Mike McNallen: PK pioneer leaves legacy of hard work and fun
Story by Steve Nussbaum | Photos contributed by Tracie Bittle
Mike McNallen, who along with his family owned and operated the Possum Hollow RV Park, cabins and restaurant for 43 years, passed away Aug. 27 in Dallas. He was 83 years old.
McNallen, who grew up in Breckenridge, Texas, was a legend in the Possum Kingdom Lake business community, and his business has been a fixture on the west side of the lake for decades.
McNallen had always loved PK, and he spent lots of time as a young man going to the lake. He was an accomplished musician and was in the prestigious One O’Clock Lab Band at the University of North Texas in Denton before finishing his music education degree at Sul Ross State University in Alpine.
After graduating, he married his wife, Verdene, and the couple moved to New Mexico, where he was employed as a school district band director for more than 20 years.
But PK kept calling him back.
In 1978, McNallen and his family returned to Texas, and bought Possum Hollow, a small fishing camp at Possum Kingdom Lake. The original camp building has been expanded in every direction, and it’s now the legendary restaurant and beer garden at Possum Hollow.
McNallen’s plan to semi-retire in Texas and buy a small fishing camp turned into a seven-days-a-week job that lasted for 43 years until he passed away, a decade after his wife’s death.
When the McNallens started the restaurant, it consisted of Tony’s pizza and eggs to the fisherman at 5 a.m.
“It was a regular stove and kitchen, nothing commercial about it,†said Tracie Bittle, the couple’s daughter.
From those humble beginnings, the restaurant eventually grew to become the large restaurant, bar and event space that is now Possum Hollow. There were additions to the space in 1983 and 1993, and the beer garden was added in 1995.
McNallen’s wife had a green thumb, and the beer garden has proven to be a very popular spot for their guests over the years. Originally, Tracie Bittle thought the space was too small for a beer garden, however her dad was right, again, Bittle said.
McNallen loved music and being around musicians, and Possum Hollow was one of the first businesses to offer live music at PK many years ago. For 17 years they hosted large events, featuring many red dirt bands and twice featured The Toadies. The event was well known as “the night of music and fire†featuring red dirt bands and fireworks. Live music is still offered every Saturday night.
After marrying in 1991, Tracie Bittle and her husband, Jim, worked side by side with McNallen. Tracie Bittle said her father handled the business side of things, while she and her husband took care of many of the operational duties. Jim Bittle was the longtime operator of the famous Hell’s Gate Fireworks show before selling that business, but he still has an active role in putting it together.
The two couples, along with Tracie and Jim’s daughter, Amanda Sivak, worked seven days a week to manage the park and the restaurant, Jim Bittle said, though he added: “It wasn’t all work. They played hard, too.â€
McNallen loved to play practical jokes on his friends, neighbors and guests, and because of that he also was the recipient of many of those jokes. One of his favorite holidays was Halloween, with him walking around greeting customers with a friendly handshake that turned out to be a fake skeleton hand.
It was McNallen who started the big events at Possum Hollow, such as the Fourth of July festivities and the accompanying patriotic décor and fireworks, and the Possum Hollow Christmas, which seems to get bigger each year.
Tracie Bittle says her parents always loved the MSU-Burns Fantasy of Lights on the campus of Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, but their work schedule kept them from going as often as they wanted, so they decided to start their own. The first year of the event featured a few hundred lights and some cut out displays, but these days it encompasses several hundred thousand lights all over the park and inside the restaurant, too.
Jim Bittle synchronizes all the lights to music. The presentation was always the vision of his in-laws, he said, with the Bittles making the displays. Nowadays, the huge light display starts the Friday after Thanksgiving and runs until New Year’s Day.
Because McNallen loved jokes and Halloween, a haunted house display has recently been added inside the restaurant banquet room. It’s the second year for the haunted house, which features a maze of horror, with different themed areas. It helps represent what McNallen wanted Possum Hollow to be: a place where people come to have fun and get way from the daily grind.
Later in his life, McNallen sat at the end of the bar, greeting customers and watching to make sure things were going smoothly. He loved to be around the Possum Hollow customers and share his stories. In his honor, the business keeps a small tribute to McNallen at the last chair at the bar.
McNallen and his wife passed the ethic of hard work and fun to his daughter and her husband, and the Bittles said they don’t plan to change much with the business. Tracie Bittle said not having the man they called “Papa†around anymore is a little intimidating, and they will miss his wisdom the most, but she and her husband will “keep on keeping on.â€
Possum Hollow is an iconic Possum Kingdom Lake business built over years of hard work, and it truly captures what makes the lake so great.
Fond memories of life well lived….
Pictured top: Verdene and Mike McNallen
Pictured above: Mike McNallen escorts Tracie down the isle on her wedding day.
Right center: Mike McNallen enjoying a dance with great granddaughter, Avery on her wedding day.
Bottom two pictures on the right: Mike McNallen with daughter Tracie and granddaughter, Amanda.
