By Becky Maxedon

In the late 1960s, early 1970s, Sheila McCulloch was a little girl.

Her grandfather, Robert P. McCulloch, was in the process of developing Lake Havasu City, and her father, Robert P. McCulloch Jr., was in demand on the project much of the time.

One could say that Sheila McCulloch grew up with the city.

“As a child, I very seldom went to birthday parties or sleepovers, because we spent almost every weekend, and every Summer in Havasu,” she said.

Sheila McCulloch’s kindergarten photo in 1968. Photo courtesy Sheila McCulloch

“In Spring 1968, we didn’t go snow skiing in Aspen like usual, because my dad had to be here. He made sure I learned to water ski in a very cold lake instead!”

McCulloch spent the 1967/68 school year as a kindergartener.

“I spent that school year living in Manhattan Beach with family friends to attend school there, and was flown on Fridays, to spend my weekends with my parents, little sister and our family dog.”

McCulloch said, “Thanks to Fred Schumacher and his wife Virginia, who lived next door to us on Cliffrose, my mother had a safe place to leave my sister, while she taught me how to sail Hobie Cats, and catch fish for dinner, on those weekends.”

Schumacher was vice president and general manager of McCulloch Properties Inc. If Lake Havasu City had been incorporated at the time, he would have been the city manager.

“From 1968 to 1971, my dad had to be here a lot, sometimes without much warning. We literally had separate wardrobes and toys here as kids, because we weren’t given enough time to pack, just get to the airport, the jet is waiting.”

She said that what she appreciates now is that her father stated on April 18, 1968, that in three years, the London Bridge would be dismantled, shipped, reconstructed, and a one-mile channel be created for it to span.

“And they pulled it off.”

Sheila McCulloch hangs out with dad on The Holiday. Photo courtesy of Sheila McCulloch

McCulloch remembers the parents of friends in LA and teachers asking her about the purchase of the bridge.

“Is it true? What’s your grandfather doing? Similar questions.

“I always just shrugged and replied of course it’s true, or of course my grandfather knows what he’s doing, or sometimes I would tell the grown up people that of course there’s a plan. It’s boring, my parents and grandparents talk about it all the time and it’s boring.”

The family originally stayed in the apartments at Site Six, before Lake Havasu Hotel was built.

Playing on The Holiday in Lake Havasu. Photo courtesy of Sheila McCulloch

“I remember early morning fishing with my mom and the smell of the fish frying for dinner at that little apartment. I remember wonderful days on the lake, spent abord my grandfather’s yacht – The Holiday.

“The Holiday was where we enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner, cooked on board by my mother sitting there docked at Site Six,” she said.

“Lake Havasu has always just felt like home to me. I didn’t mind being uprooted from my LA childhood, because the one I experienced in Havasu was better. It’s always been my happy place.”

Thanksgiving turkey on The Holiday. Photo courtesy of Sheila McCulloch