I know they broke the mould when Roddy came along!. He was certainly one of a kind and I have so many great memories of my times with him!. One involves the infamous New Year's/Sliding parties and Roddy's famous choke-cherry wine. Roddy challenged any of us "young lads with all your book learnin" to remove the cork without an opener. We were stumped. He told us it involved 'Physics and Pressure' as he tilted the bottle and grabbed a work boot. With each wack of the boot heel on the bottom of the bottle, the cork edged out a little more. Roddy schooled us and gave us a party trick for the ages!.

Another memory involves building the roof on the loafing barn, which happened the day after one of those New Year's parties. I was trying to toe-nail a truss to the top plate but found the truss wanted to move off the mark with each swing of the hammer. I guess I was taking too much time worrying/adjusting for Roddy's liking and he hollered "We're not building a friggin' piano here .... it's just an ole shed! Nail it! Sage advice indeed.

Another memory is of the few treks to Ladysmith with the Molly Rod Raiders I was fortunate to take part in. I can see Roddy standing by the campfire wearing his cowboy hat and Australian Outback overcoat singing "The Wild Colonial Boy". He always placed special emphasis and a foot stamp in the line "I'll Fight!....I'll not Surrender!..... While I have never known Roddy to fight with his fists I do know he took on challenges where others may have 'surrendered' (i.e move any building/barn/house..... be one of the community leaders to show that an arena does not have to be just a 'dream' but can become 'reality' in spite of a shoe-string budget). Roddy also showed he would 'fight' in the face of health battles the last several months.

Thanks for memories Uncle Roddy!. Keep the fire burnin' till we get there. Your nephew, Kevin.