If I'm not mistaken Wayne, you recommended that shop to me prior to a trip I
took to Michigan. If it wasn't you it was some other Roffian.

In any event, I did stop there and a nicer, more local group of fellows
would be hard to find.
A truly worthy event.
john
"Wayne Knight" wrote in message
...
The Southard Family has run the Fly Factory and Ray's Canoe Rental in
Grayling Michigan for 25 years. The weakening economy plus a series of
family and health issues have taken a toll on Steve Southard where closing
up shop and loosing all of his family's assets is a possibility. In
addition
to his business, Steve has been a tireless worker for the health and
wellbeing of the watersheds in Northern Michigan. In just the past few
years, Steve has personally been responsible for over $100,000 in fund
raising for the those watersheds in addition to rolling up his sleeves and
working too.

In recognition of all that Steve has done for the Ausable and Manistee
watersheds along with genuine concern for a friend, friends of his have
taken to help the family and the business remain a viable organization.

Ed Walicki has organized a banquet and a live auction to benefit the
Southard Family. The info and the auction items can be seen at
www.stevesfriends.com . The auction will begin Monday, Oct 27 via a link
on
the website and EBAY.

Most everything for the banquet and the auction has been donated and the
proceeds will be used to help reorganize and restock the shop as well as
help the family get through the winter season. We have taken steps to
ensure
Steve gets the business management support he needs to stay in business
and
that this effort does not go to waste.

As Bill has said, it's tough being a small business. Every day many small
businesses disappear, their owners left struggling to survive. We plan to
at
least to try and help one shop make it.

For those interested, a complete list of the auction items can be found by
clicking on the auction item tab of the stevesfriends.com site.

Thank you.

wayne knight