Thinking of Ken

When the air conditioning installers arrived this week, one of the them asked Dave what his father’s name was.  He had seen our last name on the install ticket and wondered if we were related to a person with whom he had rode bicycles with to Boy Scout Camp.  Sure enough, he was talking about Dave’s dad.  For many years, Ken organized training rides with young Boy Scouts who were going to scout camp in the summer.  He would then accompany them on the 100 mile bike ride from Kansas City to the H.Roe Bartle Scout Reservation in Osceola, Missouri.  One of those young scouts grew up and installed our new air conditioner.

Ken was an avid bicyclist throughout his life and even once rode 2000 miles with a group on the Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon sleeping in tents and even on a picnic table, along the way.

Dave frequently rode bicycles with his Dad and was even able to go on a week long tour across the state of Washington.  What a blessing it was for Dave to spend those 400 miles with his Dad and brother since less than two years later we lost Ken to cancer.

I am so thankful that our installer took the time to ask about Ken and even more amazed that as a young man he would remember an adult with whom he only spent a short amount of time.  It was nice to remember Ken today and the impact he had on people we do not even know.