I'll Take Beer Kegs and Legacy for 1000 Alex!

This Father’s Day had me thinking about Legacy. My dad has some great qualities and characteristics. He is very smart in multiple ways; he can use a slide rule faster than I can use a digital calculator, write VERY well, play guitar, speak in public, temporarily fix most things or tell you how. He’s got the mind of an engineer and he’s also a creative problem solver. He knows how to be a friend to the friendless. Yesterday I was reminded of one of the problems that he ‘solved’ creatively in 1988. It was at the annual Sturgeon Bay Biker Campout on the North West tip of Michigan .

Summers are absolutely beautiful in Michigan , with no humidity and temperatures in the upper 70’s and 80’s during the day and 60’s in the evenings. (Don’t wait around though because summer only lasts about 90 days!) Dad's Motorcycle Club (the Loyal Riders MC) took a camping trip every year. He was one of the founding members of the club, and at that time he had hair down to his middle back. They called him Sarge. Dad had acquired a used black Kawasaki 1000 and although I knew he would have rather had a Harley, the KZ was well manufactured and had enough room for him and my step-mom Jody. The bike club had their own clubhouse with a pool table, bar and a large outside ‘courtyard’ equipped with running water, a LARGE barbeque pit and ‘outdoor dining area’ that easily seated several dozen people. They held meetings, parties, and actually spent most of their time planning day trips and donating items to local charities. There were the occasional scuffles and rowdiness, but my dad had the respect of the guys and would quickly deflate these issues.

The problem that he solved involved a cold keg of beer that was transported by van to the remote camp site about 18 miles away from where it was purchased. After fiddling with the tap, dad realized that the seal was broken. There was obviously no ‘keg tap seals’ laying around, and with a group of restless and thirsty bikers getting antsy, dad decided to take charge of the situation.“Filthy Phil, grab those 3 pitchers over there and get ready! Jody, get all these kids back out of the way”. He took out his Smith and Wesson .38 snub nosed revolver pistol that he bought from a neighbor 2 years prior and carefully aimed at the top of the keg. The bullet pierced the top corner with an ear splitting BANG and foam and beer started spewing everywhere. Filthy Phil captured about 3 pitchers worth and placed it on the picnic table nearby. The weight of the keg kept it from moving too much. The spewing stopped and there was a nicely torn hole at the top of the keg that was now the exit wound for the keg beer. “Well Sarge, I guess we won’t be getting the deposit back!”

The reason I was reminded of that story yesterday is that for Father’s Day, my 7 year old son Logan wanted to go shooting. I haven’t fired a weapon in about 2 years and Logan has never shot anything except spitballs. He’s seen the Ruger .22Mag Blackhawk revolver that I keep in the closet, and the 20 gauge shotgun. In my family, guns were a rite-of-passage. BB gun at 8 years old, .22 rifle at 10, 20 gage at 14, and the pistol was a Christmas gift when I was 17.

Yesterday, Logan and I went to a friend’s house in the afternoon and hung some white end-pieces of downspout from a tree with a couple of wire coat hangers. Logan listened to my diatribe about gun safety and watched me run 6 rounds through the pistol. He obviously was listening because his 4th shot, HIT THE TARGET. Target shooting with a pistol is an art form in a way, and I’ve shot with many adults that couldn’t hit the south side of a barn if they were standing in it. I was very proud of him. He also wanted to shoot the shotgun, and I was hesitant because it is a ‘bolt action’ and kicks like a mule. On his first shot however, he annihilated a paint can, and any pain he had in his shoulder was quickly diminished by the glee of seeing twisted metal and a bull’s-eye shot. It was a day neither one of us will forget.

My dad had some bad qualities and characteristics too. We all do. I’ve tried to glean the positive attributes from my parents and utilize them for my life and my parenting. Ultimately, my legacy will be what I glean from my “heavenly Father”. That is good news for everyone. Some of you didn’t have a dad that ever took you shooting. Some of you, like me, are a product of a divorce. Some of you don’t know your dad or wish you didn’t and Father’s Day is an annual frustration. Even though yesterday was “Biological Father’s Day” I would encourage everyone to focus on their Heavenly Father today. Listen for HIS leading, teaching and sometimes HIS diatribes…He’s full of patience, and is VERY proud when we HIT THE TARGET!

Jason