"Bill McDonald" wrote in message
om...
Not to be too much of a complainer/whiner but some advance notice and
some of us could have added to the inventory! Bill in Va.

Thanks for the thought Bill. As John said there is a sign up and not too
late, but Ed thought it best just to keep it in the circle of Michigan
fisher and people who knew Steve. I would have been uncomfortable posting a
request for help on ROFF though I'm sure some folks would have gladly
helped.

This is something we struggled with in the appropriate way to help him. Was
it going to be a something to help the family get a foothold after they lost
everything or could we actually do something to help him stay in business?
In the overall macro economic scheme of things small businesses come and go
everyday. And frankly lots of folks who were approached were cautious in not
wanting to throw good money after bad. Fortunately, once we got in there and
studied the situation we decided things could be salvaged if Steve got the
appropiate support and then things started happening. Shops like the Fly
Factory are more destination shops and depend heavily upon foot traffic from
people during the fishing season and frankly, the shop's problems weren't
all due to the econonmy. It took several conversations with steve amongst
Ed, myself, and others to point out and remind him that in Grayling alone
several long term businesses have come and gone without anyone throwing a
banquet and auction to help them stay in business. Steve is a special guy
and has done alot for the resource there. We would all be lucky to have as
many friends as he does. The ball is now in his court, he still has lots of
challenges to overcome and not all of them are financial. Ed Walicki has
done a great job with this and is driving the ship. Feel free to drop him a
note.

Thanks

Wayne