Wednesday, January 29, 2020
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My father was a big part of who I am and we are all better people for having known him. And so many people did know him because of his, as he would call it, gift of gab. He could go anywhere and run into anyone, friend OR complete stranger, and it could turn into a 20 minute discussion on ANY topic.
I wanted to share with all of you a personal story about him but there are just so many stories of things we've done and places we've been over the 54 years I've known him that it's almost impossible to chose one. So thought I would retell one that he liked to tell himself.
Just to give a little background, 40 years ago, Ron Heim was the Scoutmaster of troop 228 in Warren. I had been a scout in that troop and the troop needed help with adult leadership. As with so may other things in his life he saw a problem, got involved and worked tirelessly to create the best results possible. He did this with troop 228.
Another thing you need to know is what a bear bag is. If you've ever been camping in the more wild places in our country you already know what a bear bag is. If you don't know, it is simply a bag that you load with your food and other "smellables" (toothpaste, bug repellent, etc), the things that will attract bears and other critters. Then at night, you rig up ropes to suspend the bag in the air between two trees to keep the bears out of your stuff and away from you and your tent.
Every summer, the troop went to summer camp for a week at a place called Sabattis, way up in the Adirondacks of NY state, north of lake George. On a very dark night at Sabattis, he heard some strange noises coming from the woods outside the ring of fire light and outside the campsite. So he picked up his flashlight and went to see what it was. He walked alone up the trail, up a hill, toward the place the noise had come from, the spot where we had hung the bear bag. When he got there, he sloooowly raised his flashlight and discovered a rather large black bear halfway up a tree holding on with two hind legs and one front paw as it tried to swat at the bear bag and its goodies with the other paw. Well, he thought that was great and walked back to the campfire wanting to share it with the others. He told the other men on the trip (the boys were asleep), "you gotta see this, come with me a minute". My father lead them back up the trail with out telling them what it was they were going to see, not wanting to ruin the surprise. When they got there, he pointed his flashlight at the bear who was still in the tree and still trying to get at the bag, he turned around to say "isn't that funny!" but didn't say anything because all he saw was their backs already halfway down the trail and running for their lives.
That is just one of the countless fond memories I have of my father. Memories that will never leave me as long as I myself walk the earth. Those memories are a comfort to me because as long as I have them with me, I will always have him with me.
Douglas Lawrence Heim
1/29/20
