Last week, Sapulpa Times recently published a story about the Sahoma Lake Bait Shop closing. Sapulpa Parks Director Jody Baker stated that the contract between the individuals who operated the bait/concession shop and oversaw RV facilities was not renewed and that a search for a new concessionaire and Park Host was underway.
Earlier this week, Mary Hinsch, one of the contract employees at Sahoma, reached out to the Sapulpa Times to tell her side of the story. Sapulpa Times interviewed Hinsch and her partner at Sahoma, Todd Norwalk.
Hinsch said the reason for the non-renewal of their contract was an incident that happened a few months ago. “Todd went up to Pretty Water (lake) and there was [sic] ten of them. They wrote us a bad review (on Yelp) saying he is the most racist person they ever met and was disrespectful. Because Todd was doing his job, he asked them for a permit and told them there were signs all over. They said by Todd saying that, he was saying they were dumb.”
As of this writing, there are no negative reviews posted to either the Sahoma Lake or Pretty Water Lake Yelp pages.
A short time after Norwalk informed Hinsch of the incident, Hinsch stated she received a phone call from Parks Director, Jody Baker. According to Hinsch, Baker said “if you were my regular employee, I would fire you right here on the spot.” Hinsch asked Baker, “What is going on?” Baker told Hinsch that the people who posted a bad review had reported Todd. Baker said he would get back to her in a couple of days. Hinsch says Baker came out to the bait shop a few days later, “and had our walking papers with him.” Hinsch says she got “very emotional” and started crying. “He said we can work something out here, we’ll extend it to December,” Hinsch said. She thanked Baker and told him that they both loved their job and that this was their retirement.
Hinsch, who by this point in the interview had become quite emotional, said that Baker later called her on the phone and said they had to be out by the end of June. She told Baker it wouldn’t be possible—that they simply had too much inventory, and would need until the end of August to dispose of everything. Hinsch stated that Baker agreed, but on July 1, a Parks and Recreation employee came out to the shop with her “walking papers,” informing them that they must be out by the end of July and to turn in the keys.
Later in the interview, Norwalk returned from errands and joined Hinsch. When asked about the racist allegation, Norwalk said he did not see anyone of color in the group. He later found out that some of the young adults were members of the LBGTQ community.
Norwalk said several of the people in the group became confrontational, and one of the people in the group followed Norwalk down to the bait shop, reportedly to buy a permit. Norwalk said he opened the door to the bait shop and slammed the door and that individual immediately opened the door and said “I ought to punch you right in the face.” Norwalk admitted he was upset and told the person; “I don’t don’t need your kind of bull***t out here.” Norwalk says he did not refuse to sell that individual a permit.
Norwalk said: “Me and Mary sunk everything we had into that place and a hundred percent of our hearts into it.”
Sapulpa Parks Director Jody Baker said changes were already coming to the lake when the incident occurred. “We are making changes out at the lake,” he said when reached by phone earlier this week. “There was going to be a new contract negotiated, anyway.” When asked about the allegations made by the concessionaires, he replied: “No comment.”
In a Facebook post, the Sapulpa Parks department says that the Sahoma Bait Shop will be opening again “very soon.” City fishing permits for both lakes are scheduled to be reinstated on September 1st, and will be available at Sapulpa City Hall, as well as the Walmart stores in Sapulpa and Sand Springs.
