #1 killer of law enforcement

• Drug trafficking at scale in Camden County — and what’s changed

• The real workload behind 18,000+ calls per year with limited road deputies

• Why visible patrols still matter — and how zoning deputies is reducing crime

• And by the end of the episode I finally realize who is Chris's doppelganger (a certain heavily memed VP)

This is a rare, candid look at what happens when leadership actually audits the system — and starts fixing it.

I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

Nathan, Tegan, Jill, and Robby go full holiday gremlin: favorite Christmas movies, worst Christmas movies, “this is not a Christmas movie” rulings, and a few rants.

From Elf and Jim Carrey’s Grinch to Rudolph trauma, Hallmark “cheap love,” and subscription service rage—this one’s pure Christmas chaos.

If you’ve lived at or visited Lake of the Ozarks for even five minutes, you’ve eaten at — or boated to — something George Tucker built.

Paradise, Tucker’s Shuckers, Frankie & Louie’s, Neon Taco, Malted Monkey… the list goes on.

So how does a guy go from buying a worn-out lake bar in 2007 as a new college grad, to becoming one of the Lake's most prolific restauranteurs who is now developing one of the largest entertainment complexes the Lake has ever seen?

In this interview, George reveals...

• How he stupidly (but brilliantly) bought Paradise at age 23 ("I think it was stupidity... but it worked out!")

• That moment when his bartender fell through the floor and he thought "What have I gotten myself into?"

• Why Malted Monkey exists (hint: kids throwing rocks at Tucker’s)

• The scramble to buy Beavers at the Dam at a steal of a price

• The story behind the name “Neon Taco”

• Behind-the-scenes of the giant new project by Bagnell Dam and how it was almost built out of bamboo

• What the Lake still needs to become a year-round community

• Oasis, trails, airports, housing, and the future of the Strip

And why he can't seem to quit buying and building stuff at the Lake (he says he's done after this big one, but I'm not sure he even believes himself).

AND… I share the story of the lion that once lived on the Strip. Yes. Real lion.

When I first started this podcast, I put George Tucker on my interview list. I knew it was a good idea, and I know you'll agree.

We go full-send in this episode on hunting. Brady Ford and I talk deer season, big bucks, and the big question a lot of Missouri hunters are asking:

Is Missouri Conservation actually helping… or just getting in the way?

Guest: Brady Ford — managing broker for the Matt Ford Real Estate Team and a hardcore hunter who’s guided trips for elk, antelope, bear, whitetail and more from Missouri to Idaho to New Zealand.

Topics:

• Growing up hunting the woods around Lake of the Ozarks

• Guiding black bear hunts in remote Idaho where the nearest gas station is 90 miles away

• Bowhunting antelope at 75 yards on the windswept plains of Colorado

• Chasing elk at 13,000 feet in New Mexico (and waking up with one next to you)

• Free-range red stag and mountain goat in New Zealand

Then we get spicy:

• Why Missouri has so many deer — and what that actually costs us

• The thousands of deer-related crashes every year and the real-world impact on families

• Mountain lions, bears, and what happens when we shut down predator seasons

• Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), feeding bans, and whether the science matches the rules

• Why rifle season is so short — and so badly timed — for most everyday hunters

• Youth season timing vs. regular firearms season and how that affects the rut

• Whether MDC is too focused on “trophy management” and not focused enough on real-life consequences

Brady also breaks down:

• Calling strategies: rattling, grunts, the “wheeze,” and not over-pressuring your stand

• Food plots in Ozark rock country and why nutrition matters for antler size

• Buck-to-doe ratios and why “more does” isn’t always better

Plus: I reveal the wildest thing I've ever found on my property — two locked bucks who died mid-fight, still tangled together years later.

If you love deer hunting, have strong opinions about MDC, or just like hearing stories about chasing animals on mountains you can barely breathe on… don't miss this one.

Hot take: local generosity eats national dysfunction for lunch.

Shana Aubuschon has seen a lot during her time at Share the Harvest Food Pantry. From elderly folks on a fixed income who only take the canned goods (they leave the fresh veggies for the younger families) to food bank hoppers, they serve 600 families every month, right here in Camden County.

Shana took a moment away from a busy time at the food pantry — with seasonal layoffs, holiday surges, and SNAP on pause — to talk about how Share the Harvest works, why local generosity and volunteering makes a world of difference, and how their food pantry rescues a million pounds of groceries a year from local grocery stores: that's food that would have been thrown in the dumpster.

(Note: since recording, SNAP benefits have been reinstated. But the point remains: federal solutions are no way to care for local communities.)

State Rep. Jeff Vernetti (Camden County) is back — and this one gets spicy.

We talk about the stadium subsidy bill (and why he voted no on the Chiefs & Royals stadiums), a huge step toward commercial air service at Lake of the Ozarks, and a push to make it harder to rewrite Missouri’s constitution.

Plus: ADA lawsuit shakedowns, senior pension reform, and fixing the state’s mental-health backlog (county jails are filled with mental health inmates that the state can't handle.)

This is a full-throttle look at Missouri politics and how it actually hits home at the Lake.

Topics:

• Chiefs & Royals stadium subsidies

• Redistricting and Initiative Petition reform

• Paid leave, minimum wage, and Prop A round two

• The future of the Osage Beach airport ✈️

• Local school policy & open enrollment

• Predatory ADA website lawsuits

• Pension relief for seniors

• Jails, mental health, and county budgets

• Growth vs. charm at the Lake

Guest: Rep. Jeff Vernetti (Missouri House, Camden County)

Host: Nathan Bechtold | Take on the Lake (powered by LakeExpo)

Listen anywhere you get podcasts

▶️ Watch full video on YouTube

Tucked deep in the history of Lake of the Ozarks is one family name that helped build the place — literally and culturally.

Emily (Blair) Mensendiek is part of that legacy: her family started Blair Cedar, Ozarkland, and Blair’s Landing — some of the most iconic local businesses at the Lake. Now, she’s turned her energy toward something new: the arts.

From orchestral performances to kids’ theater, Emily’s helping champion and grow a creative community at the Lake. In this episode, we talk about the roots of her family’s impact, how she and her husband are carrying it forward through Evergreen, and what a thriving arts scene could mean for the future of the Lake of the Ozarks.

Tucked into a little light-industrial corner of the city of Eldon, just a stone's throw from Lake of the Ozarks, is a wildly niche business with a high-profile, international customer base.

It's called Argosy: they make super-high-end, custom shelving and workstations specifically for audio recording studios. And it's all made right here at the Lake.

Here's one testimonial: "Argosy is the Rolls Royce of studio styling" - Jon Anderson; YES

James Rericha is the new owner/CEO of Argosy... but he's been involved in quite a few other businesses at the Lake too.

In this free-ranging conversation (as per usual), we talk about the Lake's lost manufacturing segment, the perils of private equity takeovers, and what many business-owners at the Lake aren't doing but should be.

This is definitely part-one of a conversation that is to be continued...

www.argosyconsole.com

www.r.vet

#lakeoftheozarks #business #recording #manufacturing #entrepreneurship

Episode thumbnail courtesy Argosy