Goodbye to a Good One

I received one of the saddest calls in a long time. We lost a member of the Black's Cliff Resort Family. Char Schmelzer past away yesterday. She and her husband Jack drove into the driveway in 1972 and became part of the resort. Jack past a way a few years ago and Char and the rest of the family built a landing in Jack's name by Muskie Inn, their cabin. Char in the above picture with her dog Lucy enjoying the first summer of Jack's Landing. They were a special couple and brought to us the rest of their wonderful family with their 2 daughters Ann and Karey who brought us even more. Ann and Bill and their kids Sam and Katie. Karey and Ken and their kids Jimmy and Danny. Since then Katie has brought Dan, her husband into our lives and I am sure there will be more. Since 1972 we went through many good times and bad and helped each other through those with a glass of wine on Muskie's porch or on Jack's Landing. Many times tears, laughter and time shared Someone once told me they knew us and their neighbors in the cabins better than their neighbors at home. The time spent away from life allowed them to have deeper relationships at the resort. With Char and her family I know that was true. Everyone at the resort who met the Schmelzer family or listened to them playing games in Muskie past quiet hours loved them. Char is the heart beat of the family who made the lasagna, or banana bread and always had time to have a glass of wine with you on the porch. Many in the cabins other weeks did not know Char but appreciated her efforts around the resort. She loved to garage sale and always brought me a bag of goodies that we stocked not just Muskie but other cabins with. Char is the reason the cabins all have wine glasses and hand mixers. She insisted every cabin needed one and would drop them off in a plastic bag with all their parts intact and tested no matter if I agreed they were needed or not. She also hung up all the humming bird feeders in the resort every spring, paid Grant my son to change the nectar in them 4 times in the summer and then came back in the fall to clean and take them all down again. So each time to enjoy a glass of wine in a cabin in a wine glass, beat a cake with a mixer or hear the beating wings of the humming birds at the feeder thank a lady you may have never met but you would have loved as we did So here is to you Char Schmelzer. May you be in a place with Humming Birds year round...... May your fire always be going And know that you are missed by those you left behind You had a great life!