Jiggs Landing expands hours, concessions

Denise Kleiner, who owns the concessions at Jiggs Landing, said services at the county park return to the normal seven-day schedule Oct 1.

In June, Kleiner announced that her Outpost would be closed on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the summer because of a decline in usage.

At the time, Kleiner, who has operated the concessions since 2019, said she couldn't figure out a reason for the slowdown and that she needed to cut hours to reduce losses.

Kleiner said she is down to a three-person staff, including herself.

"It's just until we get back on our feet," she said.

The live music schedule will be back to a Wednesday through Sunday schedule. She said a major boost is that singer/musician Raiford Starke, who helped The Outpost "get its feet wet" when the live music program first began, has agreed to perform on Wednesdays. 

She said Bingo will be added on Mondays to see if there is interest to continue it as a weekly event and smoked pork and daily specials will be added to the menu. 

While the Braden River saw flooding from Hurricane Debby, Kleiner said Jiggs Landing came out of the storm relatively unscathed. She said the floating docks worked as designed and water didn't reach the buildings. One expensive lithium battery was ruined on one of the tour boats but everything else "is good."

Kleiner did note that some picnic tables from the Linger Lodge campground were picked up by Jiggs Landing due to the flooding.

She also noted that the residents around Linger Lodge have been hit hard by flooding and many are regular customers who won't be coming out for a while.

"Our biggest thing is that we know the locals are experiencing this," she said. "They are working on their homes."

As always, the park (6106 63rd St. E.) and the boat ramp will continue to be open every day from sunrise to sunset. A nighttime access card to the boat ramp is available for $30.