My family and I have been going to The Northshore for 42 straight years and just returned from another wonderful Tahoe vacation. Every year we're at the Lake  I remember fondly my friend Don who was always there with a ready smile and the offer to "come have a drink on his deck". I and others were always ready to participate and all the while Don made all of us feel welcome and like he was your best friend. Don was also in charge off the buoy field an important job at The Northshore since it was always a "loaves and fishes routine" with high demand and limited supply. Don always took care of his friends me included and a close in buoy was better and safer as we all began to age. Like a lot of us Don kept his woody at Sierra Boat and Dick Clarke and Pat Began were very fund of him as well. This year George Hill, Mike Ross, Jack Schumacher  me and others remembered Don and all the good times we had. We all agree that Don in his 80+ years lived a full and robust life. I am glad to have been a part of it and we all miss our friend........!!!!!

Randy Leathers

How do you say goodbye to your Best Friend?  I first met Don through the introduction by Zook Todd at the Mission Ranch forty five years ago.  It was the Sour Mash !!  Over the next 45 years we shared golf at Monterey Peninsula, Corral de Tierra, Tehama, Spyglass, Claremont and The Bobby D.  We shared Shing-A- Lu as partners at Claremont in our yellow rain slickers with vodka and wine and winning and losing.  We shared our passion for the Giants and our long history of tailgates , wine and nibley mix and 49er games.  We shared our friendship with Clint Eastwood and our stories and times with him.  We shared politics and our concerns, if not  distress, for the direction of our state and our nation.  We shared  the lives, aspirations, successes and trials of our children and grandchildren.  We shared Tahoe and Northshore and golf, boating,"Wet Woodies"and barbeques and cocktails on the Deck.  We shared  fishing and the SFFCC, the fish plants, the traditions, the history DVD, the days and discussions on the porch because "fishing is about more than fish".  Then there was always an Irish coffee and then "one more". We talked as Don was preparing to leave the hospital and he assured me " I'm not letting the Old Man in"!  Don was more than a brother to me, he was my Pal .